Chapter 520: Dark Horse Strength

"Not necessarily! This Ye Liuyun gives me the feeling that his strength is more than that. He hasn't yet unleashed his full power. But that Lie Hong Yun, his strength is indeed strong. His realm, bloodline, and Soul are all extraordinary."

Chu Yunqiao, however, having observed carefully, does not agree with Gao Qiang's statement.

At the same time, an eighteen‑ or nineteen‑year‑old girl, wearing the bright red battle armor of the Flame Palace, has a face as delicate as jade, a lithe figure, red lips and white teeth, eyes as bright as a clear moon, and she is slowly stepping onto the northern Zhan Tai.

This girl is the one called "Xiao Yan Wang", Lie Hong Yun. She exudes a heroic aura, radiating rolling flames.

"This girl has already achieved twenty consecutive victories!"

"Indeed! It seems Lie Hong Yun is about to enter the first‑tier team!"

The crowd below not only marvels at Lie Hong Yun's beauty but also at the strength she displays. Everyone is discussing that perhaps Lie Hong Yun's achievements will one day surpass those of her sister, Lie Hong Xia.

Her opponent, however, is a guy with an extremely lewd expression. He watches Lie Hong Yun's fiery figure and swallows his saliva.

"Hey, little beauty, I've long heard your temperament is fierce! It just so happens I like the fierce, and today I'm going to tame you, this fiery horse!"

As he speaks, his gaze darts over Lie Hong Yun, his face full of mockery.

The lewd man's head displays a silver‑glowing numeric projection. His realm is also Seventh Layer, the same as Lie Hong Yun.

"Turns out it's Cong Fei! A seeded contestant who broke into the top hundred in the last Martial Competition! Lie Hong Yun is in trouble now!"

"Cong Fei likes to crush blossoms with a hot hand. I wonder if Lie Hong Yun can be his opponent; if she loses, it'll be disastrous…"

Someone in the audience recognized Cong Fei and began worrying for Lie Hong Yun. More people, filled with anticipation, watched the clash between these two new and old dark horses.

"Die! You disgusting ugly ghost!"

Filled with extreme disgust, Lie Hong Yun strikes directly, a blaze of fire lunging toward Cong Fei.

Accompanied by a deep phoenix cry, the fire seems alive, shaping into a fire phoenix, constantly shifting direction, spreading its wings to scorch Cong Fei.

"Yo, so impatient? Don't rush; we'll play slowly, and you'll be satisfied!"

Cong Fei teases Lie Hong Yun with his mouth, yet his hands remain unwavering.

In fact, this is one of his tactics: deliberately insulting to enrage the opponent, causing them to lose composure in fury, then he seizes the chance to strike.

This move of Lie Hong Yun was once used by Lie Hong Xia, instantly scorching the opponent to a charred mess.

Lie Hong Yun employs this technique; though not as powerful as Lie Hong Xia's, it is enough to make a Seventh Layer Martial Cultivator flustered.

Unexpectedly, Cong Fei merely chuckles, his True Essence erupting, silver‑bright moonlight, like a tide, enveloping a massive amount of Heaven and Earth Power, surging toward the fire phoenix.

Sss—!

The impact of True Essence repeatedly booms, silver‑bright and fire‑red True Essence explode and scatter, the rising dust swirling within a radius of one mile.

Seeing her fire phoenix cannot block Cong Fei's True Essence, Lie Hong Yun swiftly darts back, barely evading the strike.

Boom—!

Cong Fei's moonlight tide strike misses Lie Hong Yun, slams into the ground, creating a deep crater. The dust throws Lie Hong Yun into a disheveled state.

Cong Fei's words may be flippant, but his moves are seasoned; exploiting Lie Hong Yun's enraged, under‑prepared strike, he quickly seized the advantage. Had Lie Hong Yun not dodged swiftly, the blow could have seriously injured her.

Ye Liuyun's Golden Pupil observes their battle.

In their attacks, both fuse massive amounts of Heavenly Earth, so they appear tremendously powerful, yet they actually expend little True Essence or bloodline force, merely borrowing from Heaven and Earth Power.

Although the Heavenly Earth they borrow is not as abundant as Mo Tianheng's, they adeptly draw and wield the Heaven and Earth forces that match their own attributes.

In other words, what they borrow are Heavenly Earth forces identical to their own attributes.

Ye Liuyun carefully observes the bloodline flow of the two, and begins a serious study.

"Phoenix Wing Sky‑Soar!"

Lie Hong Yun lets out a delicate shout, swings both hands, even the sky's airflow she condenses into a phoenix shape. Immediately fire‑attribute True Essence floods in, creating a gigantic fire phoenix that shades the sky, a long cry, and it again presses toward Cong Fei.

"Damn! Is it really necessary to go this hard?"

Cong Fei curses, unwilling to delay. A brush appears in his hand; with a light swing, it creates a silver river in the air, a yard wide, which then widens further, extending toward the fire phoenix.

The True Essence river surges wildly, unstoppable.

The fire phoenix and the silver river intertwine again, battling each other, colliding violently. The "Boom—Boom—Boom" sounds never cease. The arena is left in utter ruin.

The terrifying aftershocks of the battle spread beyond the ten‑mile‑wide arena, spilling onto the stands, causing the crowd to scramble for safety.

The many prodigies below the arena watch, their hearts pounding.

"How can these two's power be so strong?"

"This strength is not inferior to several members of the first tier."

Ye Liuyun likewise marvels at their combat power.

"Is this the power of a dark horse? Even if I faced these two now, I'd likely be at a disadvantage. Even using a Spiritual Soul Attack might not give me much benefit."

While reflecting, he continues to study how to make his attacks also carry more Heaven and Earth Power.

Lie Hong Yun and Cong Fei both draw power from their bloodlines, essentially innate. Though they still need resources and cultivation to enhance bloodline power, it's largely predetermined.

Ye Liuyun's bloodline power has little to do with flame, so the bloodline pathways of these two offer him little to emulate.

He still doesn't know what power his own bloodline holds. After pondering, he can only intensify his Heavenly Earth cultivation.

The only thing he can learn from this battle is that, via his Golden Pupil, he can manifest his Golden Crow Holy Fire into the form of a Golden Crow for attack. Thus his flame attacks become far more versatile.

He had already been able to use bloodline power to manifest the Golden Crow for tangible attacks, so employing the Golden Pupil now shouldn't be too difficult.

Boom—!

On the arena, a booming roar erupts, flames rise, a single fire phoenix simultaneously crashes into Cong Fei, completely tearing his defense apart, overwhelming him.

The terrifying high temperature of the flame chars Cong Fei's body to a blackened husk.

With a "Bang", Cong Fei didn't even have time to make a sound before he fainted dead away.