Chapter 881: Undercurrents Surge

Ye Liuyun followed Li Qingyun, without even going back to his residence, and directly came to the martial arts arena of the outer gate.

This arena is specially prepared for outer gate elite disciples to challenge, and there are even elders stationed here to serve as referees for those outer gate challengers.

After Ye Liuyun and Li Qingyun arrived, they first examined a stone tablet near the arena, which displayed the rankings of all elite disciples in the outer courtyard.

Ye Liuyun saw his name in the eighth-from-last position. His rank was 372nd.

"The elite disciples of the outer courtyard aren't that many!" Ye Liuyun exclaimed.

"Of course, each session fewer than ten people are evaluated as elite disciples. Moreover, many have already advanced to the inner gate, so the remaining number is naturally small." Li Qingyun explained.

"So I now have to challenge the 362nd-ranked?" Ye Liuyun asked Li Qingyun.

"Exactly! You can only challenge up to ten ranks higher each time!" Li Qingyun confirmed.

"Alright then!" Ye Liuyun immediately applied to the referee elder: "Disciple Ye Liuyun, rank 372nd. I wish to challenge rank 362nd, Lin Feng."

Li Qingyun, however, shouted at the referee elder: "He wants to keep challenging until the top ten; call everyone who is ten ranks ahead of him!"

The referee elder was taken aback, sizing up Ye Liuyun.

"Crazy Li, he's only at Yin Yang Seventh Layer; are you sure he can challenge that many?"

"Haha, if he can't make it into the top ten, I'll lose a divine artifact to you!" Li Qingyun said confidently.

"Are you sure?" the referee also became interested, sizing up Ye Liuyun again.

"When have my words ever been excessive!" Li Qingyun said bluntly.

"Good. Then it's settled!" the referee elder agreed, immediately arranging his subordinates to summon the participants.

Since many people needed to be called, Ye Liuyun trained on the arena while waiting.

During this waiting period for his match, the news that Ye Liuyun would challenge the top ten elite disciples of the outer courtyard immediately caused a sensation.

Yuan Datou, despite his injuries, insisted on coming to watch the excitement. Wei Donglai could only support him as they slowly made their way over.

Ling Shuang, Liang Xinyu, and Su Manning all rushed over first.

"What madness is he up to again?" Liang Xinyu asked, puzzled: "He hasn't even finished offending the Crown Prince, and now he's stirring up trouble again!"

Su Manning shook her head with a smile: "I knew this guy wasn't the type to back down!"

Ling Shuang said nothing, but her speed kept increasing!

"It seems Miss Ling Shuang is actually quite nervous about Lord Ye, no wonder she stepped in to help him out of the siege!" Su Manning, noticing the clue, joked.

"What nonsense are you talking about? He saved my life; I'm just repaying the favor. Besides, he already has a woman—how could I possibly have any feelings for him?"

She said that with her mouth, but her face flushed slightly.

Fortunately she had been wearing a mask, so no one could notice.

"Oh, is that so?" Su Manning chuckled and said nothing more.

To everyone's surprise, the Fourth Prince, Xia Tian Yuan, personally came to watch the match, sitting beside the Ninth Princess, Xia Tianqiong.

"Ninth sister!" the Fourth Prince greeted.

"Fourth brother?" Xia Tianqiong said, somewhat puzzled: "Do you value this kid so much, or are you eyeing his token from the Dragon Abyss Pool?"

Xia Tian Yuan laughed and retorted: "When have you ever seen the Fourth Prince be so greedy for wealth?"

"Then you also think this kid can make it into the top ten, right?" Xia Tianqiong probed.

"Hmm, it's possible! I also want to get a full sense of his strength!" Xia Tian Yuan said.

"You think so highly of him? He's from our Phoenix Forest Pavilion!" Xia Tianqiong worried, afraid her fourth brother would poach her people.

"Don't worry, the Fourth Prince won't steal people from you. I just want to be his friend!" Xia Tian Yuan said, as if he could read her mind.

"Why do you value him so much?" Xia Tianqiong wondered. In the academy, those stronger and of higher cultivation than Ye Liuyun are a dime a dozen.

"I believe he will definitely become a strong expert in the future. He bears the aura of a strong expert!" Xia Tian Yuan explained.

Xia Tian Yuan thought his fourth brother was talking nonsense. He wasn't a strong expert, so where would such an aura come from? But since Xia Tian Yuan didn't want to elaborate, she also didn't bother to ask further.

The Crown Prince's Heaven's Pride Pavilion, the strong expert who had attacked Ye Liuyun last time, also came to watch.

"Looks like Ye Liuyun might have a little trouble!" Xia Tian Yuan reminded Xia Tianqiong.

Seeing some disciples of the Heaven's Pride Pavilion behind that person, Xia Tianqiong also felt worried.

The Crown Prince is the heir of the dynasty; his dignity is not something anyone can trample. Therefore, he is destined not to let Ye Liuyun off.

And those following him behind are also elite disciples of the outer courtyard.

If these people make a move against Ye Liuyun on the arena, they also cannot be interfered with.

"I'll go drive him away!" Xia Tianqiong immediately stood up, intending to go and drive that person off. But the Fourth Prince pulled her back down to sit.

"Why the rush? Anyway, Ye Liuyun also has to challenge. Since he dares to challenge, it shows those people aren't his match. Why bother adding superfluous steps?" Xia Tian Yuan comforted her.

Xia Tianqiong thought it over and indeed that made sense.

Anyway, with the referee elder and Li Qingyun present, those people wouldn't dare play dirty tricks; at most they'd let the disciples who go up strike Ye Liuyun with lethal moves.

That person, seeing the Ninth Princess glare and stand up, thought she was going to drive him away.

But seeing the Ninth Princess sit down again, he also relaxed considerably. Still, he didn't openly arrange for his disciples to deal with Ye Liuyun; instead, he secretly sent them voice transmissions.

The disciples gathered around and in the surrounding stands of the arena also grew ever more numerous.

Some came to observe the elite disciples' strength and learn from them; most, however, were just there for the spectacle.

These disciples' daily training is also dull. Being able to watch such excitement, they naturally wouldn't miss it.

Although Ye Liuyun was training and waiting on the arena, nothing happening below escaped his divine sense surveillance.

He also guessed that the Heaven's Pride Pavilion people would strike at him with lethal moves during the match, but he simply didn't care.

On the way back, Li Qingyun reminded Ye Liuyun that besides his soul, he could also draw on the power of his Space World.

Therefore, he now need not worry about losing at all. His Space World power can already be drawn upon at will, a single thread.

But this single thread is already enough to deal with those early-stage Zao Hua disciples.

Ye Liuyun calculated that, relying solely on his own strength, he could deal with at least ninety percent of disciples at the Zao Hua Second Realm.