The Shock Brought by True Qi Projection

Bai Ze stood below the stage, his eyes fixed unblinkingly on the battle between the two.

He now had a clear understanding of their strength. Either one of them could kill him with a single sword strike.

Precisely because of this, the urgency in his heart grew even stronger.

It seemed he would have to use some special methods to speed up the blood replacement process and achieve a breakthrough.

Yet Li Qiuhai and Li Qiuyu, the brother and sister beside him, showed no concern at all. It appeared Li Tiannan was still holding something back.

Meanwhile, the battle on the arena continued, the two fighting with frenzied intensity.

Chang Boao's face was extremely gloomy. He had not expected that even after his strength had increased so much, he would still be unable to do much against his opponent.

In a deep voice, he said, "Brother Li, fine swordsmanship. Let's see how you handle my next move."

"Haha, then come on!"

"Dragon Emerges from the Sea!"

In an instant, the longsword in Chang Boao's hand began to tremble rapidly, shifting unpredictably amid layers of sword shadows.

It was as though a dragon lurked within, riding the clouds and mist, ready to burst forth at any moment.

Yet Li Tiannan's expression did not change in the slightest when he saw this. He even took the initiative to charge forward.

Bang!

Bang!

Bang!

The inner qi within their bodies circulated without pause, and their speed increased by several degrees.

Amid the flurry of sword shadows, the longswords in their hands collided again and again.

Li Tiannan no longer concealed his strength. He sprang into the air and shouted, "What a fine move, Dragon Emerges from the Sea! Watch how I cut it down with a single sword!"

"Rainbow Pierces the Sun!"

At that moment, the longsword in his hand flashed like lightning as it slashed downward.

At the same time, Everyone watching could not help but rise to their feet, and some even cried out in alarm.

Even the two family heads of the Liu Family and the Wang Family, who had been sitting as steady as Mount Tai, reacted the same way.

"What? True Qi Projection? The Li Family head has broken through to the True Qi Realm?"

"How is that possible?!"

"It seems there is no longer any suspense in this match. No matter how formidable the Chang Family head is, he is at most half a step into the True Qi Realm."

"Isn't that so? Though it is only one step apart, the difference in strength is as vast as heaven and earth."

Their shock was understandable, for they believed Li Tiannan to be a True Qi Realm martial artist.

After all, only upon breaking through to the True Qi Realm could one achieve True Qi Projection.

Sure enough, as Li Tiannan's longsword slashed out a strand of Sword Qi, like sunlight breaking through the clouds, it tore his opponent's sword shadows cleanly in two.

Drip.

Drip.

A deep wound had been left on Chang Boao's shoulder atop the arena, blood dripping steadily down from it.

He stared fixedly at his opponent and said in disbelief, "You actually broke through to the True Qi Realm? How is that possible?"

"What is impossible about it?"

Hearing this, Li Tiannan sheathed his sword. Victory and defeat had already been decided.

With a smile on his face, he said, "Others may not be able to break through to the True Qi Realm, but how could that possibly stop me?"

"You saw the gap between us just now. With your current strength, you are simply no match for me."

"Let us stop here. After all, I only broke through recently and have limited control over True Qi. If I am not careful, would that not damage the harmony between our two families?"

"You..."

Upon hearing this, Chang Boao pointed at him, nearly coughing up a mouthful of old blood.

But he knew in his heart that even if Li Tiannan had only just broken through to the first level of the True Qi Realm, he was indeed no match for him now.

He could only rise helplessly. After shooting Li Tiannan a gloomy glance, he turned and walked off the stage.

Seeing this, a flash of killing intent passed through Li Tiannan's eyes.

Though he wanted to seize this chance to kill him outright, now was not the time.

He had already broken through to the True Qi Realm. There would be plenty of chances in the future—not only for Chang Boao, but for the Chang Family behind him as well.

He looked at the crowd below the stage and said calmly, "If anyone else wishes to offer guidance, you may come up and fight me."

"If no one does, then the position of Pingfeng City's City Lord will remain mine."

"..."

After hearing those words, everyone beneath the stage fell silent as well.

After all, Li Tiannan could now be called the number one man in Pingfeng City. Even the heads of the other three great families were no match for him, let alone them.

Bai Ze stared at Li Tiannan on the stage, his hands unconsciously tightening into fists.

But he believed that it would not take him long to reach the True Qi Realm as well.

Beside him, Li Qiuhai and Li Qiuyu wore looks of worship, clearly stirred with excitement.

Just then, Li Qiuhai suddenly said, "Brother Bai, next comes the resource Contention Battle, starting with matches between Blood Changing Realm martial artists."

"Each family can send out five martial artists. Aside from you and Qiuyu, the other three will be those three brothers."

"Mm."

After hearing this, Bai Ze glanced over and calmly nodded, offering them a greeting.

Li Qiuyu's expression also settled, and she said confidently, "Brother, don't worry. First place will definitely be ours."

"Hahaha!"

Hearing his younger sister say that, Li Qiuhai laughed as well, but he still reminded her not to be careless.

After all, none of the martial artists sent out by the various families could be underestimated. If they grew overly careless, they might still capsize in a gutter.

Taking this chance, Li Qiuhai also pointed out the martial artists from the other three families who required attention.

With a serious expression, he said, "Brother Bai, the others are easy enough to deal with, but there are a few people you need to watch out for."

"Especially Chang Family's second young master, Chang Wen. According to the information I received, he should be able to break through to the Inner Qi Realm already. He simply chose not to break through for the sake of this Contention Battle."

"And Liu Family's Liu Li and Wang Family's Wang Xuanwu are probably the same."

"Moreover, their Blood Changing Degrees should have reached around two-thirds."

One had to know that these people had all received their families' full support, all in preparation for this Contention Battle.

Bai Ze nodded at those words and looked in the direction Li Qiuhai indicated.

Chang Wen happened to look over as well. Upon seeing Bai Ze, he deliberately made a throat-slitting gesture.

But Bai Ze paid it no mind. Who knew whose throat would be slit when they met?

While Li Qiuhai introduced the participants from the other families, the newly appointed city lord on the stage, Li Tiannan, officially announced the start of the resource Contention Battle.

At the same time, the participants from each family stepped forward and gathered in an area off to the side, beginning to draw lots to determine their opponents.

Just then, as Chang Wen passed by Bai Ze, he deliberately slowed his pace, a flash of viciousness appearing in his eyes.

In a low voice, he said, "You were lucky last time. I never thought you'd actually make it back alive. But this time, you won't be able to run."

"You'd better pray that you don't run into me later. Otherwise, even if I can't kill you, crippling you won't be a problem."