Dead silence.
On the training ground, there was no sound beyond the wind and Shang Yuming's heavy, agonized breathing.
No one knew how long that suffocating silence lasted. It was as if time itself had frozen in that instant.
"Did... did he win?"
A doubtful, startled voice rose from a corner of Yan Kingdom's spectator area, shattering the strange stillness.
The next instant—
"Boom—!!!"
Like a volcano suppressed for a thousand years finally finding an outlet to erupt, or floodwaters bursting through a shattered dam in an instant.
From every section around the training ground belonging to Yan Kingdom came a tidal wave of frenzied cheers!
"He won! Peak Master Chen won!!!"
"My heavens, he really won! He did it! He defeated Shang Yuming!!"
"Unbelievable! Absolutely unbelievable!!!"
"Chen Qing! Peak Master Chen! The Wanfa Peak Master of Tianbao Supreme Sect!!"
Cries of shock, excited screams, and disbelieving roars... countless voices mingled together and shot into the heavens, making even the lingering clouds above the training ground churn!
Those Martial Arts Academy disciples and children of great families who had nearly despaired earlier, their faces ashen, were now red-faced as they waved their fists and shouted Chen Qing's name themselves hoarse.
Many even had tears welling in their eyes. The pent-up frustration, resentment, and humiliation of so long had all transformed into wild joy and release at this moment!
Before this, no one had believed Chen Qing could win.
Even Marquis Jingnan, who had placed great hopes on him, had only secretly wished that he could hold on longer and lose with a little less disgrace.
Marquis Zhenbei, Marquis Weiyuan, and the others had long accepted the reality of repeated defeats. They had only hoped to preserve the last shred of dignity.
Yet the outcome had utterly exceeded everyone's expectations!
Not