"Bull Devil King is out!"
"Hahaha! We've waited a month and finally get to see him again. But he's making such a quiet entrance today."
As Tang Jie walked in from the passage entrance, the tens of thousands of spectators in the arena grew even more restless. At the same time, some were puzzled by how uneventful Tang Jie's entrance was this time.
Tang Jie's opponent was a fully armored martial artist carrying a shield. He stood ready, tense beyond measure, because he knew that even if he ranked among first-rate martial artists, he had no chance of winning against Tang Jie. He might not even last until his opponent's second strike!
The fully armored man only hoped that he would not lose too miserably.
Tang Jie swept his gaze across the arena, and a strange glimmer flashed through his eyes. He had gained much glory in this arena, and it had also been the starting point of his life. But now, he was about to leave.
Tang Jie felt a faint reluctance in his heart, but people could not remain standing still forever.
Tang Jie withdrew his gaze and looked toward his opponent.
The armored man gripped a massive shield half a man's height in both hands. He had no intention of winning at all. He planned to block one of Tang Jie's strikes. If he could make Tang Jie use a second strike, he would already count it as a victory!
Among the bets opened by the arena, there was one on whether Tang Jie would use a second strike. Unfortunately, in more than two years, no one had managed to accomplish that.
"Strange... Bull Devil King seems a little off today!"
"Yeah. He's always been incredibly savage before."
In the spectator stands, everyone could clearly feel that Tang Jie was different today. They were utterly perplexed.
Tang Jie moved. The armored man's body tensed instantly, but to his astonishment, Tang Jie did not unleash a thunderous strike with lightning speed as he usually did. Instead, he walked up to him as leisurely as if strolling through a courtyard.
Under the armored man's puzzled gaze, Tang Jie raised the Iron Cutting Saber in his hand. He did not strike fiercely. Rather, he lightly tapped the Iron Cutting Saber against the man's shield, producing a faint metallic clang.
After doing this, Tang Jie turned and walked toward the passage without looking back!
The armored man stood dazed for a long while before hurriedly shouting, "Bull Devil King, we haven't even fought yet! The victor hasn't been decided!"
The armored man was furious. He felt that Tang Jie was looking down on him, leaving without even making a move.
"Crack, crack, crack!"
Yet something that left the armored man shaken happened. The instant his voice fell, he heard a series of crisp cracking sounds coming from his hands.
"Wh—how is this possible?"
The armored man looked down. His scalp prickled, and his eyes widened. The half-man-high shield in his hands was now giving off a series of cracking sounds. Its surface was covered in cracks, and then it shattered into pieces, scattering metal fragments all over the ground with heavy clangs!
"H—how did he just destroy my shield?"
The armored man swallowed hard as he stared at Tang Jie's back, a horrified, bone-chilling feeling rising within him. His shield was unbelievably sturdy, forged from heavy metal and capable of withstanding tremendous force without the slightest damage. Yet Tang Jie had merely touched it with his blade, and his shield had been reduced to scraps?
"Bull Devil King! Bull Devil King!"
The tens of thousands of people throughout the arena were stunned by the sight for a long while before erupting into frenzied cheers.
"That's incredible! Is Bull Devil King a cultivator? How did he destroy that shield?"
"I don't know... But he must be the most powerful martial artist!"
Witnessing this miraculous scene, countless people were shaken to the extreme. Some even suspected that Tang Jie was not a martial artist at all, but a cultivator!
In truth, accomplishing this was not difficult for Tang Jie. After his Boyhood Art evolved into the Red Sun Art, the true qi within his body had transformed into the higher-quality astral force. It could be said to break through anything. By making contact and using his thick astral force, he had shattered the armored man's shield with ease!
With cultivation at Tang Jie's level, his internal energy could already be called that of a Martial Arts Grandmaster. He was on an entirely different level from ordinary martial artists. In a certain sense, a Martial Arts Grandmaster had already reached the very peak of martial arts!
"Impressive... Your strength has grown even greater."
After returning to the preparation hall, Manager Mu sighed in amazement. He could clearly feel that Tang Jie's strength increased almost every time they met.
Manager Mu even felt that Tang Jie might not necessarily be inferior to a cultivator!
"Yes. I'll be leaving now." Tang Jie spoke to Manager Mu. This was his last time coming to this arena.
"Wait... Keep this mask as a memento." When Manager Mu saw Tang Jie set down the Bull Head Mask, he called out to him.
Tang Jie glanced at the Bull Head Mask, then finally nodded slightly. He picked up the Bull Head Mask and left with it.
Meanwhile, the entire arena remained immersed in the shock Tang Jie had brought them, unaware that this had already been his final battle there!
"Let's go home."
Tang Jie left alone without making a sound. Although he had left the arena, he had never encountered an opponent there who was worthy of him using his full strength. His path as a martial artist would not end here.
After returning to Qingyuan Town, Tang Jie practiced his techniques and his saber every day as usual.
"Swish, swish, swish!"
Heavy snow drifted through the sky like goose feathers. Tang Jie wielded the Iron Cutting Saber in his hand. His saber art had not changed much, consisting only of lifting, chopping, and slashing, but his speed had reached an astonishing level. As he swung his saber, streaks of saber light crisscrossed the sky, moving so fast that they were difficult to catch with the naked eye.
The falling snowflakes were shredded to pieces by Tang Jie's blade. If anyone saw him practicing his saber like this, they would have found it impossible to believe their eyes. He was cutting snow with a saber, and within three meters of Tang Jie, not a single snowflake could fall to the ground intact.
"Phew... Although my saber art has reached an extreme, I feel there's still room for improvement. What changes will come if I train the Iron Cutting Saber Art to the pinnacle of perfection?"
After practicing his saber continuously in the heavy snow for more than an hour, Tang Jie stopped. He exhaled a breath of scorching air and thought to himself.
The highest realm of saber-art proficiency was perfection, but Tang Jie felt that there had to be a higher realm beyond it. To reach that realm, however, even Tang Jie would have to spend a long time in painstaking cultivation!
"Hm? Someone's coming?"
Tang Jie's ears twitched slightly. He heard a hurried series of footsteps coming from the street, and they were heading toward his home.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
Sure enough, before long, a hurried knocking sounded outside the door.
Tang Jie walked over and opened the gate, only to see a skinny old man standing outside.
Tang Jie knew this old man. He was none other than the mayor of Qingyuan Town.
"Grandpa Mayor, what brings you here?" Tang Jie asked with a smile, puzzled as to why the other man had come to his home.
"Huff, huff, huff..."
The mayor of Qingyuan Town took two deep breaths before speaking anxiously, his face full of worry. "Tang Jie, something has happened to your father. Not long ago, someone delivered a letter to our town. It said... your father committed a grave crime and will be beheaded in public at the execution grounds of Lingyue City two days from now!"
"What?"
The mayor's words left Tang Jie frozen on the spot. Of course, he did not think the mayor was joking.
Tang Tianhao often went out, and this time he had been gone for nearly two months without returning home. Could he have gotten himself into trouble?
Although Tang Jie's heart was filled with shock and disbelief, he maintained his composure as he asked, "Mayor, what crime did my father commit?"
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