Ye Qiu strode forward, his fist clenched beneath his sleeve until his knuckles turned white. As he walked, it gradually loosened.
It seemed everything had passed.
Passed completely.
He could feel that something in his heart had changed. He had not let it go; he held it dearer than ever, but he no longer feared it!
Ahead, another Light Gate appeared.
Ye Qiu stepped through it and found the Arena.
The Arena stood empty.
Ye Qiu frowned.
He walked onto the Arena. Light flashed before him, and a figure appeared.
The figure wore purple robes. Tall and handsome, he gave off a distinctive air.
There was something unusual about it.
Divine?
No. Dazzling was more like it.
One look at him, and a sense of admiration arose naturally.
But Ye Qiu's admiration vanished almost at once. A powerful aura burst from the figure.
It became crushing pressure that bore down on Ye Qiu like a mountain, seeking to force him to his knees in submission.
To make him afraid!
It sought to subdue his body and intimidate his heart!
It was just like the phantom that had appeared when he resonated with King Ye outside King Ye's Mansion. That phantom had tried to crush him.
At this moment, this Purple figure had a bit of that same quality.
Whoosh—
The figure flashed and reached him in the blink of an eye. Its immense pressure swelled still further.
The next moment, it brought a fist crashing down.
Ye Qiu flew backward.
He landed below the Arena.
"Blegh—"
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Ye Qiu narrowed his eyes. "Who is that?"
Clearly, no one was going to answer him.
The Great Serpent did not know.
Neither did he.
The next moment, Ye Qiu climbed back into the Arena. As the Purple figure approached, he punched straight at it.
One Punch Breaks All Laws!
Boom—
A deafening shockwave exploded. Ye Qiu flew backward again and landed below the arena.
He spat out a second mouthful of blood.
This man
was somewhat different from the one outside King Ye's Mansion.
The one outside King Ye's Mansion had been no more than a single breath of power.
This was more like an incarnation...
A powerful incarnation!
"Isn't this the Dao Heart Tower? What's the point of putting an incarnation here for me? Am I supposed to defeat it to temper my heart?"
Ye Qiu asked.
The Great Serpent remained silent.
Ye Qiu tried a third time, with the same result. His opponent was considerably stronger.
Helpless, Ye Qiu withdrew.
Staying would only mean taking more blows.
As he left the Dao Heart Tower, several people approached. At their head was a man in purple robes.
The man was tall and handsome, with a distinctive presence that made him stand out like a crane among chickens.
Ye Qiu narrowed his eyes. It's him!
The man from the Arena!
"So you're Junior Sister Lu's Fiancé?" The man approached with a faint smile on his handsome face.
Ye Qiu looked at him. "Ye Qiu," he corrected.
The man smiled, revealing red lips and white teeth. His eyes were clear, but the arrogance buried deep within them—or rather, the contempt and disdain he held for Ye Qiu—was glaring.
A disciple behind him stepped forward with a sneer. "The man before you is Southern State's Number One Prodigy, the Academy's Chief, and the Chu Family's Young Master—Chu Qianqiu!"
Chu Qianqiu!
Ye Qiu remembered the purple-robed man whose balls he had crushed with a kick and whom he had later killed below West Mountain. That man had come from the Chu Family. If Ye Qiu recalled correctly, he had said his elder brother was Chu Qianqiu!
"Your cultivation is decent. Your Qi and Blood aren't bad either," Chu Qianqiu said with a smile, without mentioning any of that.
Ye Qiu had no desire to answer, and he did not. He hated being judged from on high.
"But you're not worthy of Lu Li." With that, Chu Qianqiu smiled and walked away.
It seemed he had waited here for Ye Qiu just to show off.
Ye Qiu watched them leave, then asked, puzzled, "Why is his image imprinted on the Dao Heart Tower's second floor?"
The Great Serpent said, "Maybe because he's the Chief, the top disciple. They might use him to train the others."
"Or maybe he did it with Intent. He placed an incarnation there to crush your Dao heart!"
Ye Qiu narrowed his eyes.
Then he turned around.
So he came here to flaunt his superiority!
Crush my Dao heart?
With an incarnation, no less!
He plunged straight into the second-floor Light Gate and bounded into the Arena. The Purple figure appeared again.
Boom—
Ye Qiu slammed his fist forward. The anger behind it seemed to lend the punch even more power.
But he still could not shake the figure. The purple-robed image sent him flying again.
Ye Qiu's expression did not change. He rose, climbed back into the Arena, and threw another punch.
And so it went.
Once, twice, three times...
He spent the entire night there, striking the Dao Projection again and again. Each punch surpassed the last.
Yet when the night passed, it still crushed him.
Another day passed, and it still crushed him.
It was not until dusk on the second day that Ye Qiu's next punch took on an unmistakably new quality.
His energy had grown denser, his Intent more domineering!
Boom—
Fist met fist. He retreated, but the Purple figure trembled too.
Ye Qiu wiped blood from the corner of his mouth and grinned. Then he charged again, his conviction unshakable.
A second punch!
Boom—
A blast of air erupted. He retreated, but the purple-robed figure shuddered and took a step back.
Boom—
A third punch.
He retreated, but the instant he did, he stamped hard on the Arena and surged forward again.
A fourth punch, a fifth, a sixth...
When the ninth punch landed, his Intent blazed more fiercely than ever. The purple-robed figure's fist burst apart, and its body flew backward. With a boom, it shattered completely.
Ye Qiu lowered his fist and wiped the blood from his mouth again. "Crush me?" he snorted.
He turned and stepped down from the Arena.
Then a thought struck him. "Brother Snake, if that's his incarnation, can he sense what happens to it?"
The Great Serpent said, "If he put it there with Intent to target you, then he definitely can."
Ye Qiu's eyes lit up at once.
He turned and climbed back into the Arena. The Purple figure appeared before him again.
Ye Qiu charged straight at it and punched.
A day later, he shattered the Purple figure in five punches.
After another night, he shattered it in three.
Throughout the process, his Intent grew stronger, fiercer, and purer, reaching a terrifying level.
By the following day, a single punch from him made the Purple figure explode!
He had overwhelmed it!
By dusk, he bounded into the Arena. The instant the Purple figure appeared, he kicked it in the crotch. Its groin burst apart.
"Crush me?" He snorted at the Purple figure as its ruined crotch gave way and the rest of its body faded.
He turned, wiped the blood from his fist, and stepped down from the Arena.
I'm not even afraid of Lu Li. Why would I fear you?
He walked out of the Dao Heart Tower. The moment he appeared, the purple-robed man in the distance fixed him with a cold stare.
Ye Qiu glanced sideways at him and curled his lip.
Chu Qianqiu's face darkened.
Boom—
As it did, Ye Qiu's aura erupted. His Qi and Blood surged past two hundred thousand!
The tempering had pushed his Qi and Blood past the two-hundred-thousand mark!
Chu Qianqiu froze. His expression turned from dark to icy.
Boom—
Before his icy gaze, Ye Qiu's aura erupted a second time. His cultivation reached the seventh level of Mystic Passage!
Another breakthrough!
Crack—
Chu Qianqiu clenched his fist so hard it made a sharp sound. His expression had grown cold enough to shed flakes of ice!
"Not bad. An excellent training ground. Saved me months of hard work!" Ye Qiu smiled and walked away.
As he went, a divine aura rose from him, carrying a distinctive quality.
It was his Intent—now extraordinarily pure and domineering!
He truly had made tremendous progress!
Chu Qianqiu's lips were a little red...
Before you continue