"They're here, they're here!"
Some of the spectators in the stands began to stir.
Ma Feifei was puzzled. Unable to resist, he quietly asked Zhou Zhuling beside him, "What's going on?"
Zhou Zhuling frowned slightly. She wasn't sure either, but Zhou Guanyu beside them cut in. "I heard Yun Chang and Yang Chengzhi were childhood sweethearts. They both got into Zhenguan Academy together, but for some reason they later split up, and Yun Chang got together with Xiaoyaozi."
Ma Feifei listened and wondered why the story sounded so familiar. Thinking it over, he realized it was just like the plot he'd made up in the book he'd written about Yang Chengzhi. Could it actually be true?
"So that's why Yang Chengzhi got into a fight with Xiaoyaozi over a disagreement before the national war?"
If that was the case, it was easy to understand why Yang Chengzhi hated Xiaoyaozi so much. After all, this would count as the bitter grudge of having his beloved stolen, wouldn't it?
Zhou Guanyu shook his head. "That's just hearsay. They've never admitted they were involved, so whether they ever had a relationship is still unknown. But it seems Yang Chengzhi's cultivation stopped progressing after Yun Chang went public with her relationship with Xiaoyaozi. And at last year's Dragon Ranking tournament, Yang Chengzhi only avoided falling off the Dragon Ranking because Yun Chang helped him."
Even when the people involved denied anything, enough little details could add up to reveal the truth. That was why Yun Chang's approaching Yang Chengzhi had stirred some of the spectators. They'd been following this "love triangle" and knew a little about the relationships between the three of them.
Ma Feifei rubbed his chin and looked at Yang Chengzhi, muttering, "Now that you mention it, he does seem to have a protagonist's halo."
On the arena, Yun Chang stared at Yang Chengzhi with a complicated look. His breakthrough into the Spirit Sect realm had truly taken her by surprise.
"What are you here for?" Yang Chengzhi asked calmly, his tone indifferent.
"Congratulations," Yun Chang said softly.
"Thank you."
The atmosphere grew awkward. Yun Chang wanted to say something, but didn't know where to begin. Yang Chengzhi's emotions were churning inside, yet he didn't want to say a word.
"Student Yun Chang, are you here to challenge someone on the rankings?" The instructor beside them was feeling awkward and couldn't help asking.
"Reporting to the instructor, I am," Yun Chang replied coolly.
Looking at Yang Chengzhi, a different expression flickered across Yun Chang's complicated face. "I'll give you my ranking. In return, promise me you won't challenge him, all right?"
During the ranking challenges, those defending higher places weren't barred from challenging those defending lower ones. The winner could then exchange rankings with their opponent.
Yang Chengzhi shook his head and glanced at Xiaoyaozi in the distance. He was currently fighting a new student. Xiaoyaozi seemed to have found a worthy opponent; the two exchanged blow after blow in a fierce battle.
"I didn't come back this time for a ranking. I came for one fight."
He and Xiaoyaozi had too much history between them. The path of cultivation required a clear heart and unburdened thoughts. Ever since two years ago, Xiaoyaozi had been an obstacle in his cultivation, keeping his realm from advancing even a step. Unless he removed that obstacle, he'd never be able to go any further in his life.
Yun Chang shook her head. There was a hint of pleading in her voice. "You can't beat him. Take my advice and give up on this, all right?"
Yang Chengzhi shrugged and said with a trace of self-mockery, "So what if I can't beat him? It wouldn't be the first time I've lost to him."
At the first Dragon Ranking tournament two years ago, he'd lost to Xiaoyaozi. He'd lost to him again in their internal conflict a month ago. He was used to it by now.
"This time is different. He'll kill you," Yun Chang said seriously.
She knew Xiaoyaozi too well. Before, Yang Chengzhi had been no more than an ant in his eyes. Now, with his greatly improved cultivation, Yang Chengzhi had become a genuine threat to Xiaoyaozi. Given Xiaoyaozi's nature, he wouldn't let Yang Chengzhi keep growing. Even at the Dragon Ranking tournament, he'd risk breaking the rules to kill him and eliminate the threat.
"Funny. This time, I want to kill him too." Yang Chengzhi drew his sword and glanced at Yun Chang. "Are you going to challenge me or not? If not, get off the arena. I have things to do."
Yun Chang glared at Yang Chengzhi and bit her lower lip. At last, as though she'd made up her mind, she held out her hand. A spirit sword appeared in her palm.
"Then I can only stop you from going after him."
Since they'd entered Zhenguan Academy, this was the first time Yun Chang had attacked Yang Chengzhi. Yang Chengzhi looked at her, his face full of emotion.
Yun Chang swung her spirit sword. A flash of light passed, and a crack appeared between her and Yang Chengzhi.
"From now on, we're strangers."
Yun Chang's eyes reddened, and her heart grew inexplicably heavy. The Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy around them began to stir. It enveloped the spirit sword in her hand, which trembled constantly, as though it could barely withstand the powerful energy.
"Whoosh!"
With a sound that pierced the air, Yun Chang charged at Yang Chengzhi, and the two began to fight.
"Yang Chengzhi's been on the defensive the whole time. Looks like there really is something between them," Zhou Guanyu commented as he watched.
Yun Chang, ranked fifteenth on the Dragon Ranking, had also broken through into the Spirit Sect realm, but she'd only reached the late stage of the Spirit Sect First Stage.
Yang Chengzhi, on the other hand, had already reached the second stage of the Spirit Sect realm. Yun Chang had practically no chance of beating him. Yet she was the one taking the initiative in their fight, while Yang Chengzhi stayed on the defensive. Even the more advanced cultivators in the crowd could see that Yang Chengzhi had passed up several chances to counterattack.
"Yang Chengzhi really is devoted," a seasoned gossip fan sighed.
"They were childhood sweethearts, even if she ran off with someone else," another spectator said. Quite a few people knew the story.
"What could Yang Chengzhi do? He couldn't compete with Xiaoyaozi. That's how the world works. Without strength, you can't protect anything. You can't blame Yun Chang for going with Xiaoyaozi."
In the eyes of the world, Yun Chang hadn't made the wrong choice. She was simply adapting to the laws of this world. Only by attaching herself to the strong could she go further.
"But Yang Chengzhi's cultivation has surged. He's no weaker than Xiaoyaozi now," one spectator observed.
"So what? Setting cultivation aside, could an ordinary man like Yang Chengzhi compare with Xiaoyaozi's backing? His father is a Spirit Emperor."
Talent was certainly important on the path of cultivation. But without powerful backing to support you, the road would be unimaginably difficult, and you'd have to rely on your own effort and exploration for everything. With strong backing, however, cultivation went much more smoothly, and you could avoid many detours.
"You can't put it that way. The great Emperor Chu the Conqueror was once a woodcutter from a mountain village, and he still founded the mighty Chu Kingdom and attained the rank of Spirit Saint."
"Are you just arguing for the sake of it? If that's how it works, does that mean everyone can become Emperor Chu the Conqueror?"
"How do you know Yang Chengzhi won't be the next Emperor Chu the Conqueror?"
"..."
The conversation among the spectators had gone off track.
On the arena, Yun Chang kept trying to hurt Yang Chengzhi, but no matter what she did—not even with an all-out strike—she couldn't inflict any damage on him.
And the longer they fought, the more shocked Yun Chang became. She realized Yang Chengzhi's cultivation wasn't at the first stage of the Spirit Sect realm at all. His stage was at least one level higher than hers—in other words, he'd reached at least the second stage of the Spirit Sect realm.
"How did your cultivation improve so quickly?"
"Perhaps it was fate." Yang Chengzhi rarely smiled, but now he did. He turned his head toward Xiaoyaozi and saw that the fight over there had ended. Xiaoyaozi was still standing on the arena.
As it happened, Xiaoyaozi had also been watching the fight between him and Yun Chang. When Yang Chengzhi's gaze swept over, a cold smile appeared on Xiaoyaozi's face.
"Clang!"
"Bang!"
A crisp collision rang out, and Yun Chang was sent flying off the arena.
"Student Yang Chengzhi wins," the instructor beside them announced.
"Now just watch. Watch me defeat the man you once chose," Yang Chengzhi said softly as he walked up to Yun Chang.
Yang Chengzhi rose to his feet and stared across at Xiaoyaozi beneath the Ascension Stele. His eyes blazed with fighting spirit, and the cloak behind him seemed to catch that spirit, fluttering despite the lack of wind.
"Dragon Ranking number three hundred, student Yang Chengzhi, challenges the number one on the Dragon Ranking!"
The earth-shattering announcement stirred a commotion across Jiaolong Plain.
"The bottom-ranked challenger is taking on the top-ranked one? Did I hear that right?" The crowd was astonished.
In the five thousand years since Zhenguan Academy established the Dragon Ranking, this was the first time someone at the very bottom had challenged the one at the top. Even if it wasn't the last, it was certainly unprecedented.
That announcement plunged Jiaolong Plain into silence. The challengers stopped fighting, the spectators stopped talking, and even the powerful figures like King Saint Chu were drawn over. They all turned to look at Xiaoyaozi and Yang Chengzhi.
"Interesting," the powerful figures thought.
"How dare he?" the ordinary cultivators wondered.
"So it's finally happening!" the students of Zhenguan Academy thought.
"Here they come, here they come! Whether I can complete the mission depends on this fight!" Ma Feifei thought.
Before you continue