Chen Yanxun walked with a limp, looking not fifteen but a decrepit old man of ninety-five. He slowed and slowed again, wishing this path into the arena could stretch until the end of time.
He felt all manner of powerful gazes upon him and silently kept his mouth shut.
Perhaps he was still too young, his blood and qi so vigorous that he could not even zone out. He was a little confused.
This was not how the story was supposed to unfold.
He had come to River Viewing Terrace only to claim the championship—to obtain that Light of Humanity which had illuminated his destiny.
Helping Chen Siwu attain True Insight and raising Song Kingdom's banner was the repayment he had promised.
He should have entered the Yellow River Assembly's main tournament without drawing attention, then relied on precisely sufficient strength and appropriately measured performances to advance step by step into the finals.
Of course, he could turn over his hidden cards. He had prepared for this tournament to be incomparably fierce. He had even expected everyone to fight at the limits of the Inner Palace realm, chasing the so-called "First Inner Palace in History" battle record Jiang Wang had set in Soul-Severing Gorge... He had prepared cards that could be revealed in broad daylight!
But he should not have had to reveal his hidden cards in the very first match.
This was only the first round of the preliminaries!
What level of opponent was Jiang An'an?
Back when Jiang Wang was nineteen, he had left Linzi with a sword at his side, defeated every opponent in his realm, and earned the title "Foremost of the Inner Palace."
Jiang An'an was already twenty this year. She had begun cultivation earlier than Jiang Wang, was older than Jiang Wang had been