Wang Yichui

Just as Sun Xiaoyan stunned the entire audience with his victory, Lin Zhengli, who had just woken from unconsciousness, was complaining quietly behind his elder brother.

"Why did you concede for me? If you'd woken me up then, I might not have lost!"

"And then what?" Lin Zhengren didn't turn around.

"If I hadn't been careless, that barbarian wouldn't have had a chance! And that guy from Maple Forest City hasn't even laid his foundation! I can't accept him taking the top spot!"

"Even if you beat him, by the points, he'd still be the first-year champion. It's meaningless. Besides..." Lin Zhengren's lips twitched slightly. "What if you lost again?"

"Impossible!" Lin Zhengli glanced around, then lowered his voice, unwilling to concede. "You don't believe me? That I'd lose to him?"

"Who knows?" Lin Zhengren smiled lightly.

Lin Zhengli felt the sting of contempt, especially since he had indeed been pinned down and pummeled in front of so many people just moments ago.

He was about to say something when Lin Zhengren suddenly turned, grabbing him by the collar.

"Remember! You've already made an enemy with your stupidity."

He lowered his voice. "If you don't have absolute certainty, don't give your enemy a chance to be made whole. He hasn't defeated any of you. His championship is far from complete."

He released his grip, let go of his brother, and turned back to watch the match. His scholarly face showed no trace of gloom.

"Don't complete him."

In the rotation battles, Maple Forest City had good luck with the draw. There was no internal conflict in the first round.

Li Jianqiu had a bye, while Wang Changxiang and Sun Xiaoyan fought the first match.

Neither side intended to change their fighting style.

Sun Xiaoyan still charged forward recklessly, and Wang Changxiang still started with his fog.

"What's this! Fog again!"

"Right! Can't see a thing!"

Unable to watch the match clearly, the common spectators didn't spare the Wang family any face.

But the audience's opinion was clearly not Wang Changxiang's concern.

Sun Xiaoyan crashed around in the fog, missing every time. And when the Dao technique was complete, the wind rose and the fog scattered.

That gentle breath passed through the finger zone, instantly turning violent, becoming a tornado. It roared, smashing through the thick fog, straight into Sun Xiaoyan!

"Ah!" The chubby boy roared, about as intimidating as a suckling pig's squeal.

But his strength was undeniable. He still tried to charge forward in the roaring tornado!

His clothes were torn by the wind, his face flushed red.

His feet gripped the ground firmly, but the bricks shattered one by one as he was pushed back step by step.

Stepping out of the line meant losing.

Sun Xiaoyan began forming hand seals. It was extremely difficult in such a tornado, but he managed to succeed.

A stone wall appeared before him, but it was shattered in a single breath.

The rubble slammed into Sun Xiaoyan, and this time he completely lost control. His whole body was swept into the air and thrown out of the arena.

The Earth Skin Drum Dao technique was indeed formidable in defense. In such a powerful tornado, no wounds could be seen on him. The rubble struck his body without even leaving a bruise.

But he still lost.

Sun Xiaoyan's defense was nearly unbreakable at this stage. In a real fight, Wang Changxiang might not have been able to do anything about him. But this was a match—blowing him out of the arena counted as a win.

Jiang Wang sighed softly. He suddenly realized that whether facing Wang Changxiang or Sun Xiaoyan, he didn't seem to have any good options. The Four Spirits Body Refining's defense was clearly inferior to the Earth Skin Drum, and while the Purple Qi Comes from the East Sword Technique was sharp, it likely couldn't break through. With a good weapon, maybe he'd have a chance. For now, he couldn't beat this chubby kid.

As for Wang Changxiang, once the Breath-Blowing Tornado came out, he could only run.

That was a Grade-A Dao technique! In the entire Maple Forest City Daoist Academy, including the instructors, how many could use it?

Monstrous!

"Wind Sparrow." The hunchbacked old man spoke again. "His Dao Vein true spirit should be a Wind Sparrow, naturally attuned to wind elemental power. That's how he can use a Grade-A Dao technique beyond his rank."

Jiang Wang had never heard of a Dao Vein true spirit like the Wind Sparrow before. In the academy's lessons on Dao Vein knowledge, the instructors had only described the Earthworm true spirit. Jiang Wang had once thought all Dao Vein true spirits were Earthworms.

Knowledge often reveals strength.

Jiang Wang and the others exchanged glances, their attitudes toward this unsightly old man becoming much more respectful.

"May I ask, sir, your honorable surname?" Huang Azhan coughed, his demeanor respectful and polite.

Probably holding a grudge for his earlier loose tongue, the hunchbacked old man was very harsh toward Huang Azhan. He snorted coldly and didn't respond.

"That's right, Grandpa, what's your surname?" Jiang An'an suddenly turned around, her big eyes full of curiosity. "I see you all the time, but I don't know what to call you."

"Gui!" The little girl Qingzhi beside her had just opened her mouth when the hunchbacked old man beamed and caught it. "Grandpa's surname is Gui. Just call me Grandpa Gui."

"That's a truly distinguished surname." Huang Azhan shook his head, savoring it.

His flattery would soon flow without end.

Even Jiang An'an and Qingzhi quickly turned their heads, fixing their gazes back on the arena.

The second round of combat had already begun.

Wang Changxiang versus Li Jianqiu.

Whether by the long-standing rankings on the Dao Merit Board or the combat strength the two had displayed so far, Wang Changxiang held an overwhelming advantage. But for some reason, Jiang Wang felt that Li Jianqiu was not so simple.

"Senior Brother Wang, can we not use such a shameless technique as the Breath-Blowing Tornado?" Li Jianqiu tried to negotiate before the fight began.

Wang Changxiang had already recovered his Dao Essence reserves, his energy full and complete. Hearing this, he just smiled. "Junior Brother jokes."

His usual gentleness.

The hand seal was already complete, and the mist scattered.

At that very moment, Li Jianqiu spread his arms wide, and a fierce wind arose.

Low-grade Bing-class Dao technique, Call Wind!

This was not the Nether Mist of Small Forest Town; ordinary wind could scatter it.

After all, the mist was not some unsolvable technique. The truly unsolvable thing was only the Breath-Blowing Tornado. In the previous two battles, his opponents had not lacked means to break the mist, but they had chosen to defend themselves first, never expecting to be shattered in a single blow.

On the field where the mist had dispersed, Wang Changxiang's hands never stopped forming seals, his voice calm. "Junior Brother Li never showed interest in wind-type techniques before."

The world of Dao techniques was vast and boundless. Scattered knowledge was worse than specialization; breadth was inferior to depth.

Li Jianqiu completed his hand seal, shook out two flaming swords from his hands, and with a light tap of his toes, soared like an eagle striking the sky.

"I learned them for you, Senior Brother!"

In that moment, he was in the air, his momentum like a rainbow.

Wang Changxiang's expression did not change. He brought his hands together before his lips. His index and middle fingers touched, while his thumbs, ring fingers, and pinkies each aligned. In the triangular space formed by his middle and ring fingers, he opened his mouth and exhaled.

Breath-Blowing Tornado!

That single breath instantly became a tornado. Li Jianqiu had already closed in, but with no leverage in the air, he suddenly performed several consecutive backflips.

"Good!" Huang Azhan clapped and shouted in praise!

Except in very rare cases, before opening the Heaven and Earth Gate, humans could hardly fly physically. Li Jianqiu's display of mid-air control was already astonishing.

But the people around looked at Huang Azhan as if he were an idiot. After a few claps, he shrank back sheepishly.

Because although Li Jianqiu's mid-air backflip was impressive, he had flipped out of the arena, almost equivalent to conceding.

Li Jianqiu landed, dismissed the flaming swords in his hands, and wore a look of shock. "Your Breath-Blowing Tornado can already be completed this quickly?"

He couldn't help but be surprised. Any cultivator with a discerning eye could see that the only chance to defeat Wang Changxiang lay before he completed the Breath-Blowing Tornado. But no one knew that not only had he mastered a Grade-A Dao technique, but he had mastered it so thoroughly, so quickly, that he could even shorten the seal-forming time!

This also meant that in his previous battles, he hadn't needed such a long preparation time at all. The mist was just a trivial smokescreen, blinding opponents like Li Jianqiu.

"If I went slower, I felt something might go wrong," Wang Changxiang said with a gentle smile.

Li Jianqiu was silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a relieved laugh.

"I lose."

With this, the champion of the Three Cities Dao Discussion for third-year students was decided. Wang Changxiang won both matches and returned with honor.

After this battle, Wang Changxiang earned a new nickname—Wang Yichui...

Meaning that no matter what opponent he faced, he could just blow them away with one breath. Of course, it also implied he only had the strength for one blow.

In Huang Azhan's words: short but fierce.

Next, the match between Li Jianqiu and Sun Xiaoyan could no longer affect the outcome, and their fight was quite perfunctory.

Though to the watching commoners, it still seemed intense. Li Jianqiu almost perfectly demonstrated the ferocity of fire-type techniques, forming seals like lightning. Sun Xiaoyan once again charged around relying on the Earth Skin Drum. Before they could clash at close range, Li Jianqiu gracefully retreated beyond the line and conceded again.

But in Jiang Wang's eyes, Li Jianqiu had not used his full strength. Because from start to finish, the ancient longsword at his waist had never been drawn.

The participants left the field, making way for the fifth-year students of the Dao Academy to fight.

As a familiar junior brother, Jiang Wang naturally went up to console Li Jianqiu.

But Li Jianqiu spoke first. "I had prepared a surprise, but I didn't get a chance to show it."

Jiang Wang knew he was referring to the astonishing completion speed of Wang Changxiang's Breath-Blowing Tornado.

"Earlier, against the Three Mountains City, why didn't you try?"

Though the fight had been dazzling, any sharp-eyed person could see that Li Jianqiu had no intention of competing for victory.

Li Jianqiu gave a bitter smile. "First, I might not have been able to break his defensive technique. Second, second and third place mean nothing."

He turned and walked away.

"The match is about to start!" Jiang Wang reminded him.

Li Jianqiu had already walked off, hand on his sword. "I'm not watching."

Thanks to the book friend Snow Mountain Beside for the tip!