The Outer Sect Great Devil King

Chen Fan continued watching the arena. Sure enough, after holding out for a few more moves, Wu De clasped his hands and conceded defeat, walking off the field. Yet no one watching considered Wu De a loser. On the contrary, he had a strong chance of entering the inner court. Not only had he swept aside several disciples in succession with a single move each, but when he had faced Jiang Yaoying earlier, his Internal Qi had clearly been running low, yet he had still endured for a long while. Besides, the rules prohibited seriously injuring one's opponent, so he had not even fully used his blade against them. He had held back quite a bit.

After Wu De stepped down, Jiang Yaoying stood confidently in the center of the arena. With the movement technique she had displayed earlier, surely no one else would dare step forward to challenge her. After all, everyone who ought to have appeared had already done so.

Sure enough, silence blanketed the edge of the field. Everyone looked at one another, yet no one dared stick their head out.

At that moment, an elderly man walked onto the martial arts field. Chen Fan recognized him as one of the outer sect elders. He announced in a ringing voice, "Since that is the case, after a three-count, if no one steps forward to challenge, this inner court selection will conclude. Three... two..."

Chen Fan was frantic and was just about to move when a voice rang out behind him. "Wait, I'll do it!" Then a figure flashed forward and charged into the martial arts field. Charged, indeed. This man was tall and powerfully built, with thick limbs and a broad, sturdy waist and back. The moment he appeared, his presence was astonishing.

Seeing another contestant enter, the elder returned to the edge of the field to continue overseeing the match. Jiang Yaoying was slightly startled, but promptly readied herself for battle.

The man clasped his hands. "I am Li Ruotong. Please instruct me." With that, he drew a shortsword and looked at Jiang Yaoying, but did not rashly strike first.

Ruotong? He really did look like a barrel. A man with such a build wielding a shortsword looked truly bizarre. But the stranger it looked, the faster one fell. Jiang Yaoying might not have an easy time of it.

Chen Fan truly hoped this man could win. Judging from Jiang Yaoying's strength just now, she would not be easy to defeat. Best if both sides fought until they were badly battered, then he could take the stage with greater confidence. Besides, he was genuinely wary of Jiang Yaoying's bizarre movement technique. It would be best if he could avoid facing it.

While Chen Fan pondered, the two on the field moved. Jiang Yaoying launched the first attack, several afterimages reappearing as she thrust her sword forward. Li Ruotong suddenly reversed his shortsword, gripping its hilt with the blade pointed downward in a reverse grip. He slashed several streaks of sword light at the afterimages with lightning speed. The sword light collided with those phantoms, and both scattered at once.

A reverse sword stance? That strike was truly swift and perilous! Chen Fan marveled inwardly. There were actually people like this among the outer sect disciples? He had been far too naive. He had always believed entering the inner court was a certainty, something already nailed to the board. Now it seemed laughably absurd.

After scattering the afterimages, Li Ruotong did not pause. His figure flashed, and he was already before Jiang Yaoying. Jiang Yaoying had also been startled by those earlier exchanges. After creating afterimages, her true body would normally withdraw to avoid being trapped at close range. Her advantage lay in her ghostly movement technique and the speed with which she executed her moves. Yet her opponent's speed was not the least bit inferior. More frightening still, this man possessed extremely rich combat experience. In an instant, he found the right opening and attacked before she could react.

A direct clash was not Jiang Yaoying's strength. She hurriedly twisted her body and retreated repeatedly, producing several more afterimages as she did. Yet Li Ruotong was utterly undisturbed by the phantoms. He charged straight ahead, intending to claim victory with one overwhelmingly powerful move.

Jiang Yaoying was battle-hardened. How could she let him have his way? As she retreated, she flashed to the left and evaded the attack. Li Ruotong had put too much force into his strike, and when it hit empty air, he staggered forward several steps, nearly falling.

At the same time, Jiang Yaoying saw the opening. How could she miss such a flaw? In the span of a spark and a flash, she had already gathered her Internal Qi and thrust her slender sword toward Li Ruotong at high speed. This time, she did not create afterimages. First, that movement technique required a great deal of Internal Qi and could not be used without limit. Second, she believed her opponent had exposed a weakness. With this move, victory and defeat would be decided.

Yet what she had not expected was that victory and defeat truly were decided—only the victor was not her. Just as Jiang Yaoying flashed behind Li Ruotong with her sword raised, about to stab him, she suddenly felt something pierce her lower abdomen. She was horrified and hurriedly pulled back, stopping short. Li Ruotong had actually turned his back to her and stabbed backward with a reverse-handed strike. However, he had clearly restrained his Sword Qi, merely pricking her skin and leaving a small wound. Jiang Yaoying secretly counted herself fortunate. If this had been a fight to the death, it would not have been a simple flesh wound.

"I lost." Jiang Yaoying had been outmatched, and there was nothing more to say. Leaving those words behind, she walked off the martial arts field.

Li Ruotong turned around and clasped his hands again. "Senior Sister, you let me win!" It seemed that although this burly man looked older than his years, his true age was probably younger than Jiang Yaoying's.

Li Ruotong naturally took his place in the center of the martial arts field. This should be the end now, right? Everyone thought so. Quite a few disciples considered taking advantage of the fact that his Internal Qi had yet to recover and trying their luck. But while anyone could take part in this contest, they still knew their own limits. Forget whether they could win after going up—if Li Ruotong crushed them instead, they would lose all face.

"What is your connection to the Li family of Golden Jade Manor in the Central Plains?" At that moment, a voice rang out. Everyone looked over to see that Steward Xu of the Sword-Imperial Pavilion was questioning Li Ruotong.

"Reporting to Senior, my ancestor was once from Golden Jade Manor. However, due to certain changes back then, he had no choice but to leave the manor, after which he lived in seclusion in the West Ridge Mountains. The old affairs of my Lineage are not worth mentioning again. This junior only longs for the sword path and hopes Senior will grant me this opportunity," Li Ruotong replied respectfully.

Steward Xu nodded but said nothing further. The contest continued.

Yet after that, no one dared step out to challenge him, and the scene once again fell into a stalemate. Over on the inner court side, Qin Ziyan and Ye Wan both watched the outer sect crowd anxiously. What was Chen Fan doing? Had he given up? At that moment, the outer sect elder was also about to step forward.

Just then, a figure moved. It was Chen Fan. He had no choice. At this rate, if he did not go up, no one would. He could only brace himself and step out.

"Senior Brother Murong, hold this for me." Chen Fan tossed his snake staff to Murong Zhu, then sprang into the air and landed on the martial arts field.

The moment he entered the arena, waves of startled cries rose from the crowd of watching outer sect disciples.

Someone shouted, "Wow, it's the outer sect Great Devil King, Chen Fan!"

"So he's Chen Fan? The outer sect Great Devil King? Why is he so young?"

"The Great Devil King Chen Fan! I thought he wasn't coming to compete. Now there'll be a good show!"

Hearing the comments from below, Chen Fan's mouth twitched. What was going on? Since when had he acquired such a nickname?

Among the inner court disciples, some also recognized Chen Fan. The Swordheart Hall disciples in particular stared intently at the field with curiosity. Qin Ziyan and Ye Wan were also dumbfounded when they heard the title Great Devil King. Ye Wan especially could not help cursing inwardly, Great Devil King, little devil girl? They really are a perfect match!

"I'll be honest. I left in too much of a hurry today and forgot to bring my sword. Senior Brother Li, please attack as you wish," Chen Fan said.

Another uproar erupted beneath the stage. "Isn't that way too arrogant? Senior Brother Li, just chop him to death!"

"As expected of the Great Devil King! A youth who isn't arrogant has lived in vain."

The crowd below had now clearly split into two factions. One consisted of Chen Fan's supporters, disciples who had entered the sect two years ago. The other was made up of disciples who had entered twelve years ago. They had cultivated ten more years than him, after all. How could they possibly submit to a little brat like Chen Fan?

Li Ruotong's expression hardened. He did not believe anyone would come to a contest and forget to bring a sword. This man must be full of himself and trying to pull some stunt. "Since that is the case, don't blame me for being impolite." As he spoke, he held his sword in reverse and slashed at Chen Fan. At this moment, he unleashed all his Internal Qi, with no need to hold back or defend himself. Chen Fan had no weapon, after all. He simply could not counterattack.

Seeing his opponent attack, Chen Fan hurriedly retreated again and again. He had no way to block and could only flee. He was helpless beyond measure. He truly had forgotten his sword. Li Ruotong probably believed Chen Fan was trying to humiliate him, which was why he had used his full strength from the start.

A completely one-sided situation unfolded on the field. Chen Fan was forced back step by step and was about to leave the arena. The instant he crossed out of bounds, he would be declared defeated. Li Ruotong's momentum surged even higher as he struck. If Chen Fan did not retreat from this move, he would be hit; if he retreated again, he would step right out of the field. Just then, Chen Fan's body suddenly swayed. Li Ruotong struck empty air and nearly failed to stop himself from charging out of bounds.

That move again—playing hard to get? Many people thought Li Ruotong was deliberately feigning weakness again and exposing an opening. But would that work? Chen Fan had no weapon. Would he really attack so easily?

Li Ruotong was not doing it deliberately. He was utterly shocked. That strike had clearly been about to land—how had Chen Fan suddenly vanished? No, he abruptly realized something and immediately looked up. A person was flying overhead. What kind of technique was that? How could someone leap so high in an instant?

Yet he did not hesitate. He turned and chased after Chen Fan again. Chen Fan had just landed. Seeing his opponent attack, he began fleeing once more. Then, once he had nearly escaped, he used the Soaring Art again, leaping over Li Ruotong's head before continuing to run.

This chase and escape continued for more than half an hour. At first, Li Ruotong pursued without letting up. He thought Chen Fan could only keep running and repeatedly use that miraculous Soaring Art. His Internal Qi would surely soon be exhausted, and once it was gone, Chen Fan would be meat in his palm. Yet to his immense shock, just as Chen Fan appeared about to exhaust his Internal Qi, he somehow took out a pill, stuffed it into his mouth, and immediately became lively and vigorous again.

Pills that replenished Internal Qi were not cheap. Though Li Ruotong was greatly surprised, he guessed Chen Fan could not possibly have more than one or two.

Yet at that moment, Chen Fan had consumed much of his Internal Qi again, so he immediately took out another pill and popped it into his mouth. In an instant, all the Internal Qi in his body recovered completely. He was not the least bit worried. This was no miraculous elixir, merely a low-grade poison pellet Chen Fan had made himself. With his physique, as long as he consumed poison and circulated his cultivation slightly, his Internal Qi would recover. He still had seventeen or eighteen poison pellets in his pocket. Let's see who could outlast whom.