Spirit Martial Tier Five!

Li Xuan had defeated Li Wei, who was at the initial-entry Spirit Martial Tier Seven, despite Li Wei being at the peak seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm. At this moment, even those few Martial Dao Master-level powerhouses among the Inner Disciples whose positions had never changed turned to look at him.

Clearly, Li Xuan now possessed the qualifications to challenge a Martial Dao Master at the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm!

No one felt this more keenly than Li Ye.

"Realm suppression!"

Li Ye felt somewhat helpless. Although he did not believe his cultivation speed was slower than anyone else's—in fact, the Moon Dream Heart Sutra had made his cultivation advance at a breathtaking pace, and Vampires were born with an exceptionally high affinity for the power of the Blood Soul, allowing him to fight above his level as easily as eating and drinking—his time had still been too short. Less than three months had passed since he condensed his Blood Soul!

The immense pressure also made Li Ye feel that the bottleneck originally stuck at the peak Spirit Martial Tier Four had loosened slightly.

This delighted him! Clearly, everyone had mistaken him for hiding his true realm, but that was not the case. His actual realm truly was only the peak Spirit Martial Tier Four! It was merely because of the Vampire physique's unique nature that he appeared stronger even than cultivators at Spirit Martial Tier Six.

"Just a little more. If only I could face an even greater threat!"

He felt the blood in his body begin to boil. It was an extremely strange phenomenon. Though Vampires were not like the legends claimed, with ice-cold blood, their blood was still more dormant than that of ordinary people. Yet now it began to boil like water brought to a rolling boil. A scorching sensation spread through his body before flowing into his heart, as though fuel had been poured into an engine, making it pound violently!

If he could look inside at his heart right now, he would certainly have seen that the Blood Soul crystal within, originally only the size of a sesame seed, had grown to the size of a grain of rice!

At the same time, crimson blood surged madly into it, while what emerged from within was a dark-red, viscous liquid.

Outside, after Li Xuan revealed that his true realm was the peak seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm, he no longer held back. He threw a punch, his entire body becoming like a gust of wind as he closed in instantly.

"Li Ye! This ends here!"

There was a trace of smugness in his eyes. He had endured in silence for a long time for this day, all so that he could make a name for himself in one brilliant stroke and contend against the Lineage's several geniuses!

In his eyes, Li Ye was merely an appetizer. Even Li Ye's rise as a dark horse had failed to earn his attention. At most, Li Ye was a stepping stone.

Bang!

That punch struck Li Ye squarely in the chest, blasting him away. A layer of ice crystals instantly spread over his entire chest. The terrifying chill invaded Li Ye's body, as though it intended to freeze his blood!

"Hmph! The true power of Frost Fist does not lie on the surface. It lies in the terrifying chill invading the body and freezing the blood, even freezing all five viscera and six bowels!"

After landing the blow, Li Xuan did not press his advantage. In his eyes, the outcome had already been decided. Once struck by his fist, unless the opponent was stronger than him and could use overwhelming Blood Soul power to dispel the cold within, the outcome might even be death!

"Do not blame me for being ruthless. Blame yourself for choosing the wrong time!"

Standing with his hands behind his back, Li Xuan looked like a king gazing down upon everyone from on high. His expression was proud and cold, his eyes filled with immense confidence.

Li Ye, on the other hand, was sent flying back dozens of steps by that punch. He only managed to steady himself at the edge of the arena. His body was covered in a blanket of white frost, even his brows snow-white. Not a trace of warmth remained in him, making him look like a corpse buried deep beneath a snowy mountain.

"He lost? Li Xuan is terrifying. With Frost Fist in his hands, not to mention Martial Masters at the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm, even Martial Dao Masters at the eighth level of the Spirit Martial Realm might not be able to withstand it!"

People were always drawn to the new and tired of the old, focusing their attention on the strong. At this moment, Li Xuan stood with his hands behind his back like a lone, arrogant master. In the eyes of countless girls, he was like a prince on a white horse. Some female disciples from collateral branches were even secretly plotting how to use their beauty to cling to this rising star destined to soar within the Lineage!

Crack!

Just as Li Xuanji was about to speak and announce Li Xuan's victory, he suddenly heard a faint cracking sound.

Then everyone saw that Li Ye, whom they had assumed was gravely injured, unconscious, or even dead, had the frost covering his body shatter in an instant and fall to the ground.

"Hm?"

Seeing that Li Ye had not died, Li Xuan frowned, seemingly dissatisfied with the result.

"Li Ye actually did not die. He really is a cockroach reincarnated!"

"It is useless. Even if he survived that move, the gap in strength between him and Li Xuan is right there. He does not have the slightest chance."

"Li Ye, if you cannot continue, say so. Do not force yourself."

Li Xuanji could not help speaking in a low voice, so that only Li Ye could hear him.

Li Ye looked at the elder in surprise. Within the Lineage, this man, who had always been fair and impartial, cold-faced yet kind-tempered, should have been called Sixth Uncle by him. Yet in his memories, they had barely interacted.

"Rest assured, Elder. That was nothing more than child's play!"

With a slight smile, he ignored Li Xuanji's astonished expression and stretched his limbs.

"Li Ye, it seems you truly are quite capable. You actually managed to withstand that punch. But do you think you still have a chance?"

Li Ye's response to Li Xuan's half-smiling, mocking gaze was very simple!

"Storm of Gale!"

Countless leg shadows came sweeping forth. Unfortunately, they lacked the ethereal quality Li Wei had displayed before, but carried an added air of grim slaughter.

"Useless! Your Gale Legs have only just entered the gate. They cannot possibly threaten me!"

With a cold laugh, icy air filled the sky like a Siberian cold wave descending. A thin layer of frost coated the entire arena.

Sure enough, Li Ye's figure was directly exposed, making the mockery in Li Xuan's eyes even thicker.

"You are finished! This ends here!"

With a savage grin, Li Xuan threw a punch. The shrill sound of tearing air pierced straight through Li Ye's chest. This time, Li Xuan held nothing back and had actually developed killing intent!

"No!"

A cry of alarm rang out from the stands! It was Li Yating. Anger and tension flashed through her beautiful eyes as she abruptly rose to her feet.

The others wore varying expressions. Li Huangran, in particular, had a trace of relief and delight in his eyes, while everyone else looked far more conflicted.

But soon, someone let out a startled cry.

The joy that had appeared on Li Xuan's face after piercing through Li Ye froze instantly, because he clearly had not felt the sensation of piercing a human body.

Sure enough, the Li Ye before him slowly faded away, and no blood flowed out.

"Afterimage!"

Only then did everyone realize that it had merely been an afterimage! It was not Li Ye himself!

"Not good!" A flash of danger and vigilance raced through Li Xuan's heart. He immediately turned around, but it was already too late.

"Behind you!"

It was Li Huangran shouting, but when Li Xuan turned his head, all he saw was a pair of blood-red eyes filled with an endless abyss, like bottomless holes that could drag even one's soul down into their depths.

Bang!

Li Xuan's body flew straight out of the arena and crashed into the crowd. Instantly, many people cried out in pain, and some were even covered in a layer of ice crystals.

"Li Ye wins!"

Looking at the unconscious Li Xuan, Li Xuanji gave Li Ye a deep glance before immediately announcing the result.

This was an utterly unexpected ending. Who could have imagined that Li Ye would turn defeat into victory? Even now, some still felt that Li Xuan had lost unjustly.

Bang! In his fury, Li Huangran smashed the armrest of his seat with a single palm. He had held great expectations for Li Xuan, and Li Xuan had indeed lived up to them, displaying formidable strength and temperament from the beginning. Yet the match had ended in such a manner. How could he not be furious?

Yet he did not make a move as he had earlier. His eyes merely swept over Li Ye and Li Hou Nian with killing intent. With a cold snort, he flicked his sleeve and left.

"Good lad!"

Li Hou Nian gave Li Ye's shoulder a hard pat. He was finally at ease now, especially after Li Huangran had left in a huff. At the very least, no one would dare touch a single hair on Li Ye's head for the time being.

Taking Li Xuan's former seat, Li Ye had successfully issued his challenge and risen one rank.

"Seventh among the Inner Disciples."

Excitement stirred in his heart. He had never imagined reaching such a height before.

One had to know that Inner Disciples were different from Outer Disciples. Only the thirty strongest among their generation could become Inner Disciples, and the Lineage also provided enormous support to Inner Disciples!

Who still dared call him trash now?

He even noticed that the gazes some elders directed at him carried a trace of inexplicable fear!

"They saw that man's shadow in you."

A voice sounded beside his ear. It was actually Li Xuanji, the Lineage's famed poker face. Li Ye looked over in astonishment, only to find that the other man was not looking at him at all.

"My father's shadow..."

Li Ye fell into thought. He did not have many memories of that man. He only knew that, back then, nearly all of Wuzhou City had regarded his father as supreme. Even the other two great Lineages had lived cautiously beneath his shadow for many years, until he left Wuzhou City.

After that, quite a few Inner Disciples launched challenges of their own, hoping to rise one or two ranks. However, no one broke into the top ten. After all, aside from Li Ye, everyone in the top ten had stepped into the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm as Martial Masters. They were not comparable to ordinary cultivators.

Li Ye did not hurry to challenge anyone else. Instead, he calmed himself and sorted through his current condition.

"Spirit Martial Tier Five. I did not expect to truly break through!"

It turned out that during his fight with Li Xuan, that punch had not only failed to seriously injure him, it had even helped him break through his bottleneck in one go, advancing from the peak Spirit Martial Tier Four into Spirit Martial Tier Five!

"If I fought Li Wei again now, I would not need Blood Eyes to be absolutely certain of defeating him! Even if I fought Li Xuan again, my chances of victory would be at least sixty percent!"

Spirit Martial Tier Four and Spirit Martial Tier Five might not seem far apart, but for Li Ye, his strength had increased by more than double!