Asura God: I Want to Challenge the One in Green

The shockwaves dispersed, and everyone could finally see what had happened.

Asura God stood proudly in the air. Gu Yuena clutched her abdomen, her face pale.

Who had won and who had lost went without saying.

"I lost..."

The light faded from Gu Yuena's beautiful eyes. Her silver hair hung loose, and she seemed to have aged years.

Even though she had expected it, actually losing was still hard to accept.

Asura God had received a reward from the Sky Screen. Beating Gu Yuena brought him no excitement; to him, it was only natural. Losing would have been the real shock.

His gaze shifted to the members of Teyvat Academy above the clouds.

With a wave of his hand, Su Yun lowered the pillar of ice until he could look Asura God in the eye.

"I won. I want to challenge..."

Asura God was about to continue when he froze. Why were there two Ventis?

He shook his head, then remembered that the Sky Screen had said Venti had taken on his friend's appearance to show him the new Mondstadt.

"I want to challenge the God of Anemo—Venti."

Since he couldn't tell which one to point at, Asura God simply said the name.

Venti pointed at himself, looking baffled. "Huh? You're challenging me? Shouldn't you challenge Morax, the strongest?"

Asura God shook his head. He wasn't stupid. Given the sheer scale of that stone spear, he wouldn't try unless the Sky Screen blessed him twice more.

Only once he reached World-Class strength himself would he dare.

Otherwise, he wouldn't even have the courage to try.

Seeing Asura God choose an opponent, Gu Yuena grew eager too. She had been injured, but she still wanted to experience Teyvat Academy's strength firsthand.

"Can I challenge the girl with her eyes closed? I can tell she's strong!"

Su Yun, who had been ready to enjoy the show, went still at Gu Yuena's words.

Wait, you want to challenge Columbina, who wields the authority of the three moons? Are you serious?

With both God Kings having chosen their targets, the others moved on to the next round of matches.

The broad rankings were easy enough to predict. They would probably mirror the Faction Rankings: Teyvat first, the Clear Sky Sect second, and the Star Dou Forest third.

The only question was how the remaining factions would rank among themselves.

Spirit Hall would take fourth, Sea God Island fifth, followed by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.

Since neither side had god-level strength, Yu Yuanzhen still wanted a match against the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

He wanted to see whether the True Dragon Nine Crowns could overcome Sword and Bone Douluo with support from the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

But in the end, he had overestimated himself. Chen Xin's Seven Kill Sword had a domain of its own.

With the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's support and Gu Rong lending a hand, the odds were stacked against him.

Yu Yuanzhen exhausted every last bit of his strength and barely managed to kill Gu Rong.

The Beastfolk's situation was more complicated. Their king had lost, so they all had to move down the rankings.

Ocean was certain to take eighth place. Sea Dragon would be the first to object otherwise.

Ninth could only go to the Far North. As for tenth, there was no need to think: it belonged to Slaughter City, which had been wiped out almost as soon as it arrived.

It hadn't even survived to the final round.

With the rankings settled, there was nothing left to argue about. Everyone looked upward.

In the sky, Venti stood on the left and Asura God on the right.

Their battle... was about to begin.

"Venti... are you up to this?" Su Yun sent him a teasing message.

Venti glanced back and winked at him. "Ehe. If he's issued a challenge, I should at least put on a show."

In the sky, Asura God made his move.

His aura surged. Dark red divine light spread around him like a mist of blood, while the Asura Demon Sword in his hand formed a towering phantom. Its sharp sword intent tore through the heavens, making even the spectators below feel their faces tighten.

Asura God unleashed the full force of his God King aura. He clearly had no intention of holding back.

"Forgive me."

Before the words had faded, he swung his sword. The slash stretched across the sky like a blood-red river pouring from the heavens, engulfing the space where Venti stood.

Everyone held their breath.

Gu Yuena's eyes narrowed. She had just lost to this very move: the Sword of Judgment, which used the Law of Judgment to forcibly lock down space.

Then she saw the wind scatter.

More precisely, Venti's entire body became a wisp of breeze. The sword light passed through him as though cutting through a drifting cloud.

The wind swept up the blood-red radiance filling the sky and turned it into a shower of red petals, which fluttered down all around them.

Venti took shape again a hundred meters away. At some point, a lyre had appeared in his hands, and he gently plucked its strings.

"Fine sword intent. A little too fierce, though." He smiled. "How about listening to a song?"

The moment the lyre sounded, heaven and earth changed color.

It was not a particularly fierce attack, yet at the sound of those notes, Asura God felt the flow of divine power inside him suddenly slow.

Anemo slipped like fine threads into the gaps in his divine power, tugging at every strand of strength, scattering it, breaking it apart.

His expression shifted. He slashed seven times in quick succession with the Asura Demon Sword.

Seven streaks of blood-red light shot into the sky, each powerful enough to cleave a city in two.

Venti neither dodged nor retreated. He merely brushed a finger across the strings.

A gale rose and scattered all seven sword slashes.

There was song in the wind and power in the song. That power was not violent, but it flowed on without end.

Just as Venti had once said in Mondstadt, he could hear songs of the past, present, and future in the wind.

The wind carried those songs as it swept Asura God into a vortex.

Asura God felt as though he were fighting every gust between heaven and earth. Every sword stroke cut through empty air; every blow sank like a stone into the sea.

"Impossible..." His pupils contracted.

He was a God King, someone who could roam the Douluo God Realm as he pleased. How could he be taking such a beating?

Up among the clouds, Su Yun watched and shook his head.

"You're trying to cut wind with a sword... isn't that a wasted effort?"

Beside him, Zhongli held a teacup and gave a slight nod. "Wind is formless, yet it has substance, and it changes a thousand ways. It truly is a swordsman's most troublesome opponent."

Venti's melody grew livelier, but Asura God felt as though he had been drawn into the heart of a storm. Pressure closed in from every direction, yet the wind was as gentle as a lover's hand. He could not even find an opening through which to unleash his divine power.

"You..." Asura God gritted his teeth. "Just how strong are you?"

Venti tilted his head and gave it serious thought.

"Hmm... how should I put it? Back in Mondstadt, I was usually in charge of drinking and writing poetry. The Traveler handled all the fighting."

He smiled, then abruptly stilled the strings beneath his fingers.

"But I am one of the Seven, after all."

In that instant, Asura God felt the sky change.

Anemo dyed the entire sky blue-green. Endless gales poured out of the void, yet around Venti, they circled as gently as a breeze.

That effortless command of such power made every spectator draw a sharp breath.

Zhongli set down his teacup.

"Old man?"

Su Yun glanced at him.

"It's nothing."

Zhongli smiled faintly. "I was just remembering when we drank together at Windrise years ago. He said, 'I can't beat you.' Looking back, he was probably trying to get me to buy him a drink."

Meanwhile, at another battlefield below.