At the Chu Family estate, Chu Yuan went utterly numb as he watched his counterpart on the Sky Screen charge off to make trouble for Nie Li after Shen Yue egged him on.
Could anything good possibly come of offending Nie Li?
He wanted to slap himself a few times.
The Chu Family patriarch had no words for his son either. He prepared two lavish gifts, one to be delivered to Nie Li at the City Lord's Mansion shortly, and the other to the Heavenly Marks Family.
At the City Lord's Mansion.
Nie Li popped a Soul-Tempering Pill.
"He fell for just a little provocation from Shen Yue. Is this really all someone from the Chu Family amounts to?"
Nie Li was speechless. This Chu Yuan was even worse than Shen Yue.
On the Sky Screen.
How could Chu Yuan not laugh? He was already Bronze Three-Star, while Nie Li? In Chu Yuan's eyes, his soul force was twenty at the absolute most.
Fight him? What was that if not grossly overestimating himself?
Chu Yuan mocked Nie Li, saying that if he simply barked like a dog a few times, he would spare him a beating.
Those words made Ye Ziyun frown.
Nie Li said that since Chu Yuan never learned his lesson, he would naturally have to teach him one.
The members of the group formed a circle, leaving the space inside as the arena for Chu Yuan and Nie Li's duel.
Chen Linjian also found this one-on-one fight interesting. Nie Li did not seem like someone who would stubbornly show off beyond his abilities. He had to have something to rely on.
Ye Ziyun was still a little worried. "Nie Li."
Nie Li said, "Don't worry, Zi Yun. If I can't even handle something this small, how am I supposed to protect you in the future?"
Ye Ziyun had not expected Nie Li to keep flirting even at a time like this.
Chu Yuan, meanwhile, was brimming with confidence. "I'll let you have the first three moves, so nobody can say I'm picking on someone younger."
Passing up a free advantage would just be asking for suffering. Nie Li immediately charged forward and drove his elbow toward him.
Thinking he had seen through his opponent, Chu Yuan twisted his body to the side.
Nie Li smiled slightly. His bent elbow abruptly straightened, and a sweep of his arm knocked Chu Yuan to the ground.
Nie Li seized the advantage with his opening move, leaving several people astonished.
"Unsteady footing. Terrible fundamentals."
That was Nie Li's assessment of Chu Yuan.
The others began mocking Chu Yuan too. No matter how they looked at it, a Bronze Three-Star getting floored with one punch by a kid who had not even reached Bronze was humiliating.
Nie Li was filled with disdain. "Hmph. Just as I thought, a family scion raised on pills. His fundamentals are abysmal."
Beneath the Sky Screen.
Lu Piao said, "Uh, Nie Li, aren't we taking pills every day too...?"
Nie Li gave him a sidelong look. "The pills we take were carefully selected by me. They have no side effects, and we exercise every day and soak in medicinal baths too. Of course our footing won't be unsteady like Chu Yuan's. We build our fundamentals alongside taking pills."
If someone merely swallowed pills without training their body, even if their rank actually rose, they could still lose to a lower-ranked opponent with solid fundamentals.
On the Sky Screen.
Chen Linjian had picked up on a few things. "Interesting. Although Chu Yuan has been slow to break through to Bronze rank, his soul force is at least three hundred. Yet Nie Li knocked him down in a single move."
Some of those nearby thought Chu Yuan had underestimated his opponent too much, actually leaving his abdomen exposed to the enemy.
Others thought Nie Li had hidden his strength and definitely already advanced to Bronze rank.
That blow had left Chu Yuan in a bad way. He lay on the ground for a long time without catching his breath.
Once he stood up, Nie Li said, "You just said you'd give me three moves. That was one, so there are still two left."
Right then, Chu Yuan wanted to slap his past self from a minute ago to death. That single punch was enough to show him that Nie Li's abilities absolutely could not be underestimated.
And if one punch had left him in this state, how much more wretched would he look after another two moves?
Everyone else burst into laughter when they heard Nie Li's words.
"Nie Li is so shameless, but I like it!"
"Haha, Chu Yuan has really made a complete fool of himself!"
"He's thrown away every scrap of dignity the noble families had!"
Hearing their remarks, Chu Yuan became even more furious.
"That was just a cheap trick. Don't get so arrogant!"
He clenched his fists, charged forward, and lashed out with a kick.
Nie Li sharply bent his upper body backward.
When his kick missed, Chu Yuan angrily spun around and kicked again.
This time, Nie Li ducked into a crouch to evade it.
A disdainful smile appeared on his face as well.
With such poor fundamentals, Chu Yuan was riddled with openings from head to toe.
Nie Li brought his feet together and kicked forward from below, striking Chu Yuan squarely in the shin and sending him stumbling backward, unable to keep his footing.
His flustered scrambling made everyone around them burst into laughter again.
Nie Li leaped behind Chu Yuan, chuckled, then spun around and planted a heavy kick straight into his face.
Spittle flew from Chu Yuan's mouth, and his whole body went flying several meters away again.
It all happened so quickly that some people were still rubbing their eyes.
"What just happened?"
"I-I didn't see it clearly either."
Chen Linjian said, "Those two moves of Nie Li's were ordinary, but their strength lay in speed and power. Even I would probably have trouble dealing with them. He's only thirteen. Once he reaches Silver rank and achieves Demon Spirit Fusion, he'll probably be a cut above all of you."
The subordinate beside him expressed doubts about that. After all, according to Chu Yuan, Nie Li's initial soul force was only five. Whether he could even cultivate to Silver rank was uncertain.
In his heart, Chen Linjian had already decided that with Nie Li's abilities, he would never stop at merely this.
Huyan Lanruo felt that she had still underestimated this little brother. "Nie Li, it looks like your big sister still underestimated you."
The others were still laughing at Chu Yuan. After all, just a few moves had reduced him to this sorry state.
Nie Li never spared anyone with his words. Chu Yuan had promised to give him three moves, yet he had attacked first. That counted as cheating.
Chu Yuan's embarrassment boiled over into rage. This lowborn wretch, who had not even reached Bronze rank, actually dared to humiliate him like this!
He directly summoned his soul force, which appeared dark red.
Huyan Lanruo cried, "Chu Yuan! What are you trying to do?"
Ye Ziyun cried, "Ah! Stop!"
Chu Yuan intended to use his soul force of over three hundred to blast Nie Li's Soul Sea apart, turning him into a cripple for the rest of his life, never again able to become a Demon Spirit Master.
Dark red soul force swept toward Nie Li, blanketing the sky and earth. Nie Li hurriedly used his own soul force to resist it.
But Nie Li had to admit that, as he was now, he could not break through this surge of soul force exceeding three hundred.
Sensing Nie Li's weakness, Chu Yuan laughed wildly and unleashed even more soul force to batter him.
As Nie Li endured the onslaught, he felt increasingly certain that things were going badly. If he did nothing, his Soul Sea would give out first.
Beneath the Sky Screen.
Every family patriarch stared with bloodshot eyes toward the Chu Family, one of the noble families.
You bastards had better pray that nothing happens to Nie Li on the Sky Screen!
They were still eagerly looking forward to this fellow's rise, so he could protect Glory City!
Chu Yuan nearly collapsed from fright. The more wildly arrogant his counterpart on the Sky Screen was, the more desperate he felt beneath it.
If anything really happened to Nie Li, he would absolutely be trussed up and hanged from Glory City's walls until he died.
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