A soft squelch rang out, and the expression on Xiao Tian's face abruptly froze.
The next instant, his momentum carried him a short distance forward before he crashed to the ground with a thud, his life extinguished.
At the sight, a long silence fell over the venue.
Only after several breaths did an uproar erupt.
"Xiao Tian, he... he actually died."
"Xiao Tian, at the peak Wheel Sea Realm, who once slew a Golden Core expert above his realm-he actually lost too?"
"What a swift sword! Fast as lightning, fleeting as a startled swan, sealing the throat with a single strike! This... this is the Deadly Sword Strike!"
Countless people stared blankly at Xiao Tian's body on the martial arena, their hearts racing, unable to calm down for a long time.
It could be said that all of Ye Xuan's previous battles combined had not delivered as great a shock as this one.
Xiao Tian was a genius who had slain a Golden Core expert, yet Ye Xuan had killed him from a lower realm, his sword a flowing shadow, sealing his throat with one strike.
Didn't such strength mean that Ye Xuan already possessed the power to slay weaker Golden Core experts?
He possessed such strength at merely the sixth level of Essence Condensation-what did that even mean?
Among the crowd, Lin Xue could not help clapping a hand tightly over her mouth.
As she gazed at that extraordinary figure on the martial arena, her mind went completely blank.
This handsome little junior brother she had met by chance had truly given her quite a shock. The impact was simply overwhelming.
Never mind Lin Xue-even Shen Yao, the holy maiden of the Jade Lake Holy Land, had shock welling up in her beautiful eyes at this moment.
Judging solely by Ye Xuan's earlier performance, she had been slightly impressed, but it had been far from enough to make her take him seriously.
But now, she had begun to take that extraordinary figure on the martial arena, the focus of every gaze, seriously.
Slaying a Golden Core expert meant that Ye Xuan's strength was no longer far beneath hers. Even if he was not her match now, he would probably catch up very soon.
She would not forget that Ye Xuan had only been cultivating for three months.
In just three months, he already possessed such terrifying combat strength.
After another three months, would she, Shen Yao, still be his match?
In short, everyone was shocked at this moment.
Utterly shocked.
On the elevated platform, the elders and mighty figures of the Carefree Holy Land wore faces as dark as water, with cold glints faintly stirring in their eyes.
Even for the Carefree Holy Land, Xiao Tian's death was no small loss.
Xiao Tian's defeat was not merely his personal defeat; it was also a blow to the Carefree Holy Land's reputation.
Xiao Tian, a monstrous genius at the Wheel Sea Realm ninth layer from the Carefree Holy Land, had actually fallen to Ye Xuan, who was at the sixth level of Essence Condensation-and had his throat sealed with one sword strike before everyone's eyes.
They had lost face in a big way.
On the martial arena, Ye Xuan stood tall and distinguished, looking utterly unruffled.
Together with his holy robes fluttering in the wind, he truly looked dashing and debonair, extraordinarily free and easy.
After slaying Xiao Tian, he acted as though he had done something utterly insignificant, neither arrogant nor impatient, and said lightly, "Heh, the Wheel Sea Realm ninth layer, and that's all the strength he had? He dared propose a fight to the death with just that?"
He looked toward the Carefree Holy Land, his smile gentle yet edged with cold severity. "Tell me, has your Carefree Holy Land not sent out its true monstrous geniuses? Are you looking down on this holy son?"
As he spoke, Ye Xuan did not wait for anyone from the Carefree Holy Land to issue a challenge before saying:
"I, Ye Xuan, with cultivation at the sixth level of Essence Condensation, wish to challenge another monstrous genius at the Wheel Sea Realm ninth layer from the Carefree Holy Land. A fight to the death. Do you dare?"
His calm voice instantly carried throughout the venue.
In an instant, another uproar swept through the crowd.
Before, Ye Xuan had merely been passively accepting challenges and fights to the death.
Now, however, Ye Xuan was taking the initiative.
Especially since the intimidating force of his slaying of Xiao Tian still lingered.
Under these circumstances, with him proposing a fight to the death, would the Carefree Holy Land dare accept?
Accepting would mean sending someone to their death.
What a joke. Xiao Tian might not have been the strongest among those at the Wheel Sea Realm ninth layer in the Carefree Holy Land, but he definitely ranked in the top five.
And strictly speaking, Ye Xuan had likewise used only one strike to slay Xiao Tian.
Because their first head-on clash did not count at all.
Everyone could see that if Ye Xuan had unleashed the Deadly Sword Strike from the start, Xiao Tian would have died long ago.
Even the Carefree Holy Land's four Wheel Sea Realm monstrous geniuses stronger than Xiao Tian could not accomplish such a feat.
Under these circumstances, even if those four monstrous geniuses stepped up to challenge him, were they certain to win? They would most likely just be feeding him kills.
But if they refused, the Carefree Holy Land would suffer tremendous humiliation.
When your Carefree Holy Land challenged me, someone at the sixth level of Essence Condensation, you sent out people at Essence Condensation peak, the sixth level of the Wheel Sea, and Wheel Sea peak, and they all shamelessly took the initiative to demand fights to the death.
I agreed even under those circumstances. Now that I want to challenge someone at your Wheel Sea peak, and from a lower realm at that, what reason do you have to refuse?
If they refused, would the Carefree Holy Land still be able to hold its head up in the Eastern Wasteland or recruit disciples? Would its younger disciples still be able to venture outside? Could they afford that humiliation?
"Holy shit, this brat's a bit wicked."
"Not just wicked. He's pretty cocky too."
"I knew ages ago he was no good. This proves it, doesn't it? Still, those bastards from the Carefree Holy Land had it coming. I like it."
On the elevated platform, the corners of several patriarchs' mouths twitched as they could not resist exchanging voice transmissions, delighted beyond measure.
Well done. This was exactly how those bastards from the Carefree Holy Land should be handled.
Han Bingning remained expressionless, fully displaying the dignity of a holy lord.
In truth, she was not particularly pleased.
According to her original thinking, a vixen from the Jade Lake Holy Land should have challenged him and then been crippled by Ye Xuan. That would have made her happy.
Who told that vixen of a holy lord from the Jade Lake Holy Land to be as renowned as her despite clearly being less beautiful?
Most importantly, Ye Xuan had said it himself: any woman who dared challenge him would be beaten to death.
Unfortunately, those vixens from the Jade Lake Holy Land had not issued a challenge at all, giving Ye Xuan no opportunity whatsoever to beat them to death. That made things rather less fun.
Ye Xuan had no idea what his stunningly beautiful master was thinking, or he would surely have coughed up blood.
At this moment, he stood on the martial arena, enjoying being the focus of everyone's attention while awaiting the Carefree Holy Land's response.
Feeling those gazes filled with envy, jealousy, resentment, admiration, adoration, and more, Ye Xuan could not have felt more pleased.
This showing off-pah, manifesting holiness before others-feels so fucking good.
"Ye Xuan, don't get too arrogant! You're the holy son of the Ancient Desolate Holy Land, yet you're challenging Wheel Sea cultivators from our Carefree Holy Land. Have you no shame? If you've got the guts, try challenging me!"
"Challenging the weak is no great feat. Only challenging the strong makes one truly unparalleled. As the saying goes, the strong remain strong. Don't you even understand that?"
Yet just as Ye Xuan was enjoying himself beyond measure, an ill-timed voice rang out, instantly ruining his enjoyment.
Ye Xuan lowered his head and looked down. There, in the Carefree Holy Land's section, a burly young man dressed in black was staring at him with an icy expression, his eyes filled with coldness.