Revealing Strength (II)

The battle swung quickly with the appearance of the snakeskin transformation art. It used to be the primary secret art of a Spirit King so it was no joke. Jin Zenan was already the strongest person on stage and he instantly became unstoppable. No attacks breached his snakeskin defense. It was as if he was wearing a layer of hardened scales. His own attacks were powerful and so fast that the opponents could barely dodge.

After several more exchanges, Jin Zenan made his way without resistance to the top of the pole and claimed the fox as his prize. The final score was three to zero as Team Skylark achieved a perfect victory for this round.

"Yeah!"

"Team Skylark!"

"Jin Zenan!"

One-half of the audience shouted their praises and gave their team a long round of applause. The other half stayed as quiet as a funeral. Many youths had ugly expressions with the understanding that they couldn't hope to challenge Jin Zenan now or in the future.

Jin Zenan and his group stepped off the stage and returned to their side. Along the way, they passed by their senior brother Yang Cang who was sitting at the front.

Yang Cang, who was also one of Chen Wentian's souls, beckoned to Jin Zenan who paused his steps.

"Little Jin, I didn't expect the Lion Lord would pass down the snakeskin transformation art to you. You've worked hard."

"Senior Brother Yang," Jin Zenan said respectfully, "I apologize for keeping this a secret from everyone including senior brother."

Chen Wentian nodded. He indeed hadn't known about this. Yang Cang was merely a talented disciple of Qiu Chuyi. He was not even a member of a lesser noble family but someone that Qiu Chuyi had picked up from the countryside.

Jin Zenan was a little different. Jin was not a surname of the immortal lords but it was an old family. Within the city, they had a lot of influence and used to be aligned with the snake lord before suddenly switching sides before the snake lord lost his life. This Jin Zenan also used to be a member of the snake faction and his status was probably not low.

This matter was highly intriguing. The lion faction had not publicized the Jin family until now. Chen Wentian made a mental note to investigate this matter as he felt that it might hold a clue as to what exactly happened to let the snake faction fall so quickly.

The Fox Volant of Beast Mountain continued with the next round. The prize this time was a desert wind fox, the same one that Chen Wentian had bought for Jasmine some time ago. He didn't pay too much attention as the next group took the stage.

They were also the early levels of the Spirit Initiate Realm so there wasn't anything new. They each performed beast transformations or partial transformations and slapped each other with physical attacks. In terms of ascetics, it definitely lacked the flair and performance aspect of sword arts.

The second round once again went to the lion faction although it was much closer this time. Only one member of the lion faction team was left by the end and he was barely holding on.

The competition continued at a steady pace and the average cultivation of the fighters rose steadily. It went from the early levels of the Spirit Initiate Realm to the middle levels and finally to the upper levels. The score evened out but the lion faction still held an advantage of five wins to three for the eagle faction.

For the ninth round, a team from the lion faction took to the stage first. Without waiting for a team from the other side to respond, they directly called out their challenge.

"We are Team Gold. I am He Yuankang!"

The person who spoke was a man who exuded confidence. He was tall and handsome, with perfectly combed black hair without a single strand out of place. At a glance, anyone could tell that he was a direct male descendant of the lion lord He Zicheng.

He Yuankang looked around at the captive audience and smiled, "I heard a bit of news this morning of great interest. Is it true that Immortal Blue Dragon Chen Wentian has come to our city and that he has brought along a few disciples to see the sights?"

His gaze landed on Zhou Ziyun and Li Yuechan. He made an expression of mock surprise, "My heavens, the rumors were true. Isn't this the famous Dao Genius Zhou Ziyun? You shocked the whole Eastern Sanmu Metropolis. How did you end up in this neck of the woods?"

"Dao Genius?"

"Who is she?"

A chorus of murmurs arose from the crowd. Many had no reason to go to the metropolis so they had not heard the news. Even those who knew about the Great Dao Preaching Convention did not necessarily know who had won the most recent one.

"This little miss Zhou is quite talented." He Yuankang continued, his tone carrying an air of mockery, "She not only participated in the Great Dao Preaching Convention, she verbally slapped down the top genius from each of the four king sects of the metropolis. She showed no mercy, even for the people of the city. She didn't even wait to be awarded the title of Dao Genius and directly left the metropolis before the convention ended. As a result, the convention ended without a winner. Nobody was officially given the title which brought unavoidable shame to one of the venerable traditions of this subcontinent."

This earned Zhou Ziyun more whispers and finger-pointing. Many people on both sides knew of Ten Thousand Flower Valley and their friction with the lion faction. He Yuankang's words didn't earn her any favors.

He Yuankang smiled as if he had just won a great battle. He looked down on Zhou Ziyun from the stage, daring her and waiting for a response.

Zhou Ziyun casually smoothed out a winkle in her dress and stood up. She hopped onto the stage, only a few paces from where he stood.

"Surnamed He, why does your He family have so many people that are full of hot air? Whew!" She waved a hand across her face, "Very stinky, so stinky!"

"You…"

"You what? Didn't you just want a fight? You could have asked respectfully like a person instead of spouting vomit like a pig."

"You…" He Yuankang's face turned red.

"You what? Why is it so hard for you to speak properly? How long did it take you to memorize that speech earlier?"

He Yuankang slammed his feet into the ground, destroying several stone tiles, "Zhou Ziyun! You dare? I'll beat you to death. Hurry and call your teammates!"

"No need!"

As she said that, Zhou Ziyun closed the distance between them with rapid footsteps.

He Yuankang barely had time to open his mouth and shout before a crisp slap sent him flying.

---

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