Chapter Nine: Defeating Xiao Yun

“Panlong Sword Formation—attack!” Xiao Yun’s roar echoed through the air as the azure dragon, tearing through the atmosphere with a piercing shriek, lunged toward Xiao Yi.

This was his profound-level ultimate move, easily crushing a Qi Refining Stage Nine opponent.

“Senior Brother, be careful!” Su Wan’s startled cry barely escaped when Xiao Yi sprang into action.

“Is that all?”

Suddenly, Xiao Yi spread his arms wide, conjuring a three-zhang-high wall of fiery red-gold flames before him!

Instead of retreating from the diving azure dragon, he boldly met the dragon’s head with a fierce double palm strike.

“Blazing Heaven Palm—Ninefold Flames!”

Nine layers of fiery waves overlapped, coalescing into a colossal flaming palm in midair, colliding thunderously with the azure dragon!

“Boom—!”

Amid the deafening blast, the azure dragon shattered bit by bit! The momentum of the flaming giant palm did not wane; it surged toward Xiao Yun.

“Not good!” Xiao Yun’s face twisted in alarm as he hastily raised an azure shield before him.

This was a yellow-grade superior defensive artifact he had painstakingly nurtured, capable of withstanding a full-strength strike from a Foundation Establishment Stage Three cultivator.

Yet in the next moment, “Crack!”

The azure shield shattered at a mere touch!

The flaming giant palm pierced through the broken shield, landing squarely on his chest.

“Ahh!”

Xiao Yun crashed to the ground like a kite with its string cut, emitting a dull thud and coughing blood.

His Foundation Establishment Stage Two spiritual energy flooded out like a breached dam, and even the fingers gripping his sword trembled uncontrollably.

The entire arena fell into stunned silence.

The once proud Young Master Yun was now utterly powerless.

Xiao Yi’s strength was terrifying—he had dared to challenge a higher realm!

Everyone knew how formidable the boundaries between cultivation realms were.

Not to mention crossing two levels, even a cultivator of the same stage trying to defeat an opponent one level above risked broken bones and shattered sinews.

Yet Xiao Yi not only stood firm against a Foundation Establishment Stage Two with his Qi Refining Stage Nine but even shattered his opponent’s ultimate move head-on—this defied all understanding of cultivation!

“Impossible! How could I lose?” Xiao Yun struggled to rise, his eyes venomous like a serpent’s as he glared at Xiao Yi.

“You Qi Refining Stage Three waste, I want you dead!”

Trembling, Xiao Yun withdrew a black porcelain vial from his bosom and poured out a blood-red pill the size of a pigeon’s egg.

The pill, upon touching the air, emitted a pungent metallic stench; those seated in the front rows of the arena covered their noses, and even Xiao Yuanshan atop the high platform frowned.

“That is…”

Before he could finish, Xiao Yun had already slammed the pill into his mouth.

“Sizzle—”

The blood-red pill melted instantly, releasing a strange crimson mist surging from all his seven orifices!

His once dissipated spiritual energy flared anew, erupting in a scorching wave.

“This aura…” Elder Xiao Kui suddenly straightened, gripping the armrest so tightly his voice trembled, “It’s the Burning Blood Pill! A forbidden drug that forcibly elevates one’s realm using essence blood!”

Everyone saw Xiao Yun’s pale cheeks flush abnormally; his once vacant eyes regained focus but now carried a savage bloodlust.

The spiritual energy around him surged wildly; his once dissipated Foundation Establishment Stage Two cultivation was stubbornly stabilized at Stage Three!

“Xiao Yi, today I’ll tear you limb from limb!”

Clenching the broken half of his long sword, blood seeped from the blade’s edge.

The essence blood power unleashed by the Burning Blood Pill had dyed the fractured sword an ominous red.

“Qingyuan Sword Technique—Blood Shadow Soul Chase!”

As the broken sword sliced through the air, a blood-colored sword light burst forth! Its speed was astonishing, carving shallow furrows wherever it passed.

The blood-shadow sword darted like a venomous serpent straight for Xiao Yi’s chest.

Suddenly, the purple radiance in Xiao Yi’s eyes flared wildly as the “Blazing Heaven Fire Scripture” roared to life within him.

“Blazing Heaven Fire Scripture—Purple Extreme Heavenly Flame!”

With a fierce forward push of both palms, deep purple flames erupted into a towering blaze that blotted out the sky, crackling fiercely through the air.

“Sizzle—”

At the moment the blood light collided with the purple flames, Xiao Yun’s blood-red sword aura seemed instantly devoured!

The remaining purple fire surged relentlessly, striking hard against Xiao Yun’s chest.

“Ahh—!”

Xiao Yun’s agonized scream echoed through the arena as his spiritual energy shield shattered piece by piece.

The blood-colored spiritual energy provoked by the Burning Blood Pill rapidly dissipated within the purple fire, and he flew backward like a burning scarecrow.

When he crashed against the edge of the arena, blood-colored mist oozed from all his orifices.

The pill’s backlash combined with the purple flames’ burn was fracturing even his Foundation Establishment foundation.

Xiao Yi stepped forward, towering over the fallen Xiao Yun, looking down at the cousin who once branded him a “waste.”

“Now, tell me again—who’s the waste?”

Xiao Yun lay face down on the ground, his charred body trembling slightly.

At the sound of those words, he rasped softly but lacked the strength to lift even a single eyelid.

That arrogant face, once dripping with condescension, was now smeared with blood and soot.

The arena was so silent it seemed a pin could drop.

The boy once humiliated by Xiao Yun was no longer a defenseless waste but a prodigy capable of overwhelming Foundation Establishment cultivators with Qi Refining power.

Xiao Yi glanced at the dog-like form of Xiao Yun on the ground, a cold smirk curving his lips, then turned to stand before Ye Chentian.

“Master, I have not failed you.”

Ye Chentian patted his shoulder. “Now that’s more like it—that’s my disciple.”

At that moment, all eyes turned toward Ye Chentian.

Whispers spread: Could it be that this white-robed master personally guided Xiao Yi, enabling him to transform so completely within three months?

If true, such a person was truly formidable!

The battle between Xiao Yi and Xiao Yun had just concluded.

“Look, up in the sky!” A young disciple suddenly pointed and shouted.

Everyone looked up in unison to see three snow-white spirit cranes pulling a white jade chariot swiftly slicing through the clouds.

“That’s the carriage of Miss Liu from the Liu family! The one who, three years ago, was accepted as a direct disciple by the elder of the Azure Void Sect!”

“I heard her cultivation has reached Foundation Establishment. Even our city lord bows respectfully to her!”

Xiao Yi lifted his gaze sharply as the carriage curtain fluttered, revealing a pale silhouette.

Even from the side, Xiao Yi instantly recognized her.

Liu Ningxia, his fiancée whose whereabouts had been unknown for three years.

“Heh, isn’t that Xiao Yi’s fiancée, Liu Ningxia?”

“She’s now a direct disciple of the Azure Void Sect, a Foundation Establishment prodigy. Who would still remember him as her ‘ex-fiancé’?”

“Exactly,” a nearby disciple chimed in, “The Azure Void Sect ranks among the top hundred sects of the Immortal Alliance. Any one of their disciples could easily overshadow our Xiao family. With Miss Liu’s current status, there’s no way Xiao Yi can reach her.”

“Silence!” Xiao Yuanshan suddenly bellowed, his gaze cutting through the crowd like a blade, “Didn’t you see Xiao Yi just defeated Xiao Yun at Foundation Establishment Stage Nine? If I hear another word of gossip, thirty strokes of the rod and expulsion from the ancestral hall!”

The Xiao family members sulked but reluctantly fell silent, though some still sneered inwardly.

Foundation Establishment Stage Nine or not, compared to disciples from the top hundred Immortal Alliance sects, they were nothing.

Xiao Yi stared at the approaching chariot, his knuckles unconsciously clenching tight.