Chapter 908: Public Provocation

Han Li watched the scene on the Mystic Battle Platform, where the battle was unfolding like a whirlwind, and a hint of surprise appeared on his face.

“Seal Heaven Seal! I never thought its power would increase so much after all these years.” Gu Qianxun murmured to herself, a glint flashing in her eyes.

Feng Wuchen immediately recovered, his expression darkening as over a hundred and fifty white light spots lit up on his body surface, accompanied by a series of crisp crackling sounds from within.

He stomped heavily on the ground, causing the entire Mystic Battle Platform to shake violently, as if it might collapse from the force.

Leveraging the force of the stomp, Feng Wuchen’s figure suddenly transformed into a wisp of white smoke, shooting diagonally upward from the encirclement of countless whip shadows.

At that moment, Yi Liya’s black whip danced up and down, his entire body submerged in a sea of whip shadows. The black circles formed by the whip shadows seemed to have eyes, chasing after Feng Wuchen’s figure like a shadow.

However, Feng Wuchen was clearly faster, and the black circles often nearly enveloped him, but he narrowly dodged them each time.

Watching the elusive white figure on the platform, dodging left and right amidst the countless black whip shadows, the spectators were dazzled.

“Yi Liya’s move makes it hard to avoid; once caught by one whip shadow, the subsequent ones will come endlessly, making escape difficult. But Feng Wuchen excels in agility, having evaded the initial onslaught. Yi Liya’s momentum is likely to wane,” Han Li murmured.

“From my understanding of Yi Liya, he should still have a backup plan. But unfortunately, his opponent is Feng Wuchen,” Gu Qianxun said noncommittally.

“Here it comes,” Han Li’s expression shifted.

On the Mystic Battle Platform, countless star-like runes suddenly emerged on the willow-leaf slender sword in Feng Wuchen’s hand. A dazzling white wave of light rippled outward from the sword, sweeping across most of the platform in an instant.

Where the white light wave passed, streaks of white starlight descended from the sky, flying like rivers returning to the sea into the willow-leaf slender sword, causing it to emit a buzzing tremolo.

With a low shout from Feng Wuchen, the willow-leaf slender sword flew out of his hand, transforming into an extraordinarily bright white light blade that slashed at the junction of two approaching black whip circles.

With a “rip” sound!

A gap was cut in the collapsing void, and Feng Wuchen’s figure shot out like lightning.

Han Li looked at the willow-leaf slender sword soaring into the sky, a trace of emotion on his face.

The power fluctuations emanating from the sword were extremely strong; even he would find it difficult to withstand. He wondered what kind of treasure it was.

At that moment, Yi Liya’s whip shadows converged, revealing his figure.

A strange smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He suddenly struck out with a palm, and with a “bang,” a burst of white light shot from his sleeve, revealing countless snow-white fine threads.

Each thread was crystal clear like jade, emitting a faint white light, with tiny white dots visible dancing around them.

The threads interwove in the air, instantly forming a large white net that descended toward Feng Wuchen’s head with astonishing speed.

Feng Wuchen clearly hadn’t anticipated this, and his body was caught by the large white net.

The net, as if sentient, automatically wrapped around layer by layer, forming a white cocoon that imprisoned Feng Wuchen, who fell to the Mystic Battle Platform with a “thud.”

The rapid series of changes elicited exclamations from the crowd around the platform.

Yi Liya’s face showed joy at his successful move.

But then his smile suddenly faded, replaced by a flush of red on his face, and the same redness spread over his entire body, turning it blood-red, with veins bulging.

However, the next moment, the redness on Yi Liya’s body instantly receded, his face becoming pale as paper. Blood gushed from his mouth, and his steps became unsteady.

“I never thought Yi Liya had mastered the Scale Armor Technique. No wonder he could withstand Feng Wuchen’s slashes so easily. But I wonder what those white threads are, that they could imprison Feng Wuchen?” Xuanyuan Xing muttered, his eyes flickering.

Han Li squinted. He had heard of the Scale Armor Technique at the Qingyang City Battle Arena. It was a secret art that circulated blood and qi within the body, spreading it through all the acupoints to greatly enhance defense for a short time.

This technique was powerful and had the added benefit of increasing in strength with more acupoints opened. However, cultivation required tempering each acupoint one by one, a painful and difficult process.

Moreover, each use consumed a third of one’s blood and qi, and any carelessness could damage the body’s foundation, making it extremely risky. Thus, very few had mastered it.

“This is the Heaven-and-Earth Net! A special weapon refined by Lady Liuhua over a hundred thousand years ago from the life silk of a Heavenly Grade Scale Spider. Though not a star weapon, it’s close, and it was once famous. But it was later lost and somehow fell into Yi Liya’s hands. No wonder he was so confident,” Gu Qianxun said, a glint in her eyes.

Seeing this, the others from Qingyang City cheered.

On the distant high platform, Chen Yang also showed surprise and joy, but a sidelong glance at Qin Yuan’s calm expression made his heart sink inexplicably.

On the Mystic Battle Platform, Yi Liya took a deep breath, steadied his staggering body, glanced at the willow-leaf slender sword still soaring upward, and moved his arm.

The black whip blurred and shot out, wrapping around the white cocoon, then flung it toward the edge of the platform.

But at that moment, a sudden change occurred!

The white cocoon flashed with white light, and with a “rip,” it split in two. Feng Wuchen’s figure shot out like lightning, charging at Yi Liya with incredible speed.

Yi Liya’s expression changed drastically, and he tried to swing his black whip in defense.

But with his blood and qi severely depleted and heavily injured, his movements were slow. His arm had only risen halfway when a flash of white light struck his chest with tremendous force.

A series of crisp cracking sounds came from Yi Liya’s chest as it caved inward. Blood sprayed from his mouth, and he was sent flying, straight off the Mystic Battle Platform.

A figure appeared in midair like a ghost, catching Yi Liya’s body and landing slowly. It was Chen Yang.

Seeing this, the Qingyang City crowd immediately gathered around.

Han Li also walked over, his eyes narrowing slightly as he looked at Chen Yang.

Chen Yang had been on the distant high platform moments ago, yet he had arrived here in an instant without Han Li sensing any sign.

Although Han Li was distracted by the sudden change on the platform, Chen Yang had evaded his senses. This man’s strength might be greater than previously shown.

Yi Liya was now unconscious, blood gushing from his mouth, his face deathly pale.

Without a word, Chen Yang took out a blood-red jade bottle, pried open Yi Liya’s mouth, and poured the entire bottle of blood-red pills into it.

The pills dissolved instantly, and a trace of color returned to Yi Liya’s face, looking slightly better. His collapsed chest slowly bulged back to normal.

Chen Yang’s expression relaxed. He looked up at the platform, where Feng Wuchen held another willow-leaf slender sword, identical to the one still flying in midair.

“I see,” Chen Yang said calmly, raising his hand to summon with a suction force.

The two halves of the white cocoon on the platform flew over and landed in his hand.

The two halves, as if alive, immediately wriggled and merged into a white ball the size of a fist.

Feng Wuchen looked at Chen Yang without speaking, and with a single hand gesture, he summoned the sword.

The willow-leaf slender sword flying upward flashed with starlight, stopped, and shot back like lightning into his hand.

The two swords resonated, emitting clear chirping sounds like birdsong.

Below the platform, Han Li looked at the two swords, his eyes narrowing.

Feng Wuchen seemed to sense this and turned his gaze toward him.

Their eyes met, and a faint spark seemed to flash in the void.

“Li Feiyu, your match is next. Clean your neck and wait,” Feng Wuchen said with a laugh, pointing his sword at Han Li.

These words caused an uproar, and everyone’s eyes turned to Han Li, their expressions varied.

Except for the first round of preliminaries, the matchups for the subsequent rounds were already fixed. Feng Wuchen, having defeated Yi Liya, was indeed set to face Han Li in the next round to determine the top eight.

Until now, everyone’s attention had been on the current match. Apart from a few observant individuals, most hadn’t thought much about it. But now that both Han Li and Feng Wuchen had won and secured their next match, it naturally drew considerable attention.

Feng Wuchen, as the adopted son of Xuanzhi City Lord Qin Yuan and the公认 top fighter of Xuanzhi City, was naturally renowned. But Han Li was an unknown figure, unrecognized by most in the audience, and few had seen his performance in the first two rounds.

Now that Feng Wuchen had publicly provoked Han Li, as the top fighter of Xuanzhi City, he wouldn’t do so without reason. Could it be that Han Li also possessed strength comparable to the top fighters of the four major cities?

“I’m ready,” Han Li said calmly, his expression unchanged.

Feng Wuchen’s pupils contracted, a hint of ferocity flashing in his eyes, as if displeased by Han Li’s indifferent demeanor.

“This match, Feng Wuchen wins!”

As the referee on the Mystic Battle Platform announced the result, thunderous cheers erupted from the surrounding stands. Feng Wuchen finally withdrew his gaze from Han Li, cupped his hands toward Qin Yuan on the central platform, and then gracefully floated down from the platform under everyone’s watchful eyes.

Chen Yang ignored the surroundings, stuffed the white ball into Yi Liya’s arms, and carried him away, saying calmly, “Li Feiyu, follow me. The rest of you stay here and cheer for Gu Qianxun and Xuanyuan Xing.”

Han Li’s expression shifted, then he excused himself to Gu Qianxun and Xuanyuan Xing and followed.

Gu Qianxun watched Chen Yang and Han Li’s figures, a glint in her beautiful eyes, lost in thought.