Chapter 203: A Sudden Interloper!

Everyone was dumbfounded!

The clash between a Liquid Essence second layer and a half-step Crystal Condensation had ended in mutual destruction!

“Is this for real? How could Ye Yuan be this strong? Su Yubai is a veteran half-step Crystal Condensation expert, and he actually lost an arm to him!”

“Yeah, a junior at Liquid Essence second layer defeated a half-step Crystal Condensation in just a few exchanges—what a joke?”

“Is this really that useless Ye Yuan? Not long ago he was a nobody, and now he’s on the same level as us old-timers?”

Everyone was utterly shocked. At Ye Yuan’s age, he should be on equal footing with their sons and nephews.

But now they had to admit that Ye Yuan was no longer in the same league as their juniors! He already had the strength to threaten or even kill them, the older generation!

Thinking that a fifteen-year-old boy was now on their level, these people felt not only strange but also deeply ashamed.

Ye Hang really raised a fine son! Many sighed inwardly.

After falling to the ground, Ye Yuan spat out a mouthful of blood.

He had taken a palm wind head-on, and his internal organs were now churning as if displaced.

Fortunately, Su Yubai had dispersed his palm force to land the hit. Otherwise, a full-force strike from a half-step Crystal Condensation, even just the palm wind, would have been more than Ye Yuan could bear.

Without hesitation, Ye Yuan took out a pill and swallowed it, beginning to recover from his injuries.

But he dared not sit down to regulate his breathing; this was a battlefield, and if someone took advantage to strike him, it would be trouble.

“Ye Yuan, I’ll kill you!”

Su Yubai’s roar nearly shook the roof off, showing just how furious he was!

Su Yubai temporarily sealed the wound with Yuan power and charged straight at Ye Yuan.

Su Yubai had only lost an arm, which didn’t affect his movement, but Ye Yuan was now severely injured, unable to circulate Yuan power as freely as before.

However, he had no time to care about his injuries; he had to forcibly circulate Yuan power to deal with Su Yubai’s pursuit.

One-armed Su Yubai dashed over at lightning speed, and just before reaching Ye Yuan, his figure vanished again.

Ghost Step!

This footwork was ethereal and extremely hard to predict!

Ye Yuan gritted his teeth and pushed *Void-Shattering Step* to its limit, trying to evade Su Yubai’s attack.

But his injuries were too severe, and his movement was no longer as agile.

“Ye Yuan, I’ll tear you to pieces!”

Su Yubai’s roar came from behind Ye Yuan—the bastard had circled around again!

“Bang!”

Under everyone’s stunned gaze, a figure flew out.

It wasn’t Ye Yuan, but Su Yubai!

Before anyone could react, a black-clad martial artist stood in front of Ye Yuan, staring coldly at the flying Su Yubai.

“You okay?”

“Barely alive. Good thing you arrived in time.”

“I never thought your bold words that day would come true so soon. Amazing!”

“Heh, give me another month, and I won’t be so pathetic.”

“Yeah, I think so too. But there’s no need to waste time on someone like him. You’re destined for great things.”

“Haha, if he doesn’t die, I won’t be in the mood for great things! Oh, by the way, congratulations on breaking through to Crystal Condensation, Teacher Hu Yan!”

“Heh, all thanks to you. Now focus on healing; I’ll guard you!”

“Mm.”

This black-clad martial artist was none other than Hu Yan Yong, who had broken through to Crystal Condensation after taking the Crystal Condensation Pill!

Back then, Hu Yan Yong was severely injured by Su Yubai’s strike, and now Hu Yan Yong sent Su Yubai flying with one blow—poetic justice.

Thanks to Ye Yuan’s Crystal Condensation Pill, Hu Yan Yong had been in seclusion these past days, fully focused on breaking through to Crystal Condensation. Finally, yesterday, he broke through the bottleneck and became a Crystal Condensation expert.

Hu Yan Yong spent a whole day stabilizing his realm, then went straight to find Jiang Yunhe.

When Jiang Yunhe saw Hu Yan Yong, his eyes nearly popped out!

Hu Yan Yong had only said he was going into seclusion, but coming out as a Crystal Condensation expert—Jiang Yunhe couldn’t help but be astonished.

Before seclusion, Hu Yan Yong was only at the peak of Liquid Essence ninth layer!

Normally, crossing this threshold would take at least a decade, first going through half-step Crystal Condensation before stepping over this chasm.

But now, Hu Yan Yong had broken through almost overnight—it was unbelievable!

However, Hu Yan Yong didn’t explain much to Jiang Yunhe; he only told him he was going to the Pill Tasting Convention.

Jiang Yunhe hesitated briefly before agreeing.

In truth, he wanted to go himself, but his status and sect rules prevented him from showing up.

Hu Yan Yong arrived at Drunken Star Tower just in time to see Ye Yuan and Su Yubai mutually injure each other, and his pupils contracted. He never imagined Ye Yuan had grown to such an extent.

“A Crystal Condensation expert! Another Crystal Condensation expert has appeared! Who is this person? I don’t recognize him!”

“Father, he’s our academy’s instructor, Hu Yan Yong. But when I left the capital, he was still at the peak of Liquid Essence ninth layer. How did he break through to Crystal Condensation in just a few days?”

“What? You say he was at the peak of Liquid Essence ninth layer a few days ago, not half-step Crystal Condensation? Th-this is impossible!”

“Absolutely certain!”

“…”

Hu Yan Yong’s appearance completely overturned the current situation. The Su family’s forces, seeing Hu Yan Yong send Su Yubai flying with a single palm strike, all began to retreat.

Su Yubai, sent flying by Hu Yan Yong’s palm, was now even more injured.

But what shocked him more was that Hu Yan Yong had broken through to Crystal Condensation! This fact dealt a heavy blow to his pride.

To Su Yubai, Hu Yan Yong was just a junior. Now this junior had surpassed him—what a bitter irony.

“Hu Yan Yong! You… you actually broke through! Impossible!”

“Thanks to Elder Su’s blessings, I managed to break through by luck,” Hu Yan Yong said calmly.

“Hu Yan Yong, how dare you! As an academy instructor, you meddle in mundane affairs—this violates academy rules! I will report this to the dean and have you severely punished!”

“Elder Su, as the Grand Elder of the Punishment Hall, your status far exceeds mine. I wonder, why are you here, fighting with my student?”

“Hmph! I am here today as a member of the Su family, unrelated to the academy!”

“Is that so? Elder Su’s excuse is rather flimsy. But I am only here to protect my student. As an academy instructor, protecting a talented student is perfectly reasonable, isn’t it? Moreover, Ye Yuan’s status is special—he is about to enter the sect. If something were to happen to him here, who would bear the responsibility?”

Su Yubai’s face turned ashen with rage.

He knew these were just excuses everyone made; if the sect really investigated, no one could bear the consequences.