Chapter 797: A Clash of Titans

"Hiss..."

Ye Yuan gasped in pain; the agony of his soul being torn apart was clearly not pleasant.

"It seems the breakthrough just now has reached its limit. If I force myself to chant this syllable again, my soul will risk tearing due to rapid expansion. It appears I must consolidate my soul before I can utter this syllable again."

Ye Yuan was very familiar with the soul and quickly discerned the issue.

When the soul expands too quickly, it feels as if it is being violently stretched, naturally causing such pain.

Once Ye Yuan consolidated his soul, he could continue using this syllable to strengthen it.

Knowing the cause, Ye Yuan naturally dared not act recklessly. After swallowing several pills that nourished the soul, he began to consolidate it.

...

Over the next few days, Ye Yuan continued to advance triumphantly, undefeated.

After thirteen days, only Nalan Chu, Ye Yuan, and this Zhang Tianyi remained unbeaten on the leaderboard.

Zhang Tianyi's strength was truly formidable; he had defeated several powerful opponents, including Wu Jiantong, who was said to be second only to Nalan Chu.

Among them was Wu Jiantong, who was reputed to be second only to Nalan Chu.

Now, that title seemed like a joke.

Not to mention Zhang Tianyi, even Han Feng was much stronger than him.

However, for Ye Yuan, the excitement provided by the competition was clearly less than the growth of his soul.

In thirteen days, Ye Yuan's soul had grown by nearly twenty percent compared to its previous perfected state!

Ye Yuan had never known that a martial artist's soul could be enhanced to such an extent even in the perfected state.

As his soul grew, Ye Yuan's yuan power also rose accordingly. Finally, on the night of the tenth day, Ye Yuan broke through to Divine Travel Ninth Layer!

Ye Yuan discovered that this additional growth in his soul greatly improved his comprehension of realms.

Even at Divine Travel Ninth Layer, Ye Yuan's understanding was completely different from his previous life.

The 'Dao' of the Divine Travel realm became clearer in Ye Yuan's mind.

As his insights deepened, Ye Yuan's realm unknowingly reached the peak of Divine Travel Ninth Layer, only one step away from breaking through to the Immeasurable realm.

Ye Yuan focused on cultivation, and a night passed in the blink of an eye.

Today, Ye Yuan would face the strongest opponent in this competition—Nalan Chu.

Before Ye Yuan appeared, Nalan Chu was almost the predetermined first place.

As the selection competition progressed, many strong contenders tried to challenge Nalan Chu's dominance, but all failed without exception.

Now, with three powers standing firm, the most promising challengers to Nalan Chu's throne were Ye Yuan and Zhang Tianyi.

In many people's minds, today's showdown would determine the first place of this competition and also the allocation of spots to enter Chixia Valley.

Although Zhang Tianyi was strong, he had not comprehended Supreme True Intent; if he faced these two, he would likely lose.

"Ye Yuan broke through overnight! Now he has even more confidence."

"What use is a minor realm? Unless he breaks through to the Immeasurable realm, there is still a major realm gap between him and Nalan Chu. Both have comprehended Supreme True Intent; this gap is hard to bridge!"

"Hey, so what? Han Feng comprehended Supreme True Intent, yet he still lost to Ye Yuan!"

"Don't get it wrong. So far, Nalan Chu hasn't even shown his true strength, yet he has swept all opponents. Ye Yuan is strong, but to defeat Nalan Chu, he still falls short."

Before the battle between Ye Yuan and Nalan Chu began, heated discussions had already erupted over who would win.

However, Ye Yuan cleanly defeated his opponent in his first match, and everyone noticed that his realm had improved significantly overnight.

Amid the astonishment, most people were still not optimistic about Ye Yuan.

Ye Yuan was indeed formidable in cross-realm combat, but Nalan Chu's strength was absolutely incomparable to others.

Han Feng had admitted that even with his comprehension of Supreme True Intent, he was no match for Nalan Chu.

This showed how strong Nalan Chu was.

Although the debates raged outside, the parties involved seemed very calm.

"Boom!"

Nalan Chu used only one move to blast his opponent off the stage, drawing cheers from the audience.

Returning to the rest area, Nalan Chu sat beside a young man.

This young man was slightly older than Nalan Chu. Those who knew him recognized him as Nalan Hong, one of the Seven Holy Sons and Nalan Chu's cousin.

"You seem especially motivated today! It seems that young man named Ye Yuan has brought you some pressure." As soon as Nalan Chu sat down, Nalan Hong laughed.

Nalan Chu smiled slightly. "It's been a long time since I've faced an opponent that gets my blood boiling!"

"Although he has comprehended Supreme True Intent, he is only at the Divine Travel realm. Are you saying that with your strength, you're not confident against a Divine Travel realm?"

"I know Han Feng's strength well; he forced me to use fifty percent of my power! This Ye Yuan was able to guide him to comprehend Supreme True Intent, so he is at least at the third stage. How can such an opponent not excite me?"

Although Nalan Chu appeared calm on the surface, Nalan Hong could clearly feel the surging excitement deep within him.

Nalan Hong was slightly surprised. His cousin's talent even surpassed his own, and it seemed no opponent had ever excited him this much.

This Ye Yuan had piqued Nalan Hong's strong interest.

But Nalan Chu's words astonished Nalan Hong.

The third stage of Supreme True Intent was truly remarkable.

The Chixia Holy Land had never seen a genius who had comprehended the third stage of Supreme True Intent.

Nalan Chu, whose talent swept the current generation, had only comprehended the second stage.

Time passed minute by minute, and the highly anticipated peak battle finally began!

Ye Yuan and Nalan Chu ascended the stage, and cheers erupted from the audience.

But the two parties involved seemed oblivious.

"Use the Star and Moon Sword. I want to fight you at your strongest!"

Contrary to Ye Yuan's expectations, Nalan Chu made such a request as soon as he stepped onto the stage.

Ye Yuan was taken aback, then shook his head with a smile. "If you use the Star and Moon Sword, you won't be able to beat me."

This time it was Nalan Chu's turn to be stunned. It was the first time he had encountered someone so arrogant in front of him.

But Nalan Chu could sense that Ye Yuan was not trying to show off; he truly had that confidence.

Ye Yuan seemed to be stating a fact, not deliberately putting on a show.

Ye Yuan was indeed stating a fact. No one could understand what the Star and Moon Sword meant to him.

The Star and Moon Sword's amplification of Ye Yuan's strength was far more than one plus one.

Nalan Chu frowned slightly and said, "No wonder you didn't hesitate to spend a billion to acquire the Star and Moon Sword. It seems the sword is indeed of great significance to you."