Chapter 918: Step up Your Game
Hearing that, Rong Xiu stopped in his tracks and looked at Chu Liuyue with a raised eyebrow. The dangerous gleam in his dark phoenix eyes made Chu Liuyue feel a chill run down her spine. He didn’t even open his mouth, but she could hear his soft whisper clearly. “Don’t ever say that again.”
Chu Liuyue blinked, having the vague feeling that she had committed a serious faux pas. Uh… What did I say just now?
“Stop worrying.” Rong Xiu shot her a warning glare. “Your man is good at everything.”
Chu Liuyue’s cheeks and ears immediately burned up. She quickly averted her gaze and followed the crowd forward. Tch, I was just worried about him! We’ve known each other for so long, yet I didn’t even know that he’s also a Xuan Master.
Although she knew that Rong Xiu was pretty formidable, she—since the beginning—thought that he was just a warrior. Thus, she wasn’t confident that he could win against Zhao Zicheng in a Xuan Master compet.i.tion. Moreover, the latter was just slightly lagging behind her in terms of talent in this aspect. After years of diligent practice, it wasn’t hard to imagine how far he had progressed in his Xuan Master cultivation journey.
Rong Xiu is being so calm and nonchalant… I guess that means he’s fairly confident about his skills… Having received a stern warning from Rong Xiu, Chu Liuyue naturally dared not comment further on the matter. Not to mention that his lazy and unconcerned att.i.tude gradually made her worries ease. I don’t think I’ve ever needed to worry about this man before…
…
Yuan He Palace’s training ground.
Rong Xiu and Zhao Zicheng stood facing each other, while Shangguan You and Chu Liuyue sat down at the side. Surrounding them were Black Guards, who were responsible for guarding the place.
It was quiet, and everyone’s eyes were on the two people standing in the middle of the training ground. Some were curious, while others were skeptical. By now, everyone here had already found out that the man in white was Chu Liuyue’s fiancé, that Zhao Zicheng failed to ask for her hand in marriage, and that the two men had agreed to compete to see who was better suited for her.
As this matter involved Chu Liuyue, everyone was naturally curious. Despite their calm exteriors, they were all really agitated on the inside. Some of the palace staff were even carefully peeking in from outside the palace gate.
“I heard that the man in white is Her Majesty’s fiancé. He seems to be the Seventh Prince of Country Yao Chen!”
“Yao Chen? Isn’t that one of the Tianling Dynasty’s subsidiary countries? Even though he’s a prince, he isn’t compatible with Her Majesty in terms of status…”
“Few in the world have such a graceful appearance though! I used to find Second Young Master Zhao good-looking, but for some reason, I now find his appearance slightly lacking compared to the other man…”
“Hey, this is all superficial stuff and isn’t so important! Given Her Majesty’s n.o.ble status, the courtiers won’t easily agree to their marriage even if she agrees to marry him…”
“Second Young Master Zhao was already a seventh-grade Xuan Master when he left Xi Ling, and his cultivation must’ve improved considerably over the past few years. I’m afraid that the outcome of the compet.i.tion is already out…”
…
Zhao Zicheng looked at Rong Xiu and cupped his fist. “Please…”
Rong Xiu gave an indifferent nod in return, which made the former frown.
He can only continue to act arrogant for so long. Once the duel starts, he’ll know what it means by ‘there is always someone better out there!’ A mere Seventh Prince of Country Yao Chen isn’t worthy of Her Majesty! Zhao Zicheng then held his breath and gathered his focus while spreading his feet apart slightly and lifting his arms. A thumb-sized silver force instantly flew out from his palm—it was concentrated and powerful despite it swaying along with the wind.
With a wave of his arms, the force instantly split into hundreds of bits. The thing was that each of them was completely identical to the original strand in terms of thickness and aura. The fact that he could gather such concentrated force together and split it up so quickly was proof that he had perfect control over his force.
Like agile fish swimming in the sea, countless strands of silver force hovered around his hands and intertwined to form a gigantic Xuan formation. As the formation became increasingly complex, the aura Zhao Zicheng released became more powerful as well.
In just the span of a few breaths, the silver Xuan formation became so complicated that it was mind-boggling. It exuded a strong pressure that slowly spread out and spun as black spatial cracks silently formed on the edges of the void, which showed how terrifyingly powerful this Xuan formation was.
Shangguan You sat slightly straighter in his seat as he stared closely at the Xuan formation in surprise. “I didn’t know that… Zhao Zicheng is already an eighth-grade Xuan Master!”
There was no doubt about it, given how strong the pressure was. It was apparent the young man hadn’t slackened off in his cultivation and had, in fact, been training hard over the past few years all along.
Thinking about it, he’s not even 30 this year. Even across the entire Tianling Dynasty, very few people can break through to become an eighth-grade Xuan Master in the middle of a compet.i.tion. Shangguan You then turned to look at Rong Xiu but ended up being slightly taken aback when he saw the latter calmly standing still with a hand behind his back. He couldn’t help but frown. He hasn’t… even started? He’s not going to do anything even though his opponent is about to complete his advanced Xuan formation? Don’t tell me that… he’s giving up without a fight? Even if he’s not on the same level as Zhao Zicheng, he should give his best shot at least. What is he just standing there for?
Chu Liuyue also found this strange, although her curiosity was even stronger. Even now, she still didn’t know where Rong Xiu truly stood in terms of cultivation level, and this was a Xuan Master compet.i.tion on top of that. Hence, she really wanted to see how capable of a Xuan Master he was.
…
Zhao Zicheng’s bad mood worsened when he saw Rong Xiu’s reaction—or rather, lack thereof—for it appeared that the latter was disregarding the effort he was putting in. As he pursed his lips, he injected more force into his Xuan formation.
A huge figure appeared above the Xuan formation, and it turned out to be a tiger.
“Fearsome Tiger Formation!”
With a thundering roar, the tiger leaped forward and charged straight toward Rong Xiu.
However, a white lion suddenly appeared in front of the man in white robes the next second. Its ice-blue eyes stared coldly at the tiger illusion as it lifted its paw indifferently.
Whoos.h.!.+
The illusion was ripped into pieces in a flash.
Rong Xiu looked up and curled his lips into a small smile. “This isn’t good enough. You need to step up your game.”