"It's Yuwen Wushuang!"
The crowd went into a frenzy when they saw who Wu Batian's next opponent was!
Both were arrogant Sons of Heaven in Wu Prefecture city, occupying the first and second place during the last edition of the Prodigy Summit held the first and second positions. Their strength far surpassed that of Li Mo's.
The two of them had a stellar winning record and their encounter came as somewhat of a surprise. Both young men looked at each other, and a fiery spark seemed to burn between them.
"Wu Batian now has a fourteen-match winning streak. So does Yuwen Wushuang. Whoever wins this battle will accumulate the most points!"
For those two individuals, no opponent would give them any pressure unless it was one of the four prodigies.
"Yuwen Wushuang, first-place will be mine this time!"
Yuwen Wushuang had a calm-looking, confidence-exuding, and emperor-like presence. While facing him, Wu Batian shelved all traces of his previous ridicule and contempt, replacing it with a look of solemnity and seriousness.
"I have no idea what the results of this battle will be. Wu Batian lost to Yuwen Wushuang in ten moves last year. I wonder which one of them is the stronger person after one year has passed."
"It's definitely Yuwen Wushuang. He may be one of the Four Great Prodigies, but he is a cut above the other three! He is incomparable among his peers in Wu Prefecture City. Even the other three prodigies might not withstand a single direct blow from him!"
Yuwen Wushuang—Li Ye looked over at Wu Prefecture City's legend, a young man who made a name for himself throughout the past decade.
Li Ye was very curious upon seeing the fighting spirit emanating from Wu Batian's body. There were rumors circulating about how Wu Batian had a momentous rising ever since the age of ten and remained undefeated amongst his peers.
"It is said that none of Yuwen Wushuang's peers lasted more than ten moves. Even the likes of Li Mo and Wu Batian could not break that ten-move limit."
Li Yuanjia sighed lamentably for Wu Prefecture City's premier young prodigy.
Li Yuanjia was also a prodigy, otherwise he would not have had the honor of being Li Hounian's adopted child. In addition, he was also the Li clan's second-placed inner disciple. However, he was not spared the frustration of being unable to catch up with greatness after witnessing Yuwen Wushuang's magnificence.
"I have to admit, Yuwen Wushuang's appearance has forced almost everyone in Wu Prefecture City to live in his shadow."
Li Ye could only respond to Li Yuanjia's lament with silence. It was exactly like Zhou Gongjin's lament during the Three Kingdoms period. '
Boom!
Nine moves!
Wu Batian looked incredibly steady and it seemed that neither heaven nor earth could force him to yield. However, he was then seen to kneel down immediately on one knee. At that exact moment, Li Ye felt an indescribable shock in his heart.
"Defeat! Wu Batian is the same as he was a year ago. Still less than ten moves!"
Peak Level Nine strength! Wu Batian, who was born with divine power, was defeated by merely nine of Yuwen Wushuang's moves!
This result shocked countless people!
"Compared with a year ago, Yuwen Wushuang's strength is even more insane!"
The Wu patriarch stared profoundly at the indifferent and confident young man, locking his gaze from the beginning of the match until the conclusion. He shook his head slightly and sent someone to go and help Wu Batian up.
Over at the Yuwen clan, the feeling of surprise seemed to be lacking amongst them. They appeared rather calm with the result, as if they had known what would happen in advance.
"Yuwen Wushuang!"
Li Mo's surprise was more than that of everyone else! Wu Batian had even reached peak Level Nine after a year, which was higher than Li Mo. It therefore shocked Li Mo tremendously, because someone as powerful as Wu Batian could barely last ten moves before Yuwen Wushuang. That fact made Li Mo feel an abrupt yet deep-rooted despair.
In Wu Prefecture City, anyone who considered themselves prodigies would measure their abilities against Yuwen Wushuang as the target for their aspirations! The desperation that each of them felt surfaced when they slowly noticed the ever-increasing gap between themselves and Yuwen Wushuang!
"Brother, have you taken the step to Innatism?"
Over at the Yuwen clan, Yuwen Lihua had a look of surprise and excitement, but amidst those feelings was also a brief hint of jealousy deep in her eyes.
"Not yet, only half-a-step."
Half-a-step! Although Yuwen Lihua had more or less guessed that, she still gasped when she heard it coming directly from him.
At the same time, her heart's last remaining desire of catching up to him was shattered. She knew that she would never ever stand a chance if she faced her half-brother.
She looked at Yuwen Wushuang's back as he turned away and a complex expression swirled in the depths of her eyes. No one noticed, but there was a touch of faint emotion deep inside her where no one could ever discover.
"Not bad, it is rare to see such good seed in such a small town."
Up in the stands, there was a nod from one of the three mysterious visitors—it came from the amicable-looking fat man. He had watched the previous battle and let out an unprecedented smile.
He was not the only one who nodded. The beautiful woman and middle-aged poker-faced man nodded as well.
Hearing their words, the surprised Yuwen patriarch asked at once, "Your Excellencies, has the kid passed?"
Beside them, the Wu patriarch had a hint of jealousy and envy on his face.
"Yes. Not bad at all. After this event ends, let him follow us back to the sect."
The Yuwen patriarch was overjoyed upon hearing that.
The Wu patriarch subsequently got anxious. He quickly voiced out, "Your Excellencies, what do you think of my kid..."
The fat man frowned slightly and hesitated, but the middle-aged poker-faced man replied abruptly, "It's a bare pass, although he's still lacking. Let him join then."
"Thank you, Your Excellencies!"
The Wu patriarch thanked him immediately.
It was fortunate that no one else saw the scene or else there would have been an uproar. The two patriarchs were known to be almost emperor-like in Wu Prefecture City, yet their awe and deference to the mysterious trio were wholeheartedly genuine.
Over at the Li clan, Li Daokui was looking quite unhappy. He was not entirely sure about the identity of the trio and only knew about them superficially. He felt anything but reassured after seeing the actions of the Wu and Yuwen clan.
His concern was on another matter altogether. "With Mo'er's strength, killing that evil b*stard won't be a problem!"
His desire to kill Li Ye had obviously not waned. In fact, it was increasing even more.
At that point, the Prodigy Summit has reached the latter half, with only three people capable of maintaining a winning streak. Among them, Yuwen Tianhua was practically unstoppable and no one doubted his ability to get first place.
Another was Yuwen Lihua of the Yuwen clan. As Yuwen Wushuang's sister, she was noticed more frequently for her beauty and status. Throughout her life, she had always lived in the shadow of her elder brother.
However, anyone who knew her would know that no one in Wu Prefecture City would dare to underestimate her, except for Yuwen Wushuang.
Along with the defeated Wu Batian and Li Mo, Yuwen Lihua's strength had always been roughly on par with them.
Li Mo was very unlucky to have encountered Yuwen Wushuang in one battle. He conceded immediately, resulting in a slew of jeers from those below. Despite that, he maintained a cold expression and there was no sign of decrement in his killing intent.
It was finally Li Ye's turn again. His opponent was a very unexpected one.
"Yuwen Lihua!"
It had to be acknowledged that Wu Prefecture City's most famous maiden had a kind of beauty that made men go wild. Her graceful figure, perky breasts, and slender hips could send members of the opposite gender into a love-struck intoxication.
Unfortunately, no one dared to try and woo her, as she was Yuwen clan's eldest young miss and one of Wu Prefecture City's Four Great Prodigies.
"I forfeit."
Just as everyone was hyped-up to watch a fierce battle, Yuwen Lihua conceded immediately, much to everyone's surprise.
"Lihua! What are you doing!"
The Yuwen patriarch snapped the armrest of his seat with one palm. He had an extremely displeased expression.
Ignoring her father's roar, Yuwen Lihua glanced briefly at Li Ye with an ineffable inquisitiveness. She then smiled flirtatiously.
"This girl!"
Li Ye was relieved when he saw her turn away.
As it stood, Li Mo made no secret of his killing intentions. He was even willing to forfeit when he encountered his old foe Wu Batian, all because he wanted to retain his strength in order to deal with Li Ye.
If Li Ye had battled with Yuwen Lihua, he would have expended a significant amount of energy no matter the outcome. During the proves, he might even reveal some of his trump cards.
Yuwen Lihua's forfeiture allowed Li Ye to accumulate eighteen points—the same as Yuwen Wushuang. The result was not what many had expected.
Whatever contempt, ridicule, and even derision previously aimed at Li Ye were all gone. Everyone looked forward to watching the frail, miracle-making youngster confront Yuwen Wushuang, the deservedly titled kinglike entity in Wu Prefecture City.
"Li Ye, before you battle Yuwen Wushuang, your opponent will be me!"
There was once a time where Li Mo would not even look at Li Ye. He never once paid attention to a piece of trash that was driven out of the clan. Even Li Ye's strong rise within the inner disciples did not attract Li Mo's interest.
Things had changed, though. The moment Li Ye killed Li Yue and nearly escaped the Semi-Sovereign Li Daokui, Li Mo was hard-pressed to admit that he made an error in judgement.
Yuwen Wushuang even began to pay attention at that time, albeit with an absence of anxiety in his expression. The calmness and confidence he possessed seemed to exude from the depths of his bones.
"No one is a match for me in Wu Prefecture City." His eyes heated up suddenly as he swept across the stands, looking at the mysterious trio who sat with his father and the influential Wu patriarch of Wu Prefecture City. The world where that trio lived was where he should rightfully be!
Wu Batian? Li Mo? His half-sister Yuwen Lihua? Although Wu Prefecture City put him in the same category as the three, he disagreed with that classification. Wu Prefecture City was not big enough for him!
"Li Ye! Come up here and accept your death!"
Li Mo's face was somber. Standing high up on the arena platform, his gaze pierced through like two extremely sharp swords!