Jiang Heng's steps never halted as he walked to the edge of the arena.
A fellow elder from the Heaven Sword Sect, also dressed in black, came forward.
"Elder Zhou, please hand over my chips," Jiang Heng said politely as he extended a finely crafted wooden box he had prepared in advance.
Elder Zhou, with a stern face, took the box and said with a half-smile, half-frown, "These are just 500 Blood Qi Pills, nothing to be concerned about for our Heaven Sword Sect."
"Moreover, our disciples have no possibility of losing."
"It's you I'm worried about. If you end up getting killed on the stage, don't blame our disciples for being too ruthless."
Jiang Heng continued to smile calmly.
"That won't happen. I'm just concerned that your disciples won't be enough for me to fight."
"After all, one of my purposes in coming here to challenge is to earn more money. A genius like me has a fast cultivation speed and requires a massive amount of resources."
"So, if I inadvertently cause some psychological trauma to your disciples during the fight, I hope you won't take offense."
"In truth, I have no ill intentions."
Upon hearing this, the Heaven Sword Sect elder's face darkened, and he felt a surge of anger within.
After finishing his statement, Jiang Heng paid no attention to the elder's reaction.
He jumped onto the stage directly, surveyed the Heaven Sword Sect disciples below who were constantly hissing, and said loudly:
"Everyone, I am Jiang Heng, the peerless genius from the Dalu Sect."
"I've come here to challenge so that the core disciples of your sect can see what a real genius is."
"Alright, I've said my piece. Who's going up first?"
This statement left the Heaven Sword Sect disciples below the stage in awe of his arrogance and conceit.
He dared to provoke while being in the enemy's camp?
How audacious!
"Wow, this guy is really arrogant! I can't stand it!"
"Go! Kill this arrogant kid!"
On the other side of the arena, in the spectator area, were ten core disciples, including Wu Mingxuan.
The so-called "seats" were actually rankings among the core disciples, but only the top ten were considered.
Each one of them was a genius among geniuses, having cultivated to the Innate Realm with fierce determination. They were truly the cream of the crop when it came to talent, strength, and combat experience.
In terms of cultivation, martial arts, and battle experience, they were all at the pinnacle!
Compared to independent cultivators in the outside world, they were practically invincible in the Innate Realm!
At this moment, all ten of them had unpleasant expressions.
"This kid is way too arrogant!"
"Those who don't know fear have nothing to lose! I'll go first and kill him directly!"
One of the youths sneered, walked to the waiting area on the other side, and found the Heaven Sword Sect elder who had just spoken with Jiang Heng.
The youth handed over his identification badge.
"Elder Qin, I want to challenge!"
After registering, the youth jumped onto the stage and stood not far from Jiang Heng.
"My name is Fang Hanchi, the tenth-ranked core disciple of the Heaven Sword Sect. I've come to take your life!"
Fang Hanchi coldly shouted, drew his longsword, and pointed it directly at Jiang Heng.
He looked like a dashing young hero.
The crowd below cheered.
"Fang Senior Brother is stepping up! Quickly, defeat this ignorant kid from the Dalu Sect!"
"Let him taste the might of our Heaven Sword Sect!"
On the stage, Jiang Heng looked at the theatrics of his opponent and ignored all the shouting from below.
"Show your moves! Otherwise, you won't have a chance."
Fang Hanchi, in extreme anger, sneered, "Alright, alright! You really are quite arrogant!"
He finished speaking and suddenly moved, turning into a wisp of light smoke and drifting forward, his speed reaching its peak.
In the view of many below,
It was almost instant. Fang Hanchi's figure had floated to a position not far from Jiang Heng, with a crimson True Qi-covered longsword that left a brilliant rainbow-like trail, slashing towards the seemingly unprepared Jiang Heng.
"Not bad for a core disciple with a seat, at the very least, in terms of speed, you're not inferior to me," Jiang Heng thought to himself.
But his movements were not slow at all. He lightly lifted his left hand and, using the back of his hand, struck the side of the sword.
A tremendous force erupted suddenly, transmitting through the longsword into Fang Hanchi's body.
After all, he was a top-tier expert in the Innate Realm. Under this strike, Fang Hanchi didn't get instantly seriously injured as Jiang Heng's previous opponents had. Even his longsword remained tightly held.
However, despite looking unscathed, Fang Hanchi's complexion changed drastically.
The reason was that his longsword had deviated from its original trajectory, thrusting towards an empty space to Jiang Heng's side.
What was more frightening was that in that brief moment of contact, a mysterious force entered his body, causing a momentary numbness throughout his body.
It was this numbness that caused his movements to stall.
But Jiang Heng showed no sign of stopping.
After knocking the longsword aside with his left hand, his right hand immediately struck forward.
In the moment Fang Hanchi couldn't react, it struck his chest with a resounding impact.
This was no less powerful than the previous blow.
As a result of this punch, Fang Hanchi was sent flying, coughing up blood, and he lay on the ground for a long time, unable to get up.
Everyone seemed to have their throats choked, and the entire arena fell into silence.
The tenth seat of the core disciples of the Heaven Sword Sect had been instantly killed!
Killed by an inner disciple of the Dalu Sect!
Killed by a martial artist in the True Qi Realm, surpassing levels!
"What... What is this?!"
"What's wrong with Fang Hanchi? Did he get bribed by the other side to stage this act?"
"Even if that Dalu Sect kid has strong abilities, he shouldn't be able to knock Fang Hanchi down with one punch, right? This is just too much!"
The observing disciples were discussing loudly.
Nobody could accept this outcome.
In the waiting area, the nine people had similarly serious expressions. They had sharp eyes and a clearer view of the situation.
"When the opponent struck him on the sword, there was a momentary pause in Fang Junior Brother's body. It's possible that he used some special martial technique that could paralyze someone's body, which allowed him to take down Fang Junior Brother."
"The attack that followed might have had a paralyzing effect as well, causing him to be unable to get up."
"In any case, this match is indeed lost."
"But he won't get another chance!"
At this moment,
Elder Qin from the waiting area shouted loudly, "Jiang Heng wins!"
On the edge of the arena, Fang Hanchi struggled to get up from the ground.
At this moment, almost every inch of his flesh and blood was aching, from the inside out. Even standing up was extremely difficult for him.
Yet, he stubbornly staggered down from the stage.
"Damn! What a fraud!"
"He's truly disgraced the Heaven Sword Sect!"
"A strong Innate Realm expert has actually been instantly killed by an external sect's True Qi Realm disciple. He's truly unworthy of being a core disciple!"
Several disdainful voices mingled with the crowd's discussion.
While they didn't dare to say these words loudly, many of them felt emboldened in the crowd, and their comments became increasingly harsh.
Fang Hanchi paused for a moment, then continued walking down, leaving the martial arena, his figure lonely and desolate.