~~~
"Brother Han, I know I promised you that I would wed my daughter to Xiao Xuanyuan but there's nothing I can do if she doesn't agree to it."
Bai Yue's father, Bai Tian explained to Han Shixian, Han Xuanyuan's father in a very complicated and outwardly remorseful fashion.
Han Shixian, sitting opposite Bai Tian in the pavilion out in the Bai family estate, had a very dark expression, he looked like he was itching to kill somebody.
Han Xuanyuan who sat beside him, had an equally gloomy and blackened expression.
'This couldn't have gotten worse, first I found out I can't cultivate, and now my engagement is being canceled. I should've just dug a hole to hide in instead of coming here. Ugh, how embarrassing!'
At this moment an incredibly beautiful young girl came to the pavilion, hand in hand with an even more handsome young man.
If the girl could be described as a graceful phoenix basking in the light of a sweet flame, the boy would be a domineering dragon, sweeping through the clouds to pose boldly up in heaven.
"Father!" she called out to Bai Tian.
'So this is Bai Yue,' Xuanyuan thought.
"When will you end it with the Han family? I can't stand being associated with that trash anymore. All my friends ridicule me for it!"
Bai Yue shouted at her father like a spoiled girl, what was even worse to see was her father not even rebuking her for being rude.
'Wow, that was very direct.' He thought, not at all cared about such a little girl's opinions.
"There is another reason we are here father," the man beside Bai Yue spoke out this time. His voice was as robust as his physique, simply reeking with confidence.
'Calling Bai Tian father? Is he Bai Yue's boyfriend?' This time Han Xuanyuan was a bit annoyed. Being rude to him was one thing, but his fiancé bringing her boyfriend in front of him was a whole other concept; even if it happened unintentionally.
"I would like to visit the Abyss of Purity in our clan's territory." The man was was seeking permission but his tone made it clear that it was more of a demand.
'This Bai Tian doesn't know how to raise children, what a pity.'
"Yes Ye Chen I will tell Elder Gong to take you there later today."
Bai Tian replied somewhat absentmindedly.
But it was here that Bai Tian messed up. He had promised Han Shixian that the Han family would get the quota to enter the Abyss of Purity this decade.
Allowing Ye Chen to go instead so nonchalantly was a major slap in his face.
"Bai Tian! What is the meaning of this?" Han Shixian said loudly through gritted teeth, standing up from his seat, a luxurious blue and white armchair made of high-level materials.
Bai Tian, having realized his mistake, wished he could hit himself.
"Shixian, do not misunderstand, you intended to let Xiao Xuanyuan enter the Abyss of Purity, but since he cannot cultivate we need not waste it, no?"
Bai Tian explained calmly with a smile on his face, he knew exactly how to clear the field.
"Nonsense, do you think my Han family has no one?" Han Shixian shouted, his face turning purple and the veins on his temples bulging.
"But the original intention is gone Shixian. I gave you the quota because of I favor Xiao Xuanyuan, but since it is useless for him why not let me redistribute?"
Bai Tian's magnanimous smile only further deepened Han Shixian's frown, he had realized what Bai Tian wanted to do but had no way to stop it.
He had no choice but to play along.
"But since you are unconvinced I will favor you once more and allow for a fair competition."
"Fine, but I shall choose the level range. The Firmament Grade." Han Shixian announced, sitting back down.
"Why so high Shixian? You know the Abyss of Purity only benefits those in the Origin Grade, let the youngsters fight their own battles."
Bai Tian replied with a smirk on his face that seemed to say 'I have already won.'
"Whatever, then let it be a year from now." Han Shixian finalized, his face returning to its normal calmness, but within his eyes was a deeply hidden murderous intention. His anger had peaked.
~~~
"Father I wish to participate in the tournament!" Han Xuanyuan declared to Han Shixian as he entered his study room, a magnificent library with practically countless books.
Han Shixian, sitting at his desk on the edge of the room beside a large floor-to-ceiling window, looking at a some documents with a quill in his hand, called out angrily.
"Who do you think you are you animal! Haven't you disgraced my family enough?"
"I may not be able to cultivate the mystic, but my physique and Dao are equally powerful. I have reached the peak of the Origin Grade in both paths father."
Han Shixian, hearing this was somewhat astonished, he thought this disgusting excuse of a child of his was truly a good for nothing and would waste his life away.
Who would have thought the boy truly had unrevealed potential in other areas.
Raising one's realm in the body was no easy task, it required great determination and effort.
Comprehending the Dao was even more difficult, very few could ever truly embark on the path of Upanishad.
This child did not possess any meridians but was still able to sense the Rules, if he had meridians, even the ones of the worst quality, he could still be hailed as a genius.
Thinking this, all of his anger faded, instead what was replaced in the corner of his eyes was something that resembled a tear.
"Show me what you've learnt." Han Shixian accepted, snapping his fingers to instantly transport the two into an expansive training room.
~~~
"Xuanyuan! I've been looking for you." Shan Gu, the Shan family's heir and "Han Xuanyuan's" childhood friend, called out from behind.
Turning around, Xuanyuan saw a well-built and dashing young man flashing him a friendly grin.
"Shan Gu? Long time no see man, I've been meaning to talk to you too!" Xuanyuan replied with an equally wide grin, he couldn't care less about some childhood friend of this body's previous owner.
However, the last round was a free-for-all. Initially it was planned to be between the four finalists, but after Ye Chen, the Bai family's disciple, crippled the Gong family's disciple during a major melee, it was down to three contestants only.
Against a monster like Ye Chen, Han Xuanyuan's only stable chance at winning would be to team up with Shan Gu, the other finalist.
"Xuanyuan, let's go somewhere more private, I have something to discuss with you..." Shan Gu came to Xuanyuan's side and whispered in his ear.
'It seems like he has the same idea as me.' He thought.
~~~
The stadium was roaring in cheers as the three challengers entered the arena.
Above the battlefield was a large transparent box, completely clear from the inside but invisible from the outside.
Within were seated the leaders and their subordinates, of the four main factions that hosted this event.
Namely the four great clans of the Myths and Deities Sect - Bai, Han, Shan, and Gong.
Shan Gu, seeing Xuanyuan, gave him a slight nod which he reciprocated, before they both set their cold eyes, full of murderous intention towards Ye Chen, who looked at them with disdain simply oozing out of his very being.
With a dash, the two rushed towards the tall and imposing figure of Ye Chen, clad in a heavy dark red robe.
Shan Gu kept his distance, condensing a majestic golden bow with his qi before preparing several array formations simultaneously.
The ethereal and exquisite bow was the core battle technique of the Gong family, it had created quite a scene the first time Shan Gu used it but Shan Gu's father, the Shan family's patriarch had compensated the Gong family generously so there were no lasting repercussions.
Meanwhile, Xuanyuan kept moving towards Ye Chen, who was also rushing towards Xuanyuan with a wild and somewhat frightening expression on his face.
Ye Chen had seen Xuanyuan fight in the previous rounds and was surprised at his physical prowess. He could not wait to fight him head-on.
Ye Chen circulated his mystical energies crazily and his body surged with incredible power. He augmented his physique with qi to become faster, stronger, and more resilient.
He also employed several battle techniques for enhancing his martial prowess - hardening his skin, strengthening his muscles, toughening his bones.
In just a moment the two had locked onto each other and thrown their punches, meeting in mid-air but just shy of colliding, they brushed past each others' fists and hit their jaws directly.
Like this ensued their brutal and barbaric melee.
Kicks and punches were thrown like anything, producing gruesome sounds of smashing, crunching, and squishing.
Fist would meet fist and kick would meet kick, clashing together and spreading dust as if they were within a sandstorm.
Occasionally Shan Gu would shoot some arrows and only in Ye Chen's direction but it would be easily dodged by him.
Suddenly, instead of moving forwards and sidestepping before throwing his own attack like he had been previously doing, Xuanyuan moved back allowing Ye Chen to advance and gain the initiative.
But it was all part of his plan with Shan Gu.
On one particular back-step he jumped backwards and rolled to the side.
Seemingly taking advantage of his poor choice of movement, Ye Chen ran directly towards him at full throttle.
But in his excitement he had forgotten to adjust his steps to account for the booby-trapped formations Shan Gu had been placing all around the field.
BOOM
With a great explosion dust flew into the air, completely concealing the situation on the spot but the bright and expansive burst of flames had been apparent to everybody.
Going to check on him and potentially administering a finishing blow, Xuanyuan slowly edged into the smoke.
Shockingly that powerful burst of fire had not even burnt any of his hair because Ye Chen jumped out of the smoke completely unscathed, his arm pulled back in a full-strength punch, aimed straight at Xuanyuan's face.
'Fuck' Was the only thing he could think, he had no time to react.
The punch fell cleanly on his face as blood flew into the air and he fell to the ground.
"Who do you think you are, using flames against a fire cultivator?" Ye Chen shouted arrogantly at Shan Gu, his chin turned up as his usual disdainful smile took its place.
Seeing Shan Gu nocking more arrows into his bow instead of replying, Ye Chen left no more reservations as he dashed towards him.
This time he truly stopped holding back, letting himself go completely.
His robes were burned away as a cloak made of fire enveloped him entirely, making him faster and harder to hit.
But he was not expecting to be pulled back.
A hand had caught onto his ankle and as he looked back, he saw Xuanyuan's bloody face showing him an even bloodier toothful grin. With that he lost his balance and fell.
Reeling him in with his ankle Xuanyuan tried to throw him across the field but failed as Ye Chen kicked his hand and he had to let go.
And so began another round of gruesome fighting, this time incredibly bloody as Ye Chen was significantly faster than before, and using his full strength as well.
For every hit Xuanyuan landed, he would have to take 10 more yet he was still standing.
Striking Ye Chen's flame cloak felt like hitting a thick wall of solid metal, he felt like he was barely making any progress.
As another malevolent punch landed on his stomach and sent him flying backwards, Shan Gu took his chance and shot several arrows at Ye Chen, who turned back immediately to catch them with his bare hands as the were flying straight towards his face.
But he did not expect that even though he had caught one before it pierced into his face, it exploded right before him, blowing him away and slightly dispersing his flame cloak.
The other arrows caught up to him and pierced his cloak, almost penetrating his flesh as well.
With another bout of explosions, the dust permeated the field once again.
This time Xuanyuan had learnt his lesson and kept his distance and waited for Ye Chen to come out once more. But he didn't.
It wasn't until the dust had almost settled and Shan Gu could not hold his load any longer and shot out, a full dozen arrows heading straight towards Ye Chen, that he broke out of hiding and lashed out towards Xuanyuan.
Smashing a spear condensed purely from bright red and blue flames right onto his head, Ye Chen appeared from the smoke, his domineeringly handsome face flooded with sweat shining in the bright light.
Xuanyuan's eyes shrank and his pupils dilated as he saw the spear's trajectory falling on his forehead.
"Falling for the same trick twice? So you ARE just stupid, haha" Ye Chen shouted out in victorious laughter.
"Dumbass, watch this." Xuanyuan replied in a cold voice once he saw that Ye Chen no longer had enough control to revoke his attack.
With a stunned expression on his face, Ye Chen crashed into the ground, producing a large "thump" sound.
Han Xuanyuan had utilized his comprehension of the Dao of gravity to increase the gravitation force felt by Ye Chen by nearly fifty times.
As Ye Chen did not cultivate his physique and was only relying on the supplemental boost granted by circulating mystical energies, he could not withstand the heavy burden placed directly on his body.
Xuanyuan seeing him finally drop and begin to struggle like a bug, felt it was very funny.
"The same person who looked at me as if I were an ant is now squirming like one at my feet." He said loudly, putting a lot of physical force into his vocal cords to enhance the volume of his words, causing the entire stadium to shake in the thunderous roars of the countless sect members watching this battle.
"How pitiful." He ended mockingly as he raised his foot to place on Ye Chen's head. Xuanyuan could hear him grinding his teeth and felt like laughing, but knew now was not the time.
But right when he was about to smash down to cave in his skull, he was thrown back dozens of meters by an unfathomable force.
Ye Chen was levitating, a feat available only to Profound Grade cultivators..
His cloak of flames had unraveled to unveil a pair of fiery wings, burning brightly with blazing feathers.
Surrounding him were countless miniature floating spheres of blindingly bright fire.
'Brilliant, a breakthrough to the Profound Grade' Han Xuanyuan thought gloomily, his face plastering on a severely downcast expression.
Ye Chen looked down at Han Xuanyuan, smiling in ridicule.
Shan Gu rushed over to Xuanyuan's side. He had no time to watch from the sidelines anymore.
"It's about time I let him know what being from the Shan family truly means."
Shan Gu, whispered to Xuanyuan, who only then realized that perhaps Shan Gu was the most hidden out of the three of them.
Taking off his clothes and dropping them to the ground with a somewhat loud crash, scattering dust into the air, Shan Gu revealed his robust physique that was hidden under that heavy martial arts uniform.
Sweaty bronze skin that gleamed under the brightness of the countless mini-suns that Ye Chen had spread across the sky, frighteningly defined muscles that bulged with a strength that seemed to shake the very air.
'So this is the Shan family's Mountain Body that is revered throughout the world.' Han Xuanyuan thought in awe. If only he had their physique, it would be life-changing... if he could somehow obtain the Shan family's cultivation method...
But now there was no time to dwell on such thoughts as Ye Chen was swooping downwards, heading straight for Shan Gu who charged right in, jumping to meet Ye Chen's fist head on with his own.
The two engaged in a primal battle of flesh against flesh, blood against blood.
Nothing was left undone.
They punched in each others' faces, collided their shins, grasped each others' hands and pushed with all the strength in their body, breaking the deadlocks by smashing their heads into each other.
They pulled at their hair and bit on their hands.
Grinding their knuckles together after smashing them violently in a heaven-shaking collision of pure power.
Round after round they fought endlessly like animals until they realized that they were equally matched.