"Gongsun Yan, have your injuries healed? Next up, it’s your match against Gongsun Po," the Elder’s voice rang out once more.
Gongsun Yan took a deep breath and said, "Let’s fight."
Though her loss to Ye Xuan was unexpected, she hadn’t lost her will to fight. If she could defeat Gongsun Po, even if she ultimately only took second place, there would still be glory in her defeat.
"Direct Lineage, Gongsun Yan."
"Direct Lineage, Gongsun Po. Please enlighten me!"
The two quickly began their battle. Although Gongsun Po’s cultivation base was a realm higher than Gongsun Yan’s, he didn’t underestimate her and immediately unleashed his Beast Soul. A majestic lion materialized in the sky above. This lion possessed two heads. It was an intermediate Fierce Beast Beast Soul—the Two-headed Furious Lion.
Gongsun Po’s cultivation was stronger than Gongsun Yan’s, and his awakened Beast Soul was a tier higher as well. Ye Xuan really hoped that Gongsun Yan could unleash a jaw-dropping ultimate move to defeat Gongsun Po. If she did, based on his own victory over her, he would automatically claim first place! However, he knew that Gongsun Yan had absolutely no chance of winning against Gongsun Po.
The fight was soon underway. Indeed, there was little suspense to this battle. Every Martial Technique Gongsun Yan knew, Gongsun Po also knew. If it weren’t for the fact that Gongsun Po refrained from fighting back and simply allowed Gongsun Yan to attack, she probably would have lost long ago.
"Gongsun Po, why aren’t you fighting back?" Gongsun Yan asked angrily, feeling that he was looking down on her.
Gongsun Po merely offered a faint smile. He continued to evade, still refusing to strike back.
"Gongsun Po has such great poise!"
"Yeah, he hasn’t struck back at all and is just letting Aunt Thirteen attack. But a gap in strength is a gap in strength; Aunt Thirteen can’t hurt him at all."
In the distance, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but smile. The more polite and gentlemanly Gongsun Po acted, the more advantageous it would be for him.
"I’m not fighting anymore! I concede," Gongsun Yan yielded voluntarily ten minutes later. Despite attacking with all her might, she couldn’t even touch the hem of Gongsun Po’s clothes. How could she possibly fight that? She might as well just surrender.
"Thank you for the match, Aunt Thirteen," Gongsun Po said with a polite, faint smile.
"Gongsun Po wins the second match. Third place in this grand competition goes to Gongsun Yan. Next, Gongsun Po will fight Ye Xuan to determine first and second place," Gongsun Wenjin’s voice suddenly announced.
As soon as he finished speaking, members of the Gongsun family began to chatter.
"Is this match even necessary?"
"Ye Xuan was only able to beat Aunt Thirteen because he was completely ruthless to himself. But against Gongsun Po, he doesn’t stand a chance."
"Yeah, let’s just skip the match. It’s nothing but a waste of time."
Even though Ye Xuan’s previous battles had been quite astonishing, still no one believed he was a match for Gongsun Po.
"Young Master... you will win." The only person in the entire venue who believed Ye Xuan could win was probably Hua.
Amidst everyone’s discussions, Ye Xuan selected a mid-grade Ghost-tier longsword and stepped into the combat ring. Gongsun Po also picked out a longsword and stood opposite him.
"Since you have chosen your weapons and are ready, let the match begin," the Elder declared.
The moment he spoke, Gongsun Po cupped his hands. "Direct Lineage, Gongsun—"
Before he could even finish his sentence, his pupils shrank violently. He felt the blood within his body surging wildly. He knew that Ye Xuan must have unleashed his Beast Soul.
Feeling the coercion of Ye Xuan’s Beast Soul up close, he was inwardly astonished. The pressure was incredibly intense. It took all of his strength just to keep the Spiritual Qi inside his body from running out of control.
Just as he managed to suppress his Spiritual Qi, Gongsun Po prepared to release his own Beast Soul. Suddenly, he felt an intensely scorching aura radiating from ahead. It was as if a fireball was rapidly approaching him. He looked up, only to see a massive palm, like a small mountain, pressing down toward him.
This palm was ablaze with roaring flames. As the fire burned, it instantly consumed all the surrounding air. Even breathing became a struggle for him.
Without hesitation, Gongsun Po immediately released his Beast Soul Power. He didn’t think Ye Xuan could actually hurt him.
But in the next moment, a scene that stunned everyone unfolded. When the palm struck, dense cracks instantly spider-webbed across Gongsun Po’s Beast Soul. The power of this flaming palm was far greater than anyone had imagined.
A terrifying wave of heat rapidly rippled outward in all directions like a sea of fire. This time, it took several Elders stepping in simultaneously to block the spreading shockwave.
BOOM!
The deafening sounds of explosions continued to echo. Plumes of dust and smoke blasted into the sky from the center of the ring, billowing upward as they mixed with the turbulent Spiritual Qi.
Then, the world fell silent. There wasn’t a single sound within the ring, nor could any silhouettes be seen.
The supervising Elder manipulated Spiritual Qi to generate a gust of wind, blowing the dust into the sky. Only then was the situation within the combat ring revealed to everyone’s eyes. In that instant, the entire audience was left in utter shock!
Gongsun Po, who had been standing just moments ago, was now lying on the ground. There was no Beast Soul above his head; it seemed to have already dissipated. A trail of blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, indicating that he had suffered significant injuries.
Ye Xuan stood right in front of Gongsun Po. He was looking down with his hand outstretched. Although his actual hand was quite small, the giant flaming palm formed by his Spiritual Qi was larger than Gongsun Po’s entire body! And this flaming palm was hovering mere inches from Gongsun Po’s face.
"I’ve lost..." Gongsun Po’s voice echoed. His tone carried even more reluctance and frustration than Gongsun Yan’s earlier surrender.
GASPS!
As his words fell, the entire audience was in an uproar. Soon after, a junior angrily roared, "Ye Xuan, you’re shameless! How dare you launch a sneak attack!"
Just now, everyone had seen it clearly. While Gongsun Po was still introducing himself, Ye Xuan suddenly struck. That massive flaming palm had dyed half the sky red. Completely unprepared, Gongsun Po took the flaming palm head-on. Moreover, in the blink of an eye, Ye Xuan had struck out three times. Behind the first flaming palm was another flaming palm, followed by yet another.
"This Ye Xuan has no martial ethics! He took advantage of Gongsun Po’s distraction to launch a sneak attack!"
"Elder, this can’t count! A rematch, there must be a rematch!"
"That’s right, a rematch!"
The juniors of the Gongsun family continuously roared in indignation.
"Xuan’Er..." Even Gongsun Yanran felt embarrassed, rubbing her forehead with her hand. Although he had won, the victory didn’t exactly seem honorable.
Off to the side, Liu Ruoxi had the calmest reaction. To her, Ye Xuan had always been exactly this shameless! Otherwise, why would he make her wash his clothes, scrub his underwear, and even undress him? The most detestable part was that Ye Xuan had even used the Milk-Squeezing Dragon Claw Hand on her. Even now, she still remembered that electrifying sensation.
Shamelessness was Ye Xuan’s motto. What were these people so shocked and surprised about?
Inside the combat ring, Ye Xuan withdrew his flaming palm upon hearing Gongsun Po’s surrender. As he helped Gongsun Po to his feet, he said, "Gongsun Po, I wasn’t launching a sneak attack. The Elder just said that once we were ready, the match would begin. I was indeed ready, so I made my move. Makes sense, right?"
Ye Xuan’s words only caused the Gongsun juniors to curse even louder.
"It’s bad enough that you’re shameless, but you don’t feel guilty at all! You are the absolute peak of shamelessness!"
"A rematch! We demand a rematch!"