Invincible Soul Emperor

Chapter 489: Battling Against a Ninth-Level Martial King Expert

Xiao Xiao was fuming. She had fought so hard in the competition and was very satisfied with the strength she had displayed, but Ye Qingchen hadn’t seen it.

As Xiao Xiao walked down from the arena, she pouted and muttered to herself, "Hmph, he said he came to watch me compete, but he just sat there with his eyes closed, paying no attention to my battle at all. Young Master is so detestable!"

The Saint Heir, who was watching Xiao Xiao’s match from the edge of the arena, overheard her words. Believing his chance had come, he approached Xiao Xiao with a smile and spoke in what he thought was a gentle tone, "Xiao Xiao, your fight just now was spectacular. However, we are all disciples from high-level sects. Don’t you think it’s a bit discourteous to knock someone off the stage with a single move?"

Xiao Xiao was already irate, and hearing the Saint Heir dare to criticize her only stoked her anger further. She retorted coldly, "My affairs are none of the Saint Heir’s concern."

Without glancing at the Saint Heir’s darkened expression, she found a corner to sit in and continued to list Ye Qingchen’s faults.

The Saint Heir felt humiliated by Xiao Xiao’s rebuke. Although he couldn’t bring himself to lash out at her, he silently placed the blame on Ye Qingchen.

What Xiao Xiao didn’t know was that Ye Qingchen had been watching her match the entire time. Because of the distance, he had been using his Dual Pupil Martial Soul to observe her battle. To Xiao Xiao, this simply looked like he was resting with his eyes closed.

Ye Qingchen also heard her complaints and could only offer a wry smile. I’ll have to find a chance to comfort the little girl later.

The reason Ye Qingchen hadn’t explained himself yet was that Zi Xing’s battle had begun on another stage.

Perhaps influenced by Xiao Xiao and Xue Zhao, Zi Xing faced an opponent at the Eighth Layer of the Martial King Realm. Without any wasted motion, she simply drew her sword. A terrifying wave of Sword Qi swept her opponent off the stage, ending the fight cleanly.

Afterward, she gave Ye Qingchen a nearly imperceptible glance. If he hadn’t kept his Dual Pupil Martial Soul active, he might have missed the subtle gesture entirely.

Ye Qingchen shook his head with a wry smile. These three are really a handful.

Known collectively as the "Three Beauties," they had been subtly competing in both looks and strength ever since they first met, with none willing to concede to the others. Yet, as the man in the middle, Ye Qingchen had become the catalyst for their rivalry.

If I had to evaluate them, each of the three has her own unique charm. Zi Xing is the cool, aloof ice queen type, while Xue Zhao is a quirky and mischievous girl who is wise beyond her years. As for Xiao Xiao, although I’ve always seen her as a little sister, she’s more like the gentle and adorable girl next door. In terms of strength, both Zi Xing and Xue Zhao have nine-star Martial Souls, which seem to be a notch weaker than Xiao Xiao’s. However, I know their Martial Souls are extremely unusual; their power should surpass that of ordinary nine-star Martial Souls. If the three of them were to really fight, it would be difficult to say who is stronger. With my Dual Pupil Martial Soul active, I can clearly discern the intensity of the energy they emit when they fight, even if they’re trying to hide their true strength. Yet even with this advantage, I still can’t determine who is more formidable. It’s clear that the three of them are evenly matched!

But now, these three favored daughters of heaven were competing on stage, providing a visual feast for the audience while making life miserable for the experts who had to face them.

Soon, it was time for Ye Qingchen’s second-round match. He was set to fight an expert at the Eighth Layer of the Martial King Realm from an eight-star sect.

The crowd fully expected this expert to teach the pretty boy Ye Qingchen a lesson. However, Ye Qingchen once again sent his opponent flying off the stage with a single move from his Wind Blade Sword Technique.

This greatly disappointed the spectators, who had to watch the pretty boy advance yet again. However, remembering that the next round would mostly feature high-level Martial Kings from prestigious sects, they still believed Ye Qingchen’s luck was about to run out.

Watching the Eighth-Layer Martial King Realm expert he had just blasted off the stage, Ye Qingchen was somewhat taken aback.

Wu Zhengyang, whom I fought before, was also at the Eighth Layer of the Martial King Realm. But Wu Zhengyang’s combat prowess was clearly superior to this man’s. I had to fight him for a long time and even use the Shadow-extinction Sword Technique to win. And back then, I was worried about Xue Zhao and the others, so I wasn’t even fighting at full strength. Even so, the power I unleashed then was definitely far greater than what I used just now. This guy is from an eight-star sect, so his training shouldn’t be lacking. This disparity in strength can only mean one thing... the Divine Sword Sect Wu Zhengyang mentioned is most likely a nine-star sect!

Ye Qingchen shook his head, dismissing the thought. So what if it’s a nine-star sect? It’s not like I’m afraid of them. Besides, other than Xue Zhao, no one knows about my grudge with Wu Zhengyang of the Divine Sword Sect.

The tournament continued, with contestants being eliminated one after another. The spectators focused most of their attention on the three women, or on Ye Qingchen’s matches, hoping to see him get humiliated.

The subsequent fights, however, lacked suspense. Ye Qingchen encountered another expert at the Eighth Layer of the Martial King Realm, and this time, it took him two sword strikes to win.

A full day passed, but the competition never stopped. The organizers had long since installed countless Luminous Pearls in the venue, illuminating it as brightly as day. For the contestants, who were all at the Martial King Realm, going several days and nights without sleep wouldn’t affect their combat prowess in the slightest. Unwilling to miss such exciting matches, the audience also refused to leave, and so the competition continued long into the night.

Soon, it was Ye Qingchen’s turn again. This was the final round of the preliminaries. If he won this match, he would advance to the finals and become one of the top fifty, bringing him one step closer to his goal.

This time, his opponent was an expert from an eight-star sect at the Ninth Layer of the Martial King Realm! Seeing that Ye Qingchen was finally about to face an opponent of this caliber, the entire audience perked up with anticipation.