Redemption of a Born Demon

Chapter 152 - 151: Standing Firm on the Water, the Vast River Arena

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The ground shook violently. Yi Beidou swung Yuri’s massive body around like a sandbag, smashing him left and right. The stark contrast in their physiques and the sheer brutality of the act silenced the crowd.

Just moments ago, Yuri had held the absolute advantage in strength. How had it come to this?

To be able to do this, just what kind of terrifying power was hidden within Yi Beidou’s body?!

Yuri’s body looked like that of a god, but Yi Beidou had a god living inside him.

Yuri had been utterly defeated in the very field he excelled at most.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Yi Beidou smashed Yuri’s body more than twenty times before finally ceasing his terrifying outburst of power.

The Demon Flame, which had shrouded a five-meter radius and cut off his opponent’s connection to the world, slowly receded back into his body. The surrounding ground was no longer intact; the concrete had been shattered, exposing large patches of soft earth beneath.

Yuri now lay sprawled in the rubble, staring blankly up at the clear, blue sky.

His body was terrifyingly durable. A beating of this magnitude would have broken the bones of even a Saint Expert, yet he had only suffered some bleeding from his mouth and nose. Otherwise, he was largely unharmed.

A physique as solid as steel and earth itself.

For him, the psychological damage of being overpowered in a contest of strength—of being thoroughly beaten at his own game—was far greater than the physical harm.

"Do you want to continue?"

Yi Beidou asked calmly, looking down at Yuri on the ground.

"There’s no point. I’ve lost this time."

Yuri shook his head slightly.

A single defeat wasn’t enough to crush his fighting spirit. After all, even after mastering the Power of the Earth, he had not been without his failures on his journey.

His will would not be shaken so easily.

But to continue fighting now had indeed lost all meaning.

His greatest strengths were his terrifying physical power on one hand, and the incredible power amplification and Realm influence from resonating with the Earth’s Magnetic Field on the other.

Both of these strengths had been nullified. His resonance with the earth was severed by Yi Beidou’s Demon Flame, and even his physical power was forcefully suppressed.

To keep fighting under these circumstances would only be asking for more humiliation; there was no possibility of victory.

Hearing this, Yi Beidou nodded slightly. He deactivated the Celestial Slaughter Seven Stars state. The dim sky brightened once more, and the starlight and Demon Flame vanished from his body.

He paid Yuri no more mind and walked toward Meng Qianyuan and the others.

"What do you believe is the correct path?"

Just then, Yuri, still lying on the ground gazing at the sky, suddenly asked.

CLACK! CLACK!

Yi Beidou’s footsteps paused at the question.

"What correct path is there in this world? The only path is the one you walk. Today’s victory or defeat doesn’t determine superiority or inferiority. With the future yet undecided, who dares claim to be the final victor?"

Yi Beidou’s calm voice echoed across the square.

He said this not only for Yuri’s ears, but for all the Donghua Martial Artists present.

A momentary win or loss means nothing. To judge one’s worth based on it is merely self-deception.

Yuri’s expression faltered for a moment upon hearing this.

BANG!

He slammed a palm into the ground, his prone body springing up. He spun once and landed steadily on his feet.

"I will remember this defeat and use it to drive myself through even more rigorous Cultivation."

Yuri said, watching Yi Beidou’s back.

"Then work hard. Only then can you become ’prey’ worthy of my attention."

"I sincerely hope that the myriad Daos of this world will all rise together. Only then can I weigh them one by one and find the one true path."

Yi Beidou said calmly, resuming his walk toward Meng Qianyuan and the others.

At that moment, Yuri felt that this man’s retreating figure seemed even more colossal than a Titan.

’Weigh the world, you say? I believe you have the strength for it. But before that, you’ll have to surpass the ’Sky’ first.’

Yuri muttered to himself.

"Let’s go. We’ll check out some other places. We might be able to catch another fight."

Yi Beidou said to Meng Qianyuan and his companions, then headed for the park’s exit.

He left the crowd standing in place, still savoring the battle they had just witnessed and mulling over his words.

When the universe is not yet settled, who dares claim to know the Great Dao?

In this age of great struggle, anything is possible for anyone.

"Mr. Yuri..."

Derek and the others walked over, their eyes still filled with disbelief.

They had never imagined Yuri would lose, much less in such a manner.

The greatest master of the Titan Stream, the man with the strongest physique in the Starry Sky Country, had been defeated like this.

Yuri himself didn’t seem too affected by his loss, but for them, it was as if a pillar of their faith had crumbled.

"It seems you all truly need more tempering."

Yuri sighed, looking at them.

That disciple of Yi Beidou hadn’t been wrong.

Learning techniques is actually the easy part.

But for humanity to have come this far, any great development in technology must have been preceded by a change in thought.

Ideas shape the world.

’It seems there is still much room for improvement in the study of the Titan Stream.’

「General Command Headquarters.」

Everyone watching the large screen couldn’t help but crack a smile.

The greatest threat among the international experts, the Earth Giant God—one of the Starry Sky Country’s three Saints of Sea, Land, and Air—had been defeated at the hands of Yi Beidou.

This allowed many of the high-level government officials to breathe a sigh of relief.

The consequences of the wins and losses in these battles across Modu were more than they could bear.

But soon, their expressions tensed up once more.

The image on the large screen switched, turning to another important battle.

「The Bund, beside the Shen Jiang.」

The streets around the dueling ground were cordoned off, but many spectators still watched from the surrounding high-rises and even from across the river.

The hype for this battle was no less than that for Yi Beidou and Yuri’s fight.

After all, one of the combatants was an exceedingly rare "Valkyrie."

On the street, two figures stood facing each other.

One figure was dressed in a white Martial Arts Uniform. Their face was androgynous, and as they stood there, they resembled a floating feather, seemingly ready to drift away with the wind at any moment, as ethereal as an Immortal.

The other figure was tall and powerfully built. His skin was smooth and delicate, completely hairless. Under the sun, his skin seemed to reflect the light.

Emei Zhou Qingchen.

Source Stream Ulysses.

"I’ve heard that among the Starry Sky Country’s three Saints of Sea, Land, and Air, you represent the ocean. It would be unfair for you to fight on land. I do not wish for a dishonorable victory. What do you say we settle this on the Shen Jiang?"

Zhou Qingchen said, her gaze fixed on Ulysses.

Even when facing one of the strongest Saint Martial Artists to have come this time, she remained as coolly proud as ever, unwilling to take even the slightest advantage over her opponent.

Only a fair contest would not tarnish the Martial Arts Dao in her heart.

A clear mind, light Qi, emerging from the mud unstained.

"Are you sure?"

Ulysses was taken aback, not expecting such a proposal.

Unlike Yuri, his combat prowess didn’t differ substantially between water and land. However, for most Saints, their strength on water was significantly weaker than on the ground.

With her power diminished and his unchanged, he would inevitably have the advantage.

Zhou Qingchen’s face remained calm. Instead of answering Ulysses, she tapped her foot, slipped off her cloth shoes, and then shot toward the nearby Shen Jiang at extreme speed.

This move left the spectators in the surrounding buildings and on both banks of the river stunned.

What on earth was this "Valkyrie" doing?!

Her enemy was right in front of her. Why was she running toward the Shen Jiang?

A moment later, the crowd erupted in an uproar, their eyes widening in shock.

They watched, clear as day, as Zhou Qingchen tapped her foot, her body floating up and over the roadside guardrail, plummeting straight toward the surface of the Shen Jiang.

She... she jumped into the river?!

What was happening?!

The duel hadn’t even started, and one of the combatants had already jumped into the river?!

Even if she had no chance of winning, there was no need to be so drastic, was there?

The minds of the crowd went completely blank.

But what came next was even more jaw-dropping.

As Zhou Qingchen’s body fell, it didn’t plunge into the river.

As she descended, she stomped hard on the river’s surface, her feet like great paddles, her Emitted Force spreading like a great net.

BOOM!

The water in a five-meter radius around her caved in. Under the instantaneous, immense impact of her Power, the water’s surface solidified like gelatin, firmly supporting her body.

Then, the water snapped back. A wave surged, and Zhou Qingchen used the rebound to leap forward, landing steadily on the river’s surface.

She moved her feet rapidly, her body as light as a mayfly. By continuously Emitting Force in short bursts to vibrate the water, she actually began to run across its surface.

Ulysses was known as the King of the Ocean, but Zhou Qingchen’s skill on the water was not the least bit inferior.

She was born with a clear mind and light Qi, always looking as if she were about to ascend and become an Immortal. Her speed and lightness could be displayed to their fullest extent on the surface of the water.

To put it bluntly, back in Dragon Tiger Town, if Yi Beidou had fought her on water, he likely would have had no chance of winning.

"That Valkyrie is actually running on water?! Am I... Am I dreaming?!"

"And you’re telling me that’s not Inner Strength?!"

"My god, that’s just too stunning."

"..."

The crowd erupted in an uproar. Any ordinary person who witnessed such a scene would feel their heart tremble and their scalp tingle.

It was like witnessing a miracle.

Walking on air, crossing rivers.

"Interesting."

A smile appeared on Ulysses’s face as he watched Zhou Qingchen’s display.

’If you want a duel on the water, then I’ll be happy to oblige.’

He also took off his shoes. His massive frame charged toward the Shen Jiang, and with a tap of his foot, he leaped high into the air.

Ulysses’s body was much heavier than Zhou Qingchen’s, but his feet were enormous, almost like a frog’s webbed feet. He entered the water in much the same way and quickly pursued her across the river’s surface.

Soon, the two of them reached the center of the Shen Jiang.

The great river flowed on, and boats could still be seen passing by on its surface.

And there the two figures stood, facing each other on the water’s surface.

Under the gaze of ten thousand eyes, the vast river itself had become their dueling arena.