The following noon, an Eleventh-Round Nascent Soul cultivator stepped onto the stage to challenge Ye Qin.
Ye Qin suppressed his opponent with his three small divine ability flying swords—Gold, Water, and Wood—defeating him easily. The entire process was smooth sailing, with scarcely any suspense.
This duel, once again, failed to reveal the true bottom line of Ye Qin's strength.
In the following few days, although Ye Qin’s ring was surrounded by numerous cultivators, very few dared to step up and challenge him.
Those weaker Nascent Soul cultivators knew that going up would only serve to further Ye Qin’s reputation, so they naturally were unwilling to act. Only those with superior strength and strong confidence would even consider stepping onto the platform.
As for the Nascent Soul cultivators who had survived sixteen or seventeen rounds, they were not eager to rush onto the stage prematurely. The rule for the Demon Fighting Stage’s multi-round bouts beyond the tenth round was, firstly, that challenges should generally be between those of the same rank, tier, and strength; secondly, those high-round Nascent Soul experts wanted to see more of Ye Qin’s true capabilities first.
“Twelfth Round, Ye Qin wins!”
...
“Sixteenth Round, Ye Qin wins!”
Ye Qin unleashed five small divine ability-grade flying swords, utterly defeating a Sixteenth-Round Nascent Soul cultivator, causing a massive uproar among the spectators below the Demon Fighting Stage.
“Heavens, he actually used five flying swords of different elements! He is clearly a Five-Element Mixed Root cultivator. How did someone with such abysmal mixed roots cultivate to the ninth layer of Nascent Soul? If I had a Five-Element Root, I’d just smash my head against a wall. Maybe in the next life, I’d get decent roots for cultivation.”
“That’s a rare Full Spirit Root cultivator, and a high-tier one at that. I bet on him winning eighteen rounds!”
The cultivators at the Demon Fighting Stage were shocked, discussing amongst themselves.
After surviving sixteen rounds, Ye Qin roughly estimated the number of Seventh-Rank Yuan Crystals he had acquired—about sixty-five thousand. These crystals were temporarily sufficient for his needs. As for the future, he would think of other ways to earn spirit stones.
He came to the Demon Fighting Stage primarily to acquire some Yuan Crystals; he had no intention of seeking glory here. Having survived sixteen rounds, he had enough crystals, and his fame in Demon Spirit City was already established enough that he wouldn't be looked down upon by its cultivators.
“I’ll stop at sixteen rounds. Calculate the Yuan Crystals for me, and I’ll step down.”
Seeing that no Nascent Soul cultivators were stepping up to challenge him, Ye Qin spoke to the Demon Spirit City guard overseeing the ring.
“What? You only intend to defend sixteen rounds? ... You haven't even shown much of your actual strength yet. Why not continue for a few more rounds? If you win, the Yuan Crystals you receive will be doubled! Your fame will also skyrocket. If you hold out until the nineteenth round, the Lords of Demon Spirit City will personally extend generous invitations for you to join their factions. This treatment is what other Nascent Soul cultivators dream of!”
The overseeing Demon Spirit City guard was stunned and alarmed, hastily trying to persuade him. He found it hard to believe that Ye Qin would abandon such a golden opportunity to build renown and prestige at this very moment, choosing instead to leave the stage. For the sake of Demon Spirit City’s taxes, he needed to keep Ye Qin challenging.
“No need. Please count them up and tell me how many Yuan Crystals remain after deducting the one-twentieth tax.”
Ye Qin shook his head.
He had no intention of aligning himself with any specific lordly faction yet.
The Demon Spirit City guard reluctantly took the bag filled with a large number of Yuan Crystals, slowly and painstakingly counting the amount, clearly reluctant to see Ye Qin depart the stage just yet.
But the cultivators below the stage would not agree.
“You can’t leave! We just placed a heavy bet of one thousand Seventh-Rank Yuan Crystals, betting you would win seventeen rounds consecutively! We’re one round short. If you run off now, aren't we going to lose a fortune of Yuan Crystals for nothing?!” A group of Golden Core cultivators shouted from below, nearly in tears.
“I bet three hundred Tenth-Rank Yuan Crystals that you’d win eighteen rounds! If you dare step down midway now, I’ll lead my brothers to hunt you down! My godfather is an Integration Patriarch, and I have countless sworn brothers. You won’t have a place to stand on the Southern Demon Continent!”
A large, obese, late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator roared furiously, his face contorted with rage.
A large crowd of cultivators around him were shouting.
Quite a few spectators had placed wagers on Ring Number Ten.
Ye Qin looked at the frenzied, almost rioting cultivators below the stage, momentarily stunned, before his expression darkened. These cultivators not only gambled on his round count but also dared to openly threaten him.
Hunt him down?
Even if the Ghost Lord brought an entire fleet of skeleton warships and a hundred Nascent Soul Ghost Cultivators to pursue him, he wouldn't have frowned. Why would he fear such a meager threat!!
“Are you done counting? Give me the Yuan Crystals!”
Ye Qin spoke coldly to the Demon Spirit City guard, not sparing a glance at the angry cultivators below. His tone was firm; he would not continue the fight.
This finally made the gathered cultivators below panic. Ring Number Ten had already attracted significant attention from the Demon Fighting Stage populace. At least several hundred Nascent Soul cultivators had placed bets on this ring, and the majority of them had wagered Ye Qin would survive sixteen or seventeen rounds, or even more. If Ye Qin suddenly decided to descend, most of them would suffer total losses.
Even the group including the woman in red, the cultivator in the purple-gold shirt, and the cultivator in the white shirt found the situation abrupt. The woman in red had hoped Ye Qin would reach the nineteenth round so she could decide whether to recruit him to serve her.
“Zhang Xian, go up and force him to continue fighting. Also, find a few Eighteenth-Round cultivators to duel him. The ten-round bouts on the Demon Fighting Stage must continue until he is defeated! Force out his full strength! Does he think the ten-round battles of Demon Spirit City are child’s play that he can leave whenever he pleases?”
The woman in red spoke with icy arrogance.
“Yes, Young Mistress!”
Not far away, one of her burly subordinates immediately obeyed, flashing onto Ring Number Ten. He shouted at Ye Qin, who was preparing to collect his money and step down: “I am Zhang Xian, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator who has survived sixteen rounds. I challenge you now! According to the rules, since you have not yet left the stage, you must accept my challenge!”
As the burly man spoke, he tossed down a bag of Yuan Crystals and simultaneously summoned a small divine ability artifact—an earth-element shield—and a small divine ability artifact—a gold-element long saber. The strongest earth-element defensive artifact paired with the strongest gold-element offensive artifact gave him a significant advantage against other cultivators.
The Demon Spirit City guard supervising the ring immediately accepted the burly man’s bag of Yuan Crystals, then looked at Ye Qin with an expression of helplessness: “According to the rules, since your opponent has stepped onto the stage and paid the Yuan Crystals, and you have not yet finished your settlement and left the stage, you must accept his challenge! ... Or, you can directly admit defeat and forfeit every single Yuan Crystal.”
Ye Qin grew angry. What rotten rules, not even allowing him to leave the stage!
He lightly tapped his foot, instantly flying up to a height of a thousand zhang.
“Sever!”
His five flying swords transformed into five beams of light, intertwining as they plunged toward the ring.
Boom!
The entire bluestone ring, covering a thousand zhang in area, was utterly destroyed.
Ye Qin’s previous duels had been courteous, usually stopping at the necessary point. His opponents, knowing they were outmatched, would intelligently retreat from the stage on their own accord. If a Nascent Soul cultivator truly exerted force, a ring spanning a thousand zhang simply could not endure it.
As the dust settled, Zhang Xian, kneeling in the center of the former ring, had a pale, ashen face. The poisonous mist from the wood sword had already infiltrated his body, and he was trembling slightly. He barely managed to control his shield and saber; his earth-element shield artifact had shattered into dozens of pieces, and the gold-element long saber was also marked with several cracks. Although they were all small divine ability-grade artifacts, the quality of his artifacts was still far inferior to Ye Qin's.
Ultimately, Zhang Xian could not hold on, spitting out a mouthful of essence blood that had rushed to his throat, crashing down onto the platform.
The full-power strike of the Great Five Elements Sword Array severely wounded Zhang Xian. His internal meridians were nearly destroyed and ruptured by the violent magical power. Even if he could heal his injuries in a year or a half, he would likely struggle to fully recover to his peak state.
Several cultivators rushed onto the stage and carried Zhang Xian away.
“Sev—Seventeenth Round, Ye Qin wins!”
The early-stage Nascent Soul Demon Spirit City guard had already fled off the platform in terror, his eyes filled with reverence, looking as if he had just seen an incomparably ferocious demonic beast.
The cultivators at the Demon Fighting Stage were also taken aback.
Fatal casualties were not unheard of on the Demon Fighting Stage; fighting there carried the risk of death, so severe injury was not considered unusual. However, for a cultivator in the seventeenth round to be struck so disastrously by a single attack was extremely rare.
The woman in red, watching from a distance, cursed under her breath, calling him useless trash.
“Who else?!”
Ye Qin stated coldly.
He now understood that the Nascent Soul cultivators here would not easily allow him to leave the stage. Since that was the case, he would beat them into submission until no one else dared to ascend.
Perhaps to stall and keep Ye Qin on the platform, another late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator stepped up shortly after to challenge him for the Eighteenth Round! However, almost every cultivator present had low expectations for this challenger to withstand Ye Qin’s ongoing climb.
Even the challenger himself looked dejected, as if attending a funeral.
...
The late-stage experts of Demon Spirit City who had survived nineteen, twenty, or more rounds of the Demon Fighting Stage—unless they had pressing matters—had gathered outside the city to watch this ring battle. There were no fewer than a hundred experts who had survived nineteen rounds. There were also seven or eight who had reached the twentieth round.
Those experts who had reached the twentieth round were all renowned figures, highly respected late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators in Demon Spirit City. Their presence near the Demon Fighting Stage immediately caused a sensation.
Yet, most of them remained silent, offering no indication whether they would ascend the stage to challenge him.
The problem was simple: even after fighting this far, Ye Qin had only shown five small divine ability artifacts, yet he seemed to be holding back even more trump cards. His true limit remained completely opaque.
“At Nascent Soul Ninth Layer, with the strength of five elemental flying swords, he can definitely force his way through nineteen rounds! ... As for beyond that, it’s hard to say. Does he have other methods?”
A certain cultivator murmured.
The assembled cultivators largely agreed with this assessment.
As expected, the Eighteenth Round held little suspense. It was over quickly; the challenger only endured two attacks from Ye Qin before the pressure became too immense. Before Ye Qin could beat him severely, the challenger hastily conceded and retreated from the stage to avoid being beaten to death.
Next was the Nineteenth Round!
This round was crucial. A victory here would confirm him as a recognized top-tier Nascent Soul cultivator in Demon Spirit City, earning the attention and recruitment efforts of nearly all Integration Stage lords.
Furthermore, a victory would give him a strong chance to challenge the Twentieth Round.
In the entirety of Demon Spirit City, only ten cultivators had ever survived twenty rounds, holding positions of unimaginable status. These Twentieth-Round experts represented the absolute peak of the Nascent Soul realm.
“Junior Brother Cao, if I recall correctly, you defended nineteen rounds. Do you want to go up and try? ... If you feel you have no chance of winning, then forget it; no need to force it. If you get injured, it will be hard for me to explain to Old Ancestor Cao.”
The woman in red said lightly to the cultivator in the purple-gold shirt.
“Senior Sister Dou, why bring that up? Brother Cao has always been exceptionally bold; what would he dare not do? If he lacks the nerve to go up, let this younger brother go in his place. At worst, I’ll take a beating after losing. Brother Cao, since Senior Sister Dou has specifically called upon you, surely you don’t need this junior brother to step in for you, do you?”
The man in the white shirt laughed loudly, feigning sincerity, yet he made no move to lift his foot.
The man in the purple-gold shirt’s face twisted slightly. He shot an awkward and annoyed glance at the man in the white shirt and said bitterly, “No need. I shall go and weigh his abilities myself!”
“Cao Liangbai, Nascent Soul Ninth Layer cultivator, Nineteenth Round.”
The man in the purple-gold shirt ascended into the sky, stating his name and round level in a deep voice.
Ring Number Ten had long been destroyed; the battle would have to take place in mid-air. The first to land would be considered defeated.
Ye Qin sized up the man in the purple-gold shirt.
He had used five flying swords for the eighteenth round. However, the nineteenth round was a top-tier duel in Demon Spirit City; five swords were likely insufficient.
Ye Qin made a summoning gesture. In addition to the Five Elements Sword Formation, a wind-element flying sword artifact appeared beside him.
The Demon Fighting Arena erupted in astonishment and clamor once more.
“Aren’t you a Five-Element cultivator? How do you have an additional wind-element sword?!”
The corner of the purple-gold shirt cultivator’s eye twitched, his expression changing. He spoke with forced firmness: “Just how many small divine ability artifacts do you possess? Display them all with full power!”
“Full power? ... You are not worthy.”
Ye Qin sneered.