Boom!
The golden dragon fist swept out and clashed with Xia Hong's black claw. In that instant, the entire earth trembled and visible ripples spread out from Xia Hong's feet, sweeping up dust in the sky.
The earth cracked.
The golden light and the pitch-black light violently corroded each other, causing waves of explosions. In the end, under the countless gazes, it slowly dissipated due to the exhaustion of Spiritual Energy. At the same time, countless gazes suddenly shot over.
A gale blew in the sky, sweeping up the dust and the Martial Practice Stage had cleared up once again. Everyone directed their gazes over and saw Xia Hong standing at the centre, maintaining the posture of his claw. There wasn't any expression on his face, but his eyes flickered with a sinister light.
Countless gazes were gathered on Xia Hong, but the latter did not move. It was as if the powerful impact couldn't shake him in the slightest. It was so much so that even his clothes did not flutter.
However, some people with sharp eyesight focused their eyes on the golden throne behind him, which seemed to be forged from gold.
As the wind blew, the sturdy and dazzling golden throne had suddenly turned into golden dust that drifted out.
This scene had caused many people to squint their eyes. Although Mu Chen's fist did not pose any threat to Xia Hong, it had penetrated through his defences and shattered the golden throne behind him.
That fist was clearly to establish his might.
Furthermore, it seemed to be pretty effective. At the very least, many gazes looked at Mu Chen with grave expressions. At this moment, anyone could tell that although Mu Chen's cultivation was only at the Quasi-Ninth Grade Sovereign Realm, his fighting strength far exceeded that.
"This kid does have some ability, huh?" High up in the sky.
Mu Shan of the Hidden Dragon Pavilion smiled with his eyes narrowed. He had many conflicts with Xia Hong, so it was natural for him to see Xia Hong being defeated.
Thus, he was more than happy to see it.
"It's a little unexpected … but I'm afraid that Xia Hong will not be careless after suffering a small loss, and it won't be easy to deal with him if he gets serious." Qin Ya of the Horizon Pavilion smiled.
Even Mu Shan nodded in agreement with Qin Ya's words.
He had been competing with Xia Hong for years, but he had never gained the upper hand. It was so much so that his ranking on the Greatlaw Continent's Younger Generation Rankings was slightly lower. Therefore, he knew how troublesome Xia Hong was when he got serious. Although Mu Chen wasn't simple, the outcome of this confrontation was still uncertain.
Amidst the whispers that filled the sky.
Xia Hong slowly raised his eyes and coldly looked at Mu Chen. He slowly retracted his hand and indifferently said, "Not bad."
He seemed to be evaluating the fact that Mu Chen's punch was able to penetrate some of his defenses.
"I originally thought that today's battle would be very boring, but now it seems that it's not as bad as I thought."
Xia Hong slowly took a step forth. Along with his step, the Spiritual Energy around him swiftly rose and in just a few steps, the entire stage was enveloped by his Spiritual Energy pressure.
Under the pressure, the faces of Old Bai, Tan Qiu and the rest had turned pale and the Spiritual Energy in their bodies had started to circulate.
This was a genuine Ninth Grade Sovereign Realm!
Xia Hong's sharp gaze pointed towards Mu Chen.
"But if you only have that bit of ability, then I'm afraid that you won't be able to walk out of here today."
When Xia Hong's voice resounded, a similarly powerful Spiritual Energy soared into the sky, instantly dispersing the Spiritual Energy pressure that Xia Hong had formed.
Xia Hong squinted his eyes.
He slowly shifted his gaze and looked at Jiu You, who was enveloped in a storm of Spiritual Energy.
Jiu You coldly looked at Xia Hong with transparent flames blazing on her hand. With an ominous expression, she suddenly pointed her finger out and the transparent flames instantly turned into a beam of fire that bolted towards Xia Hong.
Whoosh!
But when the beam of fire shot out, a grey light suddenly flashed before Xia Hong and a grey-robed elder appeared. His shriveled hand grabbed towards the beam of fire and a powerful Spiritual Energy gushed out from his palm, forcefully destroying the beam of fire.
"Haha. Since Your Highness has chosen your prey, then it's best for others to not interfere." The grey-robed elder blocked the beam of fire and smiled with his eyes narrowed as he looked at Jiu You.
Looking at the grey-robed elder, Jiu You's gaze turned much more grave. That's because she could sense that the cold Spiritual Energy surging around the latter was extremely powerful. This person was probably just a step away from the Pinnacle Ninth Grade Sovereign Realm, and his strength had far exceeded ordinary Initial Phase Ninth Grade Sovereigns.
Rustle!
Whizzing sounds of wind resounded from the back of the stage as dozens of silhouettes flew over and appeared around the stage, surrounding Nine Nether's group and sealing off all paths of retreat.
Tan Qiu and the rest looked at those silhouettes and their faces couldn't help changing. That's because they realised that there were at least four people amongst them that had reached the Quasi-Ninth Grade Sovereign Realm, while the rest had reached the Seventh and Eighth Grade Sovereign Realms.
Such a lineup had already far surpassed their own.
At this moment, this region had already been sealed off by the experts of the Xia Empire. So even if they wanted to retreat, it wouldn't be easy for them to do so.
"Since we're already here, then it's too late to regret it now."
Xia Hong faintly smiled as he looked at Jiu You's slender figure with a trace of covetousness, before looking at Lin Jing with a playful smile on the corner of his lips. "But this kind of battle is a little boring. Why don't we have a bet?"
Hearing his words, Mu Chen's gaze was calm. Clearly, he wasn't interested in it.
But before he could refuse, Lin Jing's eyes lit up and she asked with interest, "What bet?"
"Bet on who will win, me or him."
Xia Hong pointed at Mu Chen and smiled with his eyes narrowed. "If I lose, not only will I get An Ran to leave, but I will also give you three Quasi-Saint Artifacts as compensation."
When everyone heard Xia Hong's tone, they couldn't help clicking their tongues. Three Quasi-Saint Artifacts, Xia Hong was truly wealthy …
"What if you win?" Lin Jing blinked her eyes.
"Then, I'll have to trouble the two of you to stay by this Prince's side." Xia Hong smiled.
Lin Jing raised her lips and chuckled, "The two of us are only worth three Quasi-Saint Artifacts?
You're a Prince of the Xia Empire, how shameful. "
Xia Hong was briefly stunned before his brows twitched. "Then, what suggestion does Miss have?"
After a brief pondering, Lin Jing casually said, "Write an IOU and leave your spiritual seal. Just say that you owe me 100,000,000 drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid if you lose."
Rustle!
Everyone was dumbfounded by her words. It was so much so that even Xia Hong's face couldn't help twitching. 100,000,000 drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid was probably equivalent to emptying the treasury of their Xia Empire.
100,000,000 drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid was probably enough to buy a genuine Saint Artifact!
Xia Hong's face froze before he dryly smiled, "Miss, your words are a little too unrealistic … Furthermore, to put it bluntly, even if I write an IOU for you, I'm afraid that you won't be able to take a single drop of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid from my Xia Empire."
His words weren't false. If anyone were to bring an IOU of 100,000,000 drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid to their Xia Empire, his Imperial Father would probably let that person know what it meant by a man who is never content is like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.
At that time, even a Greater Earth Sovereign wouldn't be able to take that amount of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid from their Xia Empire.
When Lin Jing heard his words, she flung her lips aside. "If you don't have the guts, then don't bet with others. Just fight as you should, what a waste of time."
Hearing the dense disdain in Lin Jing's voice, Xia Hong knitted his brows. A brief moment later, he suddenly smiled. "Alright, since Miss is so interested, then this Prince will accompany you to the end."
As he spoke, he retrieved a golden scroll. His fingers danced as Spiritual Energy condensed into words in the air before him and integrated into the scroll. In the end, with a flick of his finger, a drop of blood fell onto the scroll and formed into a Spiritual Seal.
After that, Xia Hong casually tossed the golden scroll and the scroll turned into a golden streak of light that flew into a lion statue on the stage.
"If this Prince loses, you guys can take it away. But I have to remind you that if you really want to bring it to my Xia Empire, then you're courting death." Xia Hong faintly smiled.
He only treated it as Ling Jing's nonsense and didn't think too much about it. Not only that, he didn't think that he would lose. Taking ten thousand steps back, even if he really lost, anyone who dared to bring such an IOU to the Grand Xia Empire would be a fool to the extreme.
"How I collect the debt is my business, you don't have to worry about it."
When Ling Jing saw this, her pupils slightly curved like a little fox with a sly expression.
"Mu Chen, I'll leave it to you. I'll split half of the 100,000,000 drops of Sovereign Spiritual Liquid with you!" Lin Jing looked at Mu Chen and waved her fist to cheer for him.
When Mu Chen saw her actions, he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. However, he still nodded his head and looked at Xia Hong with pity in his eyes.
If he knew that this girl was the Princess of the Martial Realm and that her father was the famous Wu Zu of the Great Thousand World, how brilliant would his expression be?
The Xia Empire was powerful, but if he dared to go back on his words, then it wouldn't just be one or two Greater Earth Sovereigns knocking on his door …
If he really angered her, she might invite a Heavenly Sovereign of the Martial Realm. At that time, even if the Xia Emperor was unyielding, he could only grit his teeth and swallow it.
This time, Xia Hong had jumped into the bottomless pit that Lin Jing had dug for him …
Mu Chen and Jiu You exchanged a glance and inwardly shook their heads.
"That unlucky brat … is too naive …"
(To be continued.)