Chapter 98: The Challenge with Lingyin City’s representatives (Part-13)

Bai Ye’s figure blurred, turning into a streak of white light as he charged straight at Ryan with astonishing speed.

In that instant, his arms snapped forward, and with a sharp hiss, countless green scales spread rapidly across his skin, covering both forearms like armor.

His eyes shifted as well, the whites fading until they glowed an eerie green. The handsome, aloof youth from before vanished, replaced by something far more sinister and strange.

With a sharp clap, Bai Ye crossed his arms in front of his chest. The green scales scraped against each other, throwing off sparks like steel grinding on steel. His arms now looked impossibly hard, as if blades and spears would shatter against them without leaving a mark.

Ryan raised his brows slightly. He had planned to end this fight quickly, but seeing Bai Ye reveal such methods stirred his curiosity. Instead of striking immediately, he chose to wait and watch.

Bai Ye closed the distance in a blink.

“Green Demon Hand!”

His fingers spread into claws as he lunged for Ryan’s face.

Ryan tilted his head calmly, slipping past the strike by a hair’s breadth. The claws cut only air, but Bai Ye’s arm trembled, and wisps of green mist seeped out from between the scales, curling unnaturally in the air.

Ryan retreated at once. Whatever that mist was, he had no intention of letting it near his senses.

Gasps rippled through Fengyue City’s crowd.

“That’s the Bai Clan’s Green Demon Hand!” someone from Lingyin City exclaimed proudly. “A Sky-rank high-grade martial art! After using it, the arms become as hard as iron and release poisonous gas. Anyone who inhales it will feel their strength drain away!”

A chill ran through the spectators. Poison, on top of brute force, was no small matter.

Bai Ye didn’t give Ryan time to breathe.

The moment Ryan pulled back, Bai Ye surged forward again, his scaled hand snapping toward Ryan’s throat.

Five overlapping green claw shadows appeared at once, descending together. At the same time, poisonous wind howled from Bai Ye’s arm, gathering the green mist into a swirling vortex that swept across the arena. A choking stench filled the air.

To the crowd, it looked as if Ryan had been cornered, trapped between claw shadows and poisonous fog.

Then Ryan smiled. “Interesting.”

His figure flickered.

In the next instant, his speed surged, faster than before.

No matter how sharp Bai Ye’s claws were or how violently the poison mist churned, they could not touch him. Ryan moved like a phantom, always maintaining a safe distance, his steps light and effortless.

For a brief moment, the two entered a strange stalemate. Bai Ye attacked relentlessly while Ryan retreated with ease, neither gaining the upper hand. Yet everyone could tell that Ryan still had not truly made a move.

Bai Ye frowned. His heart sank as he realized that even with the strength of a nine-star Elite, he still couldn’t keep up with Ryan’s speed. Sharp attacks meant nothing if they never landed.

Gritting his teeth, Bai Ye made a decision.

“Void Spirit Body Technique!”

With a harsh shout, his body trembled, his footsteps shifting strangely. His form became faint and unstable, as if half-real, half-illusory.

His speed doubled instantly, and this time, he managed to chase Ryan closely.

“You can’t escape now,” Bai Ye said, a proud smile spreading across his face.

A murmur ran through the crowd. Some sharp-eyed spectators recognized it at once.

“Movement martial arts!”

Body techniques were rare, far rarer than ordinary attacks. To possess one at such a young age was proof of extraordinary talent.

Ryan glanced at Bai Ye with mild surprise. Among all the Exalts and Upper Exalts he had faced before, few had mastered movement techniques. Bai Ye having one was indeed unexpected.

But as Ryan observed more closely, his interest faded.

Bai Ye’s body technique was crude, offering only a modest boost in speed and clumsy changes in position. Compared to Phantom Step, it was laughably inferior, like comparing a crawling turtle to a soaring phoenix.

“So it’s just a low-grade movement technique,” Ryan thought with a faint smile.

Bai Ye, however, believed victory was within reach. His grin widened as he pressed closer, convinced Ryan would be caught in the next exchange.

Ryan looked back at that triumphant smile and felt only disdain.

You think this is fast?

In the next moment, Ryan activated Phantom Step fully.

His figure vanished.

A rush of wind swept across the arena as Ryan’s speed exploded. In an instant, the distance between them stretched wide. To the spectators, Ryan became a blur, darting around the ring so quickly that his afterimages overlapped, leaving only flickers of motion behind.

Bai Ye froze, stunned. His eyes strained, but they could barely follow Ryan’s movements.

Several times, Ryan deliberately appeared at Bai Ye’s side, close enough to grin at him. By the time Bai Ye reacted in fury, Ryan had already vanished again, reappearing somewhere else entirely.

No attack could land. No target could be locked.

At that moment, Bai Ye felt a chill sink into his bones.

How do you fight someone you can’t even see, let alone touch?

Bai Ye’s face twisted with fury as he pointed at Ryan, shouting again and again. “Coward…” “Are you a turtle?” “You want to keep dodging?” “Face it like a real man.” “Aren’t you Fengyue City’s ultimate talent? Is this what your people learn?”

As the self-proclaimed first genius of the thirty-six cities, being toyed with like this was an insult he could not swallow. Yet aside from shouting and provoking, he had no way to force Ryan into a direct clash. Speed was his weakness, and no amount of anger could change that.

The crowd, however, looked at Bai Ye with expressions bordering on ridicule.

Speed was a form of strength too.

Blaming an opponent for being faster was laughable. In a real-life-and-death battle, no one would politely slow down just to make things fair.

To most spectators, Ryan could have ended this match slowly and safely by continuing exactly as he was. There was no need to respond to Bai Ye at all.

But Ryan did respond to the insults at last.

He stopped.

With a faint, disdainful smile, Ryan said calmly, “Okay, that’s it. I had enough fun, but it is now becoming boring. Time to end the match.” As the words fell, his figure ceased flickering.

He began to walk toward Bai Ye step by step, unhurried and relaxed, as if strolling through his own courtyard.

It was the first time since the qualification battles began that Ryan moved toward an opponent.

Bai Ye stared at him, stunned for a moment, then laughed coldly in his heart.

To Bai Ye, Ryan’s greatest strength was speed.

Now Ryan was abandoning that advantage and choosing a frontal confrontation.

To Bai Ye, this was stupidity, pure and simple.

Worse still, Ryan’s posture was casual, leisurely, almost contemptuous. That confidence, that lack of urgency, made Bai Ye feel even more insulted.

A cold snort escaped Bai Ye’s lips.

The green light in his eyes faded, replaced by faint golden radiance. His black hair and white robe stirred without wind as a terrifying aura erupted from his body. The green scales vanished from his arms, replaced instead by a dull metallic sheen, as if his flesh had been forged from iron.

Gasps rippled through the crowd.

“Is that…”

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