Chapter 99: The Challenge with Lingyin City’s representatives (Final)

Gasps swept through the stands like a sudden wind, watching Bai Ye’s transformation.

Some of the older cultivators in the front rows leaned forward sharply, eyes narrowing.

“That aura… that metallic sheen on his arms…”

“Isn’t that the Iron Body Forging Art?”

“Exactly! The one that appeared at the Black Jade Auction three years ago—a Pseudo-Heaven-rank! Turns flesh into living steel, makes every strike carry the weight of a collapsing mountain!”

Whispers turned to stunned murmurs, then outright shock.

A Pseudo-Heaven-rank martial art was already a treasure most Upper Exalts could only dream of acquiring through blood and fortune. For the Bai Clan to hand a Pseudo-Heaven-rank high-grade technique to a mere nine-star Upper Elite like Bai Ye… it spoke volumes about how heavily they had invested in him.

The mood among the Fengyue City’s supporters shifted in an instant.

Despair crept back in, cold and heavy.

Ryan had just chosen to walk straight toward his opponent—abandoning the speed that had made him untouchable. And now Bai Ye stood there, arms gleaming like forged iron, radiating an oppressive weight that pressed down on every weaker cultivator in the square.

A nine-star Upper Elite armed with a Pseudo-Heaven-rank martial art.

Against Ryan, who had decided to meet him head-on.

In most people’s minds, the outcome was already sealed.

Bai Ye lifted his chin, a proud, almost arrogant smile spreading across his face. The golden light in his eyes flared brighter.

“Iron Body Forging Art,” he announced loudly, voice carrying across the entire arena. “My arms are now unbreakable steel. One punch from me can shatter boulders the size of houses. Li Wei…” He paused, savoring the moment. “You threw away your only advantage. Now you’ll learn the difference between a true genius and some overhyped local boy.”

He clenched his fists. The metallic sheen rippled, reflecting sunlight in sharp, blinding flashes.

Ryan paused—just for the briefest fraction of a second.

Surprise flickered in his eyes, faint but genuine.

Then it passed.

He resumed walking forward, pace unchanged, expression calm as ever. The difference in raw cultivation base was something like an insurmountable chasm. In Ryan’s eyes, even if it is a Pseudo-Heaven rank, the technique is like a child waving a stick against an adult.

Bai Ye watched him approach and barked a loud, mocking laugh.

“Look at you! Still strutting like you own the place!” Bai Ye sneered. “Do you really think your ordinary punches can break steel? This fist is going to teach you humility, Li Wei. When I’m done, you’ll crawl out of this ring and never dare show your face in the thirty-six cities again!”

His body tensed. Muscles coiled beneath the metallic skin. The air around his right arm began to distort from the sheer pressure building within.

Then he roared.

The iron fist shot forward like a cannonball, carrying explosive momentum. The space in front of it seemed to compress, the pressure wave alone enough to make weaker spectators stagger and clutch their chests.

Ryan did not slow.

If anything, his steps quickened slightly—just enough.

He raised his right hand, curled his fingers into a fist and shot it forward.

“Intermediate Boxing Fist.”

The two fists met in the center of the ring.

There was no earth-shattering explosion.

No blinding flash of light.

No dramatic shockwave tearing up the stone.

Only a dull… thump like a hammer striking an anvil.

In that instant, Bai Ye’s triumphant expression froze.

His eyes widened.

Then—

His entire body was wrenched backward as though an invisible giant had grabbed him by the collar and hurled him.

He flew more than ten meters, arms flailing uselessly, before crashing heavily outside the ring boundary. He hit the ground in a tangle of limbs, rolling twice before finally coming to a stop face-down in the dirt. The metallic sheen on his arms flickered and faded, revealing ordinary flesh already bruising purple.

The square fell into stunned silence.

Utter, complete silence.

Everyone stared.

Ryan stood calmly in the center of the ring, slowly lowering his fist as though he had just swatted a fly.

He hadn’t even taken a step back.

One ordinary punch.

And even a Pseudo-Heaven-rank martial art… was broken.

The referee blinked twice, then hurried forward to check on Bai Ye. After a quick examination, he raised his voice, still sounding slightly dazed.

“Fengyue City—Li Wei wins!”

The words barely left his mouth before the entire Wushuang Square exploded.

The roar was deafening—a tidal wave of pure, unrestrained joy crashing through the stands.

“LI WEI WINS!!!”

“ALL FIVE FROM LINGYIN ARE DOWN! FENGYUE CITY WINS!!!”

“HE BROKE A PSEUDO-HEAVEN-RANK TECHNIQUE WITH ONE PUNCH! ONE PUNCH!!”

People leapt to their feet, fists pumping, tears streaming down faces that had been pale with worry only minutes earlier. Strangers hugged. Children screamed in delight. Even the elders on the high platform couldn’t hide the astonishment and pride in their eyes.

“From four straight losses to a full reversal—this is a miracle! A real miracle!”

“Did you see that, Lingyin dogs? This is our genius! Where’s your so-called ’first genius of the thirty-six cities’ now? Lying in the dirt!”

“Thirty-six cities’ number one? Hah! Couldn’t even take one clean hit!”

“A nine-star Upper Elite with a Pseudo-Heaven-rank high-grade art, which almost no clan around here even possessed… lost so easily. What realm is Li Wei actually in?”

“Is Li Wei an exalt? How old is he?”

“Li Wei is too handsome! I’m done—my heart belongs to him now!”

“Li Wei! Li Wei! Li Wei!”

The chant started somewhere in the middle rows and spread like wildfire, growing louder with every repetition. Waves upon waves of voices stacked until the sound seemed to shake the very stones beneath their feet. Throats went hoarse. Faces flushed red with exhilaration.

For Fengyue City, this was more than a victory.

It was redemption.

Dignity restored.

Pride reclaimed.

Wherever they went from now on—any city, any gathering—they could hold their heads high.

Because Li Wei was theirs.

At the same time, across the ring, the Lingyin City candidates stood like statues caught in a storm.

Shock rippled across their faces in waves—first wide-eyed disbelief, then blank confusion, then the slow, sinking realization that twisted their features into something raw and ugly.

Mouths hung slightly open.

Hands clenched at their sides until knuckles turned white.

The arrogance they had worn like armor since stepping into Wushuang Square had been stripped away in a single, devastating moment.

“This… this can’t be real,” one of them whispered, voice cracking.

“Bai Ye lost?” Another shook his head slowly, as if saying it aloud might make it untrue. “He’s a nine-star Upper Elite…”

“Even with a legendary Pseudo-Heaven-rank martial art… he was sent flying like that? Cleanly? Without even a chance to react?”

“Then just how strong is this Li Wei?”

The question hung heavy in the air between them.

“Are we… really inferior to a backward place like Fengyue City?”

No one answered. The silence among the Lingyin group was thick, suffocating. What had started as smug confidence had crumbled into deep, bitter frustration. They stared at the ring—at the calm figure still standing in the center—with something close to fear.

Up on the high platform, the elders of Fengyue City finally broke free from their stunned daze.

One by one, they blinked, as though waking from the same dream.

“We… won?” Patriarch Su muttered, voice hoarse.

“Fengyue City really won?” Madam Yuan echoed, pressing a hand to her chest.

The clan heads began to move. They stepped forward toward Li Gengxin, expressions a mixture of genuine congratulations and barely concealed envy.

“Patriarch Li,” Patriarch Fan said first, clasping his hands in a formal bow. “Congratulations. Your Li Clan has given birth to an extraordinary genius.”

Li Gengxin inclined his head modestly, but the pride shining in his eyes was impossible to hide.

“You flatter me,” he replied softly. “This is all Li Wei’s own effort. I merely watched.”

More praise followed, warm words from every direction. Each compliment carried the weight of what might have been—glory that could have belonged to the Yuan, Su, or Fan Clans if fate had turned differently.

Just a few days ago, they dismissed Ryan as a waste, a disappointment. Now that same youth had single-handedly restored the city’s dignity.

They could no longer deny it.

Li Wei was powerful.

And all of them were now envious of Li Gengxin for having such a prodigial son.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep