He Yi was a young powerhouse on the Latent Dragon List; a genius in the true sense. Even if his mind might not be the sharpest, he was a genius too. Such a genius absolutely could be compared to ordinary cultivators. Earlier, he said that the cultivators present probably wanted to challenge Chen Chao. He was not talking about himself, because he felt that his cultivation realm was too high and his reputation was too great. If he were to personally take action, it would be meaningless and he would also be accused of bullying the weak.
However, even he himself did not expect that the young man in black opposite him would be so wildly arrogant, to actually choose to fight him without him taking the initiative to mention it.
This was something he had not even considered.
"Do you know what this means?"
He Yi's face turned slightly cold. With a face full of pride, he said calmly, "You'll make this sparring session become meaningless like this."
Chen Chao smiled and said, "Will you take action after I defeat those people? If you'll take action, wouldn't I still be fighting you in the end? Since I'll be fighting with you in the end, why wouldn't I choose to fight you right from the start?"
Out of all the cultivators present, He Yi had the highest cultivation level. If he fought until the last man, he would definitely take the stage. In that case, why not choose him right at the start?
He Yi said, "You know that it's not the same thing."
If he were to win against those young cultivators first, and then force He Yi to take action, even if he lost in the end, Chen Chao's reputation would still be good. Everyone would recognize him as a decent young man. It was just that he was still a certain distance away from being a true genius, that was all. However, if he were to fight He Yi from the beginning and lose, Chen Chao would be accused of overestimating his own abilities and would not leave behind any good reputation. With the previous incidents combined, his reputation would fall to a terrible state.
Chen Chao was totally unconcerned as he said, "Just take it that I'm seeking fortune amidst danger."
He Yi smiled and said, "I originally didn't want to take advantage of you. But since you have this idea, then I'll play with you."
He was a genius on the Latent Dragon List, he naturally would not feel any fear. After saying that, he headed out of the hall without any hesitation.
Being challenged by Chen Chao, if he chose to avoid the fight, it would be even more humiliating than losing.
Seeing He Yi leave, the young people at the banquet stood up one by one and walked out of the hall to watch the match. Chen Chao simplified all the troubles tonight by turning it into this sparring match. It looked simple, but it was actually extremely difficult. He Yi was not a qi refiner like Guo Xi. Although his cultivation realm was also Divine Trove, he was definitely harder to deal with than Guo Xi. In the first place, martial artists were at a great disadvantage when facing immortal cultivators in the early stages of cultivation.
This match would not be easy for Chen Chao.
And after this sparring match, Chen Chao's reputation would definitely welcome a huge polarization, regardless of victory or defeat.
Xie Nandu came to Chen Chao's side. Glancing at the young man who appeared different from usual tonight, she frowned and asked, "It's just a trivial matter in the first place, why do you care so much?"
She was referring to why Chen Chao was doing these things.
Based on her understanding of Chen Chao, she knew that he was not a person who liked to be high-profile. His actions in the hall earlier were more or less different from his character. At least, the difference was not insignificant.
As for the reason, she already knew.
Chen Chao replied calmly, "Just think of it as me wanting to go crazy for a bit."
Xie Nandu asked softly, "Did you have a similar attitude at the South Lake back then?"
Being exposed by someone in a casual manner, Chen Chao's face turned red and he said a little embarrassedly, "Did I say it before? I don't remember it anymore."
Xie Nandu did not care about that and asked, "Are you confident?"
Chen Chao thought about it seriously and said, "If it's deep in the mountains outside of Tianqing County, I can definitely kill him. Furthermore, I wouldn't need to pay too high of a price. But right now, we're in the plaza outside of the Virtuous Sun Palace, I can't kill anyone either. Also, I have to keep some cards hidden. At most, I have a 50% chance."
Xie Nandu thought for a moment and nodded, "If you really lose, remember to save your life."
Although it was a sparring match tonight, there were no powerhouses watching the battle at one side. If something along the lines of failing to stop in time happened during the process of sparring, resulting in someone dying, it would be very hard for anyone to be able to pursue the matter in the end.
Chen Chao was surprised, "Don't you know that for me, survival is more important than killing?"
Killing demons in the deep mountains was nothing impressive, what was truly impressive was being able to leave the mountain range alive.
Xie Nandu smiled but did not say anything. She just headed out of the hall.
Chen Chao followed along and said with a smile, "Just treat it as a warm-up for the Myriad Willow Convention afterwards. When the time comes, I'm going to be the top dog of that event."
……
……
People walked out of the Virtuous Sun Palace and palace maids had long already brought the best luminous pearls from overseas and placed them on the stone pillars around the square. In just a moment, this plaza was illuminated as brightly as day by these precious luminous pearls.
He Yi stood at one end of the square, his Dao robe gradually exuding qi, like there was a light breeze fluttering it.
At this moment, He Yi really had a touch of immortal qi about him, looking like a true immortal cultivator.
The youth in black came to the other side and quietly looked at He Yi who was opposite.
Second Prince arrived at the scene and said loudly, "Tonight is just a friendly spar. Both of you are geniuses who are rarely seen in the world. No matter who is injured, my Great Liang Dynasty will feel heartache. I hope both of you will take care."
Although his words were ambiguous, in reality, the meaning was very clear.
When speaking, the Second Prince was actually not looking at the two present, but at Li Heng who was standing at one side.
This Eunuch Li appeared ordinary. But in reality, he was a powerhouse with a formidable cultivation realm. Only with him being present now, could it truly prevent any accidents from happening.
Li Heng felt the Second Prince's gaze and nodded slightly to show that he understood.
The Second Prince then stepped back and joined the others on the side, preparing to watch the match.
After seeing the Second Prince leave, He Yi turned to Chen Chao and calmly said, "Previously, I detested you greatly. But now, since you have the courage to challenge me, I feel a little less hostile towards you." "However, it's a little ridiculous for you to think that killing the likes of Guo Xi means that you're capable of fighting me."
Chen Chao replied, "I said long ago that fighting until the end, I'll still have to fight with you either way. Since that's the case, let's fight now."
He Yi furrowed his brows, trying to understand some things, and said somewhat appreciatively, "So that's how it is. You think that after fighting them and winning by a fluke, it will also waste a lot of qi, and you'll be at a disadvantage when you fight me later? "But, have you never thought that if this really happened, I would give you the opportunity to recover your strength?"
Chen Chao said a little helplessly, "I think you are overthinking it. I just feel it's troublesome."
He Yi thought the young man in front of him was just being stubborn. Looking deep into the imperial city, he said rather emotionally, "Rest assured, we are in the imperial city tonight, I won't kill you. Even if I really have this intention, I wouldn't do such a foolish thing here too."
The dispute at the imperial banquet was a problem between young people. No matter how big a commotion it caused, it would not attract the attention of the truly important figures too. However, if he killed someone in the imperial city, it would be seen as provoking the Emperor. That would be a huge problem. No matter how weak the Great Liang Dynasty was, a martial artist like the Great Liang emperor needed to be respected from start to finish.
In other words, if this were not the imperial city of Great Liang, Chen Chao would find it difficult to escape death tonight.
Chen Chao said, "In return, I won't try to kill you tonight either."
He smiled slightly at He Yi, and it seemed like he really meant it.
He Yi shook his head without saying a word. He just stretched out his hand and a gust of wind arose in the arena. His Dao robe fluttered slightly, with waves of indescribable qi activity surging within his Dao robe.
Chen Chao pressed the hilt of his saber and looked up at He Yi. He did not say a word and began to run.
He had done this sort of thing many times before. Hence, when he ran, he inexplicably remembered those demons in the mountains. Among the demons in Tianqing County, he was known as the demon king with a notorious reputation. Except, he did not know if he would still have a chance to go back there again in his lifetime.
Thinking up to here, he actually became sentimental.
Fortunately, in the next moment, he already snapped out of it. Looking at He Yi, it was as if he saw the most ferocious demon in the mountains.
……
……
The Virtuous Sun Palace was actually a very low-lying palace in the imperial city. This palace was surrounded by many palaces on higher ground, it was just separated by a great distance. It was clearly difficult to see the plaza from those palaces. Normally, there would also be no one who would bother to look at the plaza in front of the Virtuous Sun Palace from these palaces.
But tonight was not an ordinary night. The Great Liang emperor stood in front of a certain palace, looking at the plaza in front of the Virtuous Sun Palace. Although they were separated by a great distance, it was not a difficult feat for the Great Liang emperor.
Many things had happened tonight, from the Empress summoning Chen Chao, to that Ning Family youth playing the fool in the Virtuous Sun Palace, to the foreign cultivators' probing, Xie Nandu speaking out, and to the young man returning to the Virtuous Sun Palace. But, there was not a single incident that he did not know about. Thinking about what the young man had said at the banquet, the Great Liang emperor could not help but reveal a smile. He was very satisfied with the young man's responses at the banquet. Regardless of what he was trying to achieve with those responses, having them was enough.
This is the situation he wanted to see.
Teenagers should ultimately have the recklessness and showiness that comes with youth.
"This child is really good, We like him very much. What about you, what do you think..."
The Great Liang emperor suddenly spoke, his voice light. Except, he did not finish his sentence and stopped abruptly.
It was already midnight at this time, the Empress was weak and had already fallen asleep. Li Heng, the servant that he trusted the most, was outside the Virtuous Sun Palace at this moment. Before coming here, he had dismissed everyone around. There was actually no one around at the moment.
His voice wandered in front of the empty palace like a wandering soul.
He had already lived through such days for a very long time. But in reality, the Great Liang emperor was still somewhat unaccustomed to it. What he liked were the days where he used to ride horses and hunt in his fiefdom.
The Great Liang emperor was silent for a long time before saying with some sadness, "We forgot, you've been gone for many years."
