I became a Sword Emperor in the Martial Arts World

Chapter 122 My defenses have been broken, brother.

"You want to challenge me?"

Faced with Wang Ao's undisguised provocation, Ye Qingzhou looked astonished.

Yali Middle School had informed him of his upcoming visit beforehand, mainly hoping that Ye Qingzhou could come and share his advanced experience in martial arts and impart some insights. They absolutely had no intention of stepping on Ye Qingzhou to promote their own martial arts prodigy.

Therefore, even this fixed segment of the exchange competition's academy challenge was canceled in advance.

After all, in the eyes of the Yali High School administration, Ye Qingzhou, who had mastered the Thunder Force to an unparalleled level, had no weaknesses and was undoubtedly invincible among martial artists of the same level.

At this moment, Ye Qingzhou was just like Zhang Xinwu when he first debuted. His strength was so great that he had no friends and could easily defeat countless martial arts prodigies of the same age.

Even some of the most renowned martial arts masters eventually fell victim to Zhang Xinwu's fists and palms, and feared him like the plague.

Ye Qingzhou has now also demonstrated a talent and potential that surpasses Zhang Xinwu's. Therefore, before inviting Ye Qingzhou, Yali Middle School reached a consensus that the school's martial arts prodigies must listen attentively to Ye Qingzhou's "lectures" with a learning attitude.

Unfortunately, for a martial arts prodigy like Wang Ao, who was going through a rebellious phase, this arrangement clearly had the opposite effect.

We're all on the same level, so why should I have to sit in the audience and listen to you speak?

We've never played against each other before, so why does the school think I'll lose?

Wang Ao, who was unconvinced, was provoked by the school teacher's arrangement. He wanted to see for himself just how strong Ye Qingzhou, who was rumored to be a genius, really was!

"It's not a challenge, just a friendly exchange."

Wang Ao stood tall, holding a long spear called Yanfeng in his right hand. It was made entirely of fine iron, with a blood-red tip that would burst into dazzling sparks whenever it was rubbed together violently.

As his name suggests, Wang Ao is born with pride and has a wild and unrestrained personality.

The more others forbid him from doing something, the more he insists on doing it, and he does it to the best of his ability, leaving those who look down on him speechless.

At this moment, Wang Ao, gun twirling in his hand, looked at Ye Qingzhou with a provocative gaze: "What, are you scared?"

"interesting."

Ye Qingzhou smiled, stood up, and walked down the podium step by step, finally standing in front of Wang Ao: "Originally, with your strength, you were not qualified to challenge me. However, since you have come to Yali Middle School as a guest, I will give your school leaders some face and personally give you some pointers."

"Heh, I hope your skills are as arrogant as you are."

Wang Ao could not sense any vigorous blood and qi or flowing internal energy from Ye Qingzhou, so he naturally concluded that Ye Qingzhou's internal and external training was a complete mess and that he was just a name without substance.

And he will prove to everyone here today that he is the true peerless genius!

On the judges' panel, Deng Jianxin, the director of the combat center at Yali High School, was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.

He hurriedly found Xu Lan and said earnestly, "Teacher Xu, Wang Ao is a student of Master Li Yanwen. Although he is a bit arrogant, he is not a bad person at heart."

Li Yanwen, the Fiery Spear!

A renowned martial arts master in Xingcheng, his spear skills are unparalleled. He once defeated countless martial arts masters with his self-created "Nine Battles of the Wilderness" spear technique, ranking among the top 500 in the world!

He is one of the strongest "Top 500" humans on Earth, a renowned master-level martial artist!

As Li Yanwen's personal disciple, Wang Ao, though of commoner origin, was no less prestigious than any second-generation cultivator from a martial arts family.

Xu Lan instantly understood Deng Jianxin's underlying meaning: he was afraid that Ye Qingzhou might go too far and cripple or even kill Wang Ao, making it difficult for him to explain himself.

"Ye Qingzhou".

Xu Lan gave Ye Qingzhou a look.

Ye Qingzhou instantly understood, silently complaining to himself, "Those with connections are such a hassle."

Then he looked at Wang Ao with a calm gaze, devoid of any emotion.

Ye Qingzhou then pointed his fingers into a sword shape, unleashing sword energy. He drew a circle with a diameter of one meter centered on himself and said calmly, "To be fair, I'll stand still and let you hit me. As for you, if you can knock me out of the circle, you win."

These words caused an uproar among the surrounding crowd.

Especially at Yali High School, the students from the major martial arts clubs were in an uproar. They were all indignant and extremely dissatisfied, feeling that Ye Qingzhou was taking Yali High School too lightly.

"Has Ye Qingzhou gone mad?"

"Even if someone is that talented, isn't this a bit too arrogant?"

"Does he really think he can look down on everyone just because he won the Qinglan Sword Fighting Tournament? Wang Ao also won the Yunmeng Spear Fighting Tournament!"

The members of the Yali High School fencing club all approached Liang Jia: "Big Sister, what do you think?"

"Of course I'll sit and watch!"

Liang Jia's cheeks were puffed up with anger. She felt Ye Qingzhou was far too arrogant: "Wang Ao is the number one genius at Yali Middle School. His talent in marksmanship is so high that even Master Li personally took him as a disciple and taught him meticulously. How dare Ye Qingzhou stand still and let him hit him? I'd like to see how he embarrasses himself later!"

The students at Yali High School weren't entirely clear on how strong Ye Qingzhou was. Even Liang Jia only had one experience fighting Ye Qingzhou, and that was some time ago.

In contrast, they were more aware of just how strong Wang Ao was.

The fire and the forest cover are in full swing!

Even the strongest flames are only one step away from reaching the perfect state.

If one can master any one of the six basic stances—wind, fire, mountain, forest, yin, and thunder—before the age of twenty, one can already be called a genius.

To reach the pinnacle of any skill is to be a genius among geniuses, someone that ordinary people can only look up to in their entire lives.

Wang Ao, however, was able to master both fire and forest techniques to a high level, and he was certain that his fire technique would reach perfection within three years.

With such cultivation, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a martial arts prodigy.

Li Yanwen even praised Wang Ao as having the potential to become a master on several occasions in front of outsiders!

If Li Yanwen hadn't truly recognized Wang Ao's talent and aptitude, he wouldn't have made an exception to take Wang Ao under his wing, carefully instructing him and passing on his unique skills, even though he hadn't accepted any personal disciples for many years.

What Li Yanwen longed for was simply to cultivate a disciple capable of reaching the Grandmaster level, so that he could inherit his mantle.

Since becoming Li Yanwen's apprentice, Wang Ao has made rapid progress and has long been accustomed to enjoying the spotlight and applause.

This was the first time he had ever been looked down upon like this.

Therefore, Wang Ao gripped his spear tightly, his eyebrows furrowed in anger, his eyes sharp as knives as he stared at Ye Qingzhou, baring his teeth as he asked, "My Fire Attack is nearing its peak, are you sure you want to stand still and let me hit you?"

Ye Qingzhou's gaze remained calm and unmoved by Wang Ao's anger.

In his eyes, no matter how much Wang Ao bared his teeth and brandished his claws, it was meaningless; it was just a mayfly trying to shake a tree.

So when Ye Qingzhou looked at Wang Ao, he sighed softly, "You should be grateful. If you didn't have a good teacher, you'd probably be kneeling and talking to me right now."

"Fine, fine, since you're asking for a beating, I won't hold back."

After the two stood still, Wang Ao thrust his spear forward, and the move he used was the opening stance of "Nine Battles of the Wilderness"—Passing on the Flame.

A seemingly ordinary shot, delivered with composure and calmness, actually conceals a hidden secret.

If the opponent blocks or dodges Wang Ao's thrust, they will face a series of follow-up attacks, using a combination of parrying and striking to make it difficult to defend against.

However, Ye Qingzhou neither blocked nor dodged; he simply stood still, letting Wang Ao's spear tip pierce his chest.

Ding~

The spear seemed to strike a bronze bell, producing a loud bang. No matter how hard Wang Ao exerted himself, the spear tip could not advance an inch.

"How is that possible?"

Wang Ao's expression turned to disbelief, and his breath caught in his throat.

Although the "Passing on the Torch" technique is not known for its power, this strike of his could probably pierce even a homogeneous steel armor equivalent to 80 millimeters.

Even if there's a tank or armored vehicle parked in front of me, I'll still manage to pierce it with my own shot!

But who is Ye Qingzhou?

Even if you train Iron Shirt and Golden Bell Cover together, your physical strength still can't reach this level!

Little did he know that since leaving Lingyun Cave, Ye Qingzhou had been using dragon flames to refine the golden scales on the remains of Kang Jinlong every day, and the strength of his indestructible golden body had increased rapidly.

Furthermore, Ye Qingzhou's understanding of mountain formations has reached an unparalleled level. As long as he stands on the ground, he can consume his internal energy at any time, thereby redirecting the opponent's attacks to the ground beneath his feet.

Wang Ao's attack was nothing more than a tickle to him.

Ye Qingzhou stood still, completely unharmed, and withstood Wang Ao's fierce attack, leaving everyone around him dumbfounded.

Not only the students of Yali No.1 High School, but even Deng Jianxin, a professional martial artist, looked shocked and smiled wryly at Xu Lan beside him: "Linjiang No.1 High School actually produced a peerless genius like Ye Qingzhou. The quality of your school's education is truly beyond our reach."

Xu Lan could only politely reply, "Not at all, it's mainly because Ye Qingzhou himself is exceptionally talented."

She was no less shocked than Deng Jianxin.

Ye Qingzhou's progress was so rapid that it exceeded her expectations. The Qinglan Sword Fighting Tournament had only been going on for less than a month, and Ye Qingzhou had already become so strong that she couldn't even understand it.

Even she wouldn't have dared to stand still and take that shot head-on; she would have had to use her movement skills and the ability to deflect and redirect the force to receive it unharmed.

Ye Qingzhou, on the other hand, said he would stand still and let himself be beaten, and he really did stand still!

However, Xu Lan was still very happy inside. She was proud to have taught such a student.

clang~ clang~ clang~

Wang Ao kept changing his moves, flashing his spear and stabbing Ye Qingzhou in vital areas such as his eyes, throat, and ears, but he still failed to succeed.

Ye Qingzhou stood still, closed his eyes, and tucked in his ears. His skin was incredibly tough. Wang Ao's spear bent under the weight, but it couldn't pierce Ye Qingzhou's eyelids or ears. Finally, Wang Ao turned around and thrust his spear at Ye Qingzhou's throat, but he was instead sent flying by the recoil.

"Put more effort into it, haven't you eaten?"

Ye Qingzhou opened his eyes, growing impatient with Wang Ao's weak and feeble attacks, and had to urge him on, "Is this all you've got?"

"you!!!"

Upon hearing this, Wang Ao was greatly provoked. His entire body became burning hot and red, and he had entered a state of rage: "I refuse to believe I can't break through your defenses!"

Immediately, his anger erupted, and he urgently activated his inner fire energy, directly entering the "Red Temperature" berserk mode. He unleashed the most proficient and mastered intermediate-level enhanced martial skill in "Nine Battles of Wildfire"—Wildfire Never Ends.

This move not only contains superb martial arts skills, but also Li Yanwen's understanding and knowledge of martial arts, and is the condensation of his own martial arts will.

The wildfire never dies out, which means that war is stopped by force and that the flames of war will never end!

As the fire and the forest alternated and transformed, with the support of the two internal energies, Wang Ao seemed to gain inexhaustible explosive power, enabling him to continuously engage in high-intensity combat.

"Break it!"

With a single step, Wang Ao shattered the ground, and the tip of his spear danced with wildfire, attacking Ye Qingzhou with the force to sweep across the heavens and earth.

However, faced with such a wild and fierce attack, Ye Qingzhou remained standing with his hands behind his back, eyes closed and motionless.

Ding~

The flames tore through Ye Qingzhou's school uniform, revealing his pale golden skin and a muscular physique that was strong yet not bulky, as if it had been sculpted from marble.

"Aaaaah! Break it for me!"

Wang Ao spun the gun barrel, turning the famous spearhead into an electric drill. The spear tip rubbed against Ye Qingzhou's chest, even sparks flying, but it still couldn't break through Ye Qingzhou's absolute defense.

Boom~

The accumulated internal energy suddenly erupted, and the force of the backlash sent Wang Ao flying again.

Upon landing, his hand split open, and blood flowed down the shaft of Yanfeng's gun, dripping onto the ground.

The people around them all had expressions of utter disbelief.

Ye Qingzhou's defense remained intact.

But Wang Ao, he was clearly on the verge of losing his guard.

"Impossible!"

"There's no reason for it!"

"How come it can't be pierced?"

Wang Ao had already used all his skills, but he couldn't even scratch Ye Qingzhou's skin, to the point that he began to doubt whether he was practicing fake martial arts.

We're all about the same age, there's no reason for the age gap to be this big!

Ye Qingzhou was not surprised at all. He knew that the "Refining Gold in Fire" technique he practiced was Kang Jinlong's external cultivation method. The indestructible golden body he cultivated was said to be able to survive forever.

Even if he is only at the minor completion level now, it is still beyond the reach of Wang Ao's spear technique.

Moreover, Ye Qingzhou can use the Dragon Abyss Sword to upgrade the superior divine metal extracted from the golden scales into a divine metal of the earth-treasure level, which further enhances the strength of his golden body.

With the added advantage of the mountain's superb terrain, its defensive capabilities are so high that ordinary physical attack techniques are no longer very effective against him.

Fifteen minutes later...

Ye Qingzhou stood there, expressionless, looking at Wang Ao who was panting heavily: "Want to continue?"

"you!"

The continuous high-intensity bursts left Wang Ao's limbs weak and he had no energy left.

At this moment, all he could do was glare defiantly at Ye Qingzhou with an unyielding look, and grit his teeth as he roared, "I can fight again!"

After saying that, he leaned on his gun, barely straightened his body, mobilized his internal energy, and assumed a posture to continue the attack.

Finally, Deng Jianxin couldn't bear to watch any longer and quickly had someone help Wang Ao down to rest.

If they continued fighting, he was genuinely afraid that the stubborn Wang Ao would exhaust himself to death.

As Wang Ao was being carried away, he was still shouting, "I didn't lose! I can still fight!"

In the stands of Yali High School, no one spoke; the battle they had just witnessed left them with no reason to argue.

Ye Qingzhou stood still and let Wang Ao hit him, what more did he want?

We can't just let Ye Qingzhou commit suicide on the spot, can we?

The martial arts upstarts sitting next to Liang Jia also sighed with admiration, saying, "It's easier to shake a mountain than to shake a leaf or a light boat."

"This is true immovability. From beginning to end, it didn't budge an inch. It's simply unreasonable."

"Liu Yi, what martial art did Ye Qingzhou use just now? Was it 'Solid Defense' or 'Standing on the Ground'? Did you tell?"

"I didn't understand it, but I was deeply moved."

"How can you not understand? Aren't you a specialist in mountain formations?"

"My mountain is just a small hill, while Ye Qingzhou's mountain is a towering mountain. How can they be the same? It's normal that I don't understand."

Then, everyone's attention turned to Liang Jia: "Liang Jia, I heard you fought Ye Qingzhou?"

"Um."

Liang Jia nodded absentmindedly, feeling somewhat lost and at a loss.

He originally thought that his strength had improved a lot and that he would definitely be able to get revenge on Ye Qingzhou.

Now, things have gotten even worse. Even Wang Ao, who was far stronger than her, has been defeated by Ye Qingzhou.

No, it can't even be called a defeat, because Ye Qingzhou didn't fight back at all from beginning to end; Wang Ao exhausted himself to the point of collapse.

Liang Jia still harbors resentment about her defeat at the hands of Ye Qingzhou.

However, the other martial arts upstarts at Yali High School didn't see it that way. They all looked at Liang Jia with admiration: "How many moves did you and Ye Qingzhou exchange back then?"

Liang Jia was a little embarrassed, but she still told the truth: "Three moves."

She really wanted to say that at that time, she probably couldn't even withstand a single sword strike from Ye Qingzhou.

But before she could finish speaking, the surrounding students exclaimed in amazement and admiration, "Amazing! Amazing! She actually withstood three moves from Ye Qingzhou! Incredible!"

"Yeah, if I were to face Ye Qingzhou, I probably wouldn't even be able to withstand a single sword strike."

The others wholeheartedly agreed. Based on the formidable strength Ye Qingzhou displayed when facing Wang Ao, Liang Jia, who could hold her own against Ye Qingzhou for three moves, was terrifyingly strong in their eyes.

"..."

Seeing this, Liang Jia didn't know what to say.

Even she herself began to change her mind at this moment: "Perhaps losing to Ye Qingzhou isn't such a bad thing?"

Not only is it not a bad thing, but it might even become a great story in the future. After all, losing to a noob is embarrassing, but losing to a master, especially after three moves, would surely be something to brag about to everyone you meet.

and many more!

How could I think that way?

That's so unambitious!

Liang Jia felt ashamed of the thought that had just popped into her head.

(End of this chapter)