Chapter 114: Steal The Spotlight

"Yong Rui, you coming down or not."

As an esteemed Sect Master of the Tang Sect, and the most renowned cultivator to ever exist on this land, there is no greater challenge than having someone casually invite me over for a fight. To a normal person, it would have been perceived as a nice friendly way of testing your mettle against a friend... but to me, it was a great deal. In fact, it was a great blow to my pride.

Am I that weak? Am I so weak that a mere cultivator in the King Realm could just casually invite me over for a fight?

What insolence. I was not reborn for this bull.

Before I knew it, a menacing aura escaped my body, and it was one that consisted of both the Dark Element and the Blood Element. My blood was boiling with rage and my Qi Cores were turning at breaking point. I may be overexaggerating things, but this, this I cannot accept.

At least, challenge me properly, you know. I'm not that lowly of a person.

Liu Zhi, Blade, Wu Yan, and Yang Mei Mei flinched as they felt the ominous Qi Energy oozing out of my body. Although they were indirectly on the receiving end, I noticed that they had goosebumps all over their body.

And here I was, thinking that my aura was not powerful enough. Because of that sight, I was able to regain my composure as I heaved a sigh of relaxation. I shouldn't focus too much on his taunt, or rather, friendly invitation for a bout. Rather, I should be mindful of it.

There are a lot of people here, after all. If I lose my mind here, literally speaking, I could easily slaughter them all. And yes, that would not be a good idea during the Red Sea Tournament. Not only would it tarnish my name, it would also tarnish the name of Tang Shelter since I declared that I was from there.

Wait... why didn't I think of that?! I'm from the Tang Shelter!

Before I went down the stage to accept Xiao Xue's challenge, I stared at Luo Zehn. Apparently, he was just sitting down on one of the seats nearby.

"Hoh, do you want to challenge me, young man?" Luo Zehn asked me as he unsheathed his sword. "I may be in the King Realm, but I'm afraid I'm stronger than that Xiao Xue guy down there."

I sighed in disappointment.

At first glance, Luo Zehn seemed like the type to not meddle in cumbersome stuff such as Red Sea Tournaments. And then, I realized that amongst my disciples, he was the type to sign up for a tournament and he would train to no end just to meet his goals. He may be muscle-headed before but I'm sure he puts in more than enough effort just to enter in every single tournament he could— and then he would fight without regrets.

If I were to compare him to Xiao Xue, then I guess it would be better if I just fight Xiao Xue instead. Also, I wouldn't want to fight against my disciple since that would clearly be overkill. In other words, if I were given the choice to fight a fierce lion or a relentless elephant, I'd rather fight a fierce lion since a relentless elephant wouldn't go down as long as it breathed.

So yeah, the best choice here is to fight Xiao Xue.

Besides, if I were to lose, Luo Zehn has a good chance of winning the Red Sea Tournament. The Ten Elemental Orbs would greatly aid him in his cultivation. He may even achieve a breakthrough to the Immortal Realm after unlocking another element.

I've decided. Xiao Xue is the win-win choice here.

Amidst the fighting in the other arena or battle stages, I came down to the center one where Xiao Xue was. I'm not quite sure if Xiao Xue was glad that I accepted the challenge or if he was intimidated because of my presence. Nevertheless, he was smiling as he stood on one side of the stage. The bone-chilling, cold-inducing aura continuously leaked out from his body, determined to pressure me if I ever let my guard down for a moment.

Xiao Xue was battle-ready.

"Please kindly step on both sides of the ring." The 'referee' or someone acting the role of one spoke up as he waved his hand to the side. "There will only be one round, and the last one standing wins. A participant wins by either making the other participant give up, sending the other participant off the stage, or making the other participant unconscious. There are no time limits. Any cultivation techniques, elements, or martial arts could be used. Are both participants ready?"

I clenched my fists and assumed a fighting stance since I figured that's the only way to signal to the referee that I was ready. As for Xiao Xue, he swished his robes and did a smolder look towards the audience.

This kid, he's getting full of himself.

"Fight!"

Ice spikes came out of the ground like shark teeth determined to swallow me whole. A split second into the battle and this Xiao Xue is already using one of the most powerful ice attacks, he surely is confident. And to add to the taunt, his lips formed into a smile as more ice spikes emerged from the ground. For a friendly fight, Xiao Xue sure is overextending.

Maybe, I misjudged him. Being friendly was probably his nature and being arrogant is just a part of him. If that were the case, then he must be serious about this fight just as I am serious in winning.

Of course, a mere cultivator fighting a Sect Master is too much of a gap. There was simply no way Xiao Xue could win against me and I'm just stating the fact.

Even if my cultivation is considerably lower than his, specifically, the cultivation of my Original Qi Core, the techniques and stats I've accumulated and honed throughout the years would never fail me.

That's why, when it comes to speed, no one can defeat me, unless they overwhelm me with the sheer strength of someone who is realms higher than me.

With graceful steps, I easily dodged and sidestepped from the ice spikes that continuously pop up from the ground. In this icy stage, Xiao Xue has the advantage since this is his domain. But against my speed, he was just a sitting duck.

From then, I watched Xiao Xue as his Qi Energy was slowly depleted. Once he reached a certain threshold or rather, a fixed amount of what's left of his Qi Energy, he stopped his attack and withdrew his icy domain.

It was obvious what he was about to do next.

"Raaaarghhh!" Xiao Xue roared without warning.

Without warning, Xiao Xue's feet started growing big as it was slowly covered in fur. After his feet, fur covered his calves, then his thighs, upwards. And as if that wasn't enough, a thin layer of ice covered the white fur that encompassed his whole body. Right now, his body was like that of an animal that just came out of hibernation. Well, I said that because there was a thin layer of frost on his fur.

When the fur covering reached his neck, his Qi Energy suddenly leaped tenfold, making him more powerful than any other Immortal Realm cultivators out there. I almost took a step back but I managed to control myself as I shielded myself with a blanket of my Qi Energy. If I hadn't done so, I would've been blown away by the intensity of the pressure he was releasing right now.

Xiao Xue's mouth started transforming into a snout just when the fur covered his whole face. A fluffy white mane covered his neck and sharp claws protruded from his fingers and toes. Once his transformation was over, I finally realized that he transformed into a werewolf.

An ice werewolf.

No, if I remember, it was the Ice Wolf Spirit Beast, not an Ice Werewolf. So he had fully integrated with it.

The other contestants surrounding us suddenly stopped their fight just so they could watch the spectacle of Xiao Xue's integration with his Spirit Beast. He was like a totally different entity, and more powerful than before. If I were to fight him head-on without using any of my powers, he would probably tear me into pieces before I could even shout the name of my Sect. Truly, he is a terrifying beast, literally speaking.

However, he fought the wrong opponent. Any other contestant right here wouldn't have been able to hold a candle to him. But I wasn't just any other contestant. I was once a Sect Master. Such fancy tricks wouldn't work on me. Even if he had integrated with a more powerful spirit beast, the result would still be the same. The difference in our power was just like heaven and earth, honestly.

'Come out, Evolved Fanged Ice Wolf' I said to myself as a grin plastered on my face.

"It's time to steal the spotlight."