Besides, he’d attacked out of the blue. Ye Zichen scrambled to block, but was pushed back a dozen steps before slowing down. He’d stabbed his sword viciously into the earth to steady himself, and had filled the blade with all his divine power. It was only thanks to his sword that he’d avoided falling onto the ground.
“Hah….” Ye Zichen wiped the blood from the corners of his lips. This man’s attack style was awfully vicious.
Although that energy wave seemed to blast Ye Zichen in the chest, it had actually targeted his dantian. The attack threw all of Ye Zichen’s energy into turmoil. He pulled out a recovery medicine and tried to reorganize his chaotic divine power. At the same time, he gazed coolly at the middle-aged man.
Liu Qing acted as if this had nothing to do with her. She frowned, but said nothing.
“Second Uncle, you’re finally here!” Now that he had someone to support him, the youth who Ye Zichen had hit grinned wickedly. He gnashed his teeth, glared at Ye Zichen, and snorted, “That kid doesn’t know what’s good for him. He dared speak flippantly to Junior Apprentice Sister, and he even hit me….”
“Shut up!” The middle-aged man shot him a cold glare and snorted. “You’re making an embarrassing spectacle of yourself. Stand aside and wait.”
The youth’s eyes blazed with fury, but he still recoiled and retreated.
“Seventeenth Highness, are you alright?” asked the middle-aged man respectfully.
“I…. I’m fine.” Liu Qing said flatly.
“Then that youth Zhao Yan mentioned….”
“I said, I’m fine!”
“Understood. I’m just glad you’re alright.” Sensing the change in her mood, the man hurriedly stopped interrogating her. The way he lowered himself made the onlookers widen their eyes in shock.
Those among them with high cultivations could see that this was a peerless expert, a seventh-stage diviner at the very least.
Although the young woman had an exceptional cultivation as well, she was still a good ways away from being a high-level diviner. For her to instill such fear in a stronger expert, and for him to call her ‘Seventeeth Highness”.....
“Whose descendant is that girl? She can even make a diviner quiver in fear!”
“Didn’t you hear that diviner call her ‘Seventeeth Highness?’”
“It seems that they’re from Four Directions Academy?”
The crowd chattered amongst themselves. They couldn’t help but wonder about Liu Qing’s background.
An elder’s pupil’s constricted. The hand clutching his cane trembled. “That girl is a Highness from the Four Directions Pavillion!” As soon as the name “Four Directions Pavillion” appeared, the crowd audibly gasped.
Of the emperors who’d claimed one of the God Realm’s Divine Mountains, he was the only one who was originally a yao.
As they stared at Liu Qing, the crowd’s gazes gradually filled with awe. Everyone knew that Bi’an treasured every single one of his highnesses. No wonder that diviner treated her with such respect.
“It seems that youth is no ordinary person either.”
Some of the crowd couldn’t help but sigh. Geniuses always associated with other geniuses, and people of great backgrounds associated with others like them. If the distance between two people was too great, they’d never even get the chance to interact. This was an eternal rule.
“Beat the little one, and the old one comes running. Hmph. It seems no matter where I go, it’s always the same.” Thanks to his medicines, Ye Zichen’s injuries had mostly recovered. He gazed coldly at the middle-aged man and shook his head. “You wanted to hit me, and you did. That should be enough. Bye for now!”
Ye Zichen had no desire to get wrapped up in this any longer, nor did he want to cause trouble for Liu Qing. Besides, they were from Four Directions Academy, while he was from Skyspan Academy. Private battles would have a poor influence on the two schools’ relations.
Also, the Battle of Geniuses was supposed to be with the demons and yao. Looking at the bigger picture, others of the god race were his comrades in arms. Ye Zichen disapproved of this sort of infighting.
“Did I say you could leave?”
Ye Zichen didn’t want trouble, but that middle-aged man nevertheless spoke up.
Ye Zichen had only taken a few steps. He sighed, stopped, and turned back around, his dark eyes flashing with cold light. “What do you want?”
When he saw Ye Zichen’s attitude, the diviner expert furrowed his brows, then sent another slap through space.
Ye Zichen had sensed this in advance, and his divine power burst outward with a bang. However, he didn’t try to defend, but rather directed his power to his legs and picked up speed, dodging this second attack entirely.
The diviner seemed frustrated and angry that one hit hadn’t been enough, so he actually attacked again.
“Don’t take this too far.” Ye Zichen dodged with all his might and shouted a rebuke. He didn’t want to escalate their conflict.
When that youth attacked him, he’d already spared the youth several times. He only attacked after he couldn’t take it any longer, and had never inflicted any life-threatening images.
He reacted the same way when the diviner appeared. He accepted the first few attacks without complaint.
He wanted to end things here, but that diviner refused to let his drop. It was true, what they said; if you backed down, other people would just assume you were weak and easy to push around.
“Too far? You hit a student of my Four Directions Academy in broad daylight and dared harass Seventeeth Highness. Do you really think we’ll let you leave just like that?” the man snorted.
“What a joke! Just as Liu Qing. When did I ever say anything flippant? How did I harass her? Drop all that sanctimonious nonsense, alright? We’re surrounded by witnesses. They can all tell you whether I hurt him unprovoked, or whether your guy antagonized me first. I gave him several chances, but he only pushed me even harder!” Ye Zichen said coldly.
“‘Nonsense?’ Is that any way to talk to your seniors?”
The man’s aura billowed outward, bearing down on Ye Zichen, who felt as if he were staring down a giant, vicious beast’s gaping maw. The beast’s green eyes were locked directly onto him. In the face of this overbearing pressure, he gradually froze.
“You’re already a sky supreme yet you still haven’t learned your manners. I wonder, just which family’s young master are you? But it doesn’t matter! Today, I’ll act on behalf of your useless elders and teach you a proper lesson about how to behave in front of your betters!”
As soon as the man spoke, the “beast” in front of Ye Zichen opened its mouth wide.
Faint yellow liquid dripped from its jaws, and its furry, giant claws swiped towards him. Ye Zichen stared at in a daze, but suddenly, the vicious beast overwhelming his thoughts shattered. The next moment, he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.
A voice like a gentle breeze blew across the street. “Do I need you to discipline my nephew?”