Nie Yu's voice had attracted the attention of many people and a large crowd soon formed.
As one of the Top 1,000 Talents, Nie Yu was instantly recognized.
"He is Nie Yu, one of the Top 1,000 talents!"
"Now that Su Mo has taken his place on the List, he must be here to battle Su Mo!"
"He couldn't take this lying down!"
The crowd whispered excitedly.
Nie Yu's stared coldly at the gate of the inn. Not long later, a handsome young man strode out.
"You're Su Mo?" asked Nie Yu coldly, seeing the youth at the door.
Su Mo stood in front of Nie Yu and sized him up.
He could sense the strong fighting desire coming from Nie Yu and knew that Nie Yu wanted to battle.
"What's the matter?" asked Su Mo flatly.
"I want to battle!" said Nie Yu in a deep voice, his eyes flashing.
"Why should I give you what you want? Wouldn't it reflect badly on me?" Su Mo's lips curved into a small smile.
Here was another chance to earn Spiritual Stones!
The crowd was completely dumbstruck by Su Mo's words.
He truly lived up to his title as a peerless genius, one that managed to make the List of Top 1,000 Talents at Lv 9 Enlightenment Realm. He was truly arrogant!
Nie Yu's face darkened and his eyes hardened. He said frostily, "Don't you think that you can be so arrogant in front of me now that you have defeated me at Heaven's Proud Jade Wall. I'm no longer as weak as I was six months ago!"
Nie Yu was not afraid of Su Mo, his virtual image captured within the wall only represented his strength six months ago. He was now much stronger than that!
He came to challenge Su Mo to wash away his shame.
He would have been able to accept it if he had been replaced by someone of equal ranking, and would not have made another challenge.
But Su Mo was only a Lv 9 Enlightenment Realm martial artist. How could someone with a lower realm beat him, Nie Yu, one of the Top 1,000 Talents? This was a slap in his face.
It was a great insult to him. In other words, Su Mo was gaining fame by stepping on his reputation.
Nie Yu simply could not accept this. He wanted to battle Su Mo and beat him fairly and squarely to vindicate himself.
"Arrogant?" Su Mo chuckled and said, "What're you going to do about it?"
Nie Yu clenched his fists in the face of Su Mo's arrogance.
"Su Mo, are you up for the challenge?" Nie Yu asked loudly.
His light golden Dark Force surged and its large power threatened to crush Su Mo.
Yet, Su Mo didn't even bat an eyelid.
"I'll take the challenge only if you can put up 30,000 Upper Spiritual Stones as a bet." Su Mo said, then turned with a swagger back to the inn.
"You...!" Nie Yu shook with fury. How could Su Mo insult him this way?
"Deal! 30,000 Upper Spiritual Stones for a battle with you!" Nie Yu clenched his jaw and said as Su Mo turn back to the inn.
30,000 Upper Spiritual Stones might be a large sum, but Nie Yu could afford it. Most importantly, he was sure he would win.
Su Mo stopped in his tracks, a smile spreading across his face and his eyes glittering.
"So be it, as you wish." Su Mo returned and said with a smile.
Nie Yu's eyes were filled with fighting desire, and he immediately shot up thousands of meters into the sky.
"Come on up! "Nie Yu shouted at Su Mo.
Su Mo shook his head inwardly. This guy was just asking for it!
This was a rare opportunity for him to beat people up while earning spiritual stones. There was nothing better than this.
Swoosh!
Su Mo followed Nie Yu and stood directly opposite him.
Below them, the crowd was engaged in excited discussion.
"Nie Yu is challenging Su Mo!"
"Ha ha! We can finally witness Su Mo's real strength! He defeated two Top 1,000 Talents consecutively but no one knows how he managed to achieve such a feat."
"Exactly! There is no way he can play any tricks in such an open battle."
"It's hard to tell who will be the winner. Nie Yu's strength must have improved a lot."
As they spoke, the battle was about to begin.
Up in the Sky, a golden sword appeared in Nie Yu's hand. He aimed at Su Mo and said, "Su Mo, this will show you how superior I am."
"Stop saying such useless words and make your move!" Su Mo said mockingly as he shook his head. "I'll be finished with you in two moves, then I'll get back to cultivating!"
"What?" Nie Yu's face changed. How could Su Mo be so arrogant?
Not even the top 100 on the List showed as much arrogance as Su Mo!
"You sound pretty confident. Take this!" Nie Yu was angered and immediately attacked.
His treasure sword gave off a blinding sword radiance, and as he slashed at Su Mo, a piercing golden sword Qi shot out thousands of meters, cutting through space and releasing a terrifying sword power which was felt for thousands of miles around.
"I'm impressed!" Su Mo remained calm in the face of the oncoming attack.
He could see that Nie Yu had improved since the fight at Heaven's Proud Jade Wall.
However, Nie Yu's rate of improvement was nothing compared to his own.
Now that he has successfully transformed 99% of his Vital Spirit into Dark Force, his strength had increased considerably despite him not having advanced to True Darkness Realm.
Swoosh!
Su Mo charged straight at Nie Yu's golden sword Qi.
The Sky-crushing Sword in his hand gave off a brilliant sword ray. As he neared the oncoming sword Qi, he swung with his sword.
Slash!
The incredible power was enough to tear apart anything in its way. Nie Yu's sword Qi was slashed in two and its power dissipated.
Su Mo did not slow down. He darted through the dissipating sword Qi and approached Nie Yu in a blink of an eye.
"What?"
Nie Yu's face changed. He had not expected Su Mo to be so strong that he could easily tear his attack apart!
Howeve, he was not afraid when he saw Su Mo rapidly approaching him. He was also a Body-refining expert and enjoyed close combat.
"Die!" roared Nie Yu. Instead of retreating, he rushed to meet Su Mo.
"Golden-blade Cut!"
Nie Yu wielded his long sword with both hands as it gave off a dazzling ray of golden light, and its sword power soared. He slashed it directly at Su Mo.
Whew!
The golden sword radiance tore through the air and headed down toward Su Mo like an executioner's blow.
Su Mo's eyes glinted with mischief. His aura suddenly surged and layers of golden scales appeared on his body. His Sky-crushing Sword exploded with sword rays that transformed into a single gigantic sword.
"Time to end this!"
Su Mo slashed out and his Sky-crushing Sword collided heavily against the oncoming sword radiance.