Chapter 1724 Fire Harmony

"That was your first strike," Yuan said to Xing Chen after tanking his attack without a single scratch on his neck.

"N-no way…" Xing Chen hastily jumped back.

'There's no way he actually defended against such a powerful strike with his naked neck! He must've used an illusion or something to make it look like that!' Xing Chen refused to believe that a Spirit Grandmaster had managed to eat one of his most powerful strikes and come out unscathed.

"What are you waiting for? You have two more strikes. I'm not trying to spend a whole day on a single match." Yuan beckoned him in a provocative manner.

Xing Chen immediately became infuriated, as he had never been mocked in such a fashion before. He began gathering his spiritual energy for several moments before pointing his sword at Yuan.

"Burning Lotus Heavenly Sword!" A massive blade made of pure fire materialized in the sky directly above Yuan. Once it fully materialized and the blade almost appeared real, it fell on Yuan's head.

Whosh!

Flames spewed in every direction like a tsunami, engulfing the arena in a sea of flames.

"There's no… way… he could've… avoided that…" Xing Chen became incredibly weakened after releasing the technique, which exhausted nearly all of his spiritual energy.

Yuan's figure was engulfed in flames, but his silhouette could still be seen by the spectators and Xing Chen.

However, before Xing Chen could celebrate, a powerful gust appeared, swallowing up all of the flames. The flames gathered like bugs to a lantern around Yuan, who began taking a deep breath, as if he was preparing to blow a straw house down.

As for the flames, they were simply consumed by Yuan.

"H-how…?" Xing Chen fell to his knees with a loud thud that resounded throughout the stadium.

The spectators could only gasp in shock at what they'd just witnessed.

"There's no mistaking it…" Kelan muttered in a dazed voice. "He actually achieved the state of Fire Harmony before the age of 30! This level of talent is almost unheard of, even in the Supreme Heaven! He must have been born with a physique blessed by the fire gods!"

Kelan's desire to fight Yuan skyrocketed after learning this.

'You kids better defeat him so I can fight him!' Kelan clenched his fists in anticipation.

Yuan casually patted his clothes after swallowing the flames and said, "If that was your best, then I'll consider this fight concluded, as you will not be able to damage me, much less defeat me."

Xing Chen did not even have the energy to respond anymore and directly collapsed onto the ground. One of the workers there swiftly entered the stage to retrieve Xing Chen, bringing him away.

Yuan looked at the rest of the participants and said, "So, who's next?"

The participants subconsciously stepped back when they felt Yuan's overwhelming gaze through his mask.

After a few moments of silence, a beautiful girl entered the stage with a graceful leap.

Once the beauty introduced herself, Yuan nodded and said, "The match will begin the moment you raise your weapon."

The beauty quickly raised the sword in her grasp and prepared to attack. However, before she could even act, Yuan's figure flickered and disappeared.

When he appeared again a split second later, his fist was already digging into the beauty's stomach.

"Ah!"

The beauty let out a dramatic cry of pain, and her face contorted in an exaggerated expression as she was sent flying off the stage.

"W-why…? What happened to three free strikes…?" she complained after struggling to get back on her feet.

"It'd take too long if I let everyone have three free strikes," he shrugged.

"N-no way…" The beauty muttered in disbelief before falling unconscious and getting carried off the stage.

"Next." Yuan ignored her and turned to look at the remaining participants, who swallowed nervously and subconsciously avoided his gaze.

"Since nobody is going next, I will do it."

A familiar face entered the stage.

"I'm Chu Liuxiang. What's your name?" 'Lulu…' Yuan showed a gentle smile on his face after Chu Liuxiang challenged him.

"My surname is Xiao."

"You can't tell me your full name?"

"Unfortunately, I am unable to because of reasons beyond my control."

Chu Liuxiang narrowed her eyes at him and asked, "Have we met before?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Just a feeling."

"Well, unless you've been to the upper heavens, I highly doubt we've met, as this is my first time coming to the lower heavens."

"I see."

"..."

"You're not going to ask why I came down here?" Yuan asked.

"Well, I don't really care, so I have no reason to ask."

"I understand. Then let's start the match. I'll make my move after you make your first move." Yuan said a moment later.

Chu Liuxiang nodded, and after several moments of stillness, she suddenly brought her arms parallel to the ground and swiftly activated a technique.

"Ice Shield!"

A beautiful and thick shield made of ice and enforced by spiritual energy appeared in front of Chu Liuxiang, capable of blocking any frontal attacks.

She thought Yuan was going to attack her the moment she used her technique like the last match. However, Yuan merely stood there in silence, almost as if he were analyzing her technique.

Seeing this, Yuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't end this match too fast since I ended my last one a bit too fast, so we have some spare time to enjoy ourselves."

"Sorry, but I'm not interested."

Chu Liuxiang suddenly placed her palms on the ground.

[Frozen Garden of Impalement!]

Thousands of ice spikes erupted from the ground and reached a dozen meters tall, covering the entire arena and leaving no room for Yuan to escape. She had used this technique in several matches before, and not a single one of her opponents had been able to block or avoid it.

However, Yuan didn't even try to avoid it and allowed the ice spikes to land on him.

"Wow…" Chu Liuxiang showed a nervous smile after seeing Yuan tank such a powerful technique with ease.