Chapter 24

The tribal chief, Yidu, was already over seventy years old. Although his hair was somewhat gray, he remained spirited and vigorous.

He looked at the twenty-odd young men on the square who were about to come of age and join the tribe, contributing their strength to it. He couldn't help but feel a sense of comfort, especially since his grandson, Yikuang, was among them.

The chief of the Yi clan, Yidu, announced, "The coming-of-age ceremony can now begin."

Following this, the senior elder began to preside over the ceremony, and the young men started to go through the rituals one by one.

Finally, after the ceremony ended, the most exciting part of the coming-of-age ceremony—the martial competition—began.

As the leader of all the warriors in the tribe, Yike, the chief, now presided over the upcoming martial competition.

This form of competition had a long history.

The competition was divided into two aspects: the arena combat and archery skills.

In the arena combat, weapons were not allowed, and it was a measure of each person's cultivation and strength.

A temporary arena had already been set up on the square.

Chief Yike glanced at the twenty-odd young men and said, "The rules of the competition are simple: select the five strongest among you. Anyone can challenge for the top five positions."

"The competition begins!"

As soon as Chief Yike announced the start of the competition, someone immediately and eagerly stepped onto the arena.

He was a young man whose strength had reached the third rank, with quite good potential.

Soon, another young man stepped up.

The two began to fight on the arena. Their attacks collided with a series of thuds, like two fierce beasts fighting, creating strong gusts of wind that made the air crackle.

Not long after, one of the young men was knocked off the arena by the other.

The victorious young man, under Chief Yike's guidance, looked excited and proud as he took his place among the top five.

Next, one competition after another took place on the arena, with the winners standing in the top five positions one by one.

Once the five positions were filled, the challenges began.

Thus, the top five positions kept changing hands, with one after another being defeated and replaced, creating a dazzling spectacle.

Of course, the thousands of tribal members surrounding the area watched with great interest, occasionally bursting into cheers, exclamations, and shouts.

At this moment, a tall and robust young man stepped onto the arena.

He challenged one of the top five.

As a result, he rushed forward and with one punch, forced his opponent back, and with the second punch, knocked him off the arena.

"Haha, you're too weak."

The young man looked arrogant, defeating his opponent with overwhelming force and becoming one of the top five.

However, he didn't step down. Instead, he challenged the other four young men, saying, "I, Yikuang, challenge you all. Come down one by one!"

"Chief Yikuang, I surrender!"

One of the young men immediately surrendered to Yikuang, with a fawning expression.

The other young men all looked grim. This was truly an unexpected disaster, being challenged by Yikuang, the prince. They dared not fight him, as the gap in strength was too great.

Thus, they all surrendered.

In this way, Yikuang forced the top five to surrender, sweeping through all the previous competitors, becoming the most prominent figure for a time.

"Yihong, come up and compete with me, let's see who is stronger now!"

Yikuang now challenged Yihong, who was the only one he considered a worthy opponent. As for the others, he didn't take them seriously at all.

"Alright!"

A figure leaped up from below the arena.

This was a young man with a somewhat masculine aura, but without Yikuang's arrogance and dominance. Instead, he had a more restrained and sharp presence.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

In the next moment, the two began to fight fiercely on the arena.

Their figures darted and moved on the arena, turning into two shadows. Their attacks were so fast that they were hard to see, and their powerful true qi frequently exploded with great force, sending shockwaves that left marks on the arena and scattered debris.

Yikuang practiced the Fierce Tiger and Wild Wind Technique, while Yihong practiced the Mountain-Cleaving Bull Technique. They were like needles against wheat awns.

True qi glowed around their bodies, giving them the power to split mountains and rocks, not inferior to the strength of using weapons.

At this moment, the tribal chief, Yidu, saw his grandson's strength and was very pleased.

Yike's son, Yihong, was also excellent. In the tribe, they were likely to be the top figures of their generation, becoming the backbone of the tribe in the future.

The senior elders all nodded in agreement.

Their descendants were rare talents, and their future achievements would not be inferior to their own.

It should be noted that each of these senior elders had at least an eighth-rank cultivation, with a few even reaching the ninth rank. They had once held positions such as chief and deputy chief, enjoying high status and formidable strength, making them the tribe's most powerful warriors.

Yikuang and Yihong fought on the arena for a long time, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

At this point, Yifeng, who was watching from below, couldn't help but speak up, "How long are you going to fight? It's almost dark, and we still need to go on. Hurry up!"

As soon as Yifeng's words fell, the entire square fell silent.

Bang! Bang!

On the arena, Yikuang and Yihong separated after a collision, looking at Yifeng below.

At this moment, the young men around Yifeng, Yitian, and Yishan immediately moved away, leaving a large open space, making them stand out.

Even the tribal chief, Yidu, the chief, Yike, and the seven senior elders on the ancestral temple noticed what was happening below.

"It seems this competition will have some unexpected surprises!"

The senior elder glanced at the situation below and said to the other elders.

The tribal leaders all nodded, showing some anticipation for what was to come.

Yitian saw that almost the entire tribe was looking at them, and most of the gazes were not friendly. He wished he could beat Yifeng up.

This guy's ability to attract enmity was truly astonishing, even to Yitian.

On the arena, Yikuang looked at Yitian and the others with a slight disdain, saying, "You must be Yifeng. Do you want to come up and compete with me?"

A few years ago, Yitian and Yifeng were once prominent figures, daring to enter the outer regions of the Dragon伏 Mountain Range to hunt a dangerous beast, causing a stir.

However, under his deliberate suppression, Yifeng and the others quickly faded into obscurity, with little fame in the tribe.

"Indeed, this time I will challenge you!"

Yifeng was now full of confidence and vigor.

He was only one step away from the fifth rank and could break through at any time to become a fifth-rank warrior.

In fact, both Yikuang and Yifeng were mid-rank warriors, only one rank apart, with limited strength differences. It wasn't certain who would win, and they had the strength to fight.

Especially with Yifeng's mastery of the Flying Feather Technique, the gap between him and Yikuang was even smaller.

"Since that's the case, I'll leave the arena to you for now."

At this moment, Yihong said to Yikuang and then leaped off the arena, standing to the side.

Regarding Yifeng's disruption and Yihong's withdrawal, the chief, Yike, who was presiding over the competition, did not intervene but watched from above, allowing everything to unfold.

"I'm coming!"

Yifeng lightly leaped, as if riding the wind, covering several yards and landing on the arena.

"Such impressive agility!"

On the ancestral temple, the tribal leaders were all pleasantly surprised by Yifeng's graceful leap, with a hint of doubt.

Their tribe did not have any techniques or secret manuals related to agility and speed. Where did he learn this?

On the arena, Yikuang saw Yifeng's leap and also became more serious.

Even he couldn't perform such a move so effortlessly, without any leakage of true qi.

In the next moment, Yifeng took the initiative to attack.

Yikuang roared, his true qi raging like a fierce tiger, and he clashed with Yifeng in a fierce battle.

At this moment, Yifeng also activated his technique, the same Fierce Tiger and Wild Wind Technique. The two immediately clashed head-on, like two fierce tigers fighting, exchanging blows on the arena.

This...

Seeing this, many people found it hard to believe.

The usually obscure Yifeng could actually fight Yikuang to a standstill, which was truly shocking.

However, after about twenty to thirty moves, Yifeng gradually fell into a disadvantage.

Yikuang, after all, was a fifth-rank warrior, with more condensed and powerful true qi. If the fight continued, Yifeng would likely be unable to match him.

At this moment, after colliding with Yikuang, Yifeng immediately retreated.

Next, Yifeng's speed suddenly increased, constantly dodging Yikuang's attacks and occasionally counterattacking, preventing Yikuang from defeating him in a short time.

The two engaged in a chase battle on the arena.