Chapter 45

"Xing Tian's grandson placed a heavy bet of five thousand spirit stones on himself. Perhaps he believes he has a chance to win, so he's putting everything on the line."

"Some arrogance. At the Seventh Heaven realm, there's no chance against a Ninth Heaven martial artist like Li Tianfu."

Ran Qi, her eyes narrowing, her red lips parting slightly, spoke slowly.

Hearing Ran Qi's words, the president of the Dueling Association shook his head slightly.

"He is Jing Tian's grandson. Perhaps there's something we can't see on the surface." The president also stared at the dueling platform, speaking softly.

Jing Tian is Jing Yan's grandfather, the former patriarch of the Jing family.

Jing Tian can also be considered a legendary figure in Donglin City.

It's important to know that before Jing Tian, the Jing family was not among the three major families in Donglin City. At that time, the three major families in Donglin City were the Zhao family, the Lin family, and the Cai family.

It was only after Jing Tian became the patriarch of the Jing family that the family gradually grew stronger, eventually pushing the Cai family out of the top three, with the Jing family taking its place.

The president of the Dueling Association clearly respected Jing Tian.

"Ran Qi, Jing Yan is destined not to be ordinary. Can you imagine that just over a month ago, his realm was only the Third Heaven of Martial Dao?" The president's gaze shifted, looking at Ran Qi.

"What?" Ran Qi was taken aback by this statement.

She knew that Jing Yan's realm had once fallen to the Third Heaven and had now recovered to the Seventh Heaven, but she didn't know how long it took Jing Yan to go from the Third Heaven back to the Seventh Heaven.

Now, the president was telling her that Jing Yan was still at the Third Heaven of Martial Dao just over a month ago.

How could this be?

Such a rate of improvement was shocking! However, the president clearly wouldn't lie. Even if the information was uncertain, he wouldn't say it. Since he said it, it must be true.

"That's the fact." The president nodded, glancing at Ran Qi.

Ran Qi took a deep breath and looked at Jing Yan with a changed expression.

However, Ran Qi still didn't believe that Jing Yan could match Li Tianfu. Even if Jing Tian's talent was high, the realm was there, and the gap in strength between the two was too great.

...

"Swish!"

Jing Yan's Flowing Light Sword suddenly moved.

Amidst the overwhelming wave of blades, Jing Yan's eyes were fixed on the pitch-black longsword.

"High-grade martial art!" Jing Yan could sense that Li Tianfu was using a high-grade martial art.

The power was extremely strong.

Although Li Tianfu might not have been able to fully unleash the power of this high-grade martial art, the strength alone was enough to defeat an average Ninth Heaven martial artist.

Li Tianfu's reputation was well-deserved.

"Boom!"

The sword beam and the blade shadow collided.

On the dueling platform, terrifying wind blades spread throughout the space.

Jing Yan and Li Tianfu's bodies were simultaneously enveloped by the energy waves formed by their martial arts.

At that moment, the area where the two stood seemed to distort, and for a brief moment, the spectators behind the crystal wall couldn't see the two bodies.

"What's happening?"

"Has Jing Yan been killed?"

"Can't see, don't know what happened!"

The two bodies briefly disappeared from view, but soon, in the blink of an eye, they reappeared in everyone's sight.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

Jing Yan retreated several meters before stabilizing his body again. Each step backward was incredibly heavy, as if weighed down by a thousand pounds.

Jing Yan used the Moonlight Three Waves, which managed to block Li Tianfu's martial art attack, but Li Tianfu's primordial energy was too fierce. Even Jing Yan couldn't completely withstand it head-on.

After stabilizing his body, Jing Yan's gaze hardened, and he looked at his long robe.

The blue long robe was covered with numerous fine cracks.

"Such formidable strength!" Jing Yan was inwardly alarmed.

He knew that if it weren't for the Moonlight Three Waves, which sealed all the gaps, he might have been severely injured or even killed by this move.

Relying on the Moonlight Three Waves, he almost defended without any gaps, but his robe was still torn by some residual blade energy.

This Li Tianfu was truly formidable!

Jing Yan's eyes refocused on Li Tianfu.

Li Tianfu stood firmly in place, his eyes fixed on Jing Yan. His expression didn't change much.

But at this moment, only Li Tianfu himself knew how shocked he was. His heart was like a raging storm.

He really couldn't believe that Jing Yan could block his blade. And it seemed that Jing Yan was unharmed.

This was simply unbelievable, yet it happened right before his eyes.

Li Tianfu was certain that Jing Yan was indeed at the Seventh Heaven realm. He could sense it from their direct confrontation. However, Jing Yan's primordial energy was clearly not on par with that of an average Seventh Heaven martial artist.

There was also a crucial point: Jing Yan's martial art gave Li Tianfu a sense of being unable to find an opening.

What was going on?

For the first time, Li Tianfu felt uncertain. In the past, even when facing stronger Ninth Heaven martial artists, he never had this feeling.

Jing Yan's status in his mind had changed; he now naturally regarded Jing Yan as an equal opponent.

After their first confrontation, neither of them was injured.

However, in the main hall of the first floor, there was a brief silence.

Because these bettors couldn't believe what they saw. Under Li Tianfu's powerful attack, Jing Yan was actually unharmed? How could this be?

Every bettor here thought Jing Yan would be defeated in one move. After all, the realm gap between the two was clear! But the reality left them almost speechless.

A small number of people who had bet on Jing Yan suddenly felt a surge of emotion.

"What... What happened? How is Jing Yan not dead?"

"Is he dead? Just maintaining a standing posture?"

"No, he's not dead. His sword is moving!"

"It's really moving. Hmm? Could it be that Li Tianfu didn't use his full strength, and he's just toying with Jing Yan?"

Some strong individuals, when facing much weaker opponents, might toy with them. For example, at the beginning of a duel, they might just play around without using their full strength, prolonging the fun.

However, the people present had seen Li Tianfu's duels many times, and he never seemed to toy with his opponents. Even when facing much weaker opponents, he usually went for a one-hit kill.