Chapter 59: Tian Jia Tian Zhan

"Senior Brother Shen Chen..."

Shen Chen walked down from the stage, and the surrounding sect disciples quickly made way for him, their gazes towards him becoming even more respectful. Even some of the older inner sect disciples were no exception.

"Big Brother, you're amazing!" Wang Yue was the first to approach, his face filled with excitement, yet a hint of regret, "Just now, the Sect Master sent someone to tell me that we won the bet!"

"Really?" Shen Chen was surprised.

"It's all because of your heroic performance, Big Brother. After you defeated Senior Brother Yuan Xiao, the two elders have already decided not to cause us any trouble," Wang Yue explained.

"Ha ha, that's good. Since they've backed down, it's a win-win situation, and it saves everyone from losing face when I would have had to slap them around!" After learning the reason, Shen Chen felt a mix of joy and a little regret. He had originally planned to publicly humiliate those two old rascals after winning the ranking, but since the two elders had already conceded, Shen Chen wouldn't press his advantage.

Wang Yue pouted and sighed, "Alas, I've lost my chance to show my prowess. I'm afraid I'll disappoint Grandfather and Little Sister..."

"Why don't you take the next opportunity to go on stage?" Shen Chen smiled, teasing him.

"No, no, no, I think it's better not to. Those Four Heroes of the Flowing Cloud Sect are probably only Big Brother you can handle. I don't want to embarrass myself!" Wang Yue shook his head in fear. The Four Heroes were already in fierce competition, and the stage was filled with the clash of weapons. After watching for a while, Wang Yue felt he lacked the confidence.

As expected by most of the people present, Tian Zhan successfully broke through and won both of his matches in the Four Heroes competition.

"Hmm, he's a tough opponent," Shen Chen observed from the sidelines. However, during this process, Tian Zhan's strength left even Shen Chen impressed.

That guy might be hypocritical, but his skills were indeed formidable, not inferior to Yuan Xiao. More importantly, in both of his matches, Tian Zhan clearly didn't use his full strength, easily standing out among the Four Heroes.

Shen Chen didn't dare to underestimate such a person.

"Brat, be careful. Tian Zhan is much stronger than the last time I saw him," Liao Yan secretly transmitted a message to remind Shen Chen. "He is the eldest son of the Tian family, whose family business is well-known in Luo Yun City. His resources are not inferior to the Flowing Cloud Sect. I can't say how many trump cards he has, but be cautious!"

Shen Chen nodded slightly, and when he looked at the stage again, his gaze was more serious.

"The next opponent for Shen Chen is Tian Zhan!"

At this moment, Elder Situ Chuan announced Tian Zhan's victory. Tian Zhan's face showed little joy; instead, he turned around and exchanged a challenging glance with Shen Chen.

Shen Chen never backed down from such provocations. He slowly walked onto the stage, a harmless smile on his face, and said to the center of the stage, "Senior Brother Tian Zhan, after two intense battles, I'm sure you must be quite exhausted. Do you need me, your junior, to wait a moment while you recover?"

Although his words were teasing, the surrounding sect disciples no longer mocked him. After all, with Senior Brother Yuan Xiao, the third-ranked inner sect disciple, being severely injured, no one would naively think that Shen Chen was just an ordinary fifth-rank Blood Fusion Realm disciple.

Reputation is earned through action, and this was not just talk among the sect disciples.

"Hmph! Junior Brother Shen Chen's kindness is unnecessary!" On the stage, Tian Zhan's face was stern. Shen Chen's repeated emphasis on this matter was clearly a mockery of his previous actions.

"Alright, then I won't force you, Senior Brother Tian Zhan. Go ahead and make your move!" Shen Chen smiled faintly. To those who didn't know, he might seem righteous, but in reality, Shen Chen hoped the guy would be exhausted before fighting him. He was never bound by formalities.

"You'd better be careful!"

Tian Zhan didn't underestimate Shen Chen. From the start, he went all out, with eight blood rays clearly visible on his arms and right leg. His aura was much stronger than when he fought the other three heroes of the Flowing Cloud Sect, as if he had suddenly transformed.

"Clang!"

A pair of dark iron flails were suddenly drawn from behind, and Tian Zhan instantly resembled a guardian deity. The flails emitted a startling wave of energy, accompanied by a crisp, dragon-like hum.

He charged forward with the flails, moving not particularly fast but with a powerful presence. The wind around him was fierce, tearing the red carpet on the ground into pieces, which scattered behind him like a whirlwind.

Facing such a formidable opponent, Shen Chen didn't dare to be complacent. His crimson gold mystic iron sword vibrated, stirring up layers of purple aura. In an instant, the area around him was filled with purple mist, his aura not inferior to Tian Zhan's.

"Purple Qi from the East!"

In the next moment, the purple aura around Shen Chen's sword surged. He slowly raised the sword, now enveloped in purple mist, above his head, and the surrounding purple aura began to slowly converge on the blade.

"Kill!" Suddenly, Shen Chen slashed out.

With Shen Chen's movement, a dense purple sword aura cut through the air, sweeping towards the charging Tian Zhan. The entire process was smooth and swift, like a kingfisher darting across the water.

"Rip!"

The purple sword aura instantly cut across most of the stage, tearing the red carpet and even the thick wooden boards used to build the stage into splinters. After the purple sword aura passed, a deep, alarming gash was left on the ground.

At this moment, Tian Zhan, who had already pushed his flails to their limit, met the sword aura head-on. He stomped hard on the ground, causing the stage to collapse, and his figure shot up into the air. He then pounced down, leaning back and suddenly swinging his right arm to strike the purple sword aura with the black flail, aiming to crush it.

"Dragon Roar Flail!"

The sound of a tiger's roar and a dragon's cry grew clearer on the black flail. As it met the purple sword aura, it emitted a terrifying wave of energy that spread out.

"Boom!"

A fierce explosion echoed in the center of the stage. Although Shen Chen himself didn't charge forward, the power of the purple sword aura was still astonishing, even surpassing the speed and ferocity of the lightning and thunder technique.

Tian Zhan was equally determined. His pair of black flails, as heavy as a thousand pounds, struck down with a force of at least ten thousand pounds. Even a massive stone weighing a thousand pounds would have been shattered. After the clash with the purple sword aura, although Tian Zhan was pushed back a few steps, he didn't fall far behind.

However, overall, he didn't gain any advantage. At best, he was on par with Shen Chen. If not for his superior cultivation, he would have been swept away by the sword aura, and his fate would not have been much better than Yuan Xiao's.

"This is the sect's signature technique, the Purple Lightning Cloud Sword. How can it be so powerful? Impossible, this is not the strength of a high-level human-grade technique!" Tian Zhan was equally shocked.

To outsiders, it seemed he had successfully countered Shen Chen's powerful sword aura, but Tian Zhan knew that to defeat the sword aura, he had already used about eighty to ninety percent of his strength. In contrast, the young man stood calmly, not even a strand of his clothes was disheveled.

It had to be said that in this first round, Shen Chen had already put considerable pressure on Tian Zhan. The advantage of cultivation level was no longer enough to support Tian Zhan's confidence in victory.

"Use your full strength. I know you have stronger cards. If you don't show them now, you won't have another chance."

Not far away, Shen Chen was already advancing with his sword, ready to press the attack. From their previous exchange, he had a good idea of Tian Zhan's apparent combat strength. Tian Zhan was indeed strong, but only slightly stronger than Yuan Xiao. If Tian Zhan had no other surprising moves, Shen Chen felt that defeating him wouldn't be too difficult.

Of course, that was just Shen Chen's wishful thinking. In reality, even Shen Chen knew that this opponent was far from being cornered. He had taken Liao Yan's warning to heart.

The situation soon confirmed Liao Yan's suspicions. Faced with Shen Chen's relentless pressure, Tian Zhan's expression finally turned fierce.

"This is your doing. I was originally preparing this for Qi Zheng, but using it on you won't tarnish the reputation of this technique!"

Tian Zhan's gaze was like two venomous snakes, staring directly at the approaching young man. Unnoticed, his skin began to turn red at an alarming rate, as if he had entered a state of cultivation gone wrong.

"What's happening to Senior Brother Tian Zhan? Did Shen Chen's sword just now injure his meridians?"

"I think something is seriously wrong. Senior Brother Tian Zhan looks like he's about to explode."

"Could it be that Shen Chen has really cultivated the legendary sword qi, and with one strike, he has forced Senior Brother Tian Zhan's sword qi into his body, severely damaging his meridians?"

Below the stage, many sect disciples were worried about the sudden change in Tian Zhan's condition. The sight of his body burning like fire was terrifying, making many disciples uneasy.

However, among the disciples, one person was smirking.

It was Tian Zhan's younger brother, Tian Zhi. Seeing Tian Zhan's appearance on the stage, Tian Zhi was not worried but instead looked at Shen Chen with a pitying gaze.

On the stage, Shen Chen had already sensed a hint of danger. Anything abnormal must have a reason. He didn't believe that Tian Zhan would suddenly enter a state of cultivation gone wrong at this critical moment. Instead, Shen Chen had a vague feeling that Tian Zhan was using an extremely sinister cultivation technique.

Shen Chen didn't want to give him this chance, but... it seemed to be too late. As he raised his sword, the energy emanating from Tian Zhan suddenly increased dramatically.

That was...

The aura of the ninth-rank Blood Fusion Realm!