Chapter 18: The First in Black Clothing

  Meng Qiu strolled around the square, and in his memory, there were no good friends. Since coming to Yun Tou Shan, he had been alone. "Ah! Meng Shixiong, you're here too!" Just then, a voice suddenly came from beside him. Meng Qiu turned his head to look, and it was Wang Haibing, with a happy face, walking over: "Meng Shixiong, I was just looking for you earlier!"

  Meng Qiu smiled, last time he and Wang Haibing were also in the same boat in that underground cave, seeing him coming over, also came up to greet him: "How is it? This time entering the Dragon Cave, do you have any confidence?"

  Wang Haibing laughed and said confidently, "I'm definitely not as good as you, Shixiong, but last time I also gained a lot of benefits. I gritted my teeth and sold ten Seven-Holy-Pillars-of-Heaven Dan, which helped me break through the bottleneck and reach the late stage of Qi Refining. If nothing unexpected happens, I might have a chance to compete for the top ten."

  Wang Haibing's cultivation had originally reached the limit of the middle stage of Qi refining, with a strong and extraordinary strength, considered a small genius in Yun Tou Shan. However, due to encountering a bottleneck, he stagnated, but this time, with the help of medicine, he broke through and reached the late stage of Qi refining, which was only natural.

  However, for Meng Qiu, even if Wang Haibing's cultivation reached the late stage of Qi Refining, he would still be unable to reverse the gap in strength between them. In fact, the difference between them was now even greater than before. Meng Qiu's cultivation was still at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, but he had successfully cultivated the Monkey Demon Nine Transformations, his power surging forward rapidly, and his physique becoming several times stronger. Just these two points alone were enough to completely offset Wang Haibing's improvement, with a huge surplus remaining.

  "Right, with your strength, this time entering the Dragon Cave, you must strive to be in the top five." Wang Haibing suddenly lowered his voice and said: "However, Brother must also be careful of two people. One is Yang Dongliu, who won first place last time and is known as the number one in black clothes. The other is Chen Guanjun, the eldest son of the Chen family, one of the seven major families. He's only 15 years old this year, but he's a stunning genius, known as a rare talent in a hundred years."

  "Oh? Yang Dongliu, Chen Guanjun." Meng Qiu heard these two names and couldn't help but pay extra attention. Among them, Yang Dongliu was not unfamiliar to him, the first in black clothes, with strong strength, but the latter, Chen Guanjun, had never been heard of before. When did Yun Tou Shan produce such a character?

  Almost at the same time, in a not-too-distant place, several black-clad disciples were also discussing the same issue.

  "Hey! Do you think Yang Dongliu and Chen Guojun will have a fierce competition this year?"

  "Not bad, it must be a fierce battle. Last time Yang Dongliu was the first in You Long Dong, but Chen Guanjun hadn't joined Yun Tou Shan yet. To know that when Chen Guanjun joined Yun Tou Shan, he already had late-stage Qi refining cultivation, his strength is even more formidable, able to challenge beyond his level, and fight against Yin Shen's early stage, I'm afraid this time Yang Dongliu has met his match."

  But before the words had fallen, a person next to him couldn't bear to listen and sneered, walking over to say: "Hmph! Chen Guanjun is at most just a fifteen-year-old youth, reaching the late stage of Qi training is indeed a rare talent, but compared to Yang Dongfeng he still falls far short! You all shouldn't forget that a year ago Yang Dongfeng had already reached the peak of the late stage of Qi training, and now at any moment he might condense his Dark Spirit, break through the bottleneck, and advance to the next level."

  "Will he break through or not?" The person who just spoke raised an eyebrow, seemingly looking down on Yang Dongfeng: "In my opinion, Yang Dongfeng has been stuck at the peak of the late stage of Qi refining for a year and still can't break through. I'm afraid his potential is exhausted and it's already come to an end!" After speaking, he let out a cold laugh with a hint of sarcasm, revealing his malicious intentions.

  "What did you say!" The man who was supporting Yang Dongliu immediately showed a furious face.

  "What's wrong? Can't let people speak now? I'm just saying that Yang Dongliu is exhausted, what's wrong with that? Do you still want to stick up for Yang Dongliu?"

  As they spoke, the two people got closer and closer, their faces red and their necks thick, staring at each other, looking like they would start a fight at any moment if one word was out of place.

  "Hum! I, Yang Dongliu, don't need others to speak for me, but some people are talking behind my back, making groundless accusations and gossiping. I have to ask a few questions now."

  Suddenly, a sound like the tolling of a bell came, and then a young man with a majestic stride walked over. The young man was only eighteen or nineteen years old, with a steady and stern face, wearing a black robe, carrying a long sword on his back, and staring coldly at the person who had just spoken loudly.

  "Yang Dongliu has arrived, and the show is about to begin." Meng Qiu and Wang Haibing saw this scene, exchanged a glance with each other, full of interest, and stood aside.

  But that person who was talking just now suddenly saw Yang Dongliu appear, and immediately became short of breath and stuttered: "Yang... Yang Dongliu, what do you want to do? I only said a few fair words just now, are you going to bully and harm your fellow disciples again?"

  "How dare you, with your kind of character, to gossip about me behind my back?" Yang Dongliu sneered: "Is it Jiao Liang who is instructing you from behind? Since he was promoted to the Purple Robe, relying on being the eldest son of the Jiao family, he has repeatedly set obstacles for me. This time, he sent a useless person like you to spread rumors, wanting to stir up trouble between Chen Guanjun and me, so that we both suffer?"

  "No... it's not! You're talking nonsense, no one has ever instructed me." The person hastily denied, but his eyes flickered, obviously being hit in the heart of his secret.

  "Is that so?" Yang Dongliu said calmly: "No matter whether you admit it or not, justice is in people's hearts. However, since you've wronged me, although you're not the mastermind, I won't let you off easily either. You can take a sword from me and we'll consider this matter settled. I won't pursue it further. How about it? Dare you?"

  "One sword!" The man was taken aback at first, then rolled his eyes and thought to himself that he too had reached the later stages of Qi training. Although his strength was far inferior to Yang Dongfeng's, it shouldn't be so bad that he couldn't even withstand a single sword strike! Moreover, they were in a public place now, if he directly admitted defeat, wouldn't he lose face? How could he still stand tall on Yun Tou Mountain afterwards? Thinking of this, the man steeled himself and loudly shouted: "Fine! I'll take your one sword, let's see how you, the so-called number one in black clothes Yang Dongfeng, can defeat me with just one sword!"

  After finishing speaking, this person also drew out a long sword, placed it horizontally in front of him, urged on his true energy, and instantly his sleeves puffed up, a cold light flashing on the sword.

  "Golden Light Sword Technique!" As soon as he made the starting gesture, someone recognized the style. The Golden Light Sword Technique was a mid-grade yellow-level martial art. His sword light flashed, and he had already reached a certain level of mastery, at least practicing this technique to the third stage.

  He drew his sword, and a cold glint flashed in the man's eyes. Since there was no retreat, he might as well go all out. Relying on the third level of Golden Light Swordsmanship, plus his cultivation at the later stage of Qi Refining, he had seven layers of confidence to beautifully parry Yang Dongfeng's sword.

  Yang Dongliu looked at him with a serious expression, his face still calm and composed. He slowly drew out his treasured sword and asked in a light tone, "Are you ready?"

  That person didn't say a word, focusing on circulating his true energy and urging the sword light to become even more intense.

  At this moment, everyone present held their breath, staring at the scene, and Yang Dongliu, who was also in the later stage of Qi training, actually boasted that he would defeat Hai with one move. If he couldn't win with one move, it would be equivalent to losing.

  Can Yang Dongfeng defeat a master in the late stage of Qi training with one sword?