Supreme Warrior in the City

Chapter 417: Chapter 416 Kneel Down

The people from the Gwu Family looked embarrassed. He had come up here looking to take advantage of the situation and kill the Eight-Faced Yama. However, Cheng Yaojin appeared out of nowhere.

Since the Eight-Faced Yama had agreed, it was completely within the rules for Su Yang to fight on his behalf. Under these circumstances, there was really nothing the Gwu Family could say!

After a moment of silence, the people from the Gwu Family suddenly turned around and jumped off the arena platform: ”The person I want to challenge is the Eight-Faced Yama, not you. Since the Eight-Faced Yama doesn’t have the courage to fight, then this match won’t happen!”

Immediately, there was laughter throughout the venue, the words of the Gwu Family member were utterly shameless. It was obvious that he was running away because he couldn’t win, yet he still tried to find an excuse to step down gracefully—everyone could see through it!

”So, the Gwu Family doesn’t plan to challenge the Eight-Faced Yama anymore?” Su Yang asked with a faint smile.

The members of the Gwu Family looked at each other, all of them remaining silent with heads bowed. With Su Yang standing in the arena, who would dare challenge the Eight-Faced Yama?

Su Yang said to the Eight-Faced Yama, ”Since no one is challenging, you can step down.”

The Eight-Faced Yama, who had already been unwilling to stay on the arena, immediately struggled to his feet and said with a trembling voice, ”Thank you, Master Su!”

Su Yang stood with his hands behind his back and said aloud, ”Now, is there anyone else who wishes to challenge me?”

The venue fell into a hush. The Wang Family was disastrously defeated, the Patriarch of the Ren Family was killed, and Gwu Family was beaten as well—not to mention the Eight-Faced Yama. Those bearing grudges against Su Yang didn’t dare to take the stage anymore!

Seeing no one speak up, Su Yang turned to Lian Qianjun and said with a smile, ”Family Head Lian, this Dragon Head Meeting in May is a competition between Pingbei Province and Pingnan Province. For such a long time, it has mainly been us from Pingnan Province fighting; you from Pingbei Province just sit and watch. Even if you can win later, will you truly have everyone’s support?”

Lian Qianjun’s brow furrowed as he said in a deep voice, ”Su Yang, are you challenging Pingbei Province?”

”What else?” Su Yang replied with a faint smile.

”Good!” Lian Qianjun nodded slowly: ”Since you’re bent on seeking death, I shall accommodate you. Elder Huo, this child is too arrogant and conceited, showing no respect for anyone and completely ignoring the people from Pingbei Province. After much consideration, among those of the Venerable Realm in Pingbei Province, only your Huo Family’s Huo Zihen is a match for him. Why not have your Huo Family take this battle on?”

Elder Huo frowned slightly; having witnessed Su Yang’s strength, his people from the Huo Family were also reluctant to enter the arena to fight Su Yang.

Huo Zihen was ranked third among the experts of Pingbei Province, while the top two ranked were in the Land Fairy Realm and would not participate in such competitions.

Under these circumstances, Huo Zihen was essentially the number one person in Pingbei Province below the Earth Immortals. With Su Yang challenging Pingbei Province and Lian Qianjun assigning Huo Zihen to the fight, Elder Huo had no way of refusing!

Taking a deep breath, Elder Huo looked at Huo Zihen and said in a low voice, ”Zihen, what do you think?”

”Since the people of the Lian Family don’t dare to go up, then it’s up to me to fight this battle!” Huo Zihen replied softly, his voice not loud, yet it was clear enough for many to hear.

Lian Qianjun’s expression chilled. It was well-known that the Huo Family and the Lian Family didn’t get along well. He wanted Huo Zihen to fight as a way to weaken the Huo Family’s strength. Such words from Huo Zihen were practically a slap to his face!

Just as he was about to retort, the grey-haired elder beside Lian Qianjun pressed down on his shoulder and said softly, ”A small act of patience can disrupt a great plan. Once Huo Zihen is dealt with, the Huo Family’s strength will inevitably plummet.”

Lian Qianjun nodded slowly and said in a grave tone, ”Huo Zihen, you are the strongest among the Venerables of Pingbei Province. If you don’t wish to fight this battle, we can take over; just one word from you is enough!”

Huo Zihen gave a cold smile, didn’t reply, and leaped directly onto the stage.

With clasped hands, Huo Zihen declared loudly, ”Huo Zihen of the Huo Family from Pingbei Province seeks guidance from the esteemed Master Su!”

Su Yang watched quietly as Huo Zihen stepped onto the stage step by step and said aloud, ”Huo Zihen, I have only one question for you.”

”Please speak, Master Su!” Huo Zihen nodded.

Su Yang asked, ”What is the essence of ’Heaven’s Origin returns to the heart, Earth’s Origin returns to the soul, Man’s Origin returns to the body’?”

”You...” Huo Zihen’s expression changed dramatically, his eyes fixated on Su Yang, ”You... how do you know about these...”

Many from the Huo Family’s color changed as well, as what Su Yang said was a verse from the ancestral martial arts of the Huo Family. However, not many from the Huo Family knew this verse, only those at the Fusion Realm could know it.

With a faint smile, Su Yang said, ”How I know of it is not the key point, what’s crucial is, how do you understand these three lines?”

Huo Zihen stared at Su Yang, silent for a long while. He took a deep breath and declared aloud, ”Cultivating heaven within the heart, cultivating earth within the soul, cultivating man within the body. Heaven’s Origin must not be deceived, Earth’s Origin must not be defied, Man’s Origin must not be neglected!”

Su Yang smiled and shook his head, ”Huo Zihen, you have been stuck in the Venerable Realm for twenty-seven years, and your juniors have surpassed you, entering the Earthly Immortal Realm. Do you still not understand what is happening?”

Huo Zihen’s face grew colder, ”What do you mean?”

”It’s simple, you have taken the wrong path,” Su Yang spoke aloud. ”In your view, heaven and earth are external entities, only man can be utilized. But what you don’t realize is that cultivators, fundamentally, defy the heavens. Man is the essence; the way of cultivation requires the belief that both heaven and earth can serve me. Heaven’s Origin and Earth’s Origin can be respected and utilized, but only Man’s Origin is fundamental. At the pinnacle of cultivation, the greatness of heaven and earth is not as great as mine!”

Staring dumbfounded, Huo Zihen stood there for a long moment before suddenly collapsing to his knees with a thump, saying with a trembling voice, ”Thank you, Master Su, for your guidance. I will never forget this profound kindness and debt!”

This situation immediately caused an uproar at the scene.

”What’s going on here?”

”They’re not fighting anymore? And he kneels now? What’s going on?”

”Huo Zihen has been in the Venerable Realm for more than twenty years and is said to be even stronger than Wang Wanli; how did he end up kneeling and begging for mercy?”

The Huo Family of Pingbei Province was also astonished, and Lian Qianjun was even more shocked, frowning as he said, ”What’s going on here?”

An elder with grey hair by Lian Qianjun’s side had a chill on his face and spoke gravely, ”I don’t know the specifics, but Huo Zihen’s power is rapidly increasing. At this rate, I’m afraid he... he is about to break through the Land Fairy Realm soon!”

”What?” Lian Qianjun’s eyes widened, ”How can this be?”

”It must be the words spoken by Su Yang that enlightened him,” the grey-haired elder replied. ”Huo Zihen is a heaven-sent prodigy, achieving the Venerable Realm at the age of twenty-nine. Now he’s fifty-six, but still hasn’t stepped into the Earthly Immortal Realm. Some say Huo Zihen doesn’t have enough postnatal foundation, but having fought with him, I am well aware that Huo Zihen is exceptional both in innate talent and acquired foundation. That he hasn’t reached the Earthly Immortal Realm definitely has a reason.”

”Now it seems, the reason Huo Zihen couldn’t break into the Earthly Immortal Realm lies entirely in his mindset. He had been on the wrong path, which caused him to be stagnant for twenty-seven years. Now that Su Yang has revealed the truth to him, it seems his cultivation will soar once more!”