Chapter 120: Assassination
It had been quite some time since Su Chen had been able to battle to his heart’s content.
This was one of the unique characteristics of contemporary Origin Skills. If they had been battling each other with just Ancient Arcana Techniques, the battle might have been more spectacular, but it would not have been nearly as adrenaline-inducing.
Upon seeing that Liu Yuan had been defeated, the crowd burst into discussion.
This was not any common opponent. Liu Yuan was someone within the top 40 of the Dragon Transformation List, but he had been forcefully beaten into submission by Su Chen.
Many people agreed that they had misjudged Su Chen.
And they had not misjudged him just by a little bit; they had been off by a mile.
Two youths stood beneath a willow tree outside of the stage, watching the scene.
A tall, sturdy youth carrying a massively oversized blade on his back and half of his chest exposed said, “Even though he beat Liu Yuan, his injuries aren’t light. It seems like Liu Yuan has already forced all of his strength out. With this kind of performance, his capacity will at most be within the top 30.”
The purple-clothed youth standing next to him said, “Duan Jiangshan, don’t forget about his Ancient Arcana Techniques. Liu Yuan’s Annihilation Sword was able to nullify his Ancient Arcana Techniques, but that doesn’t mean that everyone can do it. If Su Chen combines his Ancient Arcana Techniques with his contemporary Origin Skills, he can probably reach even greater heights.”
“He’s already done that. He used a teleportation Origin Skill during his battle with Liu Yuan. It should be some kind of Ancient Arcana Technique, since that’s the only thing that can allow a Qi Drawing Realm Origin Qi Scholar to achieve that.”
“That’s probably this guy’s unique point. His studies are all over the place, but that’s not too surprising; after all, someone without a bloodline and any exceptionally powerful Origin Skills can only rely on quantity to supplement his or her strength.”
“Even if he has a thousand techniques, I can sweep through them all with a single blade strike. Without a skill that can fix the heavens and earth in place, what use is there in learning so many Origin Skills?” the sturdy youth said disdainfully as he turned around to leave. “Let’s go, Jiang Xishui. I thought that he would have some kind of a dazzling performance after hiding for eight years, but it seems that’s all he has. The top three of this year’s competition will not change at all – it will only be between me, you, and He Niliu.”
His tone was one of disappointment.
“Are you not going to keep watching? Maybe this brat has some more tricks up his sleeve,” the purple-clothed youth said.
“There’s no need to keep watching. Since even Liu Yuan was defeated, there shouldn’t be anyone else who will challenge him. It will probably be smarter to keep an eye on Gu Qingluo. After all, she is from the Gu Clan, and should be closely watched.”
Jiang Xishui frowned. “I feel like people from the Gu Clan are the people least worth keeping tabs on.”
Even though he said that, he still left with Duan Jiangshan.
One thing that Duan Jiangshan said was correct: Liu Yuan’s defeat displayed Su Chen’s strength to everyone, and no one carelessly challenged Su Chen anymore.
This made Su Chen’s next few battles much more relaxed. In fact, two of the people he challenged admitted defeat before the battle even began.
Without further incident, Su Chen reached the top 50.
Bai Yihong was infuriated.
But no matter how angry he got, it didn’t matter. Even though Liu Yuan hadn’t finished the assignment, he had been greatly injured, and Bai Yihong would have to appease him by giving him some payment. Otherwise, if Liu Yuan was unhappy and informed Su Chen that Bai Yihong had instigated all of this, he would be doomed.
After finishing his battles for the day, Su Chen was no longer interested in watching the others battle, so he returned to his Origin Energy Tower alone.
To Su Chen, attending the end-of-year competition was just to obey his master’s bidding. He still placed most of his focus on his research.
As he walked along, lost in thought, he arrived near a bamboo forest. Past this bamboo forest was the Origin Energy Tower.
Su Chen was just about to enter when he saw a black cat emerge.
The cat’s fur was a glossy black, and its jade-green eyes glowed as it crouched within the forest, staring at Su Chen intently.
When Su Chen saw this, he laughed, “Where did you come from?”
As he spoke, he reached his hand out to pet the cat.
But right when he bent down to reach for it, the black cat clawed at Su Chen. Su Chen didn’t mind, and he moved to dodge it quite casually. However, as he dodged it, the cat’s claw suddenly sped up, slicing out at Su Chen’s face. Suddenly, Su Chen felt an ominous pressure wash over him.
He knew it wasn’t good. Su Chen hurriedly tilted his body backwards, raising his speed to the limit and narrowly dodging the claw.
The cat’s claw narrowly scraped past his face, leaving behind traces of blood. A penetrating energy surged into his body, mangling half of Su Chen’s face.
Even so, the danger had not yet ceased. Just as he dodged that claw, Su Chen heard a strange wind whistling.
The wind was very quiet. If Su Chen hadn’t practiced his hearing skill for nearly ten years, he wouldn’t have been able to discover it.
The noise came from behind him, but it was headed right in his direction.
Someone was ambushing him!
At this moment, Su Chen had just dodged the cat’s claw. He was in mid-air, and there was nothing he could use to leverage himself.
The ambush was already flying towards him at high speed.
He had nowhere to run!
Just at this most critical moment, Su Chen raised his hand and punched!
BOOOM!!!
An explosion of thunder sounded forth from Su Chen’s fist.
It was like the Thunder Blade, but it was also not.
The thunderous explosion was not from the Thunder Blade’s attack; rather, it was the result of the explosion of Origin Energy that had been compressed to its extreme limit.
BANG!!
His fist slammed into the oncoming object.
It was a sword.
A black, thin sword.
This sword was a frighteningly sharp Origin Tool.
The collision between Su Chen’s fist and the sword sent shockwaves everywhere.
Then, in that brief moment of contact, the black, thin sword began to display a few cracks.
These cracks began to spread as they gradually covered the entire sword.
Bang!
It shattered and sent fragments flying everywhere.
The wielder of the sword felt his heart jerk.
His Assassination Sword had been destroyed by the opponent in one hit?
His iron-like fist continued to power through the sword fragments, the momentum slamming into the opponent and washing over him like a wave, sending him flying.
At that moment, Su Chen finally landed and rolled to his feet, dodging the black cat’s attack. He then grabbed the cat firmly by the throat as he glanced around his surroundings.
There was no Origin Formation.
Su Chen was briefly caught off-guard before he realized why no supervisors had come. Because this was currently competition season, battles were taking place all over the place. Origin Energy fluctuations would be extremely turbulent, and even the supervisors would have had trouble detecting their precise location.
No wonder his assassin had chosen this place to make a move. They had been prepared for this long in advance.
The assassin was quite meticulous and paid close attention to detail.
As he was thinking about this, he turned around to face the person who had ambushed him.
The ambusher had been seriously injured by Su Chen’s fist.
He lay on the ground and yelled, “How can this be? How can this be? What kind of Origin Skill is this? How did you destroy my Assassination Sword in one blow?”
He had witnessed Su Chen’s battle with Liu Yuan and had confirmed that even though Su Chen’s fists were powerful, they shouldn’t have been this powerful.
Destroying a Grade Nine Origin Tool in one blow.
That kind of strength was simply too shocking.
This wasn’t the strength that someone in the Qi Drawing Realm should possess at all.
Su Chen didn’t reply, instead sucking in a long breath of air. As he breathed, the half of his face that was untouched paled slightly.
Su Chen gently sighed and said, “You wasted so much of my blood all in one go. Tell me, how are you planning on repaying me?”