Chapter 29: Loser Leaves!

The Lord of the Central Heaven looked at the imposing presence of the Great Zhou’s people, sighed helplessly, and withdrew his own aura.

“You’re ruthless, kid.”

“Nothing special, just chicken, duck, fish, and goose.”

Ye Jiuyao replied with a nonsensical phrase, leaving everyone puzzled. It was only after a moment that Ye Hanzhou realized the meaning.

“This brat wants something to eat,” Ye Hanzhou said somewhat embarrassedly. After all, Ye Jiuyao was infamous for his gluttony and laziness, but never had anyone seen someone so shameless.

“Food?” The Lord of the Central Heaven pondered for a moment and quickly understood, though it was not quite as he had imagined.

“If you win the Five Realms Contest, the Great Zhou will control the Wanyuan Mountain. How about that?”

Ye Hanzhou was taken aback, a bit aggrieved. That wasn’t what he meant at all, but Ye Jiuyao didn’t give him a chance to explain.

“Deal!”

Wanyuan Mountain was a precious place, a hundred times more valuable than the Huangquan Secret Domain, but also a hundred or a thousand times more dangerous, famed as the kingdom of primordial beasts.

Its riches were beyond description, attracting countless adventurers every year, including many great masters of the Enlightenment and Qi Manifestation realms.

Yet, even they often perished within Wanyuan Mountain, attesting to its peril. As for why Ye Jiuyao was so pleased, it was naturally for the sake of tempering the wastrels of Great Zhou.

“Then you may leave. Leave the matter of the Five Realms Contest to me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’ve always believed in taking money to solve problems. If you try to renege, I’ll make you pay dearly.”

Ye Jiuyao spoke without the slightest reservation, not at all afraid that the Lord of the Central Heaven would be enraged and act out in front of everyone.

But Ye Hanzhou and the others were sweating for him, especially Ye Hanzhou. He might be a renowned tough man among Great Zhou’s people, but before a Lord of the Realm, he was just a child.

The Lord of the Central Heaven was left speechless. It was the first time anyone had dared threaten him—or rather, the second.

“Very well. If we lose, there’s no need for Great Zhou to exist.” With a flick of his sleeves, the Lord departed, his face bearing the bitter look of a master. Despite being the strongest in cultivation, why was he so easily manipulated?

Once he left, Ye Jiuyao’s expression returned to lazy indifference, as if nothing concerned him.

“My Lord…”

“Let’s go. What a tiresome fate. Why is being the substitute so hard…” Ye Jiuyao was just about to lie down for a nap when someone called him. Wanting to slack off, he replied with a bitter face.

“To instruct you in elemental arts and techniques, but…” Hearing this “but,” everyone’s expression changed, watching Ye Jiuyao nervously, afraid he would come up with some new mischief.

Ye Jiuyao’s gaze swept over each of them. He said in a deep voice, “Whoever loses will get out. Don’t think you can freeload on Great Zhou’s benefits.”

A sudden pressure descended on them, and they stood lined up like schoolchildren, even Ye Hanzhou and Luo Yuanhuang were no exception.

“Anyone willing to come up for my instruction?” Ye Jiuyao’s eyes gleamed with a wicked smile, as if to say that whoever dared be first would be doomed.

Ye Hanzhou and Luo Yuanhuang instinctively took a step back as Ye Jiuyao’s gaze landed on them. Yet the more they dodged, the less they could escape.

“Father, Prince Yuanhuang, you two should set the example.”

At those words, the crowd cooperatively pushed the two out of the ranks. The two looked bewildered, then glared at the others in anger.

“Father, you go first.”

With Ye Jiuyao’s words, Ye Hanzhou nodded helplessly. He could already foresee what was coming—even though he had broken through to late Qi Fusion, he’d still be utterly defeated.

Their exchange happened in a flash. Ye Hanzhou summoned a sword of biting cold, and it was the first time Ye Jiuyao had seen his father use a sword.

“Frost!”

Ye Hanzhou uttered softly, and frost swept over the ground. His sword condensed a chill, merging with the natural cold, making him seem like a king of ice.

“Be careful.”

“Hurry up, Dad, there’s a long line behind you.”

Though surprised by his father’s swordplay, Ye Jiuyao was uninterested. In his eyes, this sword technique was too weak.

Ye Hanzhou seemed not to hear Ye Jiuyao’s words. His cold sword flashed with deadly light, thrusting straight at Ye Jiuyao.

“Go!”

“Father, your sword form lacks unstoppable momentum… And your technique is wrong. It should be like this…”

Unhurried, Ye Jiuyao commented as the frosty sword came at him. In the next instant, he gathered a thread of elemental power in his hand.

“Pay attention!”

Ye Jiuyao’s right hand condensed with icy elemental energy, instantly transforming into frozen brilliance. His aura shifted, making him appear as a god of ice amid snow, exuding an ultimate chill.

Boom!

The two sword auras of cold clashed, exploding in a thunderous roar, forcing everyone back.

Ye Hanzhou, witnessing Ye Jiuyao’s technique, was shocked. This sword felt as though it had been honed for millennia.

It was not only his sword that was cold as frost—his very heart had turned to ice, his whole being transformed.

With a spurt of blood, Ye Hanzhou was sent flying, a look of sudden understanding in his eyes.

“So that’s how it is!”

Seeing Ye Hanzhou’s expression, Ye Jiuyao knew he was only a step away from a breakthrough. He turned to Luo Yuanhuang.

“Come,” he said coolly, his emotions unreadable. Luo Yuanhuang was nervous but stepped forward.

The two clashed and fought. Luo Yuanhuang used all his skills, and Ye Jiuyao matched him perfectly, neither overwhelming him nor making it too easy.

Yet Luo Yuanhuang was not up to the task. After barely a hundred moves, he was defeated by a single palm from Ye Jiuyao, left exhausted and spent.

“Next.”

Ye Jiuyao didn’t let them rest. Another stepped forward, and he guided their techniques in the same way—never more than a hundred moves.

After seventy-odd rounds, several hours had passed. Ye Jiuyao stretched lazily, looked at the last person lying on the ground, and sighed.

“Useless. Still so unmotivated. I thought your elemental techniques were perfected, but I am gravely disappointed.”

No one dared protest. Even with his strength suppressed, they still couldn’t win, so a few rebukes were well deserved.

“Work together and remember my rule—whoever loses is out. I’m not joking.”

With that, Ye Jiuyao drooped his eyelids and flew out of the training grounds. His stomach growled all the way.

It made him wonder if he had been practicing cultivation all wrong.

Perhaps the Art of Eating and Sleeping really was about just that—eating and sleeping.

Cultivators should absorb the essence of heaven and earth through eating, and sleeping should be a kind of meditation. Maybe that was the true secret of the art.