Volume Two: Travels in the State of Qi - Chapter 149: Returning to the Martial Arena

After confirming that Zhang Heng was completely unharmed, the three old men took their leave.

Zhang Heng lay on his bed, his emotions extremely complicated. Remembering that reckless stunt from two days ago, a lingering fear still gripped his heart. The sensation of his entire body being completely drained of energy was truly miserable. It seemed that, unless he was facing mortal danger, he should never casually try that again.

In truth, the reason Zhang Heng recovered so quickly was due to his peculiar physique. As long as he continuously absorbed spiritual energy, his injuries would heal naturally. Even Zhang Heng himself did not know why.

Before going head-to-head with Qi Xuan that day, Zhang Heng had consumed a spirit fruit in advance to replenish a bit of spiritual energy, and because of this, he managed to stand up before Qi Xuan did.

Just as Zhang Heng was lost in thought, a sudden spatial fluctuation rippled through his room. Following that, a slovenly old man stepped out from within.

Ling Tian, the First Elder of the Lingyu Palace.

"Old man, why are you here again?" Zhang Heng felt helpless. He truly felt that this old man harbored malicious intentions toward him.

Ling Tian did not respond to Zhang Heng in his usual manner. He just stood there with a bitter expression. Zhang Heng felt a slight twinge of confusion. What game was this old man playing now?

Suddenly, another person stepped out from the spatial void—it turned out to be Mu Wanqing.

Zhang Heng finally understood, and a wave of deep embarrassment washed over him. When it was just the two of them, shouting whatever he liked didn't matter, but now that a junior was present, it was no wonder this old man was displeased.

"Um, Miss Mu, you misheard earlier. I meant senior, an esteemed senior."

Mu Wanqing merely stood there quietly, offering no response to Zhang Heng.

"Little fellow, you hide your depth quite well," Ling Tian finally spoke up first.

"Senior Ling, what are you talking about? This junior doesn't quite understand." Zhang Heng was baffled. Even he himself had no idea what he was supposedly hiding.

"Little fellow, with your third-tier Qi Sea cultivation, you defeated a genius at the ninth-tier of the Yuan Dan realm. Moreover, you were even able to execute a fusion of three martial arts techniques. To call you a freakish prodigy would not be an overstatement."

Zhang Heng's face flushed slightly. "Senior Ling, you're making me blush with praise, but what does this prove?"

With a aggrieved look, Ling Tian said, "Little fellow, back at the Seeking Pleasure City, you actually pretended to be an ordinary person to fool this old man! Your actions deeply wounded this old man's fragile heart, so you must compensate me."

When Ling Tian finished speaking, Zhang Heng understood. The old man must have run out of spiritual liquid. Since Wu Hong and Bai Chen had been present earlier, he hadn't felt comfortable bringing it up, which was why he had returned after leaving.

"Senior Ling Tian, I never once claimed that I was weak. It was you who assumed I was weak on your own. So I didn't deceive you at all, and there's no talk of any compensation." Zhang Heng decided to tease him a bit to see if he would cast aside his elderly dignity for the sake of spiritual liquid and lose his composure in front of Mu Wanqing.

"You brat!" Ling Tian's face turned livid with anger. However, because Mu Wanqing was right there, he found it inconvenient to bicker with Zhang Heng.

Seeing that the old man still wanted to maintain his dignity, Zhang Heng inwardly dismissed it as uninteresting. Then, with a serious expression, he asked, "Senior Ling, what brings you and Miss Mu here?"

Having failed to get his spiritual liquid, Ling Tian was naturally unhappy. With a tone full of grievance, he said, "This junior grand-niece of mine has something to discuss with you. This old man merely brought her over." With that, Ling Tian turned and stepped directly into the void.

Just as Zhang Heng was preparing to get up and greet Mu Wanqing, Ling Tian's head poked back out from the void.

"Brat! After you passed out, this junior grand-niece of mine stayed right by your side the entire time. If you dare to bully her, this old man will definitely teach you a lesson!" Having said that, Ling Tian vanished once again.

Zhang Heng was speechless, muttering under his breath, "In the state I'm in right now, it's hard to say who's bullying whom."

"Um, Miss Mu, thank you," Zhang Heng said as he rose to his feet.

Mu Wanqing hurriedly extended her jade-white hand, intending to steady Zhang Heng. However, Zhang Heng merely offered a calm and detached smile. "Miss Mu, I am completely fine. Look, not only can I walk, but I can even jump."

With that, Zhang Heng hopped up and down twice on the spot.

Seeing Mu Wanqing's perplexed expression, Zhang Heng felt utterly embarrassed and abruptly stopped his movements.

After pausing to collect himself, Zhang Heng hurriedly went over to fetch a chair for Mu Wanqing. As soon as he turned around, a captivating and subtle curve formed at the corner of Mu Wanqing's lips.

"Miss Mu, what brings you here to see me?"

Mu Wanqing gently sat down, then said calmly, "Zhang Heng, our duel is in a few days. I hope you will use your sword." Mu Wanqing never beat around the bush, so she stated her purpose directly.

"Miss Mu, do you mean to say that my fusion of three martial arts techniques won't be enough to defeat you?" Zhang Heng asked in confusion. From the sound of it, that certainly seemed to be what she meant.

Mu Wanqing nodded slightly, showing not a shred of false modesty.

A clear realization dawned in Zhang Heng's heart.

Everyone in the world lumped her and Qi Xuan together, so Zhang Heng had subconsciously assumed she possessed at most the combat power of the first-tier Void Return realm. But how many people could truly fathom her actual strength?

Although her cultivation realm was the same as Qi Xuan's, cultivation realm did not equate to combat strength. Didn't Zhang Heng himself defeat a ninth-tier Yuan Dan cultivator while only at the third-tier of the Qi Sea realm?

In the tomb of the Ghost Saint Daoist, Mu Wanqing had fought four stone figures of the Void Return realm all by herself. When Zhang Heng encountered her, he had no idea how long she had already been fighting, and thus he had no way of measuring her true strength.

This was going to be troublesome, Zhang Heng thought to himself. His ultimate move right now was the fusion of three martial arts techniques, and executing it required paying an extremely heavy price. If even that proved useless against Mu Wanqing, was he destined to lose?

After a moment of careful thought, a plan hatched in Zhang Heng's mind. He said softly to Mu Wanqing, "Miss Mu, please wait outside for a moment. Shortly, I will take you to a fun place."

Though puzzled, Mu Wanqing walked outside. A short while later, Zhang Heng emerged, having washed up and changed.

"Let's go, Miss Mu."

And so, the two of them walked side by side through the imperial palace.

One of them was Zhang Heng, who had recently risen to immense fame after defeating Qi Xuan. The other was Mu Wanqing, regarded by the majority as the undisputed favorite to win the grand tournament. Walking together, the rate at which people turned to look at them was astonishing, capturing the gaze of virtually every cultivator they crossed paths with.

"Where are you taking me?" Mu Wanqing inquired, noticing that they had already walked out of the imperial palace.

"You'll know when we get there," Zhang Heng replied with an enigmatic smile.

Walking through the streets of the imperial city, everyone was discussing the ongoing grand tournament. With pride of the younger generation gathered here, the excitement and brilliance of this event far surpassed any of the previous sessions.

Among them, aside from Lingyu Palace's Mu Wanqing, the person drawing the most attention was undoubtedly Zhang Heng, the one who had defeated Qi Xuan. Everyone was intensely curious: who on earth was this sudden dark horse who possessed such extraordinary martial arts talent and had managed to defeat a ninth-tier Yuan Dan expert with merely third-tier Qi Sea cultivation?

After walking for I don't know how long, Zhang Heng stopped with Mu Wanqing in front of a multi-story pavilion. A massive character for "Fight" was inscribed on the plaque above.

The Martial Arena was the destination of Zhang Heng's trip.

There was no way Zhang Heng could trick Mu Wanqing into going somewhere else just to beat her to a pulp with his Heart-Protecting Sword.

Since this young lady wanted to witness his true strength, the Martial Arena was undoubtedly a fine choice.

Zhang Heng had already thought it through. As long as he let Mu Wanqing witness the true power of the Heart-Protecting Sword within the Martial Arena, it would be enough to awe her. Perhaps by the day of the match, Mu Wanqing might simply choose to forfeit voluntarily.

Zhang Heng led Mu Wanqing inside, only to find several dozen people lined up to pay their spirit stones for entry. Zhang Heng felt a secret wave of embarrassment. Mu Wanqing was the goddess in the hearts of countless people, yet here she was, standing in line with him?

If he had known earlier, he would have brought Qi Sisi along. With that girl around, skipping the line would have been effortless.

Right at that moment, a beast-drawn carriage came rumbling forward amid a flurry of wind and dust, pulling to a halt directly in front of the Martial Arena. The person who stepped down from the carriage was none other than Princess Qi Sisi of the Qi Kingdom.