C25 The First Battle!

Huang Bin advanced toward Yu Yuan with a powerful gait, his fist swinging forward in a crushing blow.

His arms, the color of golden sunsilver, exuded an impression of unyielding hardness, as if cast from metal.

Yu Yuan lifted his hand to meet the strike with his palm.

"Bam!"

A heavy surge of brute force collided with a thunderous impact.

Yu Yuan twisted at the waist and staggered back several steps, his palm searing with pain and his shoulder joint tingling with a sour numbness.

Huang Bin didn't press his advantage; instead, he halted and gave Yu Yuan a cold stare. "Does it hurt?" he asked.

Yu Yuan remained silent.

This was his first true battle since his rebirth, a fight that would determine life or death.

The Spirit Channel was the most basic realm for a cultivator. At this level, a cultivator's Golden Sanctum elixir field remained closed, preventing the spiritual energy from fully refining and tempering the body's flesh, blood, and organs.

Moreover, at the Spirit Channel Realm, spiritual energy could not be dispersed outward.

Compared to ordinary people, a Spirit Channel cultivator had more resilient meridians. Once these pathways were opened, the flowing spiritual energy fortified certain muscles, making them more robust.

Huang Bin, having all twelve meridians open, possessed greater strength, speed, and explosive power than most.

His practice of the "Black Gold Technique," a low-tier spell, allowed the spiritual energy refined at the Spirit Channel Realm to slightly enhance his meridians and muscle fibers, making him more resistant to blows.

Both in the Spirit Channel Realm, Yu Yuan had ten open meridians, while Huang Bin had twelve and was on the verge of entering the Soul Awakening Realm.

Judging by their apparent strengths, Huang Bin was in a solid position.

"Let's continue," Yu Yuan declared abruptly.

Without invoking the Nine Glories Wheel and relying solely on the residual power of the Channel Opening Pill, he could distinctly sense the numbing pain in his palm and shoulder easing under the pill's healing influence.

"Bin Er!"

From below the platform, Huang Chen issued a deep, subdued call. Catching Huang Bin's attention, he looked at him with a cruel glint in his eyes, signaling his intent.

Huang Bin inhaled sharply, and as he fixed his gaze on Yu Yuan once more, his aura of lethal intent swelled dramatically. "I'm sorry!"

Yu Yuan gently closed his eyes, and upon reopening them, his face was marked by an unexpected detachment. "Come at me."

Yuan Lianyao slowly straightened up, tossing a melon seed into her lips and savoring it with meticulous chews.

At that moment, the clanspeople from the four great families, scattered around the high platform, felt an oppressive atmosphere envelop them, as if sensing the imminent outbreak of a violent scene.

Zhao Xi looked up, his eyes locked on the oddly darkened sky, his brow furrowing slightly.

"Again!"

With a roar, Huang Bin launched another punch.

The arm he swung glittered with a golden sheen, its veins pulsing beneath the skin like fierce, golden flood dragons, exuding a sense of savagery and brutality.

"To have cultivated the Huang family's Black Gold Technique to such a degree within the Spirit Channel Realm, he's certainly a notable figure," Zhao Xi remarked softly, shifting his attention from the sky back to the battlefield, nodding in approval as he observed Huang Bin.

"It's just a shame," Zhao Dongsheng murmured.

"Come at me."

Yu Yuan, facing the same onslaught, braced himself to meet the attack with the palm of his hand.

His arm, concealed beneath his clothing, bore a skin and flesh that no one else could see. Only he was aware of the dazzling stream of light coursing through his veins, like a brilliant, fleeting rainbow.

"The Dark Gold Spell is merely a low-level spell."

A mocking smile played at the corner of his mouth. "One's realm doesn't fully dictate their combat power. This is a truth profoundly understood by cultivators at the pinnacle of the pyramid. Heh!"

As Huang Bin's golden fist hurtled towards him like a sledgehammer, Yu Yuan's palm erupted with nine points of light!

They blazed like nine suns, resplendent in his grasp.

"Nine Glories Wheel!"

Yu Yuan silently exclaimed in his mind.

For a brief instant, all Observers could only perceive the dazzling brilliance emanating from his palm.

"Boom!"

The next instant, Huang Bin's golden fist collided with Yu Yuan's palm.

The golden fist, upon contact, bizarrely withered away, its radiance seemingly devoured in an instant by Yu Yuan's palm!

Huang Bin's punch was now firmly ensnared within Yu Yuan's grasp!

He stared at Yu Yuan, his expression one of utter astonishment.

At that moment, he sensed in horror that Yu Yuan's palm was eerily twisting and writhing!

The spiritual energy he had amassed in his golden fist didn't even last a second before it violently dissipated!

With the loss of spiritual energy, the fist's glow faded, and it lost all its power and intimidation.

"Don't blame me. If you must blame someone, blame the family behind you and the one who sent you," Yu Yuan said, shaking his head with a look of regret.

"Crack!"

The sound of Huang Bin's hand bones breaking could be heard—a sound only true powerhouses could perceive.

The gaunt old man surrounded by the Huang family members suddenly stood up and bellowed furiously, "How dare you!"

At that moment, everyone saw Yu Yuan's other hand, previously empty, press gently against Huang Bin's chest as his hand bones shattered in Yu Yuan's grip.

A vivid red lotus blossomed on Huang Bin's chest.

As the lotus flower unfurled, Huang Bin's chest contorted and collapsed unnaturally.

Then, copious amounts of blood uncontrollably spilled from Huang Bin's mouth and nose.

"Father, Grandfather..."

Huang Bin's eyes were lost, and he looked bewilderedly at his father, Huang Chen, and his enraged grandfather, as if he couldn't comprehend what had just occurred.

"Thud."

Huang Bin collapsed to the ground, dead.

Yu Yuan stepped back, retreating a few paces.

He moved closer to Mayor Yuan Lianyao.

At this moment, the mayor rose again and from her elevated position, she coldly addressed Huang Chen and Huang Fan, the Huang family patriarch, "You all consented to a duel to the death. What now? Because it's a member of the Huang family who has died, you wish to renege on your agreement?"

It wasn't until she spoke that many of the onlookers suddenly grasped the gravity of what had transpired.

Huang Bin had been abruptly killed by Yu Yuan?

What was the meaning of the nine bright points of light in Yu Yuan's palm when he met Huang Bin's strike?

And the red lotus that claimed Huang Bin's life—could it be?

"Was that fiery red lotus mark imprinted on Yu Yuan's other hand by you?"

The Huang family elder pushed through the crowd, advancing step by step toward Yuan Lianyao.

His eyes gradually turned a golden hue. "My grandson is dead, City Lord. Shouldn't there be an explanation for me?"

Yuan Lianyao, known as the "Blazing Red Lotus," was the sole creator of the "Blazing Red Lotus Print," a unique blend of her condensed lifeblood and robust spiritual energy.

The creation of a "Blazing Red Lotus Print" was a mysterious process and took a significant toll on her. Previously, she had reserved it as a gift for the younger members of the Yuan family, who shared her bloodline, to use as a life-saving measure.

To think she had condensed a "Blazing Red Lotus Print," secretly sealed it within Yu Yuan's body, and used it to execute her own grandson—what depth of hatred must that require?

"The one who killed my son, Huang Bin, wasn't Yu Yuan, was it? It was you, wasn't it, City Lord?" Huang Chen's body shook uncontrollably as he stood near Yuan Lianyao, his gaze fixed on his son's body, his heart bleeding and eyes blazing with anger. "In what way did my Huang family offend you to the point that you meticulously planned to have Yu Yuan kill my son in cold blood?"

This was the question on many minds.

The Huang family's sworn enemy had always been the Yu family, a fact known to all. In Asvetaesi, the Huang family had always shown deference to the Yuan family, careful never to provoke them.

When Yuan Lianyao took the reins of the Yuan family and ascended to the position of City Mayor, she had shown considerable favor to the Huang family. There had never been any severe conflicts between them.

So why? Why had Yuan Lianyao refined a "Blazing Red Lotus Print," covertly implanted it in Yu Yuan, and then used it to assassinate Huang Bin during the tri-realm competition?

She had always been one to insist on following the rules. Wasn't this act of hers tantamount to cheating?

"Big brother, what's happening?" Zhao Xi's eyes sparkled with excitement amidst the chaos. "Has that woman from the Yuan family lost her mind? Is she intent on igniting a full-scale blood feud among the four major families?"

"I, I..." Yu Cen gripped the armrest of his wheelchair, too anxious to articulate his thoughts.

Yu Lili, unaware of the full story, looked on in shock, her worry evident. "Why has everyone gone mad today?" She had only been briefed on a few matters by Yu Yuan and was clueless about the potential repercussions of the unfolding events.

"Young Master is truly formidable!" Ann Ziqing, who had arrived with the group, clapped her hands and cheered with excitement, seemingly oblivious to the gravity of the situation. "Huang Bin's clothes are hideous; he totally deserves a thrashing."

"You're asking for it!"

A stern voice erupted from the Huang family's side.

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