C25 The First Battle!!

Huang Bin advanced with a tiger's stride, swinging his fist straight at Yu Yuan's face as they met.

His arms, the color of golden bronze, exuded the unyielding hardness of cast metal.

Yu Yuan lifted his hand, meeting the blow with his palm.

"Thud!"

A heavy brute force slammed into him.

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

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

Yu Yuan remained silent.

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

The Pulse Opening Stage represented the most rudimentary level for practitioners. At this stage, a cultivator's Yellow Court dantian remained unopened, and their Spiritual Energy was unable to refine each sinew and organ.

Moreover, at the Pulse Opening Stage, Spiritual Energy couldn't be dissipated outward.

Compared to ordinary people, cultivators at this stage merely possessed more resilient meridians. The flow of Spiritual Energy through these channels resulted in somewhat stronger muscles.

Huang Bin, having all twelve meridians fully opened, boasted greater strength, speed, and explosive power than Yu Yuan.

His "Black Gold Technique," though a Low Rank Spiritual Spell, allowed the Spiritual Energy refined during the Pulse Opening Stage to slightly bolster his meridians and adjacent muscle fibers, enabling him to better absorb blows.

Both were at the Pulse Opening Stage, but Yu Yuan had ten meridians open, while Huang Bin had all twelve, and he was on the cusp of entering the Spirit Accumulating Stage.

On the face of it, Huang Bin held a firm upper hand.

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

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

"Bin'er!"

From below the platform, Huang Chen issued a deep, subdued call. Catching Huang Bin's eye, he conveyed a cruel intention with his gaze.

Huang Bin inhaled sharply, his eyes locking onto Yu Yuan once more as a fierce killing intent welled up within him. "I'm sorry!"

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

Yuan Lianyao straightened herself slowly, tossing a melon seed into her red lips and savoring it with a meticulous chew.

The clansmen of the four great families, scattered around the high platform, felt a sudden oppressive atmosphere, as if sensing the imminent outbreak of a bloody spectacle.

Zhao Xi looked up, his gaze fixed on the oddly dark sky, a slight frown creasing his brow.

"Again!" Huang Bin roared, launching another punch.

His arm, as he swung, erupted in a dazzling golden light. The veins beneath his skin resembled ferocious golden dragons, exuding a sense of savagery and brutality.

"To reach the Pulse Opening Stage and master the Huang Family's Dark Gold Technique to such an extent, he's certainly a force to be reckoned with," Zhao Xi remarked softly, his attention shifting from the sky back to the fray as he observed Huang Bin with a nod of approval.

"What a shame," Zhao Dongsheng murmured.

"Come on."

Yu Yuan, with the same technique, met the attack with his palm, bracing for the impact head-on.

Beneath his tightly clothed arm, hidden from all eyes, was a skin and flesh that only he knew was coursing with a resplendent stream of light, like a brilliant rainbow in flight.

"The Dark Gold Spell is merely a Low Rank Spiritual Spell," he mused, the corner of his mouth twisting into a sardonic grin. "One's realm doesn't fully dictate their combat power. That's a truth well understood by those who truly stand at the pinnacle of cultivation. Heh!"

As Huang Bin's golden fist bore down like a sledgehammer, Yu Yuan's palm suddenly burst with nine points of light!

Like nine blazing suns, they shone resplendently in his grasp.

"Glorious Heavenly Wheel!" Yu Yuan silently exclaimed.

For an instant, all the spectators could see was a brilliant flash emanating from his palm!

"Boom!"

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

As the golden fist made contact, it bizarrely deflated, its luminosity seemingly devoured in an instant by Yu Yuan's palm!

Huang Bin's punch, incredibly, was now firmly clasped within Yu Yuan's grasp!

He stared at Yu Yuan, his eyes wide with shock.

In that instant, he felt a terrifying sensation as Yu Yuan's palm began to twist and writhe in an eerie fashion!

The spiritual power concentrated in his golden fist collapsed in less than a second, scattering into nothingness!

With the loss of spiritual energy, the glow from his fist faded, leaving it devoid of intimidation and force.

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

"Crack!"

The sound of Huang Bin's bones shattering echoed, audible only to the ears of a true warrior.

The gaunt old man, encircled by the Huang family, shot to his feet and bellowed furiously, "How dare you!"

In that moment, everyone saw Yu Yuan's other hand, previously empty, press gently against Huang Bin's chest as his hand bones splintered.

A vivid red lotus blossomed violently across Huang Bin's chest.

With the unfolding of the lotus, Huang Bin's chest contorted and collapsed in an unnatural manner.

Then, blood poured uncontrollably from his mouth and nose in great gushes.

"Dad, Grandfather..."

Huang Bin's gaze was scattered and confused as he looked toward his father, Huang Chen, and his enraged grandfather, as if he couldn't grasp what had just occurred.

"Thud."

Huang Bin hit the ground, dead.

Yu Yuan pulled back his hand and stepped away, moving closer to City Lord Yuan Lianyao.

At this juncture, the City Lord rose once more, her gaze icy as she surveyed Huang Chen and Huang Fann, the Huang family patriarch, from her elevated position. "You were the ones who consented to this duel to the death. What now? Because it's a member of the Huang family who has perished, you wish to retract your agreement?"

It wasn't until she spoke that many onlookers abruptly came to terms with what had transpired.

Had Huang Bin just been killed by Yu Yuan in an instant?

What was the meaning of the nine radiant points of light that had shone from Yu Yuan's palm when he met Huang Bin's attack?

And the lotus flower that claimed Huang Bin's life, could it be?

"Was it you who imprinted that Blazing Blood Lotus Seal onto Yu Yuan's other hand?" the Huang family elder demanded, advancing through the crowd toward Yuan Lianyao.

His eyes turned a deep gold as he approached. "My grandson is dead. City Lord, don't you owe me an explanation?"

Yuan Lianyao, known as the "Blazing Blood Red Lotus," was the sole possessor of the "Blazing Blood Lotus Seal," a unique mark created from her own refined blood essence and powerful spiritual energy.

The "Blazing Blood Lotus Seal" was enshrouded in mystery, and forging just one took a significant toll on her.

Previously, she had bestowed it upon the Yuan family's younger members who shared her bloodline, as a means for them to protect themselves.

But to condense a "Blazing Blood Lotus Seal" and secretly implant it within Yu Yuan's body, deceiving everyone to orchestrate the killing of her own grandson—what depth of hatred did this reveal?

"So it wasn't Yu Yuan who killed my son, Huang Bin, but you, the esteemed City Lord?"

Huang Chen shook uncontrollably, standing close to Yuan Lianyao. Gazing at his son's body, his heart bled and his eyes burned with rage. "How did my Huang family ever cross you? What drove you to meticulously plot my son's death at the hands of Yu Yuan?"

This was the question on many minds.

The Huang family's sworn enemy had always been the Yu family, a fact known to all.

Within Darkmoon City, the Huangs had always shown deference to the Yuans, careful never to provoke them.

Even when Yuan Lianyao ascended to the role of City Lord, she appeared to show favor to the Huangs, and no severe conflicts had ever erupted between their families.

So why?

Why would Yuan Lianyao craft a "Blazing Blood Lotus Seal," secretly seal it in Yu Yuan's body, and then use it to slay Huang Bin in the midst of the tri-realm competition?

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

"Big brother, what in the world is happening?" Zhao Xi's eyes sparkled with excitement amidst the upheaval. "Has the Yuan family matriarch lost her mind? Is she intent on igniting a blood feud among the four major families?"

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

Yu Lili, unaware of the full story, looked on in bewilderment and concern. "Why has everyone gone mad today?" She had only received a few instructions from Yu Yuan and was clueless about the potential fallout.

"The Young Master is truly formidable!" Ann Ziqing, who had arrived with the group, applauded and cheered with glee, oblivious to the gravity of the situation. "Huang Bin's clothes were always so hideous. He had it coming."

"He's courting death!"

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

…