# Chapter 550: Back-to-the-Water Ceasefire
Slap slap slap...
Huai Wang clapped his hands as he stood up, chuckling heartily: "Splendid, truly a splendid battle. I never expected that a sparring match at such a grand ceremony would result in both sides losing, a level of intensity I could never have anticipated. However..."
Huai Wang looked at Yun Qinghong and laughed: "Are you sure you want to continue fighting? You used nearly half of your people just to take down one of ours. This result is truly regrettable, and I'm almost too embarrassed to proceed. But, from what I know of Clan Master Yun, even if you lose disgracefully, you'll still stubbornly hold on, won't you?"
"Heh heh heh heh," Yun Qinghong also laughed: "Huai Wang, you certainly know me well. But your words and actions are truly childish and laughable. Our confrontation has only just begun, and you're already declaring our defeat—isn't that a bit too early!"
"Hahaha!" Huai Wang laughed three times: "Just the kind of words Yun Qinghong would say! Then let me see where your confidence comes from, and I'm even more curious how long your pride can hold out... Wenbo, you will be our second contestant."
The word "second" was deliberately emphasized by Huai Wang, and the sarcastic intent was clear to everyone. As he finished speaking, a tall man leaped into the air and landed in the center of the arena.
The fifth-ranked among the Illusion Demon Seven Sons—Wenbo Commandery Prince! Like the previous Zihuan Commandery Prince, he was also at the fifth level of the Overlord Xuan Realm.
On the West Seats, someone immediately flew up and landed before Wenbo Commandery Prince. This person was also the strongest to appear for the West Seats so far—the sixth-ranked of the Illusion Demon Seven Sons, Yongyi Commandery Prince!
Both belonged to the Illusion Demon Royal Clan and were both part of the "Illusion Demon Seven Sons," with adjacent rankings and little difference in strength. Additionally, they had fought each other many times before and were accustomed to each other's Golden Crow Flame and profound techniques. Thus, when they clashed, the battle was exceptionally fierce and intense. After a full two quarters of an hour, the victor was finally decided... Wenbo Commandery Prince won by a narrow margin! Yongyi Commandery Prince was defeated.
Another loss for the West Seats! The situation had now reached a miserable state of five losses and one draw.
Although Wenbo Commandery Prince won, he had exhausted all his tricks and trump cards, bore multiple injuries, and his profound energy was greatly depleted. In the following seventh match, he was defeated with some difficulty by a lesser commandery prince from the West Seats.
Eighth match: West Seats' Hesong Commandery Prince versus Lin Clan's Lin Hanchuan—Lin Hanchuan won decisively!
Ninth match: West Seats' Jiarong Commandery Prince versus Lin Clan's Lin Hanchuan—Lin Hanchuan won again!
At this point, the West Seats where the Yun Clan sat had achieved a record of one win, one draw, and seven losses! Only four people remained who could still fight.
Tenth match: Seventh-ranked of the Illusion Demon Seven Sons: Yu Mansion's Yingnan Commandery Prince versus Lin Hanchuan—Yingnan Commandery Prince won!
Eleventh match: Yingnan Commandery Prince versus Nangong Clan's Nangong Yan—Yingnan Commandery Prince barely won. The West Seats, having fought down to their last few, finally achieved their first two consecutive victories. But not a single person on the West Seats showed even a hint of joy. Although Yingnan Commandery Prince had won, he was completely exhausted and would inevitably lose the next match. By then, only three people would remain on the West Seats. Meanwhile, the opposing side still had eight people, and not a single one of their four first-tier powerhouses had appeared yet.
Twelfth match: Yingnan Commandery Prince versus Bai Clan's Bai Jie—unsurprisingly, Bai Jie won decisively!
The West Seats now had only three people left: Su Zhizhan, Tianxia Diliu, and the Yun Clan's contestant.
Thirteenth match: Tianxia Diliu took the field. The Elf race possessed powerful bow profound force and natural talents, but the nature of their profound energy meant their offensive capabilities were not strong. Moreover, in a direct confrontation within a confined area, their bow profound force was greatly restricted. Thus, from the start, Tianxia Diliu was at an absolute disadvantage. After a hard-fought battle, the miracle of the weak overcoming the strong did not occur, and he was defeated by Bai Jie.
At this point, after thirteen matches, the West Seats had lost ten people, while the East Seats had only lost four. Apart from Bai Jie, who was still on the field, there were seven young powerhouses yet to fight. Among them were Xiao Clan's Xiao Donglai and Jiufang Clan's Jiufang Yu at the fourth level of the Overlord Xuan Realm, Chiyang Clan's Chiyang Yanwu at the fifth level, Helian Clan's Helian Ba at the sixth level, and the second and third-ranked Illusion Demon Seven Sons—Yuanque Commandery Prince and Huiye Commandery Prince—both at the sixth level of the Overlord Xuan Realm.
And finally, the foremost of the Illusion Demon Seven Sons, Huiran, whose profound force had reached an astonishing eighth level of the Overlord Xuan Realm!
On the opposing side, only Su Zhizhan remained at the sixth level of the Overlord Xuan Realm. As for the Yun Clan, they had no contestant worthy of this stage—their strongest young member was only at the second level of the Overlord Xuan Realm.
There had never been any suspense in this confrontation from the very beginning. Although no one was surprised by the current situation, everyone still felt that the Yun Clan's side had suffered an utterly miserable defeat.
The various major powers within Yaohuang City sighed inwardly. This was merely a comparison of the strength of the younger generation between two factions. While it couldn't decide everything, it was more than enough to show how overwhelmingly powerful the forces under Huai Wang's control had become—absolutely crushing strength! This confrontation, deliberately instigated by Huai Wang, had two purposes: one was to expel the Yun Clan, and the other was to use this pure display of power to thoroughly crush their momentum, trampling their dignity and pride—including that of Xiao Yaohou—underfoot.
After the Yun Clan was expelled, Xiao Yaohou would have no possibility of matching Huai Wang's strength. At that point, Huai Wang would only need a single opportunity, or create one himself, and the Demon Emperor of the Huan Yao Realm would change hands...
On the West Seats, everyone's face was covered in dark clouds. After Tianxia Diliu's defeat by Bai Jie, only two people remained who could still fight. But in their hearts, it was effectively just one person, because the younger generation of the Yun Clan truly had no one capable of such a stage.
"Alas." Su Xiangnan let out a long sigh. He patted Su Zhizhan on the shoulder and said, "Zhizhan, the outcome is already like this. Our defeat is already sealed... it was sealed from the very beginning. Go up. Whether we can salvage a little face at the end depends on you."
"I understand. Regardless of the result, I will give it my all!"
With that, Su Zhizhan grabbed his weapon, leaped into the air, and landed before Bai Jie, who had just defeated Tianxia Diliu. He pointed his sword forward, his aura still overwhelmingly strong, not showing the slightest weakness despite his side's massive defeat: "Su Clan's Su Zhizhan! I never like fighting women. You'd better surrender and step down yourself."
His opponent, Bai Jie, was dressed in white robes and was much taller than an average woman. Her face was flushed, and she was slightly out of breath, clearly having not had an easy time in her previous match. Hearing Su Zhizhan's words, she sneered and taunted: "Your side has been beaten like drowned rats. I really don't know where you get the face or the confidence to talk such big talk, much less the qualifications to look down on us women."
"No, you misunderstand." Su Zhizhan smiled disdainfully, lowering his voice: "I, Su Zhizhan, absolutely do not look down on women. I simply... look down on women who forget their ancestors and betray their principles, becoming dogs for others!"
"Looking for death!" This harsh insult enraged Bai Jie instantly. She swung her jade sword horizontally, and in an instant, a massive white tiger image appeared behind her. The white tiger image raised its head and roared, the sound vibrating through the wilds, shaking the entire hall faintly. Suddenly, a fierce gale surged up, the howling of the wind even drowning out the white tiger's roar. Within the arena, it was as if tens of thousands of tornadoes had suddenly flooded in.
"It's the Bai Clan's Tiger Roar Domain!"
Bai Jie's domain instantly radiated outward, enveloping the entire arena. Su Zhizhan's hair and clothing were fiercely whipped up, snapping loudly, but his body remained rooted to the ground like a nail, motionless. He grasped his longsword and swept it horizontally.
Within Bai Jie's domain, anyone other than herself would have their strength and speed greatly suppressed. But Su Zhizhan's sword still moved with the speed of thunder and lightning. The surging tornadoes around him were swept up by this sword stroke, and the vast domain was torn open with a large gash. Su Zhizhan took a big step forward, and with each step forward, the domain was torn apart a little more.
"The Bai Clan and the Su Clan both use swords as their weapons, and their profound energy attributes are both wind. The profound energy gap between Bai Jie and Su Zhizhan isn't very large, but in terms of understanding the laws of wind profound energy, Su Zhizhan clearly far surpasses Bai Jie. Bai Jie's domain poses no threat to him at all." Yun Qinghong said admiringly.
At this moment, Su Zhizhan had already closed in on Bai Jie. On the blade of his sword, a light green wind spiral formed. This wind spiral was utterly insignificant within the vast tornado domain, yet it forcefully pushed aside all the howling wind waves around it.
Chi!!
Su Zhizhan thrust his sword straight forward, viciously tearing apart the domain before him. Bai Jie raised her jade sword vertically, and with a "clang," blocked Su Zhizhan's strike. Instantly, she felt her arm go numb, a sharp pain in her tiger's mouth, and her body retreated rapidly. The jade sword in her hand nearly flew out.
Even at full strength, she was no match for Su Zhizhan, much less now that her profound energy was more than half depleted.
Su Zhizhan gave her no chance to catch her breath. His figure flickered, instantly pressing forward. His body was like a fierce wind, his sword like a thunderbolt. Each swing of his sword produced a howling sound that nearly tore the eardrums, and the wind spiral on his sword expanded rapidly. Bai Jie blocked dozens of strikes in succession, her arm now almost completely numb. The blood seeping from her cracked tiger's mouth stained most of her clenched right palm, and even her cheeks were slashed with several long gashes by the sword wind.
"How dare you injure my face... I will never forgive you!!"
The sharp pain on her face dawned on Bai Jie belatedly, sending her into a frenzy like a tiger whose tail had been stepped on. She screamed angrily, and the massive white tiger image reappeared behind her. A wind spiral dozens of feet high suddenly swirled around her entire body. Su Zhizhan's eyes flashed, but at that moment, he suddenly charged straight into her wind spiral. Before her furious full-force counterattack could land, he swung his sword and struck her waist.
Smack!!!!
The strike was incredibly loud, crisp to the extreme. Bai Jie's not-yet-fully-formed wind spiral instantly dissipated, and her entire body spun out like a top that had been fiercely whipped, flying all the way outside the arena.
"Ah, women. No matter how strong they are, they can never accomplish great things." Su Zhizhan stood in place, silently shaking his head and muttering to himself.
Bai Jie landed, tumbling and dazed. Her jade sword had been sent flying to who knows where.
"Su Zhizhan... I... I'll fight you to the death!!"
In front of all the heroes of the realm, she had been smacked flying with a single sword strike. As the strongest younger generation member of the Bai Clan and a proud daughter of heaven known throughout the entire Huan Yao Realm, when had she ever suffered such a humiliating disgrace? She drew another sword, let out a loud cry, and was about to charge at Su Zhizhan again.
"That's enough."
Bai Jie's forward-charging body stopped. An invisible force barrier appeared before her, preventing her from advancing another inch. Bai Clan Clan Head Bai Yi walked down, pulled Bai Jie back, and said: "You have already lost... Under the watchful eyes of everyone, what is this unseemly behavior!"
Only then did Bai Jie realize that she had already landed outside the arena. She gritted her teeth, shot a vicious glare at Su Zhizhan, and could only obediently return to her seat.
...