# Chapter 571: Fighting for a Woman
Just now, Zhu Hongtao's scene of wildly slapping the Three Knife Half-Saint was still fresh in everyone's minds. Even a Half-Saint had to endure being beaten, yet no one expected that someone would still dare to come and compete for the Sword Saint disciple's bride.
At this moment, Bu Qianfan stood tall and elegant, like a jade tree in the wind, positioned directly opposite Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen.
He resembled a lovestruck man, his melancholic eyes fixed intently on Huang Yanchen not far away, as if she were the only person in the entire world.
In contrast, Zhang Ruochen, standing between Bu Qianfan and Huang Yanchen, seemed like a wicked third party forcibly separating a perfect couple.
The observing cultivators present, seeing this scene, all believed that Bu Qianfan truly had deep feelings for Huang Yanchen, which was why he recklessly came to confess his love and even intended to snatch the bride.
Fighting for love was, after all, a normal thing.
If Bu Qianfan's feelings were genuine, then it could be forgiven—after all, liking someone was not wrong. Doing something crazy for her also seemed worthy of forgiveness.
Even the savage-tempered Zhu Hongtao could only rub his chin vigorously with his palm, unsure of what to do.
He had beaten the Three Knife Half-Saint because that Half-Saint was an elder-generation powerhouse.
An elder-generation powerhouse daring to interfere in the marriage of the younger generation—of course, he deserved a beating.
But Bu Qianfan was a young man in his twenties. No matter how savage Zhu Hongtao was, he was still a Saint. How could he lower himself to strike harshly at a young man?
Matters of the young should be resolved by the young themselves.
If elder-generation figures interfered, they would be breaking the rules. Not only would they be ridiculed by the world, but they would also feel disgraced themselves.
So now, it was up to Zhang Ruochen to solve the problem before him.
In terms of reputation, both Bu Qianfan and Zhang Ruochen were proud sons of heaven renowned throughout the Eastern Domain. In terms of talent, both had reached the Supreme Extreme Realm in the Four Mortal Realms. In terms of appearance, both were handsome and charismatic, each with their own unique aura.
At the same time, their backgrounds were also quite similar.
One was the heir of the Bu Holy Clan, the other was a disciple of the Sword Saint.
The Bu Holy Clan was now at its peak of glory. Even if the Xu, Xi, Zuo, and Shen Four Saint Clans were combined, they could not compare to the Bu Holy Clan.
It could be said that Zhang Ruochen and Bu Qianfan were the two most outstanding young men in the Eastern Domain. And now, these two young men were fighting over the same woman.
The proud daughters of heaven from the Chen Clan were all so jealous they were going crazy.
If news of this spread, it would probably make all the young women of the Eastern Domain incredibly jealous and envious of Huang Yanchen.
"In terms of beauty, figure, talent, and background, which aspect of Huang Yanchen surpasses me? Let alone Zhang Ruochen, a Sword Saint's disciple—even Bu Qianfan, the heir of the Bu Holy Clan, is so infatuated with her. Why?" Chen Lingchan gritted her teeth, extremely annoyed, stomping her feet continuously.
"Fox spirit! She's definitely a fox spirit! Besides seducing men, what other skills does she have?" Another proud daughter of heaven from the Chen Clan was also extremely annoyed.
Since Bu Qianfan was being so unreasonable, Zhang Ruochen had no reason to continue being polite to him.
Zhang Ruochen slowly released his Spiritual Power. The natural energy around his body gently vibrated, rising and falling like waves.
Fine purple electric currents surged from the soles of his feet, like tiny snakes as thin as strands of hair, spreading outward to cover an area three zhang in radius.
Zhang Ruochen exuded authority without anger, his sharp gaze fixed on Bu Qianfan opposite him. "Senior Sister Yanchen is my fiancée. Anyone, for any reason, who tries to compete with me for her will be my enemy. Don't blame me for being rude."
"Whoosh!"
As Zhang Ruochen's voice fell, the electric currents on the ground rose like purple mist, condensing into the phantom of a divine dragon that appeared before Zhang Ruochen, emitting a low dragon roar.
Zhang Ruochen's hair and sleeves began to flutter without wind.
The power fluctuation emitted by the divine dragon phantom was not a physical attack but an aura condensed from Spiritual Power. At the same time, it was also a warning—if Bu Qianfan continued to push further, Zhang Ruochen would teach him a lesson.
Such a powerful aura intimidated the young martial artists of the Chen Clan and the Four Saint Clans, forcing them to retreat continuously, as if a divine dragon were coiled before them, filling them with terror.
"Zhang Ruochen can actually use Spiritual Power to condense a lightning dragon shadow, forming an aura as powerful as a young divine dragon. This shows that his Spiritual Power has at least reached the forty-second rank."
"How is that possible? Isn't Zhang Ruochen focused on martial cultivation? How can he have forty-second rank Spiritual Power at such a young age? Only the top Spiritual Power geniuses among the younger generation of the Inscription Rune Guild and the Earth God Temple could possibly cultivate Spiritual Power to the forty-second rank at this age."
The four Half-Saints of the Four Saint Clans also exchanged glances, finding it hard to believe.
Because among the four Half-Saints, the one with the strongest Spiritual Power had only reached the forty-second rank.
Zhang Ruochen's powerful Spiritual Power indeed intimidated many people.
Huang Yanchen walked up from behind, extending a delicate jade hand from her sleeve—fingers slender, soft as if boneless—and gently grasped Zhang Ruochen's hand, standing shoulder to shoulder with him.
With such a subtle gesture, she was telling everyone present that she, Huang Yanchen, was Zhang Ruochen's fiancée, and Bu Qianfan was just a troublemaker, nothing at all.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Huang Yanchen, revealing a gentle smile.
Seeing Huang Yanchen's action, Bu Qianfan immediately showed a pained expression. With a whoosh, he opened the jade-leaf fan in his hand and said coldly, "In that case, Zhang Ruochen, let's have a duel. If you lose, please step aside and let me have Miss Yanchen."
In truth, when Bu Qianfan said these words, he was setting a trap for Zhang Ruochen.
Whether Zhang Ruochen won or lost, as long as he fought Bu Qianfan, he would already be defeated.
Because Huang Yanchen was Zhang Ruochen's fiancée—how could he use his own fiancée as a bet in a duel?
It had to be said, Bu Qianfan's move was quite insidious.
Zhang Ruochen did not fall for Bu Qianfan's scheme. He said coldly, "Bu Qianfan, if you keep pestering me, don't blame me for being rude."
"But I insist on fighting you."
A sinister smile flashed in Bu Qianfan's eyes as he prepared to force Zhang Ruochen to make a move.
He secretly mobilized his true qi, channeling it through the meridians in his arm, and rapidly swung his arm through the joints, sending the jade-leaf fan flying.
"Nine Forms of Luo Heaven."
After the jade-leaf fan flew out, it immediately decomposed into nine jade rulers, forming nine mysterious trajectories as they slashed toward nine vital points on Zhang Ruochen's body.
Each jade ruler was like a sharp sword, unleashing nine sword qi that continuously rubbed against the air, producing a "shua shua" sound of air currents colliding.
At a glance, the narrow space between Zhang Ruochen and Bu Qianfan was filled with eighty-one ruler shadows.
With a bang, the eighty-one ruler shadows pierced through the lightning divine dragon phantom. Under Bu Qianfan's control, they converged together, striking toward Zhang Ruochen's abdomen like ten thousand arrows piercing the heart.
Seeing this, the crowd was shocked once again.
Bu Qianfan could actually control nine jade rulers simultaneously, unleashing nine different attacks.
Just this one move alone surpassed all the young cultivators of the Chen Clan and the Four Saint Clans.
Being able to become one of the six kings of the new generation in the Eastern Domain, Bu Qianfan indeed had real skill.
Zhang Ruochen stood still. Just as the nine jade rulers flew within three chi of him, he extended a hand and pressed his palm into the void.
"Chi!"
The natural energy transformed into strands of lightning, condensing into a purple barrier.
The nine jade rulers struck the lightning barrier, gradually slowing down until they completely stopped, hovering in midair.
"Crackle!"
When Zhang Ruochen withdrew his palm, all nine jade rulers fell to the ground.
"Power-Breaking Blade."
Bu Qianfan followed behind the nine jade rulers, leaping up, extending his right arm, and using his hand as a blade to execute a ghost-rank lower-grade blade technique—the Town-Suppressing Army Power-Breaking Blade Technique.
On his hand was a white scale glove.
His five fingers were straightened, like a blade's edge.
As his palm slashed down, four consecutive rings of light surged from the surface of the white glove.
With each flash of light, the power in Bu Qianfan's hand doubled.
After four rings of light emerged, the power of Bu Qianfan's palm blade increased sixteenfold.
Although it was just a palm, the power it unleashed was abnormally terrifying, forming a three-zhang-long giant blade shadow in the air.
Zhang Ruochen's brow furrowed slightly.
He was not surprised that Bu Qianfan's cultivation had reached the Fish-Dragon First Transformation. However, Bu Qianfan at the Fish-Dragon First Transformation was far too powerful, exceeding Zhang Ruochen's understanding of him.
Zhang Ruochen had fought Bu Qianfan once before. Although neither had used their full strength that time, Zhang Ruochen could roughly estimate Bu Qianfan's strength.
"Had he been hiding his true strength all along?"
A trace of doubt arose in Zhang Ruochen's mind again.
Of course, even if Bu Qianfan's strength exceeded Zhang Ruochen's expectations, it did not scare him.
Let alone the fact that Zhang Ruochen had already broken through to the Fish-Dragon Second Transformation—even if he were still at the Fish-Dragon First Transformation, he would still have a higher chance of winning against Bu Qianfan. Unless Bu Qianfan had some incredible trump card that could turn the tables against all odds.
Zhang Ruochen pressed his index and middle fingers together, forming a sword finger, and mobilized the power of his Sword Heart, channeling it to his fingertips.
Rings of energy ripples spread from around his two fingers.
Shua!
Zhang Ruochen moved like lightning, meeting Bu Qianfan's attack head-on.
"The glove on Bu Qianfan's right hand is clearly a powerful battle artifact. Is Zhang Ruochen going to clash with Bu Qianfan bare-handed? Isn't he afraid of breaking his fingers?"
"Forget fingers—his arm might even be broken."
Many people present became nervous, worried for Zhang Ruochen.