The instant their fists collided in midair.
"Pop!"
A visible ripple of energy radiated out from their fists, spreading in all directions. Without the arena's protective array, everything the energy wave touched was instantly reduced to dust.
For a moment, the entire Imperial Dragon Arena shook violently, on the verge of collapse. The spectators panicked and scrambled to escape.
At the same time—
Yann Ji’s body shuddered, then he was sent flying backwards, smashing straight through the Imperial Dragon Arena and crashing down onto the street outside with a thunderous boom, leaving a massive crater in the ground.
The fleeing spectators looked back just in time to witness this scene, their faces filled with utter shock.
Who was Yann Ji?
He dominated first place on the Hatchling Dragon Ranking for a full ten years. And after aging out and leaving the ranking over twenty years ago, his strength surely improved even further—how could he possibly be defeated by a single punch?
It was downright fantastical!
It was just unbelievable!
Rumble!
With a deafening crash, the entire Imperial Dragon Arena collapsed, reduced to a heap of ruins.
At that moment, two figures flashed by—Ian Song and Drake Liu appeared above the street, with Drake still clutching the barely breathing Gavin Ji.
"Yann Ji, you schemed and plotted, sent assassins after me, even poisoned me—bet you never expected things to end like this, did you?" Drake Liu said coldly, then swung Gavin Ji down hard into the ground.
Bang!
Another crater appeared in the ground; Gavin Ji, who was already on his last breath, died instantly.
Whoosh!
The next moment, a disheveled Yann Ji finally shot out of the crater, his face dark with humiliation. Not only had his scheme failed, he’d been thoroughly disgraced.
He shot Ian Song a deep look. "Evan Chu, I underestimated you—a nobody from the outer regions. Just you wait, this isn't over!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yann Ji turned into a streak of light, shooting off into the distance.
But just then, Ian Song reached out and struck from afar. The fleeing light, already dozens of miles away, exploded with a boom—instantly turning into a mist of blood!
"What?"
"Yann Ji just died like that!"
Everyone was stunned beyond belief.
Just then, Ian Song’s voice rang out, clear and audible to everyone present: "All your schemes and tricks mean nothing before absolute strength. I know there are Ji Clan members here—go home and deliver this message: before you plot against me or anyone at my side, you'd better think carefully about the price!"
"Is he threatening the Ji Clan?"
"Oh my god, he actually dared to threaten the Ji Clan outright!"
"The Ji Clan is the number-one family in the Central Domain! Their patriarch is the current Grand Chancellor—where does this guy get the nerve to threaten the Ji Clan directly?"
Hearing Ian Song’s words, the crowd was even more shocked than when he killed Yann Ji.
As for the Ji Clan members hidden among the crowd, they were both shocked and furious, secretly vowing to deliver Ian Song’s words back home—this arrogant upstart would soon learn the Ji Clan was far from simple!
The Imperial Dragon Arena was ruined, but the name Evan Chu spread through the entire imperial capital along with its destruction.
No one dared underestimate him anymore.
Nor did anyone believe he’d just gotten lucky killing Lucan Lu.
And no one thought he was just riding on the Dragonfolk Third Prince’s coattails.
As for those young prodigies who had slandered him, they all fell silent. Some of the more timid ones even claimed to be in seclusion, hiding at home and not daring to show their faces—afraid Ian Song might come for payback.
And why did they think that way? If someone was crazy enough to threaten the Ji Clan, what was a little revenge against them?
As Left Grand Chancellor, Jasper Ji had endless matters to handle every day, and only returned home late at night.
At midnight, Jasper Ji returned by carriage, only to sense something off about the atmosphere in the residence.
"Patriarch, you’re back!"
The old steward came forward to greet him.
"What happened?" Jasper Ji asked calmly.
"Young Master Yann Ji is dead!" The old steward replied sadly.
Jasper Ji’s face immediately darkened. Yann Ji was one of the clan’s most promising members—he managed at least half the family’s affairs, and Jasper had even planned to hand everything over to him in a few years, since handling the empire’s business was so exhausting.
"What exactly happened?"
"Patriarch, here’s what happened..." The old steward proceeded to report everything in detail.
After hearing the whole story, Jasper Ji’s expression grew even darker, his eyes flashing with killing intent. "A lowly outer-region upstart dares to challenge the Ji Clan’s authority? He really doesn’t know his place!"
"Patriarch, Second Master and Fifth Master are waiting for you in the rear courtyard," the steward added.
"Mm."
Jasper Ji nodded and strode straight to the rear courtyard.
The rear courtyard was ablaze with lights; more than ten people sat together in a grand hall, the seat of honor left empty.
In a flash, Jasper Ji appeared and took the main seat.
"Greetings, Patriarch!"
All ten-plus elders rose and bowed respectfully.
"No need for formalities," Jasper Ji said expressionlessly, raising a hand.
As soon as everyone sat down, Jasper Ji spoke again: "Second Brother, you oversee our clan’s intelligence network. Have you uncovered everything about Evan Chu?"
The middle-aged man seated to the right hurriedly stood, producing a jade slip. "After Young Master Yann Ji’s death, I mobilized all our clan’s agents to investigate Evan Chu. All the relevant information has been compiled in this jade slip!"
Jasper Ji nodded, sent a strand of his spirit into the jade slip, and instantly absorbed all the information about Ian Song in this world.
After a long moment, Jasper Ji spoke again: "What do you all think of this Evan Chu?"
"He’s risen too quickly!"
"His background must be questionable. In less than a year, he’s gone from a minor clan’s nobody to someone surpassing Ninth-Tier War Generals. It’s just too suspicious!"
"Unless he’s a reincarnated deity!"
"Or maybe he’s obtained a fallen god’s divine spark!"
The Ji Clan’s upper echelon each voiced their opinions.
"So, what do you all propose we do about him?" Jasper Ji asked again.
"Capture him, force out all his secrets, then refine him into a puppet!" a sinister-looking middle-aged man said coldly.
Someone agreed: "Exactly! Whether he’s a reincarnated deity or has obtained a divine spark, if we can force out his secrets, it’ll be a huge boon for our Ji Clan!"
Jasper Ji’s voice rang out again: "In that case, let the Soul Guards take action!"
"Understood!"
A middle-aged man seated to the left, who had been silent until now, stood up.
He was the Ji Clan’s Fifth Master, Jasper Ji’s confidant and the commander of their most formidable force—the Soul Guards.
The Soul Guards were a truly terrifying presence.
They had no bodies of their own—their forms were forged by secret arts into vessels as powerful as a deity’s, then infused with their souls.