Patriarch Water's words immediately drew curious looks from the other clan leaders and the Alliance Leader. "Patriarch Water, what do you mean by that?" the young man asked, intrigued.
"He came to our place before. My daughter Selena sparred with him—no attributes or artifacts involved, just pure cultivation. Even so, Selena lost purely on realm." Patriarch Water explained.
The others showed surprised and doubtful expressions, while Raymond Yang also looked half-understanding, half-confused. With Patriarch Water’s remark, their curiosity about Evan Yang and his abilities only deepened, so their attention returned to the arena.
At this moment, Evan Yang and Selena Water stood facing each other. "Still want to fight?"
"Of course I want to fight! Why not? Last time was just a mistake—and besides, I have the attribute advantage. Surely you know that? Today I’ll see how you handle my challenge!" Selena declared.
"If that's the case, then I won't hold back." Evan Yang replied with a smile.
"Hold back? Don’t bother! Today I’ll show you what true attribute restraint means." Selena had no hatred for Evan, but she wanted to prove herself and didn’t believe she’d lose to him.
"Then let’s begin." Evan Yang said.
Selena nodded. The two skipped any aura probing and went straight to attributes—Evan’s flame appeared, colorless and leaping, while Selena’s water surged around her like crashing waves.
At a glance, it looked like the water was about to extinguish the flames.
"What kind of flame is that? Colorless?" the Alliance Leader muttered, and the other clan leaders were all curious about what kind of flame Evan Yang was using.
Selena smiled, sending her waves crashing forward. Everyone thought water should suppress fire—at least a ten percent advantage, by power calculations. Evan Yang's Immortal Lord ability shouldn't match up, but the next moment shocked everyone: Evan easily blocked the water with his flame, turning it into steam floating in the air. The temperature rose sharply, leaving Selena feeling stuffy and frustrated, like trapped in a sauna, glaring at Evan.
Fire and water clashed, but fire was stronger—completely against logic. Even if Evan was powerful, matching Selena would already be impressive, but now he pushed her water back in just one move.
Selena was stuck in the steam, beads of sweat on her skin, her face bright red—like she’d just stepped out of a bath.
"Want to keep going?" Evan smiled.
"You freak, I don’t believe I can’t beat you! Come on!" Selena grumbled, then wrapped herself in water, making herself look like she was in the ocean. The water contained countless bubbles—no one knew their purpose, but Evan only knew he needed to block her advance.
Selena charged forward. Evan’s flame burned the water, but instead of turning to steam, the water condensed, even wrapping around Evan.
From outside, people saw the two as if in an underwater world, bubbles everywhere—some from boiling, some made by Selena. At first, no one knew their purpose, but when one bubble touched Evan, it exploded with huge force. Evan barely defended himself, protecting his body.
"That was close," Evan muttered. If he hadn’t quickly used his ice-fire control to flash-cool the bubble, the explosion would have been much stronger.
Selena was shocked. Her bubbles depended on high temperature for power—the hotter, the stronger. Evan’s fire should have made them explode with enough force to seriously injure him, but he was unharmed, and the bubbles felt like splashes of cold water.
Spectators outside the arena noticed the situation. As the Water Clan Patriarch, he knew Selena’s technique well. If Evan was truly fire attribute, he should be suppressed—but Evan looked like he was enjoying himself, not suppressed at all. This felt odd to the patriarch.
Evan moved freely in the water, appearing before Selena. "Are you going to keep this up? These attacks don’t affect me—they’re only draining your power. If you keep going, you’ll still lose." "You—" Selena stared in shock, tried to strike, but Evan smiled, blocked her, pulled her close, holding her wrists. "Still want to continue?" "You scoundrel!" Selena cursed, feeling his presence so close.
Evan hadn’t expected this effect and quickly released Selena. "You misunderstood."
Selena snorted. "Continue."
"You’re still going? Not ready to admit defeat?" Evan sighed.
"I’m a fifth-tier Emperor Realm. I won’t surrender." Selena declared.
"If that’s how it is, there’s nothing I can do." Evan sighed, swiftly grabbing Selena again. She tried to break free, but his speed was incredible. Within moments, she was caught, and Evan applied a technique that sealed her Immortal Essence.
Everyone saw Selena suddenly freeze, her water domain vanishing. Evan stood beside her, relaxed. "How about now?"
"What did you do to me?" Selena asked, frustrated.
"What do you think? You should know." Evan smiled.
Selena thought for a moment, remembering Evan used this same method when treating her brother.
"You—" Selena blushed furiously, realizing she couldn’t break the seal. If she could, Evan wouldn’t have needed three days to treat Skyler last time.
"Alright, admit defeat and I’ll let you go." Evan smiled.
The audience was shocked—Evan had subdued a fifth-tier Emperor Realm, and now he was forcing her to admit defeat. Even stranger, Selena seemed completely unable to move.
Time ticked by. Skyler sent Selena a private message: "Just give up. Once he uses that method, it’s almost impossible to break free."
Hearing her brother’s words, Selena gritted her teeth, unwilling but finally said, "I admit defeat."
As soon as she spoke, Elder Lu announced, "Yang Clan’s Evan Yang wins this round."
With that, both Yang Clan contestants advanced, while the other two were Linus Fenn and Quinn Lynn.
Evan’s unconventional technique made Yang Tian and the others frown, while the Alliance Leader remarked, "What a clever method. I wonder how Evan Yang managed it."
"I have no idea either." Raymond Yang admitted; he didn’t understand how Evan had done it.
"Looks like both Yang Clan juniors are anything but ordinary." The Alliance Leader praised.
The Water Clan Patriarch had nothing more to say—defeat was defeat. But the Lynn and Fenn Clan leaders weren't convinced. The Lynn Patriarch spoke up: "The Yang Clan is just doing well this time. Usually, they send proxies or get crippled."
"What do you mean by that, Lynn Patriarch?" Raymond Yang frowned.
"You know what I mean, and so does everyone else." The Lynn Patriarch laughed, clearly enjoying poking fun at Raymond.
The Alliance Leader realized this couldn't go on. He didn't want conflict between the four families, so he smiled and said, "This is a friendly competition—why take it so seriously?"
"The Alliance Leader is right," the Water Patriarch agreed. The Lynn and Fenn Patriarchs were dissatisfied, but since the Alliance Leader had spoken, they couldn't keep arguing. The Alliance Leader continued, "The first round is over. Tomorrow we'll start the second round. Everyone, go rest."
With that, people began to leave the arena. Evan Yang and his group were now famous—they'd defeated their opponents with ease.
Evan gently released the seal on Selena and smiled. "Sorry if I offended you just now."
"You're awful! Why didn't you fight me head-on? Hypocrite!" Selena grumbled.
Skyler Water walked over and said, "If he'd fought you head-on, would you still be standing here?"
"Brother, what do you mean? Why are you always siding with others?" Selena complained.
"Didn't you notice he was holding back?" Skyler grinned.
"Holding back? Really?" Selena looked at Evan suspiciously.
"I just didn’t want to hurt you, that’s all." Evan said simply.
"Ugh! I don’t want to play with you anymore." Selena wanted to find a hole to crawl into—she couldn’t believe even an Immortal Lord had to hold back against her.
Watching Selena leave, Skyler laughed. "I didn’t expect you to be so strong. Looks like you really have a shot at first place. Good luck—I’m rooting for you."
"Thank you, Senior." Evan smiled. After they left, the Wine Beggar and Lydia Yang praised Evan warmly.
At that moment, Raymond Yang came over, glanced at Evan and then at Yang Tian, and finally said to the Yang Clan, "Let's go back."
He turned away, his mood unreadable. Logically, he should be happy that both advanced, but he didn’t show it.
Evan and Yang Tian had no idea what Raymond was thinking—they were still young. The Wine Beggar and Lydia Yang understood, but didn’t say anything. The Wine Beggar just said, "Come on, let’s go."
Evan nodded. On the way, Yang Tian couldn't help but tease Evan via sound transmission: "Kid, don’t think you’re all that just because you advanced. The second round won’t be so easy."
"What are you trying to say?" Evan replied via sound transmission.
"Second round, you’ll face the Lynn Clan, I’ll face the Fenn Clan. I’m definitely going to beat the Fenn Clan, and you’d better not lose to Lynn—I want to crush your momentum myself." Yang Tian sneered.
"You’re up against the Fenn Clan? That Divine Wind Spear—are you sure you can handle it? Maybe you should worry about yourself. My match is none of your concern." Evan retorted, sneering right back.