"It's fine now. Go rest—there are still a few matches to come," Terry Yang said. The fighter nodded and left to recover.
He left angrily. His words clearly told everyone that someone was meddling in the background, but no one had noticed anything strange. Evan Yang ignored the commotion, focusing instead on calming himself. Today was a victory, but a tough one—if not for the advantages in the last two rounds, beating the Yang Clan fighters would have been nearly impossible.
Nangong Palace Lord asked curiously, "Young Master Yang, what now?"
Sure enough, the opponent saw the Yang Clan fighter attacking the wrong spot as if he'd lost his way. Seizing the chance, the opponent launched a direct attack.
Soon, everyone saw someone fly out of the smoke—none other than the Yang Clan fighter.
The crowd was shocked. Nangong Palace Lord immediately stood up, while Terry Yang frowned. Just moments ago, their fighter had the advantage—how did things turn out like this once the smoke rose?
"Excellent!" Yvonne Darkmoon laughed.
Yvonne and Elder Lewis Lu exchanged glances, puzzled. Things were going fine just a moment ago—how did the Yang Clan fighter end up getting knocked out?
Terry Yang quickly cleaned up his things in secret, pretending nothing had happened. The smoke was just leftover from their fight, and only after the Yang Clan fighter was defeated did it finally dissipate.
The Yang Clan guard stared at his opponent in disbelief and said, "Damn it!"
"So the Yang Clan isn't all that after all," the winner laughed. In truth, he was startled—things had been going fine, so why did his opponent suddenly attack in the wrong direction instead of targeting him, giving him such an opening?
"You!" the Yang Clan fighter shouted angrily.
You'll see when the time comes. For now, losing is losing. (He sighed inwardly, frustrated but determined to find the saboteur.)
The Yang Clan fighter was furious, but Terry Yang called him back. Hearing Terry Yang's order, he had no choice but to admit defeat.
He handed his clothes to the third fighter.
This match made it clear to everyone that the Yang Clan wasn't invincible—they could be defeated. It boosted the confidence of the other teams.
"What just happened?" Yang Tian wanted to know what went on inside the smoke.
"I clearly saw him on my left side, but when I attacked, I hit nothing. He ended up attacking me head-on instead." The Yang Clan fighter explained what happened.
"Is that so?" Yang Tian asked skeptically.
"Yes," the fighter said, not daring to lie.
"It's fine now. Go rest—there are still a few matches to come," Yang Tian said. The fighter nodded and left to recover.
"Fine, I'll keep quiet. You all go on, I'll listen," Yvonne said, still remembering how Yang Tian almost killed her with that stone. (She shivered inside, recalling the speed of that stone.)
Nangong Palace Lord asked curiously, "Young Master Yang, what now?"
"No rush," Yang Tian replied calmly.
Yang Tian wasn't worried, but Palace Lord Nangong was. Meanwhile, Yvonne Darkmoon kept laughing, even saying the Yang Clan wasn't all that.
The third fighter went up. Yang Tian sent him a sound transmission: "Don't do what the previous fighter did. No matter what happens ahead, don't rush in."
The fighter didn't understand why Yang Tian said this, but he followed the instructions anyway.
The two sides fought fiercely. One was water, the other fire. When their powers clashed, thick white mist rose. The Yang Clan fighter wanted to rush in and extinguish his opponent, but remembering Yang Tian's instructions, he attacked from a distance or avoided the mist, giving his opponent more time.
So defeating his opponent wasn't as easy as before. Seeing the Yang Clan fighter refusing to enter, Evan Yang gave up using the same trick.
"Fire, huh? Fine, let me help you out," Evan Yang laughed after noticing his opponent was a fire-type cultivator.
So when the fire-type fighter attacked, Evan Yang secretly boosted the flames from the side. The fire merged with the fighter's own, but no one noticed—Evan Yang had filtered out all traces, even the aura.
The Yang Clan fighter was completely unaware, so he kept using water to try and extinguish the fire. Unexpectedly, the flames surged as if they'd been spiked with an additive, instantly evaporating all his water and even burning his face.
"Ah!" With a scream, the Yang Clan fighter's face was disfigured.
His opponent stared at his own hands in disbelief—when had his flames ever been so powerful?
That scream instantly sent the crowd into an uproar. If the Yang Clan's earlier loss was mild, this one was much worse—no one knew why, but everyone saw the Yang Clan lose again today.
Palace Lord Nangong's face turned ugly, and Yang Tian wasn't much better off. But he calmed himself and said, "There are still a few matches left. Let's go."
With that, he left without looking back. This behavior made Palace Lord Nangong very curious, so he hurried to follow.
Yvonne Darkmoon clapped and laughed, "Serves them right!"
Her words clearly provoked Yang Tian. He grabbed a stone from the ground and hurled it at Yvonne.
Elder Lewis Lu was shocked and immediately blocked it. Yvonne was startled—she hadn't expected Terry Yang to attack so suddenly. If Elder Lewis Lu hadn't been there, she would have been seriously hurt.
Everyone was shocked, but no one dared blame Yang Tian. With his back to the crowd, Yang Tian said, "Loudmouth, don't get cocky—you don't have the qualifications. And to the friend interfering behind the scenes, if I catch you, you're dead!"
He left angrily. His words clearly told everyone that someone was meddling in the background, but no one had noticed anything strange. Evan Yang ignored it, focusing instead on calming himself. Today was a victory, but a tough one—if not for the advantages in the last two rounds, beating the Yang Clan fighters would have been nearly impossible.
After Yang Tian left, Yvonne patted her chest. "That was scary—way too close."
"Now you know this isn't a game, right?" Elder Lu said, knowing Yvonne had pushed Yang Tian too far, which was why he got so angry.
"I won't dare next time, but today was really satisfying," Yvonne whispered.
"If you want to laugh, save it for when we're back," Elder Lu said. The atmosphere in the arena was strange, but he couldn't put his finger on why. He continued to preside over the matches.
Yang Tian returned to the Ethereal Sanctuary's camp, which was heavily guarded by experts.
As soon as he entered, his aura erupted, frightening the weaker cultivators nearby. Palace Lord Nangong had wanted to complain, but seeing Yang Tian like this, he swallowed his words.
(This chapter isn't over yet ^.^ Please click the next page to continue reading!)
"What happened?" With his back to the others, Yang Tian asked the fighter with the burned face. Today was a blow to him; though there were still chances left, losing to a not-so-strong team had damaged the Yang Clan's reputation.
The burned fighter said, "Everything was fine, but suddenly the flames got stronger—as if someone used a treasure or something to enhance them."
"A treasure? Is that even possible? No warning at all?" Yang Tian asked, not believing it.
But that was the reality, and the burned fighter had no idea how to explain it.
The room was silent—almost frighteningly so. Finally, Yang Tian spoke: "I understand. You all go now. I need a moment alone."
Hearing this, everyone left. Palace Lord Nangong wanted to say something, but held back. As he was about to leave, Yang Tian called him, "Palace Lord Nangong, stay."
Palace Lord Nangong nodded. Once everyone else left, he asked, "What do you think?"
"Today's events were strange. If the earlier losses were just about morale, this one wasn't," Yang Tian said.
"Exactly. It wasn't a mistake or misfire—the opponent just suddenly got stronger," Palace Lord Nangong agreed.
"That's why I want to know the reason," Yang Tian said, turning around.
"Didn't you say someone was meddling in the background?" Palace Lord Nangong asked.
"That's what I said, but I have no proof. I just didn't want others to look down on the Yang Clan, so I used that excuse to leave," Yang Tian admitted frankly.
"I see. That's troubling. If someone really is working against us, it'll be even harder to win," Palace Lord Nangong said, feeling worse at the thought of losing.
"We still have two chances left. If we lose both, we can't advance," Yang Tian said.
"We need three wins out of five. Only four matches remain. If we lose the next two, it's over. What do you plan to do with these chances?" Palace Lord Nangong asked, eager to hear Yang Tian's strategy.
"I don't believe we'll be unlucky every time. Just when we're about to win, something weird happens. So I suspect someone is interfering, and I intend to find them," Yang Tian said.
"I think so too. Any ideas?" Palace Lord Nangong asked, wanting to get to the bottom of it.
"When are the second and third matches?" Yang Tian suddenly asked.
"The second match is in three days, the third in six," Palace Lord Nangong replied.
"The Yang Clan won't arrive for at least four days, so we'll miss the second match, but make it for the third," Yang Tian said.
"The Yang Clan?" Palace Lord Nangong asked curiously.
"That's right. I've already asked someone to bring a detection treasure from the Yang Clan. With it, we'll be able to find out who's causing trouble," Yang Tian said coldly.
"What kind of treasure?" Palace Lord Nangong asked in surprise.
"You'll see when the time comes. For now, losing is losing," Yang Tian sighed.
Seeing that Yang Tian had a treasure to deal with the problem, Palace Lord Nangong felt reassured. Otherwise, having a hidden saboteur would be a huge headache.
In Darkmoon Castle, Elder Lewis Lu asked suspiciously, "Did you notice anything?"
"Notice what?" Yvonne asked curiously.
Elder Lewis Lu said, "Someone must be interfering."
"What? You all think someone is interfering? Impossible! The Yang Clan was just too weak," Yvonne said, not believing it.
"Girl, there's plenty you don't know. How could the Yang Clan lose like that in the first round? And didn't you see how strangely the last two fighters lost?" Elder Lewis Lu said.
"What's so strange? They just lost, that's all. Nothing weird about it. That Yang Tian almost attacked me, though—that was frustrating," Yvonne said.
"You dare say that?" Elder Lu sighed helplessly.
"Fine, I'll keep quiet. You all go on, I'll listen," Yvonne said, still remembering how Yang Tian almost killed her with that stone.
Elder Lewis Lu nodded. "That's right—someone is interfering, and they're extremely skilled, leaving no traces. If Evan Yang weren't dead, I'd suspect he was hiding and doing this himself."