Yue Yang was very pleased.

Though it wasn’t a gain in his own cultivation or realm, because he was the one who’d brought about Yingluo’s enlightenment, watching her attain release and elevate herself before his eyes left his heart happy beyond words. And through this heart-to-heart talk, the two of them had greatly improved their relationship.

In fine spirits, Yue Yang, for his part, was still all smiles the next day.

For some unfathomable reason, Young Lord Mingzhu was in a very foul mood.

“What happened, to have you grinning like a mangy mutt?” Mingzhu feigned indifference, but even a blind man could see that Mingzhu right now wished he could dig out the time-crosser’s heart and pry it open to see just what secret was stashed inside. With Mingzhu in a bad mood, Chimu—terrified of being the pond fish scorched when the city gate catches fire—hurriedly dragged Hauge off to keep clear; the might of the golden hammer, mind you, was not something everyone could bear.

“Feeling that I’m especially handsome today?” Yue Yang, for his part, smugly swept back the black hair at his brow, dashing beyond compare.

“Go look in a mirror—you’ll find there’s a pig inside!” Mingzhu gave a cold sneer.

“Envying me is useless. A sunny, handsome fellow as earth-shakingly good-looking as me—you likely won’t catch up in your whole life. Still, you needn’t fixate on such things; though you’re a bit short on manly vigor and long on soft prettiness, your little looks aren’t bad either. So there’s real promise in being a faintly milk-scented, delicate, pretty young thing! True, I’m the type who conquers all the beauties, but you’re no slouch—in the eyes of mature aunties you’ll surely have quite a market. Work hard at it, and one day you’ll become a gold-medal auntie-slayer!”

“You’re the gold-medal auntie-slayer!” Of all the titles in the world Mingzhu would least want to receive, this was probably the one.

“Gold-medal auntie-slayer is still better than freakish shemale-slayer!” Yue Yang, for his part, offered his earnest, heartfelt consolation, and reached over to pat Mingzhu lightly on the shoulder. “You can’t always be like this—a real man, a true gentleman, mustn’t be too withdrawn, and certainly mustn’t be too girly, or others might just mistake you for a woman!”

“…Apart from you, no one else would be so wide-eyed blind!” Mingzhu ground his teeth till they itched with hatred.

“Honestly, if it weren’t that I only like women and have no interest in men, I might really lose my heart to that little face of yours—you’re too girly, better-looking than a good many beauties. Ugh—no, I can’t, it’s making me queasy; the moment I think you’re a man, I…” Yue Yang, for his part, suddenly reached out and stroked Mingzhu’s face. Mingzhu, as if struck by lightning, shuddered all over—and before he could react, suddenly saw Yue Yang turn his face away with a look of disgust, as though about to vomit. Fury instantly blazed to the heavens, and the golden hammer came crashing down hard on Yue Yang’s head. “Go die, you idiot!”

After this bit of farce—

—Yue Yang, for his part—suspected of worshipping the Chun-ge deity, since he sprang back to life on the spot at full health after being savagely pummeled—was summoned by the arbiter to prepare for the match.

His next opponent was Wanmo, whom the students had rated yesterday as the second strongest after Ji Wuri. Zhonghua, who’d originally ranked second, had been squeezed to the back by the show-stealing Wanmo—even ranked below Ranfeng, owner of a platinum construct.

This fight, almost no one supported Yue Yang.

After all, the combat power of the Flesh-and-Blood battle constructs was simply too shocking.

Even Yue Yang, likewise skilled at the hundred-and-eight-strike combo, was not among the students’ favored.

The only thing everyone speculated on was how long this “little Titan”—whose intellect could be called prodigious—could hold out in the fight.

A few students who counted as friends—Mige the Tall Tower War Wolf and the others—ran over before he entered the arena to voice their support. “Ahem, little Titan—though I did wager a hundred Heaven Crystals on Wanmo, in spirit I still support you!”

“Get lost!” Chimu was uncommonly incensed. You punk, betting your stake on Wanmo is one thing, but then you come over to say you support him—support your sister! Is this support?

“Thank you!” Yue Yang, for his part, was of very good temper, and even thanked Mige.

“This young lord’s throwing caution to the wind! To support my brother, I’ve decided to wager my entire fortune—all fi-fifty Heaven Crystals!” Chimu was absolutely a man of loyalty.

“Don’t you have a full five hundred Heaven Crystals? If you really support him, wager the lot—otherwise, you get lost too!” Mingzhu gave a cold sneer, tearing straight through Chimu’s false mask, so that Chimu—whose thick-facedness was second only to the time-crosser’s—couldn’t help his aged cheeks flushing. To save face, Chimu, the Dusk Young Lord, truly threw all caution to the wind. He thumped his chest. “Fifty Heaven Crystals was just a test—the real support is still to come. To support my brother, I—I’ll wager the whole lot, five hundred and fifty Heaven Crystals in all!”

“That’s not a good idea, is it? Too impulsive—why not wager a bit less?” Seeing this, Yue Yang, for his part, got a fright and hurried to dissuade him.

“Don’t stop me—I’m fighting for this one point of pride!” Chimu’s image a second ago had still been “great, glorious, correct”—alas, he couldn’t hold it a single second longer before he was sobbing and clutching Yue Yang’s thigh. “Big bro, you absolutely have to win, or my painstakingly laid-out girl-chasing plan is finished! If you don’t want me tagging along mooching meals off you every day, then blast open Wanmo’s chrysanthemum for me! I’m begging you—my life of sexual bliss is all riding on you…”

“Get lost!” The more Yue Yang listened, the more revolted he got—what the hell does your life of sexual bliss have to do with me?—and one kick sent Chimu flying off into the ninth heaven.

Just as Yue Yang was preparing to enter the Western Peak and go to war with Wanmo—

—Jinji, who’d advanced to the next round by his opponent’s forfeit, suddenly walked over.

The moment he opened his mouth, he left the whole field stunned, because what he said was: “Honored arbiter, might I swap opponents with Wanmo? I ardently long to test myself against classmate little Titan. As you know, classmate little Titan won’t necessarily advance to the next round—and before that, I crave a fight with him, whatever the great cost. Honored arbiter, I’m willing to swap opponents with Wanmo; and Wanmo can take the ranking-slot from my earlier victory and advance straight through.”

Hearing this, the black-clad arbiter instantly knit his brows. “Classmate Jinji, swapping opponents isn’t so simple. It’s not something that happens just because you’re willing. First, it requires the consent of the assessment arbiters and relevant personnel; second, the consent of your swap partner; and third—the hardest point—this kind of swap-bout requires the consent of your dueling target, that is, classmate little Titan… Put it this way: I can’t abuse my authority to play favorites for you. But if both classmate Wanmo and classmate little Titan consent, then I’ll seek everyone’s opinion and decide whether to approve this application!”

“I consent.” Wanmo shot Yue Yang a glance, his eyes flashing with a blade-like gleam—yet in the end, to everyone’s surprise, he consented.

“And you, little Titan? So long as you refuse, this application absolutely won’t pass!” The black-clad arbiter looked to Yue Yang; in this swap, what mattered most was still Yue Yang’s opinion.

“He’s going too far!” Hauge clenched his fists in fury.

“Fight him—Wanmo can’t beat you, and a little Jinji—never mind you, even I could beat the crap out of him! Fear him, my foot!” Seeing there was no need to fight Wanmo, Chimu instantly egged Yue Yang on to consent to the swap. Wanmo versus Jinji—even a fool knew which was stronger!

“All right, I consent too…” Just before the black-clad arbiter could dissuade him again, Yue Yang suddenly waved a hand and showed a smile more brilliant than sunshine. “And here I’ll put forward an application of my own. Swapping opponents and all that is too dull. My suggestion is this instead: let classmates Wanmo and Jinji both come at once, and I’ll take them both on single-handed. That saves trouble, and there’s no need to waste everyone’s time further. What do you say—will that do?”

“Wh-what?” Jinji had never dreamed Yue Yang would be arrogant to this degree; the slap to the face rang crisp and loud, leaving him trembling all over with rage.

“What an insolent junior!” Wanmo’s expression, too, changed dramatically. As the number-one figure after Ji Wuri, to be openly challenged on the spot gave him a sense of being humiliated before the crowd. Knowing full well the strength of the Flesh-and-Blood battle constructs, and knowing full well that Jinji was no longer what he’d been, this little Titan still dared take on two at once—the boy was cocky, all right!

“You really want to fight this way?” The black-clad arbiter had never in his life seen such an application.

“Consent! Consent! Consent!” The watching students were wild with delight. What did it mean to be thrilled? What did it mean for the blood to boil? This was it! The once-unfavored little Titan actually slapping the faces of Wanmo and Jinji in public—truly a joyous “big event” to behold!

The black-clad arbiter hurried back to seek the opinion of the assessment ceremony committee, and the result was once again beyond his expectation.

They consented!

At this, every last student on the field crowded over to watch the decisive battle of Yue Yang taking on Wanmo and Jinji single-handed. All other events were dropped—including even the contestants who’d meant to fight, who set aside their own bouts to first come watch the intellect-prodigy “little Titan,” and how he’d fare against Wanmo, owner of Flesh-and-Blood battle constructs, and the greatly strengthened Jinji!

Ranfeng—who after his victory had already haughtily returned to the students’ quarters to rest—came too, on hearing the news.

Before he entered the arena, Mige the Tall Tower War Wolf and the others, still refusing to give up, dissuaded Yue Yang. “Little Titan, it’s not too late to give this up now. I know your strength is very great, but you don’t understand—never has a single contestant been able to take on two opponents of comparable strength, or even above his own, single-handed.”

Young Lord Yangquan put on a bold front. “If before this I didn’t feel you were all that outstanding, then your courage alone right now has already won my admiration!”

Whether these words were true or false, no one could say.

But Yue Yang still met them with a smile, and accepted this show of support.

“You really don’t intend to change your mind?” The black-clad arbiter asked one final time.

“If they’re willing to kneel and beg me for mercy, then I might let them off the hook.” Yue Yang gestured for the arbiter to go ask the other side’s opinion.

“Hmph!” Wanmo was so furious his lungs nearly burst.

“Wait—I’ll pound you into a heap of rotten scraps, then make you, you madman, swallow the teeth I’ve knocked out back down your gullet along with the blood. If I don’t pull out every last one of your teeth—even one left counts as my failure!” Jinji was so enraged his very nose went crooked. In his whole life he’d never met an opponent as insolent as Yue Yang—death upon his doorstep and he still didn’t know the smell of a coffin, was that it? If he didn’t savage him into a bloody ruin, he’d count himself soft-hearted and merciful!

Win or lose, everyone at last understood one thing.

In all the world—

—there was no man prouder, no man more arrogant, than little Titan!

Even though he ordinarily treated people with courtesy, was humble toward his elders and warm toward his friends, that spring-breeze smile of his like brilliant sunshine… none of it meant his courage, his nerve, and his proud backbone fell the least bit short of anyone else’s. It was only that ordinarily he simply didn’t show it.

(End of Chapter)