The Emperor's Domineering Favor, the Evil Consort's Unparalleled Reign

"How could the Ying family's genius girl lose to that good-for-nothing!"

"How is this possible?! In just one month! The incident in Linshui City is definitely true. The Ying family's good-for-nothing has become a genius in the blink of an eye. What should we do? I bullied this girl behind her back. Now, what should we do?!"

"That's terrifying! That girl is so ruthless! They're all from the Ying family, how could she be so merciless?!"

"..."

Ying Qihan and Ying Qishan stood up at the same time. They looked at the woman standing on the stage, overflowing with spiritual energy, and felt a sense of unfamiliarity for a moment. Ying Qihan glared at Ying Li and was about to take action to avenge his daughter when he was coldly stopped by Ying Qishan, who said, "Second brother, in the martial arts arena, everyone relies on their own abilities."

As he spoke, a powerful burst of spiritual energy erupted from his hand. Although Ying Qihan was at the eighth level of divine cultivation, two levels higher than Ying Qishan, it wouldn't look good if the Ying family members fought. He gritted his teeth and coldly pushed Ying Qishan away, walked up to Ying Luo, and pulled up the battered and disfigured Ying Luo, personally taking her home for treatment.

Ying Xue saw Ying Luo fall off the platform at the Huangzi Martial Arts Arena not far away. She glanced at Ying Li and couldn't help but tremble. "Little sister, she's here for revenge," she murmured, her face as pale as paper. She had told Ying Luo to do less evil, and now retribution had come so quickly.

"Little sister! That's my little sister!" Ying Zhe shouted excitedly as he kicked the person off the martial arts arena. Jiang Yunhe, standing nearby, squinted at Ying Li, his usual carefree expression replaced by a serious one. This girl has such explosive power; with proper guidance, she'll definitely be a promising talent.

Aside from gasps of surprise, there was no other reaction from the crowd. Who could have imagined that this girl, who had been called a good-for-nothing for fifteen years, would now turn around and become a genius in spiritual cultivation?!

"Looking at it this way, the battle between Ying Li and Dongfang Lin is hard to predict. One is a genuine eighth-level soul cultivator, while the other, although a top-level soul cultivator, seems to be feeling uneasy judging from his current posture!"

"You're not Young Master Dongfang, how do you know he can't win?! A top-tier Soul Cultivator has at least twice the spiritual power of an eighth-level Soul Cultivator. Although she was lucky enough to win against Ying Luo, an eighth-level Soul Cultivator challenging a top-tier Soul Cultivator is something I've never seen since I was born!"

"Stop talking! Let's wait for Young Master Dongfang to arrive!"

"That's right, let's wait for Young Master Dongfang to arrive! Then we'll see who wins and who loses!"

"..."

"In the Xuan-level martial arts arena, Ying Li wins. Next up is Dongfang Lin against Ying Li!"

A voice boomed from the crowd, instantly silencing the previously noisy and panicked throng. People held their breath, awaiting the arrival of Dongfang Lin, the number one spiritual cultivation genius of Yeling City.

Dongfang Lin walked out from the edge of the crowd, who parted to make way for him. As he passed, people applauded and gasped in amazement. His aura and radiating spiritual energy—taking down Ying Li would be more than enough!

Ying Li stood on the stage, watching Dongfang Lin walk towards her. Her brows furrowed slightly. This aura was very unusual, several times stronger than when she first met Dongfang Lin. Could it be that in just one month, the other party had broken through to the spiritual cultivation stage?

A wicked smile played on Dongfang Lin's lips. A few stray hairs fell messily across his forehead, and the autumn wind blew, obscuring his eyes. But Ying Li could sense the man's unusual nature from the shadows in his eyes.

At this moment, Jiang Zishang, the head of the Jiang family, and Dongfang Lie walked out from the crowd together and sat side by side behind Lin Ying, the head of the Lin family. The three smiled at each other and then turned their attention to the two people in the martial arts arena.

"Miss Ying, it's not too late to regret it now. As long as you apologize to me on stage, I will forgive and forget what happened last time, and our marriage will be called off. From now on, we will be even." Dongfang Lin leaped onto the high platform of the martial arts arena. After standing still, he spoke kindly to Ying Li. His brows were furrowed, and he looked somewhat embarrassed. He was clearly uneasy. Outsiders would only think that he was being chivalrous, but Ying Li was no fool.

Taking advantage of her grandfather Ying Wuyou's serious illness that day, Dongfang Lin forcefully pressured her, as if the Ying family had no one left and that Ying Li would be a useless piece of trash forever?! This excuse, ostensibly for Ying Li's good, actually reveals a hidden meaning to anyone with a brain—you can't beat me, so quickly apologize to me and get lost!

Thinking of this, Ying Li's expression froze, and he raised his head and said coldly, "I, Ying Li, never admit defeat, not in the past, and not now. Since I have accepted your challenge, then this battle is inevitable. If Young Master Dongfang is afraid, then leave now and don't use Ying Li as a shield!"

Sitting in the observation seat, Dongfang Lie wore a mocking expression. This girl was exactly the same as that old man Ying Wuyou, both of them were the type to go down a dark path. He should let his proud son teach her a lesson and let her know that the Dongfang family was not to be trifled with!

"Hmph, you have guts, then don't blame Dongfang Lin for being impolite!" Dongfang Lin's expression changed, his eyes filled with murderous intent.

"It's not certain who will win or lose yet, don't speak too confidently!" Ying Li's spiritual power surged, his right hand gathered spiritual energy into a sword, and his body shot towards Dongfang Lin like a bolt of lightning!

Without further ado, he launched the first attack. Dongfang Lin squinted at the woman who was shooting towards him. He was slightly surprised when he sensed her spiritual energy, which was at the eighth level of soul cultivation. However, it was only for a moment. The next moment, he had a strange expression on his face.

"Thump thump thump!" With his right foot slamming into the ground, Dongfang Lin also shot towards Ying Li. However, unlike Ying Li who controlled his sword with his right hand, the moment Dongfang Lin's body rose from the ground, countless frost swords rippled out of his body. Countless sharp and tiny swords of spiritual energy, along with the speed of Dongfang Lin's explosive leap, attacked Ying Li first!

"Clang clang clang!" Ying Li's sword shadows were numerous. Under the midday sun, the starlight from the collision of the spiritual energy swords was blinding. Ying Li's swords flew rapidly, blocking the countless spiritual energy swords that shot in from all directions. This Dongfang Lin is indeed quite skilled!

Just as Ying Li was waving his right hand, Dongfang Lin suddenly unleashed a palm strike. The palm was imbued with dense spiritual power, and the domineering force stirred up clouds of yellow dust as it slashed heavily toward Ying Li's shoulder! The palm strike came strangely, transforming into countless chaotic black shadows when it was within three feet of Ying Li!

Something's wrong! Ying Li sheathed his sword with his right hand and immediately slashed heavily with his left hand at the black shadow coming straight at him!

With a loud crack, Ying Li's body was thrown three or four meters away. Her left hand trembled slightly, and her vision blurred. In a panic, Ying Li stretched out her trembling left hand and looked at her palm. It was covered with black, and the burning sensation made her body go numb.

"This is... spiritual energy poisoning?!" Ying Li stared in disbelief as the blackness on her left hand grew heavier and heavier, and her body became weaker and weaker. She finally realized that Dongfang Lin had actually come up with this method to defeat her!

Looking at the three family heads of the Dongfang, Lin, and Jiang families on the observation platform, their faces all wore varying degrees of smugness, especially Dongfang Lin and Lin Ying, whose eyes were filled with a sense of great satisfaction.

"I told you long ago, Ying Li, if you had admitted defeat earlier, things wouldn't have turned out so badly between us. But don't worry, although Lin Ying has been urging me to kill you, I will know my limits because of the relationship between Dongfang and the Ying family. From now on, you will still be Ye Lingcheng's good-for-nothing, just like before!"

Unlike Ying Li, who was at a disadvantage after the palm strike, Dongfang Lin stood still without even panting, as if killing Ying Li was as easy as crushing an ant!

Dongfang Lin secretly rejoiced at Ying Li's helpless state. He had seen yesterday that Ying Li's spiritual power was already on par with his own. If he were to lose like this, it would be too embarrassing. No matter how much spiritual power the opponent cultivated, he would destroy it properly today! The Lin family patriarch taught himself to use spiritual power to neutralize poison. Although it was still in the initial stage, it was enough to deal with a spiritual cultivator at the soul cultivation level.

"How could you do this?! You dare to use such despicable methods so openly at the citizenship ceremony?!" Ying Qishan noticed that Ying Li's expression was off, and suddenly stood up. He looked at Dongfang Lie not far away, his eyes filled with raging fire. If Jiang Yunhe from Bixia Palace hadn't held his shoulder, Ying Qishan probably would have rolled up his sleeves and fought them.

"Wait a little longer, look!" Jiang Yunhe stared solemnly at the icy blue color on the registration site.

Ying Li's head hung heavily, her jet-black hair obscuring her eyes and brows. The martial arts arena was deathly silent, save for a chilling voice that pierced the air: "Dongfang Lin, you've gone too far!"

Dongfang Lin raised an eyebrow, clenched his right fist, and walked step by step toward Ying Li. He wanted to see what kind of desperate struggle that girl would make!

Unexpectedly, Ying Li slowly raised his head, his clear eyes gradually turning slightly red, and flames suddenly appeared in them! Spiritual power surged from his right hand, and an icy blue sword instantly slashed out. The sheer abundance of sword energy and the overwhelming killing intent made even the spectators very close to the arena feel a tightness in their chests! Dongfang Lin's expression changed drastically. His opponent was clearly poisoned, so why was he even more powerful than before?

"Ah!" Ying Li's left hand hung limply, while his right hand slammed into the ground. His deep pupils transformed into a gentle flame that followed the icy blue spirit sword's piercing path, causing fine cracks to appear in the center of the arena. Upon closer inspection, streaks of fiery red light could be seen rapidly disappearing from those cracks!

"Deep Pupil!" Jiang Yunhe's expression changed drastically. He never expected that there would be such a terrifying genius-level cultivator in this small Yeling City. A little girl was actually able to cultivate into the Deep Pupil, which even the Spirit Lords of the Spirit Domain Continent feared!

"Ugh!" Just then, a series of miserable screams came from the martial arts arena. Everyone turned around from the tremors of the ground and saw a thin woman standing alone in the center of the arena. She was holding a blood-stained spirit sword in her right hand. Opposite her, Dongfang Lin, who was known as the genius of Ye Ling City, was covered in terrible wounds and was writhing on the ground in pain! He was almost dying from the pain!