Chapter 682: The Bamboo Shoot King

Luo Yin’s expression shifted.

That tone...

His face darkened slightly. He squinted at Mu Zixi and asked, "Do you really know him?"

"Mmm mmm mmm mmm!"

All he got in response were a few muffled sounds from Mu Zixi, still under the sealing spell.

Luo Yin could no longer suppress the inexplicable anger rising within him. He took a step forward, about to speak.

But at that very moment, Xu Xiaoshou released his hand from his junior sister's mouth.

"None of your business?!"

The young girl, freed from the seal, stunned everyone with her first words. The audience seats nearly erupted, everyone staring in shock at the disrespectful girl on stage. Anyone with eyes could see that Luo Yin had been trying to stick up for her... but she didn't seem to appreciate it at all?

The contestants on the field instinctively retreated several steps, leaving the central battleground clear. It was a subtle feeling, like the calm before a storm—a sudden premonition, too strong to ignore.

As for Luo Yin himself, his steps froze, and he stared dumbfounded at the sassy, adorable loli, as if he'd heard something unbelievable. He almost thought he'd misheard her. Yet... she had clearly been captured! How could she look so pleased about it?

"Didn't you hear me clearly?" Impulsive as she was, Mu Zixi still adhered to the principle of not explicitly revealing her relationship with Xu Xiaoshou. Moreover, the guy opposite her looked strikingly similar to Zhang Xinxiong, which immediately put her off. So, she repeated, enunciating each word: "I said... none... of... your... business!"

*Bang!*

The floor beneath Luo Yin's feet immediately cracked open, revealing the raw physical power he could no longer contain due to his inner rage. The onlookers trembled. Although everyone had witnessed Luo Yin's actions in the previous match, the final battle then had only three participants, and while he focused on Mu Zixi, he hadn't truly launched an offensive. More often, he'd maintained an air of nonchalance even amidst Mu Zixi's explosions, indirectly showcasing his strength. But now was different. At this moment, everyone clearly realized that the man before them was on the verge of unleashing an immense, uncontrollable power.

"Well said." Xu Xiaoshou glanced at his junior sister in surprise, marveling at her innate ability to provoke an enemy's anger. However, ever since he'd first seen Luo Yin, he hadn't intended to make things easy for him. Firstly, once on stage, everyone but his own people was an enemy. Secondly, Luo Yin had acted overly familiar, immediately trying to protect his junior sister the moment he entered the central area. To anyone who didn't know better, it might be hard to tell who Mu Zixi's *actual* senior brother was. And the most crucial point... Luo Yin's overly intimate tone had greatly annoyed Xu Xiaoshou. This alone was enough. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had Xiao Wanfeng's first words on his behalf be the "friendly" greeting, "Who are you?"

"Step back." Tossing his junior sister aside, Xu Xiaoshou strode forward, directly confronting Luo Yin. He first looked down and saw the cracks in the stone floor beneath Luo Yin's feet, then pondered for a moment.

*Boom!*

Without any visible action, the ground beneath Xu Xiaoshou suddenly exploded with dust. Once the dust settled slightly, a deep crater had appeared on the stage.

"Oh my goodness!" Those in the audience who were already restless nearly leaped out of their seats. The Skyfall Arena's stage was originally constructed from extremely high-quality crystalline rock, further protected by Grandmaster-level spiritual arrays. Generally, innate-level cultivators couldn't break it. Luo Yin was an exception. Everyone could see that his physical body was extraordinary. Even though he was still at the Innate stage, he clearly possessed Grandmaster-level destructive power. But that Young Master Xu...

"Does this mean my Dad Xu's explosive ability he showed earlier wasn't even his trump card?"

"Is he also a spiritual body? The kind that enhances the physical body?"

"A special spiritual body... I don't think so. A descendant of a Half-Saint family would at least have a Saint Body."

"Yes, it's quite possible that two Saint Bodies are standing on the stage right now!"

"Now this is going to be a good show."

The audience couldn't wait to see a confrontation of this magnitude. Because even in the Skyfall Arena, contestants capable of fighting above their rank were rare. It wasn't that the Skyfall Arena contestants lacked skill or that no one of that caliber existed. Rather, when such contestants appeared on stage, others of similar rank would often follow an unwritten rule: they'd choose to wait for the next battle. After all, the championship only awarded one qualification for the Royal City Trial, and ten such qualifications were given out per day. For ordinary people, this spot was precious. But for those who could fight above their rank, it was an easily obtainable prize, so there was no need to pay too high a price for it. So, generally, sometimes after a full day of fighting, seeing even one Innate-level cultivator capable of fully resisting a Grandmaster was quite rare. But now, judging by the appearance of both parties on stage, it was clearly a clash of titans, on the verge of erupting.

"Oh, great aunt..." In the arena, Xiao Wanfeng cowered behind Mu Zixi, nervously watching the other contestants circling but not advancing, their eyes gleaming. He still had a bounty on his head, making his life extremely precious.

"Don't be afraid." Mu Zixi's eyes remained fixed on the two figures in front of them as she comforted him, "Young Master Xu is just about to beat someone up, it's nothing major."

"That's not what I meant..." Xiao Wanfeng couldn't care less about Young Master Xu; he was too busy worrying about himself.

Mu Zixi paused, evidently noticing the people around them as well. She wrinkled her delicate nose and scoffed, "You don't need to be afraid of them either. I can deal with them myself, without Young Master Xu even having to lift a finger. Just relax and watch the show!" With a pat of her small hand, several ancient trees rose from the ground with a rumbling sound, creating a very secure haven for Xiao Wanfeng. Then she thought for a moment and decided this posture wasn't quite satisfactory. A fleeting image of Xu Xiaoshou leisurely sipping tea on the horizon flashed in her mind... Though she hated to admit it, her senior brother's casual and unrestrained demeanor at that moment was indeed exceptionally striking in their current precarious situation.

"Tea." Mu Zixi tilted her head, then, still holding Xiao Wanfeng, leaped onto a tree crown several zhang high, extending her small hand behind her.

"I... &&" Xiao Wanfeng looked down at the height, his legs turned to jelly, and he was speechless. He was already afraid of heights, and even more so after inadvertently feeling the thin branch swaying precariously under their combined weight. Forget pouring tea; even his hands, trying to pull out a teacup and hot water kettle, were trembling uncontrollably.

"Tsk tsk..." The young girl was exasperated with Xiao Wanfeng. She took the teacup herself, poured the tea, and kept shaking her head. "I'm telling you, you're really useless. Even though Young Master Xu isn't perfect, since you're with him, why don't you learn a thing or two from him? At the very least, you should learn to be a bit heartless! Panicking like a coward, is that like a man?"

Xiao Wanfeng wore a bitter expression: "How is this being heartless? I'm just a mortal, alright..."

"They're going to fight!" Mu Zixi, however, paid no attention to the young man. Her eyes were fixed on Xu Xiaoshou, as if mesmerized, and she muttered subconsciously. "Learn from him, okay? I also secretly learned from him. Mainly, this guy is too annoying. You have to be even more annoying than him to subdue him. As he would say, it's 'Senior Aunt'... um, what was it again?"

On the other side, since Xu Xiaoshou had chosen to step forward, he wouldn't shy away. He wasn't from a conventional background, so he naturally didn't have the polite, high-minded words that descendants of major powers would use. Thus, with a single stomp, he created a massive crater several dozen times larger than the one Luo Yin had caused in his anger, immediately establishing dominance in a seemingly trivial way. Then, with a sneer, he provocatively asked, "You want to hit me?"

That arrogant demeanor was almost too much for Luo Yin, no matter how cultivated he was. However, Luo Yin was genuinely astonished by the other's physical strength and and asked, "Young Master Xu is also..."

"Oh, come on, at this point, why are you still calling me 'Young Master Xu'?" Xu Xiaoshou didn't even want to hear what the guy was trying to ask, interrupting directly: "Since you're already at your limit, and I'm annoyed with you too, let's just fight! And since we're about to fight, why keep calling me 'Young Master Xu'? Being so polite just makes you sound like a woman!" Xu Xiaoshou paused, then declared decisively: "Alright, drop the surnames. I'll call you 'Yin,' and you call me 'Deye.' If you're really too angry to hold back, I'll allow you to call me by my full name – Xu Deye!"

"Xu..." Luo Yin nearly choked with fury, about to blurt out the other's full name. But he suddenly realized that even if he were raging, using the other's full name to vent his emotions would, in fact, elevate that name and crush him in another way. *Damn it!* Luo Yin never swore; after all, he was a man of status and decorum. But this time, he couldn't help but curse under his breath. The guy opposite him was simply unassailable!

He chose not to engage further in the verbal sparring, looking down instead at the deep crater beneath Xu Xiaoshou's feet. "Young Master Xu, are you also a Saint Body?"

"Hahahaha!" At this question, the audience instantly became excited; some even let out strange cries. "Also..." Everyone keenly noticed the crucial word "also." Clearly, Luo Yin was also exerting pressure. Whether Young Master Xu was a Saint Body, no one knew. But with that single sentence, Luo Yin had clearly elevated himself to a supreme position. Saint Bodies were rare even in the Eastern Sky King City; on the entire continent, they were as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns. Yet, Xu Xiaoshou merely scoffed.

"Saint Body?"

"What even is a Saint Body? Is it like you, who, no matter how angry, can only slightly crack this mere fifth-grade 'Martial Rock Azure Steel' and can't even budge the Grandmaster-level spiritual array guarding the stage – the 'Great Vajra Array' – a piece of... trash?"

The audience's blood instantly boiled.

"Roar, roar, roar!"

"Trash! Trash!"

They loved watching this kind of low-blow verbal assault, and for a moment, they roared and howled like countless monkeys in heat.

"Well, trash aside... but amazing, Young Master Xu is also a spirit array master?"

"How does he know about this array, and the stage? Is it really made of 'Martial Rock Azure Steel' like he said? Why didn't I know?"

"Heh heh, who are you, and who is my Dad Xu? Go pee in a mirror and look at yourself. Are you even worthy of being compared to him?"

"Where am I not..."

"Alright, alright, you're worthy, you're even worthy of being a key holder, how many keys do you have? What, you're not worthy? You don't even have any... Holy cow, don't move, dang it, how are you a Grandmaster?"

"Heh." The audience below the stage was as chaotic as ever. Luo Yin on stage, however, would no longer be swayed by any amount of trash talk. He could see that this Young Master Xu was genuinely formidable. The other party wanted to provoke him, make him lose his composure, so he could be easily defeated.

"I am a Saha Saint Body." Luo Yin gently raised his hand, and sacred, radiant light suddenly burst from his body, revealing his origin.

"Oh, quite the background, claiming to be a Saha Saint Body. How come I've never heard of it?" To be honest, Xu Xiaoshou had never provoked a Saint Body before and was a bit apprehensive about them. But if it was just a verbal confrontation, he feared no one. "Your Saint Body doesn't look very impressive!" He stared at the cracks in the stone floor beneath Luo Yin's feet and chuckled, "That's it?"

"It wasn't done out of disdain, not an inability to do it." Luo Yin replied expressionlessly. He wanted to fight too, but before starting, he needed to ascertain the other party's background. "So, what kind of Saint Body is Young Master Xu? A descendant of a Half-Saint, and you haven't even heard of the great name of the Saha Saint Body?"

"Is your so-called Saint Body very famous?" Xu Xiaoshou raised an eyebrow, turned to look at Mu Zixi on the tree crown. "Do you know him?"

Mu Zixi blinked her big eyes, shook her head in confusion, and even spat out some tea leaves. She genuinely didn't know him.

Xu Xiaoshou then looked at Xiao Wanfeng. "Do *you* know him?"

"I have..." Xiao Wanfeng instinctively wanted to explain to Young Master Xu, lest he underestimate the person. But upon seeing Young Master Xu's suddenly cold expression, his heart skipped a beat, and he quickly changed his words: "I've heard of the 'See Through' Saint Body, but not the 'Speak Through' Saint Body."

"Pfft! See through, don't speak through?" Xu Xiaoshou was momentarily amused by Xiao Wanfeng. He hadn't expected the guy to be so cooperative and even manage to subtly insult Luo Yin. After that exchange, Xu Xiaoshou turned back to Luo Yin, a genuine, irrepressible smile on his face. He shrugged and said, "See? Out of tens of thousands of people in this whole arena, not a single one knows your Saint Body. And you still claim your Saint Body is famous?"

Luo Yin nearly vomited blood from sheer anger. Tens of thousands of people in the whole arena, and you only asked two people, both of whom are your own companions? Generalizing from a few specific cases, that's not how it works! But Luo Yin knew full well that the other party was doing this on purpose. If he dwelled on such a minor point, he would only put himself at a disadvantage.

However, he had truly underestimated the man opposite him. Xu Xiaoshou generally didn't offend people. But once he decided to offend someone, he would launch a relentless barrage of attacks, like cannons and chariots firing non-stop.

"So, your so-called 'Speak Through' Saint Body, it can really only *talk* the talk, huh? As for what it *shows*..." Xu Xiaoshou brought his thumb and forefinger together, making a tiny pinching gesture towards the cracks beneath Luo Yin's feet. "Tsk tsk, simply unbearable to look at!"

"Boo—" Booing erupted from the audience, and some even whistled. Even more, some immediately mimicked Young Master Xu's gesture of pinching the air, examining it closely before shaking their other hand as if to dismiss something.

"So tiny, so tiny..."

"Simply unbearable to look at!"

Luo Yin had never known what it felt like to be provoked, but at this moment, he felt that even the most cultivated person in the world wouldn't be able to hold back. Any person would make a similar decision to his! Therefore...

*Boom!*

With a tap of his toe, the ground exploded with a roar, and a crater twice as large as the one Xu Xiaoshou had just made appeared. This utterly shocked the audience. In an instant, the vast Skyfall Arena fell silent, not a single person daring to make a sound, all struck dumb with awe.

"How about that?" Luo Yin's eyes gleamed with light, and a sacred, precious radiance bloomed around his body. He looked like a god of war descending, full of vigor and pride.

However, Young Master Xu, under everyone's gaze, clutched his head as if he'd gone mad, his eyes wide with disbelief. Outsiders thought even Young Master Xu had been scared. But then the guy turned around and suddenly burst into thunderous laughter, slapping his thigh and bending over with mirth as he faced the people behind him.

"Look!"

"Is he a child? Is this what a Saint Body is?"

"He, he, he... He's actually comparing with me who can make a bigger crater? Wahahaha..."