Chapter 1160: Flame Flowers Never Fade

In the stands belonging to the Chu Kingdom.

Chu Yuzhi, a military man, sighed deeply.

Although he too was defeated by Xiang Bei and had been frequently treated with contempt and humiliation by the arrogant fellow, he still hoped that the Chu Kingdom's prodigy would emerge victorious on the Guanhe Platform.

Even someone as strong as Dou Zhao failing to take the top spot had already broken the hearts of the Chu people. How much more so to be stopped in the inner palace competition at the top eight?

However, in this match, he couldn't find any excuse to justify it. Xiang Bei was genuinely outmatched.

His initial setback, the severe restriction on his twin pupils, and the inability to use his strongest soul-killing techniques were significant reasons for Xiang Bei's defeat.

Yet, for Xiang Bei, who was born with the twin pupil anomaly and was renowned for his powerful soul-killing techniques, to be defeated in a soul-level confrontation was enough to illustrate the terrifying nature of his opponent.

The lineup of the Qi Kingdom this year... truly shocking!

Sitting next to Chu Yuzhi, Qu Shunhua, who had only arrived at the viewing area halfway through the previous battle, wore a placid expression.

Since she had chosen to conceal her strength during the domestic trials, she hadn't held much expectation for the outcome of this match at the Yellow River Meeting.

Only Zuo Guangshu, who had been reluctantly dragged along by Qu Shunhua to watch the ceremony, was staring intently at the training ground, momentarily stunned.

He naturally understood the meaning of the seemingly inexplicable words Jiang Wang had spoken on the platform.

He certainly remembered what Jiang Wang had said after he had roughly recounted Xiang Bei's story in the Grand Virtual Realm.

The person had said at that time—

"I'll help you teach him a lesson later!"

It had sounded frivolous, like coaxing a child.

He had scoffed at the time...

After defeating him, Xiang Bei had once said, "Three regrets: that Zuo Guanglie died early. Regret the decline of the renowned Zuo clan, and regret that the world no longer sees the Flame Flower." This was to mock the Zuo clan's lack of successors and to say that Zuo Guangshu was nothing special.

And now, in front of the world, Jiang Wang had pressed the Flame Flower onto Xiang Bei's face, telling him that the Flame Flower had never withered.

After seeing Jiang Wang in the real world today, Zuo Guangshu had originally intended to seize an opportunity to tease him. Why was the unparalleled Inner Palace in the Grand Virtual Realm, Dugu Wudi, so vain as to be fixated on appearances, making his image in the Grand Virtual Realm so handsome, completely unlike his real self?

But at this moment, he felt only...

That image in the Grand Virtual Realm was merely passable.

The Jiang Wang at this moment was truly breathtakingly radiant.

And so warm... like the sun.

"What's wrong?" Qu Shunhua noticed Zuo Guangshu's peculiarity and asked.

Zuo Guangshu didn't shift his gaze, only murmured, "Very alike, aren't they?"

"What's very alike?"

After this question was subconsciously uttered, Qu Shunhua already knew the answer.

She also looked at the training ground, but said nothing further, merely squeezing Zuo Guangshu's hand tighter.

The battle between the prodigies of the two great overlord nations, Qi and Chu, thus ended with a clear victor.

Only Jiang Qingyang, who descended stepping on clouds, still possessed a serene gaze and a composed gait.

As if he had never changed, as if nothing could change him.

In this situation, at this moment, such an upright figure in green robes with a sword seemed to radiate brilliant light.

Huang Shelian, who was semi-squatting on the adjacent training ground, watching the match with her hand propping her cheek and in a relaxed posture, couldn't help but be momentarily stunned.

Behind her was Chumian, whose hands and feet had been broken, three puppets shattered, and two exotic beasts killed.

She had originally planned to finish her match quickly and come to watch this Qi Kingdom's Jiang Wang make a fool of himself.

This person wasn't handsome enough, yet he dared to steal her Huang Shelian's thunder, dared to snatch the attention of two great beauties, and even provoked her... simply outrageous!

Of course, the former problem was more serious than the latter two.

But...

She blinked.

Why did he look so... surprisingly good-looking now?

Some people are beautiful in appearance, some in bone structure, and some in spirit.

She suddenly recalled that this prodigy named Jiang Wang, when sitting with the peerlessly graceful Ji Zhaonan and the stunningly brilliant Chong Xuanzun, had never seemed out of place, never overshadowed.

He had always possessed his unique demeanor.

It was just that she, Huang, had been captivated by the sight of the peerless beauties and had therefore overlooked it.

Sigh, actually, stealing the limelight is understandable. It's the Yellow River Meeting, after all. Who doesn't want to display their prowess in front of others?

As for provocation... everyone is young, it's natural to have some temper. Misunderstandings can be resolved through discussion, why hold grudges?

She was about to stand up.

Suddenly, she heard a loud shout—

"Jiang Qingyang!!!"

The voice was high-pitched, even heartbreakingly so.

The atmosphere was completely ruined...

Huang Shelian turned her head in anger and saw, in the viewing area on the Qi Kingdom's side, a man with an unusually high forehead, his face flushed, raising his arms and shouting incessantly: "Jiang Qingyang! Jiang Qingyang! Jiang Qingyang!"

Did he never win before?!

As for Huang Shelian's fierce gaze...

Xu Gao'e didn't see it at all.

Too many people were looking at him in the entire World Platform at that moment. Was he, the other prodigy of Ganshan, supposed to pay attention to each and every one of them?

A precious sword is naturally pursued by the world, and exotic flowers bloom naturally throughout the garden!

Therefore, he merely cupped his hands in a salute, "I, Xu Xiangqian, the other prodigy of Ganshan, offer my respects!"

Many people from other countries furrowed their brows in confusion.

Do you think we're greeting you?

Some hot-tempered individuals rolled up their sleeves, ready to get up.

Then they saw the high-foreheaded man smiling and saying, "The so-called prodigies of Ganshan are precisely Jiang Qingyang and I, Xu Xiangqian. My Qingyang has just shown a little of his skill, please excuse it, excuse it."

Many people were instantly silent.

The great Chu prodigy Xiang Bei had shattered the Yue Kingdom's prodigy Bai Yuxia with three punches and could forcibly enter his opponent's Heavenly Palace while in the Inner Palace realm. Such a top prodigy had lost cleanly and decisively to Jiang Wang.

From the battle of souls to the external combat, it was a complete defeat.

This fellow being as famous as Jiang Qingyang must mean he's not weak either...

Among the highest-ranking individuals in the entire World Platform, none would bother to fuss over the shouts of excitement from the younger generation.

Some powerful cultivators who could easily teach Xu Xiangqian a lesson were generally willing to give Grand Confucian Mo Ya face.

The younger generation who didn't know Xu Xiangqian's background were inevitably wary of him because of Jiang Wang.

Therefore, after Xu Xiangqian's cupped-hand salute, a few people even smiled and returned the gesture.

Most people silently withdrew their gazes, treating it as a sparrow's chirping.

However, Jiang Wang himself, on the training ground, was a little surprised.

Who is supposed to be mentioned alongside you? I remember just laughing it off and skipping that part, right?

Even if we had to be mentioned together, it didn't have to be "Ganshan"!

That's a graveyard, it's unlucky, Brother Gao'e!

But having just won a spot in the top four and being the focus of attention, he couldn't just ignore everything else and specifically emphasize this point.

He could only maintain his smile as much as possible, pretending not to have heard.

His face was full of "I don't know," "It wasn't me," and "Nothing happened."

After Xu Xiangqian cupped his hands and sat down, he found that within three zhang around him, there was no one left.

Li Longchuan, Chong Xuansheng, and the like were looking at the sky, looking at the ground.

Yan Fu was turning his head to the other side, whispering something to Wen Tinglan. Their flirting was quite annoying. That was only because he was "Brother Yan," if it were someone else acting like this, he, Xu Xiangqian, would definitely cause a scene.

Looking back at Senior Sister Zhao...

Senior Sister Zhao also pulled Miss Zishu and sat far away.

Xu Xiangqian shook his head and sighed. These friends had such poor psychological resilience.

"Let me bear this attention alone."

He said this in a low voice, straightened his back even more, and lifted his head higher.

Of course, his forehead also appeared brighter.