CHAPTER 230: CHAPTER 148: TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT

"Oh, really?"

Ye Qingzhou held the Dragon Abyss sword, exuding an aura as imposing as a towering mountain standing on the ground.

His face showed no trace of emotion—neither joy nor anger— unaffected by his opponent’s words.

The calmer and more poised he appeared, the more Qin Haoyu and the others felt Ye Qingzhou was putting on a facade, trying to mystify them.

"Ye Qingzhou, this Phoenix Cup Competition, your journey ends here!"

"No matter how you pretend, you cannot hide the depletion of your physical strength and True Qi."

"We admit that your move just now was indeed powerful, being able to eliminate so many of us at once. But you’re still not a Martial Arts Master, and your Martial Arts True Qi will eventually be exhausted. Can you unleash such an attack a second time?"

Qin Haoyu and Lan Caidie assumed a stance of having "seen through him" and surrounded Ye Qingzhou again, now feeling victory was within their grasp.

Unexpectedly, Ye Qingzhou glanced around and smiled faintly, "Yes, I can."

Heart Sword Secret Technique, activate!

Invisible Sword, strike the body!

The Invisible Sword emanating from his mind gathered immense Spiritual Power, instantly reversing his essence, Qi, and spirit through Reverse Refining.

Refining Spirit and Transforming Qi, Qi Refining to Essence, at the moment the Heart Sword descended, Ye Qingzhou quickly replenished the physical strength and True Qi consumed in battle.

With Ye Qingzhou’s "battery" fully recharged, his formidable aura once again pressed down on all sides,

Qin Haoyu and Lan Caidie instantly appeared as if they’d seen a ghost, their eyes almost falling to the ground.

They had managed to deplete Ye Qingzhou’s True Qi entirely, yet he replenished it with a simple move?

Is this even reasonable!

Clearly, he’s using cheats, isn’t he!

"Your physical strength and True Qi have been restored?"

"Yes."

Ye Qingzhou replied calmly, and his Sword Heart had already locked onto all the enemies present.

Sensing the warning signals from their intuition, realizing they were locked onto, Qin Haoyu and Lan Caidie didn’t hesitate to turn and flee decisively.

Instead, it was Niu Taijie, the honest one, who stayed foolishly in place, readying his stance to fight Ye Qingzhou to the death.

Seeing his enemies fleeing, Ye Qingzhou immediately raised the Dragon Abyss and said coldly, "Since you have come, why not stay for your burial?"

Before his words faded, the Sword Qi River spanning heaven and earth reappeared, stretching across the sky, covering mountains and rivers.

With the momentum of a mighty wave, it once again swept forward irresistibly, obliterating all in its path.

Though Qin Haoyu and Lan Caidie desperately tried to escape with their lives, they were still swept by the Sword Qi and, along with Niu Taijie, turned into streaks of light, scattering away.

Ye Qingzhou then looked at the Golden Dragon and Liu Dingjian nearby, who were also contestants from the Star City team, but held no hostility. They had not participated in the assault.

Seeing Ye Qingzhou looking at them, the Golden Dragon’s eye twitched wildly, quickly putting on a smiley face, "We mean no harm, please don’t hurt the innocent."

Liu Dingjian glanced at the scene of carnage and said seriously to Ye Qingzhou, "Our goal, like the Golden Dragon, is to explore a Secret Realm within the Yanling Grotto Heaven, not to fight you. How about we keep the peace?"

"Whatever you find, I want half."

Ye Qingzhou didn’t take action but laid out his terms.

As a strong powerhouse, charging a protection fee and exploiting his rivals was entirely reasonable.

After all, if I don’t extort them, how will the world know I am invincible?

As for the demeanor of a strong person?

Laughable, can such things fill one’s stomach?

Moreover, in this world, who doesn’t seize what’s there when powerful?

The Path of Heaven, depletes the excess to make up for what is lacking.

The human path, takes from insufficient to serve the abundant.

Since we are human, we naturally follow the human path.

Liu Dingjian and the Golden Dragon almost choked on Ye Qingzhou’s words, but seeing his "take it or leave it" stance, they had no choice but to nod agreeingly at Ye Qingzhou’s "rude" demand.

Just consider it paying taxes!

After all, agreeing allows us to keep half.

Disagreeing means leaving now, with nothing in hand.

The choice is self-explanatory.

Ye Qingzhou turned and left, his silhouette quickly disappearing from their sight.

Only when that terrifying presence was no longer visible did the Golden Dragon curse openly, "Ye Qingzhou is too much, taking even the feathers off a bird, he has no manner, I despise him!"

Liu Dingjian gave the Golden Dragon a speechless glance, "Then why didn’t you speak up earlier?"

"Nonsense! Of course, because I didn’t dare!"

Golden Dragon with all righteousness, yet the words out of his mouth were utterly cowardly.

He then let out a sigh, looking unwilling, "What to do? Do we really have to pay this ’Qingzhou tax’?"

Liu Dingjian only asked, "Can you defeat him?"

"No."

"Isn’t the answer obvious then?"

Liu Dingjian didn’t think there was anything wrong with this approach since the Martial Arts Families have done the same countless times before.

Powerful people can act as they please without reason, unless they can’t beat you.

The Golden Dragon, however, stomped his foot in anger, grumbling, "Once I achieve Great Success with my Divine Skill, I’ll collect ’Golden Dragon tax’ from Ye Qingzhou! And if he dares to refuse, I’ll beat him into a pulp."

After letting off steam with curses, the two were preparing to leave.

At that moment, Qin Haoyu and Lan Caidie, whom had turned into streams of light and vanished, appeared mysteriously again, startling the Golden Dragon.