The Zongheng Shengqi Technique was taught by Su Fan.
Zhang Tiannan didn't know Su Yutong's strength, but at this moment, he could feel the terrifying aura emanating from Su Yutong, an aura that a Yaoguang realm martial artist could not possibly unleash!
"An illusion! It must be an illusion!"
Zhang Tiannan refused to believe that there were any more powerful martial artists in the common folk than himself. Impossible!
How could common folk martial artists, lacking resources, grow so quickly!
He wouldn't believe Su Yutong was stronger than him. It had to be some trickery on Su Yutong's part to confuse the enemy. As long as he didn't believe it and held firm to his own convictions, he wouldn't be deceived!
"Die!"
Regardless of what trickery Su Yutong had employed, Zhang Tiannan knew that the true strength would be revealed once they fought.
Su Yutong, following Su Fan's teachings, intently watched Zhang Tiannan's movements. She found that Zhang Tiannan's actions appeared incredibly slow to her, even slower than before.
Seeing that Su Yutong hadn't moved at all, Zhang Tiannan sneered dismissively. She couldn't even see his movements clearly, let alone react in time. It was all an act!
As Zhang Tiannan reached her, he threw a punch.
Zhang Tiannan didn't even see how Su Yutong had moved. In an instant, he was sent flying as if hit by a train.
Blood sprayed from his mouth, arcing through the air.
Boom!
Zhang Tiannan flew out of the ring and crashed into the spectator stands.
The spectators around Zhang Tiannan wet themselves.
"Damn it, I didn't even have time to move, and it's happening again?"
Zhang Tiannan didn't lose consciousness. Blood trickled from his lips, and his face was filled with disbelief.
He simply couldn't comprehend how he had lost so decisively, so quickly, without even seeing his opponent's move.
"I... I..."
Zhang Tiannan opened his mouth, wanting to utter the words "I am not convinced," but they wouldn't come out.
He was convinced!
Xiao Lan finally understood why Su Yutong had given him such a formidable impression.
This strength was even more terrifying than Su Fan's previous power!
"I surrender!"
Xiao Lan announced his surrender without any hesitation.
Only two people remained on the stage: Su Yutong and another lucky individual who, thanks to Su Yutong, had advanced to the next round in the first match.
"I... I surrender too."
He had wanted to surrender for a long time. None of the people on the stage were opponents he could handle. He just hadn't had a chance to speak. Now that it was just him and Su Yutong, he didn't want to end up injured like Zhang Tiannan.
"I announce that the champion of this year's Youth Martial Artist Exchange Competition is Su Yutong from Xincheng!"
The host immediately declared Su Yutong the champion.
Su Yutong's face lit up with joy.
She leaped off the stage and excitedly threw herself into Su Fan's arms.
"I'm the champion! Did you hear me? I'm the champion!"
Su Yutong, like a child, showed off to Su Fan.
The spectators in the stands, seeing Su Yutong embrace a man, felt something shatter within them.
"Goddess, sob! My goddess!"
"Wow! My heart aches!"
"I feel like my hard-earned wild rose has been trampled by a pig..."
"Don't be sad yet, everyone. Maybe that's her brother-in-law? Don't let your eyes deceive you."
Some were still struggling, refusing to believe that Su Yutong was already taken.
Mwah!
Excitedly, Su Yutong planted a kiss on Su Fan's cheek.
Su Fan, of course, wouldn't let her off easily. In front of everyone, he kissed Su Yutong's red lips.
"Mmm~"
Su Yutong let out a soft moan, and then her entire body went limp, allowing Su Fan to do as he pleased.
Crack!
Su Fan seemed to hear the sound of many things breaking from the crowd.
He released Su Yutong and looked around with a puzzled expression.
He noticed that the audience was looking at them with heartbroken expressions, and at him with gritted teeth.
"What did I do? Why are they looking at me like that?"
Su Fan was utterly confused.
As a woman, Su Yutong understood what the people around them meant.
"Hehe, let's go home," Su Yutong said to Su Fan with a playful smile.
"Don't you want your reward?" Su Fan asked.
"It's from you anyway. You can send it to me at home later."
Su Yutong knew it was sponsored by the Martial Alliance and said indifferently.
The reward was ultimately up to Su Fan anyway.
Su Fan thought it made sense.
"Alright then, let's go home."
The first Youth Martial Artist Exchange Competition saw its champion absent from the award ceremony, a first and likely a last.
After returning home, Su Fan pondered how to explain things to Su Yutong.
After this trip to the capital, Su Fan and Su Yutong were officially living together.
But Su Fan still had to enter the game at night. What if Su Yutong discovered something unusual?
"Um, Yutong, I'm a very deep sleeper. If anything unusual happens at night, don't be scared, okay?"
Su Fan felt it was necessary to give Su Yutong a heads-up to avoid any misunderstandings.
"How deep?" Su Yutong asked curiously.
"Well, if I fall asleep, you can hit me or scold me, and I won't wake up. I'll only wake up when I've had enough sleep. Just don't be scared then."
Su Fan simply gave Su Yutong a preemptive warning. This way, if she discovered that he couldn't be woken up at night, she would be mentally prepared.
"Really?" Su Yutong expressed disbelief.
Who could sleep so deeply that they couldn't be woken up?
It wasn't until nightfall that Su Yutong truly understood what Su Fan meant by "unwakenable."
Su Yutong pinched Su Fan's nose. For several seconds, there was no reaction. Su Fan's face turned red from lack of air, scaring her into quickly releasing her grip.
Su Yutong patted Su Fan's face. Su Fan was like a corpse, completely unresponsive.
Su Yutong was now completely convinced of Su Fan's words. He truly slept like the dead, or rather, he slept so deeply he wouldn't even know if he died.
Su Yutong felt that in the future, she would need to protect Su Fan's safety at night. If enemies attacked him in his sleep, wouldn't he die without even knowing it?
Su Yutong kissed Su Fan on the cheek and comfortably lay in his arms, falling asleep.
...
In the game.
Su Fan woke up in the game. The sun was already high in the sky.
Su Fan had lost some time in reality, and it was already close to noon.
He calculated the time and figured Cheng Yaoyin and the others should be nearing Tianlong City by now.
Su Fan immediately teleported back to Tianlong City and went to the forest they had agreed upon to wait.
By the time the sun was directly overhead, Su Fan saw Cheng Yaoyin and his group.
Cheng Yaoyin and his group looked somewhat disheveled. Several of the dozen or so soldiers who had accompanied them had been lost.
One of the prison carts was empty.
"What happened?"
Su Fan frowned and walked towards them, asking with concern.
Su Fan carefully checked the numbers. Fortunately, Cheng Yaoyin and the others were unharmed.
"We were ambushed on the road. Fang Shijie was taken by them."
Cheng Yaoyin apologized to Su Fan with some shame.
He felt very apologetic for failing to complete the task Su Fan had assigned.
Su Fan then noticed that the empty prison cart belonged to Fang Shijie. Only Cao Yuanqing and Xu Tian remained; Fang Shijie was gone.
"It's alright, as long as you are all safe."
Su Fan wasn't overly concerned. If Fang Shijie escaped, so be it. As long as Cheng Yaoyin and the others were safe, that was enough.
After all, his mission was complete. Capturing Fang Shijie was the emperor's responsibility.
"Let's go. You must have had a hard journey. Let's head into the city first."
Su Fan didn't overthink it. He first arranged for Cheng Yaoyin and his group to enter the city and rest, as they had endured a difficult journey.