"Li Bai!" Li Bai clasped his fists, "I concede!"
"Conceded!"
As the two finished speaking, they collided instantly.
"Pa!" Both unleashed their palms, energy surging outwards, whipping up a gust of wind that caused the front-row spectators below the stage to instinctively step back.
Faint wisps of dark energy circulated around Li Bai. Ye Bufan squinted, noticing a translucent figure appear behind Li Bai that ordinary people couldn't see.
"Hmm? A ghost cultivator?" Ye Bufan's heart leaped. The figure behind Li Bai also turned its head to look at Ye Bufan. This figure wore a black robe, obscuring its features from Ye Bufan's view.
The ghost cultivator turned its gaze towards Ye Bufan, revealing a mouth that twisted into a sinister grin.
At this moment, Su Yuan Can's body began to sway, leaving afterimages to his left and right.
This state was somewhat reminiscent of being drunk, and simultaneously, Su Yuan Can's power gradually grew significantly, slowly overpowering Li Bai.
Next, the translucent figure gently pushed against Li Bai, causing the energy around Li Bai to surge considerably.
"Huh?" Su Yuan Can hadn't expected Li Bai to still possess enough residual strength to contend with him.
Li Bai gave an eerie smile, the bloodshot veins in his eyes becoming clearly visible. With a "哼" sound, his energy suddenly intensified, sending Su Yuan Can flying back several meters. Su Yuan Can lightly tapped the ground with one foot, leaping into the air, completing a half-revolution, and launched another punch towards Li Bai.
Accompanying Su Yuan Can's punch, the sound of air being rent apart grew stronger and stronger, a continuous barrage. Ye Bufan immediately recognized that Su Yuan Can was accumulating power for this single strike.
Li Bai twisted his head to the side and shot upwards, directly confronting Su Yuan Can's palm.
"Bang—" Another deafening explosion, energy reverberating outwards, eliciting gasps from the surrounding crowd.
"This Li Bai must have encountered some fortuitous encounter. A year ago, he was merely an advanced martial artist, and in a year, he not only became a Martial Venerable but is now capable of contending with Su Yuan Can, who is at the peak of the Martial Venerable realm!" The martial artist named Zhao Yang, whom Li Bai had defeated earlier, exclaimed in astonishment.
"He moved!" someone shouted.
Li Bai moved. After unleashing a palm strike, he slowly extended his other hand. Su Yuan Can's composure faltered. He pulled back and leaped into the air. In the next instant, Li Bai appeared beside him.
"Down you go!" Li Bai cackled. Su Yuan Can felt a sharp pain in his abdomen as he was sent plummeting downwards at extreme speed.
"Boom—"
Su Yuan Can crashed heavily onto the martial stage, gouging out a deep pit.
Everyone present cried out in shock. Su Yuan Can didn't linger. Before anyone could fully react, he launched himself from the ground once more.
"Attack his lower body!" Su Yuan Can feigned an attack, aiming for Li Bai's lower half. Li Bai, alarmed, retreated backward.
Su Yuan Can didn't press his advantage but returned to the ground. Li Bai reappeared on the martial stage. Su Yuan Can left an afterimage in his original position and appeared beside Li Bai.
"I win." Su Yuan Can smiled confidently, preparing to finish Li Bai with a single move.
In the next second, Li Bai vanished from his spot and reappeared above Su Yuan Can, stomping down heavily on Su Yuan Can's shoulder, embedding him into the ground.
Li Bai's eyes turned bloodshot as he leaped from Su Yuan Can's body again. Finally, with a powerful downward stomp, he channeled all his internal energy into his foot.
"Not good!" Ji Feiyang cried out sharply, realizing Li Bai intended to kill.
Ji Feiyang soared forward, but it was too late. Li Bai's foot was about to strike Su Yuan Can's celestial gate.
Even the referee on the stage couldn't intervene in time.
"Die!" Li Bai smirked confidently.
Just as everyone believed Su Yuan Can was about to meet his end, Li Bai felt a force from beneath his foot. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't press down any further.
"It's you!" Li Bai turned his head towards Ye Bufan.
Ye Bufan shrugged. Chu Chu and Wang Xinyan on the side had covered their eyes, but seeing no movement for a long time, they slowly lowered their hands.
Beneath Li Bai's foot, an invisible barrier was blocking his strike.
Chu Mengyao turned to look at Ye Bufan and instinctively said, "Be careful." Ye Bufan felt a pang of emotion, glanced back at Chu Mengyao, and then leaped onto the martial stage.
"Rise!" Ye Bufan uttered softly, forming a hand seal. He gently lifted his hand upwards, and the barrier instantly sent Li Bai flying.
Li Bai was tossed into the air, flipped, and finally landed on the ground.
Ji Feiyang glanced at Ye Bufan, particularly startled by the advanced level of Ye Bufan's energy.
"Isn't that the person who just fought Nangong Yi?" a disciple from the Tianxing Martial Hall exclaimed from the crowd.
"He's not an advanced martial artist, he's a Martial Venerable!"
This statement instantly ignited the entire venue. All eyes fixed on Ye Bufan, especially those who had witnessed his fight with Nangong Yi. They were aghast. Such a young Martial Venerable was unheard of. After all, Nangong Yi, the top-ranked individual on the Martial Venerable preparatory list, was still undergoing breakthroughs in the indoor training grounds.
"No wonder he wasn't on the Martial Venerable preparatory list; he was already a Martial Venerable," Wu Cheng, who was guarding Nangong Yi, said with a sigh as he observed the commotion from afar at the martial arts tournament training grounds.
Wu Cheng glanced back at Nangong Yi and sighed, "Perhaps this is a good thing for you."
"Such a young Martial Venerable!" A wave of shock swept through the entire martial arts tournament arena.
"Him! Isn't that Ye Bufan from the Chu family?" someone else called out.
"Yes! It's him! No wonder the Yang family eventually fell; they must have angered a Martial Venerable, and such a young one at that."
"My heavens, our Great Xia is going to be famous! With such a young Martial Venerable, Great Xia is about to rise."
Ye Bufan listened to the discussions with a wry smile. Ji Feiyang stood beside him and said, "Enjoy this feeling. Your path has just begun after gaining fame at the martial arts tournament."
"Let's deal with the current situation first," Ye Bufan replied.
"Li Bai, what grievance do you have with Su Yuan Can to resort to such lethal force?" Ji Feiyang questioned Li Bai.
"On the martial stage, life and death are determined by fate; isn't that normal?" Li Bai retorted.
Ji Feiyang's brow furrowed, finding Li Bai's behavior unusual, his aura becoming increasingly malevolent.
Ye Bufan's gaze remained fixed on the indistinct, flickering figure behind Li Bai, which was also observing Ye Bufan.