Warrior's Promise

"Exactly! I'm out to give you a good beating!" Sikong Yan nodded heavily. He did not deny it for it was obvious anyway.

"You are an all-time talent, a once-in-ten-thousand-years genius on the List. Would you be so cowardly as to back down from this challenge?" Sikong Yan scoffed.

"There is no need to goad me into action. I'll let you have this opportunity!" Su Mo laughed and strode toward the square.

The crowd stirred. Su Mo had accepted the challenge!

There was clearly bad blood between Sikong Yan and Su Mo. If he couldn't defeat Sikong Yan, would Sikong Yan beat him to death?

The crowd started to look forward to the match.

Huangfu Qing glanced at Su Mo and was surprised to see that Su Mo was so calm.

This disciple had surpassed his expectations by remaining unruffled in the fact of praise or insult. He was very satisfied with Su Mo's performance.

He could only hope that Su Mo had enough sense to make the right choice when the time came!

If not, Su Mo would only be treading down the path of his 3rd and 4th senior brother and sister.

Qian Xunyue's eyes were as clear as water. Given Su Mo's confidence, she would like to see how he would be able to defeat Sikong Yan.

"Ha Ha Ha!" Sikong Yan burst out laughing when he saw Su Mo rising to meet his challenge. A mocking smile spread across his face and he said, "How brave you are! You might be my enemy, but I respect you for your bravery!"

For Su Mo to agree to his challenge even after witnessing his strength showed how incredibly brave he was.

"Do I need to be brave to torture someone else?" Su Mo asked, his face full of smiles as he came to stand before Sikong Yan.

"Torture someone?" Sikong Yan scoffed. "Do you actually you can beat me based on your puny strength? You'll be the one getting tortured instead!"

Sikong Yan was extremely confident. Su Mo might be an all-time talent and his cultivation had soared rapidly, but if Su Mo hoped to beat him when he was 3 levels above him, this was simply unheard of.

He was very sure of his own abilities and knew that it was sufficient to challenge the top 20 on the List. If Su Mo had been of Lv 6 True Darkness Realm, he might have stood a chance against him.

However, Lv 4 True Darkness Realm was nothing to Sikong Yan.

"Sikong Yan, you still have yet to formally acknowledge me as your master!" Su Mo scoffed and said mockingly, "Are you about to bully your future master and go against the teachings of your ancestors?"

The crowd was stunned by Su Mo's words, unable to wrap their heads around it.

Sikong Yan to acknowledge Su Mo as his master?

What a joke!

This was completely out of the question!

The smile was wiped from Sikong Yan's face when he heard Su Mo's words and all the resentment he had been holding in exploded.

Acknowledge Su Mo as his teacher?

As a top 50 talent on the List, and a fire spiritual body that was only seen once every thousand years, how could he acknowledge Su Mo as his master?

This was the greatest insult to him!

"Over my dead body!" Sikong Yan roared. He immediately attacked, not wanting to waste any more time.

He punched out and a dazzling fiery radiance shot toward the sky. The scorching fiery fist radiance turned into a divine glow that streaked across the sky and headed straight for Su Mo.

Su Mo stopped smiling and his face turned serious. Sikong Yan's punch was indeed powerful.

"Destroy!" Su Mo shouted, the Sky-crushing Sword in his hand swirling with four-colored sword radiance. He slashed out viciously to meet the oncoming fist radiance.

Boom!

There was a loud, earth-shattering explosion as the sword radiance collided against the fist radiance. The fist radiance instantly broke apart.

Su Mo was thrown back hundreds of meters by the large recoil.

"He's good!" Su Mo thought to himself. Sikong Yan's blow had disrupted his Qi blood flow and almost caused him to sustain internal injuries.

Moreover, his fist radiance contained incredible fire property power. He might have been enveloped within his Body-protection Dark Force, but even so, his sleeve had been burnt to nothingness.

"Ha Ha! Su Mo, is that all you've got?" Sikong Yan laughed heartily. Another mighty fist radiance headed rapidly toward Su Mo.

"Slash!" Su Mo hurriedly slashed out. A dazzling four-colored sword radiance shot to the sky, sharp and piercing, and once again collided against the fiery fist radiance.

Boom!

There was another explosion and Su Mo was knocked back yet again, his whole body numb.

"I knew Su Mo was not Sikong Yan's match!"

"If Su Mo doesn't have a strong hidden card, he would not last more than a couple of moves!"

"Even if Su Mo loses this battle, it is an amazing achievement in itself for him to withstand a few blows from Sikong Yan!"

Excited chatter could be heard from the crowd.

"Su Mo, how about it? Do you admit defeat?" Sikong Yan beamed. He temporarily stopped his attacks since he clearly had the upper hand at the moment. He wanted to take a good look of the despair on Su Mo's face.

However, he was greatly disappointed!

Su Mo remained completely calm, with no trace of surprise at all!

"Sikong Yan, I hope you will be able to hold out for more than twelve breaths when I attack!" Su Mo took a deep breath and said coldly.

"What?" Sikong Yan was stunned. Then he looked at Su Mo as if he was a fool.

How dare Su Mo state that he might not be able to hold out for more than twelve breaths!

This had to be a joke!

Similarly, the crowd reacted with confusion to Su Mo's words.

"Damn it, what nonsense is he spouting?"

"Does he have a super strong hidden card?"

"He is obviously weaker than Sikong Yan. An ordinary hidden card would not be able to turn the situation around!"

The crowd chattered excitedly.

Over at the Celestialspirit Sect pavilion, many people frowned when they heard Su Mo's words. He was just too arrogant!

Even if he had an incredibly strong hidden card, he would not be able to defeat Sikong Yan in twelve breaths.

A contemplative glint appeared in Huangfu Qing's eyes.

12 breaths?

Unlike the others, Huangfu Qing did not think that Su Mo was exaggerating. He perceptively pinpointed the critical message behind Su Mo's words.

Why 12 breaths?

If he was just simply describing time, most people would describe time in whole numbers, either stating 10 or 20 breaths. Very few would say 12 breaths!

"He's got quite a few secrets." Huangfu Qing smiled.

"Su Mo, have you gone mad?" Sikong Yan said condescendingly. Even the top 20 on the List might not be able to defeat him in 12 breaths, let alone Su Mo.

"Take this!" Su Mo could not be bothered to engage Sikong Yan in conversation. He instantly merged the earth and gold property Dark Force in his body, and his four-colored Dark Force became three-colored.

A massively overwhelming aura burst forth from Su Mo and the clouds above him broke apart on contact.

"Slash!" Su Mo immediately slashed out after completing the merge.

He could only do this for a limited time and had to defeat Sikong Yan within 12 breaths. Otherwise, he would need to separate the merged properties after the time was up.

He could merge them again thereafter, but he had to take a small break in between each time.

When exchanging blows with an expert, every sign of weakness could fatal. This break he had to take was a massive sign of weakness. If Sikong Yan managed to grasp it, he would be in grave danger.

Therefore, he had to end this battle within 12 breaths!