A bout with Liu Zhi-so long as he showed strength worth noting, his purpose would be served. At the same time he could probe the depth of Liu Zhi's power and gauge his own true level. Three gains from a single move. Why not?

His mind made up, Tang Yan said evenly, "You want a fight? Then this Tang will oblige."

"Yan'er..." Old Master Tang rose, meaning to stop him.

"Old Master, let him go. His strength is greater than you imagine." Just as Tang Ling burned with worry, Zi Yun's voice reached his ear.

As the Third Miss of Purple Bamboo City, Zi Yun carried weight Old Master Tang did not doubt. He swallowed the words of protest, turned his head toward her, and met a reassuring look. Only then did he settle back into his seat, every nerve drawn taut as he fixed his eyes on the arena.

"Hm?" Lin Xiao felt a faint stir within. After all his years he had read countless people, and he trusted that he would not misjudge a man. Tang Yan was no reckless youth blind to his own limits-yet at Yellow Rank Sixth Grade, what was he leaning on to challenge Liu Zhi?

"Brother Tang has nerve. I admire it." Liu Zhi stepped out from the Liu Family seats, took two quick running strides, kicked off hard, and with one fluid sweep of motion landed on the arena, coming to stand opposite Tang Yan.

"The match begins!"

Once both had readied themselves, Lin Xiao gave the order.

Liu Zhi seized the first move. With a flick of the long spear in his hand, he thrust at Tang Yan.

Tang Yan felt himself locked down like prey beneath a starving wolf, and the fine hairs on his body stood on end. The spear came whistling through the air, as if it carried the force to pierce through anything at all.

He drew a deep breath and did not dodge. Under the astonished eyes of the crowd, he strode forward, choosing to meet force with force.

Clang!

Thud, thud!

Tang Yan staggered back two full steps, the web of his hand gone numb, his Qi and blood churning.

Liu Zhi, by contrast, had not budged so much as a hair. The gulf between them was plain at once.

With the strike landed, Liu Zhi did not let up. The long spear tore through the air again, sharp and unstoppable, aimed straight at Tang Yan's throat.

Cries of alarm rose around the arena. Old Master Tang's hand clenched hard-a sharp crack sounded, and the porcelain cup in his grip shattered.

Tang Yan was not the least bit flustered. That brutal clash had told him roughly how much force Liu Zhi held.

Phantom Step unfurled in an instant. His body slid aside along a path that defied all reason.

"He dodged it!" A gasp swept through the crowd.

Slipping past the spear, Tang Yan rode Phantom Step and swept his longsword down at Liu Zhi.

Two exchanges later, he turned defense into attack.

The Drifting Cloud Sword unfolded in full. The sword pressure flowed without a gap, sealing every escape like a net cast over heaven and earth, bearing down on Liu Zhi from all sides.

Ding, ding, clang-the rapid ring of clashing metal rose, and in the blink of an eye three more exchanges had passed.

Liu Zhi felt a knot of frustration in his chest. He had thought to put Tang Yan down within a few moves, yet the brat was as slippery as a loach, and he had gained nothing for his trouble.

What galled him more was the cunning angle of the fellow's attacks. Every spot he chose struck at the weak seams of Liu Zhi's own forms.

The longer Liu Zhi fought, the more uneasy he grew-and the longer the onlookers watched, the more uneasy they grew as well.

None more so than the Qian Family brothers, Qian Rulong and Qian Shenghu. Remembering how, back at the City Lord's Manor, they had actually meant to fight Tang Yan to the death, a chill of lingering dread crept over them. Had they truly thrown caution aside that day, they would have gained nothing-and likely earned themselves a sound thrashing besides.

Though Liu Zhi held the upper hand throughout, he had dealt Tang Yan no real wound. In less than a quarter-hour, nineteen exchanges had burned away in the fierce trading of blows.

"Young Master Liu, we're nearly at twenty moves." Tang Yan flashed a sly grin and offered the "kindly" reminder.

The words struck home. Liu Zhi's heart clenched, and he half regretted the vow he had made earlier. If he could not finish his opponent in the next move, the Liu Family would truly lose face this time.

A forceful press drove Tang Yan back. Liu Zhi's voice turned cold. "Not bad at all. I thought Eighth Grade would be enough for you-I never expected to have to draw on my true strength.

One last move. Let it end here."

The words had scarcely fallen when Tang Yan felt the aura around Liu Zhi surge sharply.

Yellow Rank Ninth Grade!

Tang Yan's heart gave a slight jolt. Just as he had guessed-the fellow had been hiding his true cultivation.

When he had sparred with Zi Yun before, she had not used her full power, yet even so she had pressed him down with the force of Yellow Rank Ninth Grade.

Now he faced a Liu Zhi with killing intent laid bare-a danger sharper by several degrees.

"Die!" Liu Zhi roared, his long spear darting like a dragon straight for Tang Yan's heart.

The thrust came with the force to sweep all before it, heavy as a thunderclap and swift beyond measure.

A thread of True Qi, faintly on the verge of taking solid form, coiled about the spear's point.

A tremor ran through every heart. Truly the foremost of Yun City-such peerless talent lay far beyond what ordinary men could reach. Against strength so overwhelming, Tang Yan would surely find it hard to escape this blow.

The onlookers sighed as one. It seemed the reversal they hoped for, the weak overturning the strong, would not come to pass.

As the perilous aura bore down, Tang Yan dared not grow careless. The Heaven and Earth Creation Flame within him hid no longer-a wisp of deep blue fire flared suddenly into the air.

The air around the flame warped faintly as the tiny spark swelled, palm-sized now, gathering before Tang Yan.

The blue flame danced without a sound, eerie and resplendent.

Yet none of them could sense the terrible power held within that fire. They could only watch in curiosity to see how Tang Yan would answer the blow.

"Go!"

Tang Yan loosed a roar, drained every last drop of strength from his body, and pushed the ball of fire forward.

Bang! The instant the flame met the spear tip, a muffled boom rang out.

The arena, solid as it had been, shook under the violent clash of force; the stone slabs at its base crumbled to powder, and dust filled the air.

The dust drifted slowly away, and through the haze a single figure could be seen standing on the platform.

The crowd widened their eyes and craned their necks. When they made out that the one still standing was Liu Zhi, the same look of as-expected settled over their faces all at once.

But a moment later, those expressions froze.

As the dust thinned further, a second figure stood revealed, upright and unbowed.

"It's Tang Yan!" someone in the crowd cried out.

"This... how is this possible? Yellow Rank Sixth Grade, yet he held against a full-power strike from the Ninth!" Disbelief filled every pair of eyes.

A single grade stood between men like a mountain, yet Tang Yan had spanned three at once and weathered Liu Zhi's full-strength blow by sheer will.

Tang Yan looked the worse for wear now, but there was still spirit left in him.

He bared his teeth at Liu Zhi in a grin. "Sorry about that. Twenty moves have come and gone."

A cold glint flashed in Liu Zhi's eyes. A mere Yellow Rank Sixth Grade had lasted twenty moves under his hand-and the Liu Family's face had been broken once, in his own grip.

Again he regretted it. Had he known, he would never have hidden his strength from the start.

Looking at Tang Yan, that grin spread across his face, killing intent flickered through Liu Zhi's heart.

Then, all at once, Liu Zhi felt a strange power fix upon him. He turned his head-and caught City Lord Lin Xiao sweeping him with a glance so faint it might not have been there at all. The terrible aura vanished the next instant, and cold sweat broke out across Liu Zhi's back.

Before the City Lord's very eyes, he truly did not dare lift a hand against Tang Yan.