# Chapter 31: Seizing the Spirit of Heaven and Earth
Bang!
The cold-faced young man landed heavily on the arena floor, and in an instant, the entire stage trembled as the floorboards cracked apart.
"Senior Brother Ye Mo." Jian Meng'er looked up at the newcomer. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Junior Sister." Ye Mo glanced at Jian Meng'er. "Today, Master and I came here to witness you display your brilliance and assume the position of Master of the Sword Pavilion. Never did we expect that what we would see instead was you being humiliated like this in this contest. Master's status is lofty and his position transcendent—naturally, he disdains to act personally. But as your senior brother, I cannot pretend that I have seen nothing."
With that, Ye Mo shifted his gaze to Jian Wushuang and said in a low voice, "Jian Wushuang, you're a grown man, aren't you? Does bullying a woman give you a sense of accomplishment?"
"A woman?" Jian Wushuang couldn't help but sneer. "Two months ago, when I had yet to condense any spiritual power and was nothing more than an ordinary person, she taught me a lesson I will never forget—that in this world, strength reigns supreme and the strong are honored above all. Back then, why couldn't I tell she was a woman?"
"Fine, you're right." Ye Mo nodded, then snorted coldly. "This world does belong to the strong. In that case, I will now use my strength to show you that my Master's disciple—my junior sister—is not someone anyone can bully at will."
"I will show you that you are nothing but a frog at the bottom of a well, a pathetic clown!"
The moment his voice fell, an incredibly powerful aura of spiritual energy erupted from Ye Mo's body.
This aura of spiritual power was actually a great deal stronger than Jian Meng'er's at the peak of Great Completion in the Sea Transformation stage.
"Sea Transformation Perfection!"
"Ye Mo is actually a Sea Transformation Perfection expert?"
"How old is he? He looks about our age, doesn't he? How is his spiritual cultivation so high?"
"Jian Meng'er reaching the peak of Great Completion in the Sea Transformation stage at sixteen was already unbelievable, but her senior brother is even more remarkable."
The training grounds immediately erupted in commotion.
"Shui Hanxin, your Tianyuan Sword Sect certainly has no shortage of geniuses." Bai Chong cast a meaningful glance at Shui Hanxin.
"The reason our Tianyuan Sword Sect is so strong is because we possess abundant resources that have attracted generation after generation of talented disciples. Meng'er's talent is impressive, but within our Tianyuan Sword Sect, she is merely top-tier—she is not the strongest." Shui Hanxin said.
"But the way your disciple is conducting himself now is rather excessive, don't you think? The moment Jian Meng'er was defeated, he jumped out. If he too is defeated by Jian Wushuang, does that mean all the top disciples of your Tianyuan Sword Sect will have to jump out one after another?" Bai Chong said coldly.
"So what? Our Tianyuan Sword Sect simply has many talented disciples. Besides, this disciple of mine is also sixteen this year, about the same age as Jian Wushuang. Him fighting Jian Wushuang can hardly be called bullying him." Shui Hanxin smiled.
"That's not the same thing." Bai Chong immediately shook his head. "Though their ages may be similar, their treatment is not. Your disciple has cultivated within the Tianyuan Sword Sect since childhood, receiving the most top-tier resources, the finest cultivation methods and sword art manuals, as well as guidance and instruction from you, a peak Golden Core expert, and even some of the other powerful figures within the Tianyuan Sword Sect. Meanwhile, Jian Wushuang has relied entirely on himself all this time. How could these two things be the same?"
"Then who's to blame for that? Only himself." Shui Hanxin's expression turned icy. Glancing at Bai Chong, she said in a low voice, "Bai Chong, this Jian Wushuang belongs to the Sword Marquis Manor. What business is that of yours, the supervisor of the Life-and-Death Battle Arena? Even the Lord of the Sword Marquis Manor hasn't said anything—what right do you have to complain here?"
Bai Chong froze, and his gaze involuntarily turned toward the several experts from the Sword Marquis Manor seated in the viewing stands.
Among the Sword Marquis Manor experts in the stands, aside from Jian Xinhong, the others were either elders of the Blood Martial Hall or alchemists of the Pill Chamber. As for anyone from the Sword Pavilion, not a single one was present. Naturally, the people of the Blood Martial Hall and the Pill Chamber would not speak up for Jian Wushuang. As for Jian Xinhong, he did hesitate for a moment, but when he saw Shui Hanxin's ice-cold countenance, the words at the tip of his tongue were forcibly swallowed back.
He could tell that Shui Hanxin was currently in a state of fury. If he were to speak up for Jian Wushuang at a time like this, it would be tantamount to making the Sword Marquis Manor thoroughly offend Elder Shui, who wielded immense power even within the Tianyuan Sword Sect.
So, in the end, he chose silence.
Seeing this, Bai Chong could only feel helpless. Since even the Sword Marquis Manor had not stepped forward to speak for Jian Wushuang, what more could an outsider like him say?
On the stage, the Sea Transformation Perfection spiritual aura erupting from Ye Mo's body weighed heavily on all the manor disciples in the training grounds.
"Sea Transformation Perfection?" Even Jian Wushuang's expression changed.
Sea Transformation Perfection was a whole level above Jian Meng'er's spiritual cultivation. Moreover, this Ye Mo had become a disciple under Shui Hanxin's tutelage from a very early age and had been cultivating within the Tianyuan Sword Sect all along, coming into contact with the sect's cultivation methods and sword art manuals far earlier than Jian Meng'er had. His swordsmanship was certainly far superior to Jian Meng'er's.
Against Jian Meng'er, he had nearly exhausted all his strength just to defeat her. Against this Ye Mo, Jian Wushuang had no confidence whatsoever. But when Jian Wushuang looked toward the viewing stands and noticed Shui Hanxin's icy gaze and the subtle expressions of the people nearby, he understood at once.
"Even if I wanted to refuse this battle, I probably couldn't. But then again, I never intended to refuse. In that case, let us fight!" Jian Wushuang clenched his fists tightly, and his slightly narrowed pupils flickered with a trace of madness in that moment.
"Secret Art... Spirit Seizure!"
Hum— Even the void itself seemed to tremble.
Jian Wushuang's body seemed to transform into a black hole capable of containing everything, and from the surrounding heaven and earth, surges of the vital force of all creation came bursting madly toward him at an astonishing speed.
As the vital force poured in, the aura around Jian Wushuang's body instantly skyrocketed.
His spiritual cultivation had originally only been at the peak of the ninth level of the Divine Dao—barely comparable to the Sea Transformation stage—but now, in almost an instant, his spiritual cultivation exceeded the bounds of the eighth heaven and reached the level of the ninth heaven of the Divine Dao.
At the same time, a bone-piercing, heart-rending pain surged up, causing Jian Wushuang's face to become completely twisted.
Finally, having pushed the first volume of the Spirit Seizure Secret Art to its very limit, the agonizing pain in Jian Wushuang's body also reached its peak, and at that very moment, his spiritual cultivation surged directly to the absolute pinnacle of the ninth heaven of the Divine Dao!
Gritting his teeth, his face ferocious, Jian Wushuang abruptly raised his head. A beam of sharp light seemed to take on physical substance, piercing through the void to lock directly onto Ye Mo. At the same time, Jian Wushuang's words—carrying boundless arrogance yet laced with a thread of unyielding defiance—resounded heavily in everyone's hearts at this moment.
"Ye Mo of the Tianyuan Sword Sect, is it? Since you're not convinced, then I'll beat you until you are!"
...
PS: Brothers, if you're enjoying the read, don't forget to favorite, recommend, and donate!