Devouring Soul Emperor

In keeping with the tradition of the Great Xia Dragon Guard, the Celestial Wind Army Master only arrived at the Four Races Martial Arts Competition with a few of his subordinates on the morning of the final day.

Although the members of the Four Great Clans were quite displeased by this, they dared not show it.

The four Celestial Spirit Realm Elders in charge of the competition were all smiles as they personally went down from the Observation Platform to welcome the Celestial Wind Army Master and his retinue.

Relatively speaking, the Celestial Wind Army Master was already being quite courteous by arriving before the start of the final day’s competition.

More domineering Military Lords, like the Lanyan Army Master and the Liuyun Army Master, had even set precedents of making everyone wait for half a day after the competition was completely over before they deigned to arrive.

"Lord Military Commander, your presence truly brings honor to our Four Races."

"Lord Military Commander, please, take the seat of honor..."

The four Celestial Spirit Realm Elders were extremely deferential to the Celestial Wind Army Master, inviting him up to the Observation Platform and seating him in the main seat at the center, which had remained empty for days.

The Celestial Wind Army Master simply smiled and, without any ceremony, sat right down.

Grand Commander Chu Yu, Grand Commander Liu Taian, and the others also felt this was perfectly natural. They followed him, and the group, having just arrived, immediately occupied the best seats.

This had been the custom for decades, a method for the Great Xia Dragon Guard to display their power and dominance. No one from the Six Armies would ever concede on this point.

However, none of them noticed the secretive glint in the eyes of the four Celestial Spirit Realm Elders.

Once everyone was seated, the Ye Family’s Great Elder announced the start of the final day of the competition!

As the Ye Family’s sole Alchemist, the Great Elder, despite only being a Celestial Spirit Realm Elder, held a status in no way inferior to that of the Patriarch.

He wouldn’t have even attended this time if not for his grandson, Ye Junhao, who was participating in the Four Races Martial Arts Competition for the first time in many years.

’That boy Junhao... he’s laid low for so many years and has finally gotten this golden opportunity. Today, he will surely crush those captains from the Great Xia Dragon Guard, shock everyone, and make his name known throughout Lianshan County!’

He was quite satisfied with Ye Junhao.

The Four Races Martial Arts Competition had reached its final day, and the final four contestants had been determined.

Today, these four would compete to determine the final rankings.

The final four were the Jin Family’s Young Clan Leader, Jintai; the Ye Family Great Elder’s grandson, Ye Junhao; the Xiao Family’s prodigious daughter, Xiao Zhu’er; and the Zhou Family’s genius, Zhou Li.

At this, several of the Celestial Wind Army’s Grand Commanders felt a flicker of doubt.

They had some understanding of the Four Great Clans’ situation. Xiao Zhu’er and Zhou Li were understandable, but Jintai, despite being the Young Clan Leader, wasn’t particularly strong. Logically, he shouldn’t have been able to make it into the final four.

As for that Ye Junhao, they had never even heard of him.

However, they didn’t pay it much mind.

After all, according to the precedent set over the past few decades, no matter what happened, the geniuses of the Four Races would ultimately be utterly crushed by the captains of the Six Armies.

The matchups were determined by drawing lots: Jintai versus Xiao Zhu’er, and Ye Junhao versus Zhou Li.

But the results of these two matches left everyone dumbfounded.

Without even fighting, both Xiao Zhu’er and Zhou Li directly forfeited, sending Jintai and Ye Junhao into the final match for first and second place.

Upon seeing this, an uproar erupted around the arena and even on the Observation Platform. A buzz of discussion broke out, and the members of the Celestial Wind Army also found it very strange.

Even if they disregarded their dignity as Martial Artists, shouldn’t they at least consider their family’s reputation? What was the meaning of surrendering without a fight in the final four?

However, with their backs to the crowd, the four Celestial Spirit Realm Elders of the Four Races all revealed sinister smiles.

The Celestial Wind Army Master and his men hadn’t been paying attention to the Four Races Martial Arts Competition over the past few days, so they were unaware that it wasn’t just today. In the preceding days of the competition, everyone who had been matched against Jintai and Ye Junhao had chosen to forfeit immediately!

To this day, no one had seen either of them actually make a move!

When it came time to compete for third place, Zhou Li and Xiao Zhu’er actually fought a proper match.

In the end, Xiao Zhu’er defeated Zhou Li by a narrow margin to take third place, while Zhou Li had to settle for fourth.

The final showdown had finally arrived.

Jintai and Ye Junhao walked onto the arena stage from opposite sides. Strangely, both wore faint smiles and showed no killing intent whatsoever.

They didn’t look like they were about to engage in a life-or-death battle, but rather like old friends meeting up for a chat.

"Ye, you’ve held back for so many years. You’re finally going to make your move, huh..." Jintai said with a smile, a hint of resignation in his voice.

Ye Junhao gave a calm smile and said, "Jintai, you’ve done well yourself. With Patriarch Jin’s full support, your strength has grown by leaps and bounds these past few months. But... you’re still no match for me."

Jintai shook his head in resignation again. "You’re right. That’s why I’ll be the one to initiate the challenge later, and you’ll be the one to finish it."

"Heh, speaking of which, I heard about a Celestial Wind Army captain who broke all four limbs of one of my Ye Family’s direct lineage disciples a few days ago. He’s apparently still lying in a Great Xia Dragon Guard cell. I hope for his sake he doesn’t run into me..."

Ye Junhao said with a cold, sinister laugh.

"Ahem, Young Masters, it’s about time..."

Seeing that the two were getting carried away with their back-and-forth chat, the Small Spirit Realm referee beside them coughed lightly to remind them.

Looking somewhat resentful yet dejected, Jintai raised an arm. "I forfeit!" 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

What!

He forfeited even in the final match!

Everyone present—except for those within the Four Great Clans who knew the inside story—was utterly shocked. This included the members of the Celestial Wind Army and the spectating Great Xia Dragon Guard from the other Five Armies.

There was definitely something fishy going on!

No one was a fool. They could all tell something was wrong. This competition had been shrouded in a bizarre atmosphere from beginning to end.

However, the rankings of the Four Races Martial Arts Competition were, after all, the internal affair of the Four Great Clans.

Since their own people hadn’t raised any objections, it wasn’t the place of outsiders to comment.

"Alright, Young Clan Leader Jintai has forfeited. I now declare that the champion of this year’s Four Races Martial Arts Competition is... Ye Junhao of the Ye Family!"

After Jintai jumped off the arena stage, the referee loudly announced the final champion.

Then, scattered applause broke out, making the scene incredibly awkward.

Having won the championship without a single real fight from start to finish, Ye Junhao naturally failed to win the respect of the vast majority of the crowd.

Only a few members of the Four Races who knew the inside story applauded for him.

Faced with this reaction, Ye Junhao’s expression turned ugly. The reception for the champion was not what he had imagined. ’Hmph, you worthless scum. Once you see my true strength, we’ll see if you still dare to disrespect me!’