Chapter 384 - 371: The Youth of Yesterday, Today’s Peerless Prodigy, the Last Hope of the Human Race (Part 2)

But the fear was, what if Jiang Qiu lost?

He felt Jiang Qiu could die in the challenge. After all, even though battles between members weren’t necessarily to the death, most challengers still died. The mortality rate wasn’t low.

Especially with such a huge gap in levels, he suspected Jiang Qiu could be turned to ash by a casually cast Minor Secret Technique.

He had witnessed this kind of staggering disparity firsthand. In his ten years as a slave, while he had never seen a Harmonization Realm battle, he had heard about them. An expert at the Fusion Realm could crush someone at the Dharma Realm with just the flick of a finger.

A gentle flick was all it took to crush them to death. It required no effort at all.

Someone at the Spirit Body Realm was truly like an ant, with basically no chance to turn the tables.

*Sigh.* Thinking of this, Zhu Weiyi sighed and couldn’t help but ask, "How did this challenge get matched with a Peak Fusion Realm expert?"

Logically, a 50-win streak shouldn’t be matched against the Peak of Fusion Realm. Someone at the Initial Tier of the Fusion Realm would be about right; that’s the normal standard for a 50-win streak.

For someone at the Spirit Body Realm, challenging the Peak of Fusion Realm was too big of a leap. It was just too far.

A challenge like this was hardly fair.

He almost suspected the Celestial Star Arena was targeting Jiang Qiu, not wanting him to win. However, the secretary explained, "This is the result of arrangements from the Celestial Star Arena’s upper management. Right now, the hottest rising talent is Jiang Qiu. For him to reach a 49-win streak, instantly killing his opponents all the way from the first layer of the Spirit Body Realm, has given him the highest level of attention in the entire Celestial Star Arena. No one can surpass him.

Under these circumstances, only the popularity of another expert, one at the Peak of Fusion Realm, can compare. A battle between the two of them is the most anticipated event ever. Many people want to see if Jiang Qiu, who has insta-killed his way up, can also insta-kill that Peak Fusion Realm expert.

It’s an unbelievable thought, and frankly, I don’t quite believe it myself. But Jiang Qiu really has insta-killed his way here. The Ninth-Layer of the Spirit Body Realm, he insta-killed. The Ninth-Layer of the Bright Soul Realm, he insta-killed. The Ninth-Layer of the Dharma Realm, he insta-killed.

The Peak of Peeping Dao Realm, he insta-killed. The Peak of Dao Entry Realm, he insta-killed. It really gives you this gut feeling that he could actually insta-kill the Peak of Fusion Realm too.

The gap is enormous, but you have to at least try, right?

Besides, this is a challenge Jiang Qiu accepted himself. I believe Lord Jiang Qiu is very confident. Let’s just wait and see."

Hearing this answer, Zhu Weiyi was a little surprised. But then he remembered that this was the same young man he had always known, and it didn’t seem so surprising anymore.

He always felt that there was a kind of miracle about that young man, a sort of destiny. His very existence was dumbfounding.

Back on Blue Star, in less than a year, Jiang Qiu went from being an ordinary high school senior to a supreme expert of the Dao Entry Realm. He blossomed in numerous great battles, single-handedly turning the tides, and in the end, Gao Yuan City was only saved because of him.

Even the reincarnated Demon Emperor, Chen the Dragon, was helpless against him. This was a legendary youth whose life would never be defined by worldly standards.

As his thoughts drifted, Zhu Weiyi suddenly realized something. ’So, am I able to sit here because of Jiang Qiu?’

He had already had this thought in his heart. The moment he saw the two words "Jiang Qiu," everything clicked into place. He had no family or friends here, but Jiang Qiu was a fellow countryman whose name he knew. There was a connection between them.

It could only be because of this connection that he was living so well, eating so full, and able to enjoy the kind of life a normal person should, instead of continuing to rot in that prison cell as a slave.

Soon, the secretary gave him an affirmative answer. "Everything is because of Jiang Qiu. His fame is just too great. His demand was to get you out.

Under the circumstances, even the highest authority, Lord ’Celestial Star,’ was unwilling to miss this opportunity. So he had you brought out directly with orders to take good care of you. After all, we can’t let Lord Jiang Qiu feel disappointed.

He is, after all, a peerless genius worth winning over."

’Yes, a peerless genius worth winning over,’ Zhu Weiyi thought. ’He has limitless potential... yet someone like him actually entered the Celestial Star Arena’s tournament just to save me.’

A stinging sensation welled up in the corners of Zhu Weiyi’s eyes. It had been too long since anyone cared about him. Over the past 10 years, he had met fewer and fewer people, spending so many days and nights alone. There were barely a few who could even call him by name.

Let alone care if he lived or died.

But after arriving here, Jiang Qiu had actually participated in the Celestial Heart Arena, hoping to use a continuous winning streak as a bargaining chip to get him out.

Such a demand was undoubtedly extremely difficult. The difficulty was immense; after all, a long winning streak wasn’t something an ordinary person could achieve.

It might seem like Jiang Qiu had won so many consecutive matches and encountered so many geniuses on their own streaks, but that was because he himself was a true genius. That’s why he was matched with other geniuses. It wasn’t as if everyone could accomplish this.

Even a ten-win streak was a one-in-ten-thousand feat. At that rate, members of the Human Race with such talent were exceedingly rare. Those willing to make the effort to save him were even rarer. And those who made the effort and actually succeeded were so few as to be practically non-existent.

Yet, Jiang Qiu was able to do it, and he put in the effort.

Some things weren’t a matter of ’can you,’ but a matter of ’will you.’

Even though Jiang Qiu had achieved his 49-win streak so effortlessly, with every match an instant kill, seemingly without using his full strength, his dedication was priceless.

The fact that he cared and wanted to save him was deeply moving.

Zhu Weiyi fell silent. He wanted to say something, but his throat was dry, and he couldn’t speak.

The secretary could sense his mood. He didn’t disturb Zhu Weiyi any further, giving him enough time before quietly exiting the room.

In the spacious, comfortable room, Zhu Weiyi continued to look through the records about Jiang Qiu. He desperately wanted to know more about his fellow countryman, to find out how Jiang Qiu was living.

Unfortunately, Zhu Weiyi couldn’t find much more information about Jiang Qiu online. It was as if Jiang Qiu was a genius who had appeared out of thin air, suddenly exploding in popularity in the Celestial Star Arena one day. His winning streak was such a surprise, an unexpected breakthrough.

Meaning, nobody knew where Jiang Qiu came from. His information wasn’t publicly available online. But that was enough.

At least seeing Jiang Qiu fighting safely in the arena was a good thing. At least he wasn’t being hunted by Venerable Zuo Xuan’s people, or in some other major trouble. Instead, he had the time to come to the Celestial Star Arena to save him.

Following that, Zhu Weiyi clicked on the broadcast replays of Jiang Qiu’s instant-kill victories. He had only been reading the text from news reports before and hadn’t actually watched the Celestial Star Arena’s live replays.

But when he watched them, he was completely stunned. SWISH—the enemy on the screen would be instantly killed on the spot. He couldn’t see how it was done. He was astounded, as if witnessing a Celestial Being.

Such an instant-kill technique was simply not something a first-layer Spirit Body Realm cultivator should be able to do. Even though he knew the person on screen was Jiang Qiu, and he saw that familiar face, the young man’s figure overlapping with the one in his memory...

...he never expected the young man in the video to casually toss out an instant-kill move. And just like that, Jiang Qiu had effortlessly insta-killed one opponent after another.

All the way to his 49th consecutive victory, every single one was an instant kill, without exception. No one could clearly see what kind of technique it was. Even the online discussions about him were all in agreement on this point.

Massive attention was focused on discussing his methods, his background, and his power. At this moment, Jiang Qiu was the most talked-about challenger in the Celestial Star Arena.

Seeing this, Zhu Weiyi felt extremely gratified.

But when he focused on Jiang Qiu’s next opponent, he sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, his expression instantly turning grave.