Upon receiving word from Big Tiger, Zhao Letian immediately rushed over with Qin Hai.
From Big Tiger's tone, it seemed he was quite eager to have those two join, and Zhao Letian was curious about what made them special enough to pique Big Tiger's interest so.
"Master, these are the two I mentioned."
It wasn't long before everyone had gathered. Big Tiger pointed to the man and woman beside him, grinned, and said to Zhao Letian.
Zhao Letian looked carefully and saw a man in a green robe, about in his twenties, with handsome features and an extraordinary demeanor, possessing the cultivation of the True Martial First Realm. The lady in a white dress appeared to be seventeen or eighteen, around the age of the Five Tigers of the Galaxy Sect. Her cultivation was at the peak of the Primordial Martial Ninth Rank, with delicate features, exuding a girl-next-door aura.
The man and the woman were also sizing up Zhao Letian as they introduced themselves.
"Zhao Letian, pleased to meet you." Zhao Letian replied with a casual smile.
"Qin Hai, the number one talent from Dawan City." Qin Hai's gaze swept over everyone as he greeted them, a hint of frustration on his face. He was, after all, the top talent of his city, and yet today he had been defeated by a youngster, which was a real blow to his pride.
"Big Tiger, is this the master you mentioned? He looks even younger than Xuemei; is he really as strong as you claim?" Jiang Fan glanced at Qin Hai, then dismissively shifted his gaze to Zhao Letian, frowning in doubt.
He knew of Dawan City, merely a small town. The number one talent from such a place wouldn't carry much weight. Talents of that calibre were a dime a dozen here; he, Jiang Fan, was also a genius from a different place, and therefore didn't think too highly of Qin Hai.
On the other hand, the Galaxy Sect's Five Tigers had highly praised Zhao Letian, hailing him as the number one talent of the Galaxy Sect, claiming he had slain someone in the True Martial Fifth Realm with a cultivation at the True Martial Second Realm. Jiang Fan was skeptical at first, and now having seen Zhao Letian's young age, he doubted the Five Tigers' words even more.
"You could go to the arena and test him out." Before Big Tiger could answer, Qin Hai suddenly spoke with a peculiar look. He could tell that Jiang Fan, like himself, carried the pride of a genius. However, his own pride had already been shattered by a palm from Zhao Letian, and Qin Hai was eager to let Jiang Fan experience that feeling.
"Er, Jiang Fan, you better not go. The young master's strength is beyond your imagination," Big Tiger said awkwardly. Jiang Fan was strong, stronger than many of his peers. Before Zhao Letian arrived, the two had sparred, ending in a draw where neither could gain the upper hand. That's why Big Tiger had strongly recommended Jiang Fan to join Zhao Letian's team.
As for Jiang Fan's sister, Jiang Xuemei, her strength wasn't weak either, just her cultivation wasn't high enough to meet Zhao Letian's minimum requirement. Still, seeing her, the Five Tigers of the Galaxy Sect couldn't help but think of their own little sister, feeling compassion and wanting her to follow the powerful Zhao Letian, so she might have a better chance of survival in future battles.
Text acquired from M|V|LEMP&YR.
"How can we know if what you say is true or false without a try?" Jiang Fan's eyes showed a keen desire to fight. He didn't know Zhao Letian well, and on their first encounter, it was very hard to believe that the youngster could be as powerful as the Five Tigers described. He wanted to personally verify it before he would be convinced.
"If you want to challenge me, defeat Qin Hai first," Zhao Letian said with an indifferent smile.
"Defeat me? Him? It's utterly impossible." Qin Hai said disdainfully. He was, after all, at the True Martial Third Realm, and it was one thing to be defeated by Zhao Letian, a freak of nature, but if Jiang Fan, with his True Martial First Realm, could defeat him, he might as well smash his head against a block of tofu.
"True Martial Third Realm? Even though he's two realms higher than me, I, Jiang Fan, may still have the power to fight. Let's take it to the stage." Jiang Fan's gaze sharpened as he spoke earnestly, then he leapt gracefully onto the nearby arena.
"Hmph, boy, I'll just use one move. If you can still stand on this arena afterward, then I'll consider it my loss." Qin Hai's face darkened, and he let out an annoyed snort before jumping onto the arena. A mere True Martial First Realm dared to challenge him – did they really think he, Qin Hai, was a pushover that anyone could squeeze? He must use this battle to establish his might using Jiang Fan.
"Then you are certain to be defeated." Jiang Fan said with full confidence.
"Less nonsense, Overwhelming Sea Palm, strike!"
Qin Hai roared in anger, throwing a palm strike that produced layers upon layers of infinite palm seals, like successive giant waves, its momentum strikingly aimed at Jiang Fan.
"Breaking Wave Sword Technique, annihilate!"
Jiang Fan's expression tensed as he drew out his Spiritual Weapon Longsword and slashed out a mighty sword light, piercing towards those layers of palm seals. The power of Qin Hai's palm was not to be underestimated; if he didn't use the spiritual artifact, he would undoubtedly be defeated.
"Hmph, let's see how many layers you can break." Qin Hai sneered disdainfully. In fact, by using a spiritual artifact, it was already evident that Jiang Fan was inferior to him, but what he wanted was to blast Jiang Fan off the arena with a single palm.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!..."
Jiang Fan's sword light, although exceedingly sharp and difficult to withstand, pierced through layer after layer of palm seals, but there were simply too many of Qin Hai's palm seals. Eventually, they shattered Jiang Fan's sword light, hitting him squarely in the chest and sending him staggering backwards.
The one speaking was Jiang Fan. Even though he was half-kneeling on the ground, with a trickle of fresh blood at the corner of his mouth, and was blasted to the edge of the arena, he had not fallen off the arena. According to the agreement, this meant Qin Hai had lost.
"Hmph, consider yourself lucky. But don't get cocky. If we were to truly fight it out, you wouldn't stand a chance against me. And I, I lost to Young Master Letian. His strength is far greater than you can imagine. You're not yet qualified to challenge him." Qin Hai frowned, his face looking worse for wear. A mere True Martial First Realm individual was able to withstand his palm attack and not fall off the arena, which also frustrated him greatly.
Jiang Fan furrowed his brows, a look of shock appearing in his eyes as he incredulously turned towards Zhao Letian. Qin Hai's true strength was indeed stronger than his; if even Qin Hai was no match for Zhao Letian, then he was even less likely to succeed.
"Not bad, it seems that War King City has caught some new recruits from all over, and not all are mere cannon fodder. Among them are many talented individuals. Jiang Fan, are you willing to join our team now?" Zhao Letian looked at Jiang Fan, approval in his eyes.
Jiang Fan's strength, although not as good as Qin Hai's, had earned his recognition. After all, under normal circumstances, a person of the True Martial Third Realm could easily obliterate someone from the True Martial First Realm with just a palm strike. Yet Jiang Fan managed to withstand Qin Hai's martial technique head-on, enough to prove that Jiang Fan was not an ordinary person.
"I am willing, but my sister must join with me," Jiang Fan replied.
"That can be arranged." Zhao Letian glanced at Jiang Xuemei beside him, and with a slight smile and nod, agreed. Jiang Xuemei's cultivation had reached the peak of Primordial Martial ninth realm, and she might soon break through to the True Martial Realm. It would not be a problem to take her on as well.