The news of Yan Chengyun challenging Mu Jinyu to a duel in Jade Emperor City spread, causing a sensation throughout the Yan Kingdom.
Yan Chengyun was regarded as the true guardian god of the Yan Kingdom, who safeguarded the country from foreign invasions and had stood at the top of the National Guard List for a hundred years.
He was indeed an unparalleled national hero.
Meanwhile, Mu Jinyu was insignificant in the Yan Kingdom a month ago, but had skyrocketed to third on the National Guard List this month, truly a classic case of rising to fame with one strike.
Many people had heard about Mu Jinyu defeating the Great Elder of Blood Sword Sect at the Fourth Layer of the Fanxu Realm with his Third Layer strength, thus believing that his potential was limitless. Given a few decades, he might surpass Yan Chengyun.
However, no one thought that Mu Jinyu at this stage would be a match for Yan Chengyun.
After all, no matter how extraordinary Mu Jinyu was in surpassing levels to defeat enemies with unparalleled combat power, Zhou Yun was only at the Fourth Layer, just one minor realm difference from him.
But Yan Chengyun had the strength at the peak of the Sixth Layer of the Fanxu Realm, almost reaching the Seventh Layer; the gap between them was too vast!
Therefore, no one had much expectation for the battle between Mu Jinyu and Yan Chengyun.
Thus, some said that Yan Chengyun was envious of Mu Jinyu's talent, afraid he might surpass him in the future, and wanted to eradicate him early!
But soon, someone came forward to refute, saying it was Mu Jinyu who first killed Yan Chengyun's disciple He Jingfeng, forcing Yan Chengyun to have no choice but to fight Mu Jinyu!
With this news, the already scarce support for Mu Jinyu dwindled even further.
To the people of the Yan Kingdom, Mu Jinyu was considered a murderous devil, far inferior in character compared to the nation's heroic pillar Yan Chengyun.
Some of the younger generation, jealous of Mu Jinyu's youthful rise to rank third on the National Guard List, secretly snickered, thinking Mu Jinyu's audacious manner had finally hit a wall.
No matter how outsiders commented on this matter.
Mu Jinyu remained leisurely seated in a courtyard prepared by Yan Ran, lounging on a vine chair, humming a tune, and eating grapes peeled by Wen Rou.
"Pfft…"
Spitting out a grape seed, Mu Jinyu lazily opened his eyes and looked at Yan Ran, standing by with a face full of anxiety and panic, and said, "Can't hold it anymore? Fine, in three days, I will go to Jade Emperor City to fight him."
After killing He Jingfeng and Yan Xuefei, Mu Jinyu didn't leave Yan Ran's mansion because he didn't want others to take out their anger on the Heavenly Sword Faction and Yan Ran once he left.
Otherwise, he would have left long ago and not stayed here wasting time.
"Okay, I'll reply to them later…"
Yan Ran felt slightly relieved upon hearing Mu Jinyu accepting the challenge, then hesitated and asked, "Mu Country Knight, are you confident in this battle?"
Mu Jinyu, hearing this, glanced at him sideways and said indifferently, "Would I stay here to die if I wasn't confident?"
Yan Ran felt even more relieved, but still carried a look of worry and reminded, "But Mu Country Knight, this battle might not just be between you and the Yan Kingdom Scholar. As far as I know, Xiao Wudao also intends to intervene, though he disdains to join forces with the Yan Kingdom Scholar against you, he promised Yan Hua that if the Yan Kingdom Scholar loses, he would step in…"
"Is that so?" Mu Jinyu flipped his eyes, still not taking it to heart.
At his level, there was no concept of losing energy or True Yuan in a lengthy battle or being defeated in a relay battle.
If he wished, he could continue to fight someone for a month and still maintain a peak state.
Since that's the case, if he could defeat Yan Chengyun, why fear Xiao Wudao stepping in afterward?
Seeing Mu Jinyu seemingly unconcerned, Yan Ran could do nothing but bow and withdraw.
Now, since Yan Hua had ascended to the throne, Yan Ran's life was completely dependent on Mu Jinyu.
If Mu Jinyu were defeated by Yan Chengyun, he would inevitably face retribution and surely perish.
However, if Mu Jinyu won and consecutively defeated Yan Chengyun and Xiao Wudao, Yan Hua would inevitably become wary, thus his life would be largely secure.
Yan Ran's emotions were still filled with anger and fearful unease.
With the sudden demise of the King of Yan, even though he wasn't in the Imperial Palace, he knew that Yan Hua surely used Yan Xuefei's death to anger his father to death.
He didn't expect Yan Hua to be so ruthless, and even more feared that Yan Hua would find an excuse to kill him next.
However, Yan Hua was likely deterred by Mu Jinyu's staying at his residence, which is why no one had come to arrest him yet.
But if Mu Jinyu fell to Yan Chengyun, Yan Hua would certainly use the excuse of harming royal descendants and a national scholar to send him to his doom.
'I really hope Mu Country Knight wins and even kills Yan Hua with a blow in passing…'
Yan Ran murmured in his heart.
Not that he was still coveting the throne of King of Yan, but if Yan Hua didn't die, even if Mu Jinyu defeated Yan Chengyun and others, Mu Jinyu would eventually leave, and by then, after Yan Hua had tolerated it for some time, discovering no connection between him and Mu Jinyu, who knows if he would target him.
Therefore, the best outcome would be Yan Hua's death!
...
Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
Soon, it was the day of the agreed duel between Yan Chengyun and Mu Jinyu.
Jade Emperor City is the royal city of Yan Kingdom, very much like the Forbidden City!
At the peak of Jade Emperor City is the highest building in the Imperial Palace, the sacrificial altar Jade Emperor Hall.
The location of Mu Jinyu's and Yan Chengyun's showdown was here, destined that ordinary civilians wouldn't have the chance to witness this battle.
Even disciples of regular sects and children of noble families couldn't come here to watch the battle.
Only the royal descendants of Yan Kingdom, the powerhouses on the National Guard List, and the heaven's pride disciples from other countries passing through Yan Kingdom had the chance to witness this nation-stirring, nationwide attention-grabbing battle.
Early in the morning, clad in a simple cloth attire, Yan Chengyun was already at the sacrificial altar under the Jade Emperor Hall, meditating and waiting for Mu Jinyu's arrival.
Beside him stood a group of people, clearly divided into two sides.
Leading them were the royal descendants of Yan Kingdom, headed by Yan Hua, the powerhouses on the National Guard List, and some heaven's pride disciples from other countries who had intended to leave the Yan Kingdom but stayed for a few more days because of Mu Jinyu's and Yan Chengyun's duel.
Everyone was waiting for Mu Jinyu to come and fight Yan Chengyun!
However, they waited from morning until midday, and Mu Jinyu still hadn't arrived, almost as if he was afraid to come.
"What's this guy up to? Making us wait all morning and still not here? Is he too scared to come?"
"Not necessarily, since he accepted the challenge and didn't leave the Yan Kingdom, it's unlikely he'd run away from the fight at the last moment. Besides, when he issued the challenge, it seemed they didn't specify the exact time?"
"Yes, indeed they didn't. Perhaps he plans to arrive in the evening…"
"Should we go back to rest first instead of standing here like fools?"
The heaven's pride disciples from other countries were bored, their tone tinged with complaint, prepared to return first.
Just then, Yan Chengyun, seated in front of the altar where the Nine Directions Bronze Giant Cauldron was placed, suddenly opened his eyes and rose to his feet.