Chapter 281: Li Changyu's Strength!

Ye Yuan's breakthrough was at a critical moment when he suddenly felt the yuan force around him rapidly draining, barely enough to sustain his breakthrough.

This situation left him somewhat bewildered.

Opening his eyes slightly, he saw another person beside him, and this person was clearly also breaking through.

The other's yuan force storm was far stronger than his, clearly at the level of a Condensing Crystal realm martial artist.

Ye Yuan quickly understood.

Although this person was unfamiliar, the fact that he chose to break through right beside Ye Yuan clearly indicated ill intent!

Ye Yuan never showed mercy to such characters.

A faint smile curled at the corner of Ye Yuan's mouth, and he sneered inwardly, "Want to play the game of plundering yuan force? There will be time for you to cry!"

Since the other wanted to play, he would play along to the fullest!

As if sensing Ye Yuan's gaze, Li Changyu also turned to look at Ye Yuan and made a thumbs-down gesture, highly provocative.

"How arrogant! This guy actually makes such an infuriating gesture. Does he think our Nethercloud Sect has no one?"

"Hmm? I remember now, he's wearing the attire of the Heavenly Qian Sect! He's a disciple of the Heavenly Qian Sect!"

"What? A Heavenly Qian Sect disciple, why would he come to our Nethercloud Sect to break through?"

"Are you stupid? He's not here to break through; he's here to challenge! Plundering yuan force beside Ye Yuan to break through himself, causing Ye Yuan's breakthrough to fail, and making such a gesture in front of all of us—he truly bullies our Nethercloud Sect as if we have no one!"

"That's true, but this Heavenly Qian Sect disciple is really strong! We all make extensive preparations before breaking through and find a secluded place to go into seclusion. But he just comes over and breaks through directly! And look at him, he clearly has plenty of spare capacity, as if breaking through is a piece of cake for him."

"Can you not boost the enemy's morale and deflate our own? You know Ye Yuan's talent; maybe a miracle will happen!"

The Nethercloud Sect disciples recognized Li Changyu's origin and became united in their hatred.

Although most of them had never seen anyone from the Heavenly Qian Sect, they all knew of its domineering ways.

Ye Yuan, however, knew nothing of this. Faced with Li Changyu's provocation, he merely smiled faintly and stood up.

Such boring provocations, Ye Yuan couldn't be bothered to heed.

In Ye Yuan's view, this kind of provocation was nothing but a shrew's scolding. If you curse me, should I curse back?

The best way to extinguish the other's arrogance was to knock him down! Beat him until he was completely convinced!

"Spirit Gathering Seal!" Ye Yuan let out a soft shout.

Ye Yuan's hands moved like phantoms, forming seals one after another.

Suddenly, Ye Yuan's yuan force storm became violent again!

Originally, under Li Changyu's plunder, Ye Yuan's yuan force storm had become extremely thin, on the verge of dissipating at any moment.

But now, Ye Yuan's yuan force storm seemed to have been injected with stimulants, forcibly snatching a great deal of yuan force from Li Changyu's side, and it was still growing stronger!

As a high-level alchemist, one needed to master countless seals.

Alchemists sometimes gather yuan force to improve the quality of pills, and the Spirit Gathering Seal was one of the lower-level seals.

Ye Yuan had used it frequently in his previous life when his realm was lower, but rarely after reaching higher realms.

Yet now, when he used it, it was still extremely proficient and highly effective.

With the guidance of the seal, Ye Yuan's yuan force storm became like a vortex, continuously growing stronger.

"Haha, didn't I say Ye Yuan wouldn't give up so easily? So what if he's from the Heaven Qian Sect's Crystal Condensation stage? Showing off in front of Ye Yuan, he only hurt himself, right?"

"Exactly! Once Ye Yuan plunders all his yuan power over there, let's see how he breaks through!"

"Little punk! Arrogance depends on the target! Trying to show off in front of a genius who has mastered true intent will end badly! Haha!"

Seeing Ye Yuan turn the tide, the disciples of Nether Cloud Sect felt a surge of pride.

Although they were not yet very familiar with Ye Yuan, they had already regarded him as one of their own.

Especially in the face of provocation from outsiders, this sense of identification was infinitely magnified!

Li Changyu was clearly aware of this change and was greatly astonished.

There was an insurmountable gap between the mid-stage of Crystal Condensation and the mid-stage of Spirit Liquid. How could the momentum of his breakthrough be countered by someone at the mere mid-stage of Spirit Liquid?

No wonder Luo Qingfeng had been evasive earlier, as if he was being overly protective.

Now it seemed there was indeed something fishy!

"Hehe, you do have some tricks, but if you think you can beat me like this, you're too naive! Come back!"

With a low growl, Li Changyu's aura surged again!

Following that, his yuan power storm became even more violent!

The yuan power that Ye Yuan had snatched away returned to Li Changyu's storm!

Ye Yuan's efforts earlier were now in vain.

And Li Changyu's move shocked the Nether Cloud Sect disciples!

"What? This guy still had that much reserve power!"

"No way? His momentum is almost matching a breakthrough to the sixth level of Crystal Condensation! Are all disciples of Heaven Qian Sect this strong?"

"Are you kidding? He's a few years younger than Senior Brother Ti Wujiu, but his cultivation has already surpassed him! Breaking through to the fifth level of Crystal Condensation with such force, his strength is probably comparable to our core disciples!"

"Is this the strength of the number one sect in the Southern Domain? No wonder they're so arrogant. How can other sects compare to this?"

"Ye Yuan can't hold on much longer! If this plundering continues, failing the breakthrough is the least of it; he might even damage his foundation!"

To some extent, the intensity of the yuan power storm could represent a martial artist's strength and potential.

The yuan power storm during Ye Yuan's breakthrough was several times stronger than an ordinary person's, which to some extent reflected his strength.

And Li Changyu's yuan power storm was so strong that his true strength was definitely far beyond the fourth level of Crystal Condensation.

As for his actual strength, it was hard to assess, but it was certainly terrifyingly strong!

Seeing this, Luo Qingfeng's expression also darkened.

He estimated that Li Changyu's strength was probably not far from Mo Yuntian's, yet he was nearly ten years younger!

Where would Li Changyu be in ten years?

And Luo Qingfeng was certain that Li Changyu's strength was definitely not top-tier among the core disciples!

Luo Qingfeng dared not think further!

With such a huge gap among the younger generation, where was the sect's future?

Could he, enduring humiliation, really wait for the day the Nether Cloud Sect rose? Luo Qingfeng couldn't help but doubt.

The gap between the two sects was widening step by step, not narrowing!

And... after today, after such a setback, could Ye Yuan still grow smoothly?