Chapter 13: A Formidable Innate Dao Body

"It'd be even more fun if I could drag the people up there down into the mud." At Seth Santee's words, quite a few faces shifted. Was he talking about pulling all three factions on the spectator stands into this? "Yeah. Sounds fun," someone chuckled, though it was hard to tell whether he meant the idea itself, or whether he simply thought Seth was being laughably naïve. "Outrageous!" Jace Showyer shot to his feet, fury blazing in his eyes. "You think that just because you've latched onto the Balam family and found yourself a backer, you can run wild like this?" "I never went looking for a backer." Seth smiled faintly. "But you, Lord of the Showyer family… after you found yourself a master, your temper got a lot bigger." "Balam family, you're really going to let this brat act up here?" an elder from the Showyer family barked. Bianca Balam's lips curved with open mockery. "You seem to have forgotten what kind of relationship the Balam family and the Showyer family have these days. You were the ones who proposed war." "Fine." The Third Elder of the Showyer family strolled forward. From within his long sleeve, a killing sword flashed into existence. "If the Balam family won't discipline him, this old man will. I'll teach this traitor a lesson!" He chopped straight toward Seth. Five elders from the Balam family stepped out at once, their expressions sharpened to blades as they planted themselves in front of Seth. The Third Elder of the Showyer family halted mid-strike, staring at them with a storm-dark face. "Move!" The five elders exchanged a glance, then took one synchronized step forward. Thud! The ground shuddered. They released no realm aura at all, yet a savage wave of pressure slammed into the Third Elder of the Showyer family. His expression warped in shock, as if a towering sea had crashed down to drown him whole. "Cough, cough!" He staggered back in a frantic retreat, soot-streaked and disheveled, looking more than a little pathetic. The crowd jolted. With five elders shielding Seth, what status did he hold in the Balam family? Boom! A powerful aura erupted from Jace Showyer. "Balam family, you're going too far!" "One of your elders tried to strike at the junior our Balam family sent to the Grand Competition. How vile can you get?" a Balam elder shouted, his voice cutting like iron. "Jace Showyer, if you dare to make a move, I guarantee that everyone the Showyer family brought to the Grand Competition will leave in coffins!" Every gaze tightened. Seth was the one the Balam family had sent to compete today? "Is the Balam family out of people? They're sending someone whose Cultivation Level is crippled to the Grand Competition?" "I heard Seth Santee cultivated Poison Arts. Maybe he's planning to win with that." "As if Skyreach Academy would ever take interest in a piece of trash who can't cultivate." To the three great families, the Farwind City Grand Competition decided the struggle for the Mineral Vein. To the other young people of Farwind City, Skyreach Academy was the chance they would fight tooth and nail for. "Even the old guard of the Balam family doesn't have the right to speak like that in front of me!" A voice even more arrogant rang out. Everyone turned, only to see Evelyn Showyer, the Innate Dao Body of the Showyer family, striding toward the spectator stands. Her nearly flawless figure seemed to harmonize with heaven and earth itself, steeped in a mysterious aura, as though she had truly been born carrying the Heaven and Earth Dao. Hum! Evelyn struck without warning. A breath of the Primal Order seemed to spread from her, her Bitter Sea roaring as she drove a domineering palm straight at the Balam elder, crushing forward with unstoppable force. The Balam elder stepped in to meet her, firing a palm of his own. Pure-white True Essence flared, and the two powers collided with a heavy, muffled boom! After that single exchange, the Balam elder stumbled back several steps, horror written across his face. Evelyn, however, remained like a celestial maiden among mortals, untouched by dust. "An Innate Dao Body really is terrifying. Bottomless." "She can already contend with the older generation. In today's Grand Competition, who can stand against her?" "No wonder she drew Skyreach Academy's attention. It's not just the Warth family's doing. Evelyn Showyer herself is absurdly strong!" Under the crowd's awed, envious stares, Evelyn walked onto the spectator stands step by step and took her place above, looking down at everyone below. Her gaze was so proud it felt like the people of Farwind City no longer deserved to exist within her sight. As if she had been born for this. Born to be watched. Born to drink in the world's admiration. But not everyone admired her. "Seth Santee!" Seeing the disgust in Seth's eyes, much of Evelyn's delight drained away. Coldness sharpened her stare. "You joined the Balam family and thought that gave you the right to oppose me?" "Back then, I already told you we were impossible, yet you still coveted me. You even tried to cross the line. That tells me exactly what kind of person you are." "When your shame was exposed, you didn't repent. You killed someone from the Showyer family instead, betraying the years of cultivation and support my family gave you. You're worse than an animal." "And now you cling to the Balam family, stirring conflict between two families and dragging innocent people into it. Scum like you shouldn't be allowed to live in this world!" One icy accusation after another spilled from her lips, as if Seth were some unforgivable monster. Bianca wanted to speak for him, but Seth caught her hand. He gave her a calm, faint smile, then lifted his eyes to Evelyn, his expression steady. "If I were you, I'd keep my head down and learn how to survive. I wouldn't come swaggering in front of me, showing off the so-called might of your Innate Dao Body." "You think accusing first makes you the victim, and that you can smear me into silence?" Seth's voice stayed level, but every word rang with steel. "I know secrets. If I said them out loud, Miss Showyer, would you still be able to marry into the Warth family of the Imperial City?" "Everything about you is a lie. Today, I'll take back everything that belongs to me!" He did not spell out the truth about the Dao Bone being stolen. The crowd might not have believed it. Instead, he stopped right there, leaving a hook buried deep enough to make everyone itch for the real story. Sure enough, whispers spread through the crowd. No one could help wondering what secret could be so damning that it might cost Evelyn her marriage into the Warth family. "Then we'll see the truth in the Grand Competition, you trash," Evelyn said, refusing to pursue the topic. She sat on the spectator stands, her eyes still proud and indifferent. If Seth dared to come, she would make sure he did not survive the Grand Competition. Just then, a thunderous rumble rolled across the sky. Everyone looked up to see a white crane sweeping in with wings spread wide. Two figures stood on its back. One was a refined young lord, elegant and exceptional. The other was a tall beauty with a figure like fire. The only discord was the distance between them. They stood apart as if they had deliberately avoided each other, both wary, both guarded. "An Immortal Crane riding the wind… these two must be Skyreach Academy's prodigies," Henry Lafontaine, the city lord, said as if he had timed his arrival perfectly. He clasped his hands toward the pair. "Skyreach Academy, Quincy Zehendner." The graceful young man nodded to Henry Lafontaine, yet his gaze settled on Evelyn. "This must be the junior sister I'll be welcoming into the sect," Quincy said. A faint heat flickered in his eyes. An Innate Dao Body, and beauty that could topple a city. It was hard for any man not to be moved. Unfortunately, she was already promised to a peerless genius of the Warth family. She was not someone he could touch. "Greetings, Senior Brother," Evelyn said with a smile. Much of her arrogance eased. Quincy Zehendner was a famous prodigy in the Imperial City. The tall woman said nothing. She simply found a seat and sat down, as though she had no interest in Quincy and the others' conversation. "Have the Warth family's seniors not arrived yet?" Quincy scanned the area. He had heard that a supremely talented senior brother would be sending people today to propose marriage. "The Zehendner kid," a hearty laugh boomed, "you rode in on a crane and beat this old man by a step, and you're already rushing me?" The clouds churned. A figure strode through the air, pressure blanketing the entire venue and making everyone's hearts tremble. "Flying through the air… that's a Mystic Palace Realm expert!"