Yuan Realm martial artists, to be precise, are actually Yuan Ying martial artists.
The so-called Yuan Ying refers to the essence of spirit power refined and tempered within the body after condensation.
Yuan Ying has form and spirit, can assume a shape, and can even separate from the main body.
Therefore, the strength of a Yuan Realm martial artist is absolutely, substantially superior to that of someone in the Spirit Realm.
Jiang Chen's strength had skyrocketed precisely because he had broken through to the Yuan Realm. This rate of increase was far beyond what was possible during the Spirit Realm stage.
During the Spirit Realm, Jiang Chen could indeed challenge opponents above his level, but crossing an entire major realm was still extremely arduous.
When he was in the Minor Spirit Realm, if he fought against an Earth Spirit Realm expert, Jiang Chen could at best defend himself; victory was very difficult.
But now, as a Minor Yuan Realm cultivator facing an Earth Yuan Realm opponent, Jiang Chen had a ninety percent chance of winning.
It wasn't that the Earth Yuan Realm martial artist was weak; rather, Jiang Chen's own potential had been massively unleashed upon entering the Yuan Realm.
It could be said that after entering the Yuan Realm, Jiang Chen's strength had entered a state of explosive growth.
Regardless of the martial art or technique, they had all improved dramatically—by three to five times, even tenfold.
Yan Hongtu's aura surged with aggressive fighting spirit. He released the pressure of the Yuan Realm without reservation, projecting an aura as if he wanted to swallow Jiang Chen whole.
Dantia Valley hadn't seen a martial duel in quite some time.
The dull and monotonous sect life made such duels incredibly attractive. Large groups of core disciples continuously gathered around the martial arena.
No one wanted to miss a fight between core disciples. Their followers were especially numerous, crowding around in several layers.
Some powerful core disciples, though they valued their status and didn't wish to appear publicly, still watched the arena situation secretly from the shadows.
Overall, although Jiang Chen had a great reputation and even a connection with Sage Dan Chi, he was, after all, a core disciple who had only just entered the Yuan Realm. No matter how incredible the rumors, the gap in strength with Yan Hongtu was plain to see.
First Level Yuan Realm versus Fifth Level Yuan Realm—a full four minor stages apart. From any angle, it looked like a vast disparity.
Moreover, Yan Hongtu had always cultivated within the Danqian Palace.
Jiang Chen, no matter how talented, had always cultivated in a small place like the Sixteen Kingdoms Alliance.
In everyone's view, their understanding of the martial path was on completely different levels.
The Danqian Palace was a top-tier sect in the Wanxiang Domain, while the Treasure Tree Sect could, at best, be considered a third- or fourth-rate sect.
From any perspective, the gap was obvious.
"Strange, strange! I heard Yan Hongtu already lost an alchemy duel to this Jiang Chen. Since when has a genius from the Sixteen Kingdoms Alliance had such powerful alchemy talent?"
"It's not that the genius from the Sixteen Kingdoms is strong, it's that Yan Hongtoo is a useless lout. He doesn't strive for improvement, lazing around in Lingyun District playing king, being a frog at the bottom of a well—he's already gone soft."
"That makes sense. Brother He, who do you think will win this martial duel?"
"Martial arts and alchemy are different. Alchemy has opportunities for clever tricks, but martial combat is real steel against real steel; true fighting strength decides the winner. In my opinion, no matter how much Yan Hongtu has declined, if he can't even take down a First Level Yuan Realm disciple, he might as well find a block of tofu and kill himself with it."
"True. A Fifth Level Yuan Realm losing to a First Level Yuan Realm would be the biggest joke ever. There hasn't been such a humiliating record since the founding of the Danqian Palace, right?"
"Heh, you never know. Back in the day, when Palace Master Dan Chi was young, at First Level Yuan Realm, he also defeated a senior brother who had just entered the Earth Yuan Realm. Although, the person he defeated had only recently entered that realm and hadn't fully stabilized yet."
"Tsk tsk, how can this Jiang Chen compare to Sage Dan Chi? Sage Dan Chi is the strongest martial arts talent our Danqian Palace has seen in three hundred years."
"Exactly. Sage Dan Chi is destined to become an emperor one day. With him leading our Danqian Palace, it will surely reach an era of prosperity and achieve hegemony!"
Speaking of which, the youthful faction led by Sage Dan Chi was indeed incredibly popular within the Danqian Palace. He was deeply loved and admired by the younger martial artists, each of them taking Sage Dan Chi as their idol.
As for Jiang Chen, people remained skeptical. Although he was chosen by Sage Dan Chi, their deep-rooted prejudice made them disbelieve that such a small place like the Sixteen Kingdoms could produce a heaven-defying genius.
On the arena, Jiang Chen had already entered a state of self-forgetfulness.
Once Jiang Chen entered this state, it meant he was approaching his peak condition.
Although Jiang Chen could see through all of Yan Hongtu's cards, he was still facing a Fifth Level Yuan Realm powerhouse. Challenging someone above his level allowed for absolutely no carelessness.
This battle required him to bring out his full fighting strength; it absolutely could not be as easy as crushing the Pursuing Sun Old Monster.
"Jiang Chen, stop putting on an act."
Yan Hongtu suddenly shouted, his sinister gaze shooting out a cold light. "On the martial arena, the strong are revered. Those little tricks of yours are all useless here!"
As he spoke, Yan Hongtu flexed his arms and let out a long, sharp cry.
Suddenly, a gigantic grey eagle totem appeared behind Yan Hongtu. Jiang Chen knew this was likely Yan Hongtu's Yuan Ying taking shape.
"Jiang Chen, watch how I devour you!"
Yan Hongtu roared wildly, the piercing sound waves rolling forward like massive waves, crashing one after another.
The sonic attack generated by this roar was profoundly mysterious, launching a dual assault on both the physical and mental.
Jiang Chen didn't hesitate. He rubbed his hands together, and the power of magnetism instantly formed a defensive current of qi, enveloping and intercepting the wave-like sound attack.
The power of magnetism excelled precisely at disrupting force fields and controlling the rhythm of an opponent's power.
When the magnetic force shield made contact with the sound wave attack, the latter instantly produced muffled, garbled noises before crumbling apart, disintegrating completely.
"What?"
Yan Hongtu was greatly shocked. Although his sonic attack wasn't his ultimate killing move, it was still a formidable technique.