"Pill King Zhen, go!"
"Pill King Zhen, you're our idol!"
"Pill King Zhen, sweep them all!"
All kinds of chants suddenly erupted around the arena. In this frenzied atmosphere, the moment one person broke through the oppressive silence, countless others immediately followed suit, joining the chorus.
In an instant, at least a hundred thousand people around the arena were chanting in unison, and the synchronized slogans were almost entirely words of encouragement for Jiang Chen!
When a hundred thousand voices shouted the same synchronized battle cry, the resulting momentum was absolutely staggering.
Most importantly, these chants seemed to possess some kind of magic. Spreading outward from the arena, they swept through every street and alley of the Liuli Royal City in the blink of an eye.
The next moment, the entire Liuli Royal City seemed to be infected by this frenzied atmosphere. In every corner, old and young alike, everyone began to shout along.
The entire Liuli Royal City instantly became like a pot of boiling water, waves of sound rising and crashing endlessly, so powerful that the birds soaring above the city were startled into flight.
Walking up the stone steps, Jiang Chen heard these thunderous cheers and was genuinely surprised. All along, his tempering of his Dao Heart had been first-rate — the power of his Heart of Rock allowed him to remain composed and unshakable in any situation.
But at this very moment, the expression on his face shifted from astonishment to shock, then to deep emotion, until he could barely contain himself.
Yes, at this moment, waves of warmth surged through Jiang Chen's chest, filling it completely.
In all his past lives and this one, when had he ever received this kind of adoration?
Even in his previous life as the Son of the Heavenly Emperor, the respect others showed him had stemmed from his lofty status — from having a Heavenly Emperor for a father.
But right now, Jiang Chen could feel that these people's support for him was genuine. It came from the very depths of their hearts.
He naturally knew the reason. It was because he had represented Peacock Sacred Mountain and defeated Pill Fire City when they came to challenge the Liuli Royal City. He had crushed the city's age-old rival!
That victory had earned him the widespread adoration of the Liuli Royal City.
The people of Liuli Royal City had always taken immense pride in their city. They would never tolerate anyone from Pill Fire City swaggering and flaunting their power before them.
Even though Pill Fire City's foundation in the Dao of Alchemy was indeed deeper, and they were truly more powerful in alchemy than Liuli Royal City —
That did not mean the people of Liuli Royal City would simply accept their insults, or calmly swallow their provocations!
And so Jiang Chen had appeared, defeating Pill Fire City single-handedly, sending their successor, Pill King Jilang, slinking back in defeat, and shattering Pill Fire City's undefeated legend.
This string of events was exactly like something from a storyteller's tale — when the Liuli Royal City faced a crisis, Pill King Zhen rose to the occasion, turned the tide, and became the hero who saved the city's fate.
Though the reality wasn't quite so dramatic, that battle, after being embellished and retold by all sides, had indeed elevated Pill King Zhen's reputation, making him the people's idol throughout the Liuli Royal City almost overnight.
Even the former Young Master Fan had never achieved such a glorious track record.
And now, Pill King Zhen had appeared at the Liuli Tower Assembly as a martial arts genius as well — how could that not fill everyone with anticipation?
On the arena, Zhuang Jie's dashing and unrestrained figure had already been there for some time.
The reason he had taken the arena first was to gain the upper hand, to put on a show of force and try to overwhelm his challenger in terms of imposing presence.
Though Zhuang Jie didn't want to admit it, he had to acknowledge that this Pill King Zhen of unknown origins — the fellow everyone had assumed was merely an alchemy prodigy — having made it this far, was absolutely one of the most formidable opponents he, Zhuang Jie, had ever faced.
If it were any other genius on the Genius Ranking — even Third Young Master Ji — Zhuang Jie wouldn't have felt the slightest bit of apprehension.
Only two people were exceptions: one was Mie Chen Zi, and the other was Pill King Zhen.
Before going into battle, Emperor Canghai had personally instructed Zhuang Jie not to underestimate his enemy and to take Mie Chen Zi seriously.
But then Mie Chen Zi had unexpectedly abandoned his challenge.
This meant Zhuang Jie now had to face the number-one genius on the ranking — Pill King Zhen.
Truth be told, Zhuang Jie would have rather faced Mie Chen Zi than Pill King Zhen.
Because up to this point, Pill King Zhen had racked up countless consecutive victories, yet no one could see where this young man's limits truly lay.
Even Emperor Canghai couldn't see through him.
However, as the heir of a Great Emperor, though Zhuang Jie took Pill King Zhen seriously, he did not believe for a moment that he would necessarily lose.
Quite the opposite — facing such a troublesome challenger, Zhuang Jie felt he should seize every detail that might lead to victory, including the momentum of his entrance.
But just as he stood on the arena, chants of encouragement for Pill King Zhen erupted from all around, growing louder and louder as more and more people joined in, until the entire city was caught up in the frenzy.
This caused the momentum Zhuang Jie had been carefully building to collapse in an instant.
With the entire city cheering for Pill King Zhen, Zhuang Jie's personal imposing presence was utterly useless in such circumstances. No matter how powerful his individual aura might be, it could never surpass the collective momentum of an entire city.