This anger was not because Jiang Chen had challenged him on this ring.
The ranking matches of the Young Master Rankings naturally followed their own rules. Jiang Chen was ranked twentieth, and with his first challenge opportunity he could leap at most three tiers. Challenging Yang Sheng, the seventeenth, was perfectly within reason.
Yang Sheng's anger stemmed from the fact that this Pill King Zhen had been in Liuli Royal City for less than two years — yet why had he stolen so much of the spotlight? Why had he become the darling of everyone? And now, rumors were spreading that the Great Peacock Emperor intended to name him as a Young Master?
While the appointment of a Young Master was not exactly unheard of — any direct disciple under the Great Peacock Emperor was technically a successor of Young Master rank —
But Yang Sheng, as one of the Great Peacock Emperor's four great direct disciples, had his own ambitions and his own pride. Ever since Young Master Fan's fall, only three of the four great direct disciples remained. The gap in strength among the three was virtually nonexistent, and Yang Sheng saw his chance to climb even higher.
As such, he had long regarded the matter of succession in Liuli Royal City as his own private domain.
Now this Pill King Zhen had suddenly appeared and won the adoration of all of Liuli Royal City — that was already a serious threat to the security of his domain.
Therefore, Yang Sheng's anger toward Pill King Zhen was really a primal hostility — the instinctive impulse to protect one's own territory.
He refused to accept it, and he was not willing to see Jiang Chen's name on the Young Master list of Peacock Sacred Mountain.
The current rumors went beyond merely naming Pill King Zhen a Young Master — there were even whispers that he would replace Young Master Fan's former position.
This rumor sent Yang Sheng's hostility through the roof.
He was an ambitious man. If this Pill King Zhen replaced Young Master Fan's position, it would mean they would never again have a chance to control the succession of Peacock Sacred Mountain.
After all, the Young Master Fan of old had been the undisputed first among the four great direct disciples — the undisputed number-one successor.
They had been jealous of Young Master Fan back then, but could only keep it to themselves. They all knew that in terms of both strength and charisma, they were worlds apart from Young Master Fan.
But Young Master Fan's popularity and status had not been built in a day or two.
Even if they were jealous inside, they did not dare show it.
Yet this Pill King Zhen had suddenly appeared, suddenly risen to fame, and suddenly become the most celebrated star in all of Liuli Royal City.
Yang Sheng was narrow-minded to begin with, so naturally, he was displeased.
And this simmering resentment had now fully erupted here on the ring.
Yang Sheng raised his thin eyebrows and looked Jiang Chen up and down, a trace of undisguised mockery in his eyes. He swept a measuring gaze over Jiang Chen, laced with provocation.
"Pill King Zhen, making it all the way here — you've got quite the talent, haven't you?" Yang Sheng said mildly.
After all, this Pill King Zhen had ties to Peacock Sacred Mountain. Even though jealousy burned within him, he could not completely discard his composure the way Zhuang Jie had before.
Though the hostility was somewhat masked, with Jiang Chen's keen sensitivity, how could he fail to notice the other man's provocative expression and gaze?
Jiang Chen smiled faintly. He did not care for idle talk and cupped his fists. "Please guide me."
Had it been anyone else, Jiang Chen might have fired back with a retort. But this man was a direct disciple of the Great Peacock Emperor. Even setting aside Yang Sheng himself, one had to show respect to the Emperor — if not for his sake, then for the Great Peacock Emperor's.
Therefore, Jiang Chen decided to give Yang Sheng's provocation the cold shoulder. After all, the best counterattack was simply to defeat him on the ring.
Seeing that Jiang Chen had not taken the bait, Yang Sheng was mildly surprised.
He had originally intended to enrage Jiang Chen, using his status as a direct disciple of the Great Peacock Emperor to intimidate the other party into timidity and anxiety, causing him to perform below his potential.
But the other party had not fallen for it at all — it seemed he could not even be bothered to engage.
Yang Sheng let out a cold laugh. "I'll be happy to give you some proper guidance."
With that, he shook his arm, and a long whip, black and white in color, suddenly appeared in Yang Sheng's hand.
"Pill King Zhen, everywhere you go in Liuli Royal City these days, people call you a genius — some supreme master of both alchemy and combat. Well then, let me, Yang, test whether there's any real substance behind the hype!"
The long whip cracked, and tears immediately appeared across the void. The ruptured space seemed to spew countless motes of dust, instantly shrouding the ring in a haze of grey mist.
The next moment, the black-and-white whip was in motion.
Crackling like bolts of lightning, countless silver streaks suddenly appeared in the void above the ring, writhing through the air like venomous serpents.
"Black-and-White Lightning Seal!"
Yang Sheng swept his hand in an arc, and the countless threads of power in the void converged into two streams — one yin, one yang; one hard, one soft — forming an encircling net.
During the Genius Rankings matches before, Jiang Chen had encountered an opponent named Guan Yuchan who wielded a pair of golden cymbals. Those golden cymbals had left a deep impression on him.
The power of those golden cymbals lay in the interplay of yin and yang poles, creating a formidable controlling force.