"I have to finish this… now," Lian breathed heavily.
Another attack came from his flank. He caught the attacker's wrist mid-strike, Frost Qi bursting from his palm.
"Haaaaaa—!" the man screamed, dropping his sabre as ice crawled up his arm.
A volley of arrows rained down. Lian yanked the frozen man upward like a shield, the arrows thudding into his body.
"I need to deal with him first—"
With a grunt, Lian hurled the man off the stage.
"Ah… I got it."
He pressed his hands together in a praying seal, rapidly heating the Frost Qi. The ice vaporised, and a thick mist rolled across the entire stage.
"I—I can't see anything…" another brute murmured, his eyes straining against the fog.
"Not bad… not bad at all." Empress Li leaned forward, licking her lips. "Now he's using assassin methods. That boy surely keeps things entertaining."
Bang!
Lian struck someone beneath the fog's cover.
And another person was eliminated.
Arrows whistled wildly as Bao fired blindly into the haze.
"I can't see a thing! It's all fog!" the spectators muttered restlessly.
Dum da dum da dum…
Bao's heartbeat echoed in his ears—fast, uneven, terrified.
"Show yourself!" he barked, releasing another flare of arrows.
"You bastard—look where you're going!"
Lin Feng slammed his elbow into Bao, who had stumbled too close in the confusion.
Bao toppled, hitting the ground hard.
"I, I-I'm so… so sorry!" he stammered, scrambling back.
"Get off the ring." Lin Feng's voice was raw.
"What…?" Bao blinked.
"Can't you hear me, trash? I said Get off the ring. I hate repeating myself."
Bao froze, crushed from the inside.
"Hahaha… oh, Lin Feng, you're just too much," the two girls beside him giggled, rubbing against him.
"Look at him—how pitiful," they mocked.
"Don't laugh… don't laugh at me!" Bao barked, his voice breaking like a cornered dog.
"Hahaha, what are you going to cry?" they continued.
"Don't laugh at me. Please don't laugh at me. Don't—laugh—at—me!"
Bao's mouth foamed as the words twisted out of him. His eyes went wild, unfocused, deranged. He barked like a rabid dog.
"What's wrong with him…?" the two girls whispered, stepping back.
Bao clenched his hair and pulled hard. The air around him thickened—dense, unstable. Qi began leaking from his body in violent spasms.
"Things just got tricky," Lian muttered, instinctively backing away from Bao.
"The boy has fallen into Qi diversion," Elder Yang said grimly. "All that taunting finally broke him."
"I will kill you. I will kill you. I will kill you ALL!"
"Ahhh," Bao screamed as all the fog that was covering the Ring was blown away.
"We can finally see," the spectators cheered.
Bao shot to his feet with unnatural speed. He grabbed his bow, but instead of arrows, he fired raw Qi—sharp, dark projectiles—one after another in rapid succession.
Lin Feng drew his blade, barely blocking the barrage.
This only enraged Bao further. His Qi surged, spiralling out of control.
"Stop laughing, stop laughing," Bao continued as his hair began to grow, its colour turning a cloudy white.
"Elder Yang, please stop the match before it gets out of hand," Envoy Fang Mo urged.
"Very well." Elder Yang lifted his hand.
Bao's eyes were blood-red now. Dark veins crawled across his skin. His attacks had become so heavy that Lin Feng was forced to manifest a Qi blade to survive. He was breathing hard, patches of his clothes torn open.
The ring had been shattered as Lian watched, evading the stray arrows.
"You insignificant piece of sh—" Lin Feng raised his sword for a finishing blow.
But before it could land, glowing talisman seals shot across the stage, intercepting the attack with a thunderous snap.
"Calm yourself, Lin Feng. The match is over," Elder Yang said.
He turned toward Bao and raised two fingers before his face.
"You fool. How can you call yourself a martial artist with such a weak will? Your first mistake was allowing yourself to break against Lin Feng's pressure."
"Even if you were weaker, you should have tried fighting rather than giving up," The elder said, waving his hands forming hand signs.
Streams of yellow seals burst forth, swirling around Bao like chains.
"Five-Teel Seal," Elder Yang declared.
A giant manifested coin—glowing with runes—descended and pinned Bao to the ground.
"The matches are over," the announcer declared after a moment of hesitation.
Silence.
...
"Yeahhhh!" the crowd erupted.
"That was quite the show. That boy Lian Xing—he was incredible, wasn't he?" one spectator said.
"Yeah! Did you see that technique he used? He fought four people at once and barely got injured. Unbelievable!"
"Too bad, though… the next round he'll be facing true geniuses. I think this is where he stops," another added.
"You think so, huh?"
A man in the audience spoke. He had long hair, and his face was hidden behind a crow-like mask. His voice was calm but amused.
"I think he didn't show everything he had," the masked man continued. "What do you think, Wang…?"
"Oh, shut up, Bo. Focus on the mission," Wang replied, annoyed.
Wang was a large man wearing a coat made from black feathers. His hair was cut short, and his dark red eyes scanned the arena with predatory calm.
"Heyyy, what's all the buzzin' about?"
A drunk man stumbled into their conversation, his face rosy. He bumped straight into Wang.
"You don't know what you're talking about. That boy was fighting for his life." The man spat. "That little f*cker made me lose so much money." The man continued.
Wang stared down at the man, the air around him cold.
"I—I'm sorry! So sorry!" the drunk yelped before scurrying away through the crowd.
"Hu… I thought I was going to die," he muttered once he'd forced his way out.
"Oho."
He coughed.
"Oho… oho… oho—agh!"
He collapsed to the ground. Moments later, his body softened, melted, and vanished, leaving no trace.
"Hoho… how brutal, Wang. The man just bumped into you. Why kill him?" Bo teased.
Wang didn't answer.
He simply kept looking straight ahead—expression cold, eyes unblinking.
"Ladies and gents, let us take a short break! Afterwards, we will begin the tournament—one-on-one matches to determine the strongest!!"
Every word from the announcer lingered in the air, riling the crowd even further.
"The winner will be automatically guaranteed a spot in the Heavenly Star Sect as an interim disciple! They will also receive a Qi-Boosting Pill crafted by the legendary Zhen Lingyu!" the announcer added.
Upon hearing those words, the participants exploded with excitement.
"I can break through to the next realm with that pill!" some of them murmured among themselves.
"Look at them… these poor bastards, fired up by a mere pill," Bo laughed, leaning forward with amusement.
"Well, what do you expect for this backwards region? I'm sure those kinds of resources come by hard for them." Wang spoke.
"Oh well, that would explain their strength. We have been here for days now, and none of them have even managed to detect us. I wanted a fight," Bo pouted.
"Now then, after one incense stick's time, the tournament will begin!" the announcer shouted.
"See you then, folks!" The announcer bowed, leaving the stage, and all the participants followed.