The second round of matches began soon after.
Lin Ye drew an early slot, and it wasn't long before he was called up to the arena stage.
His opponent was a powerful peak Third Realm martial artist. With their realms being equal, the fight was exceptionally brutal.
It took a full half-incense stick's time before Lin Ye, bracing himself to take a heavy punch to the shoulder, managed to find an opening. With a strike from the back of his saber, he knocked his opponent off the stage.
Though it was a hard-fought victory that left a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth, he had finally advanced to the next round.
Lin Ye walked down the stage, wiped the sweat from his face, and walked over to Su Yueli, panting heavily.
Not long after, the referee's voice rang out.
“Group Forty-Three, take the stage!”
Su Yueli unfastened the wine gourd from her waist, tossed it to Lin Ye, and prepared to step onto the stage.
“Miss Su!”
Lin Ye's expression was incredibly grave. “The Pang family has definitely set a death trap. Listen to me—if you get up there and things look bad, don't force it. Just shout that you surrender!”
“As long as you shout those words, the referee will intervene immediately. The rules of the Martial Arts Tournament are clear. Even if the Pang family has immense influence, they would never dare to openly humiliate the Great Li imperial family and the Imperial Guards.”
Su Yueli glanced at him and smiled faintly. “Don't worry, it won't come to that.”
With that, she leaped and landed gracefully on the arena stage.
Meanwhile, on the high platform within the Pang family's camp.
Pang Jinbiao watched Su Yueli take the stage, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
“Has the matter regarding the elixir been clearly explained to Lei'er?”
The grey-robed elder beside him lowered his voice and nodded repeatedly. “Rest assured, Family Head, everything is foolproof. Although Pang Lei is only in the mid Fourth Realm, he already has a Bloodburst Pill tucked into his robes before going up.”
The elder's tone was chilling. “The tournament rules only state that one cannot use external items like hidden weapons or poison to scheme against opponents, but they say nothing about consuming elixirs to boost one's blood qi! This is a loophole in the rules.”
“Even if this girl has some hidden trump card up her sleeve, once Young Master Lei takes the Bloodburst Pill, his blood qi will temporarily surge to a level close to the early stage of the Fifth Realm! Killing her on the stage will be as easy as slaughtering a dog!”
After all, the assassin last time must have been careless, combined with whatever underhanded trick she used.
Otherwise, how could a mere young girl kill a Fifth Realm mid stage death-sworn assassin?
Pang Jinbiao's tightly furrowed brows finally relaxed completely.
He nodded in satisfaction. “The medicinal properties of the Bloodburst Pill are violent, and it will inevitably cause some damage to his meridians afterward. However, as long as he can publicly kill that little bitch and uphold the prestige of our Pang family, he can choose any spiritual herb he wants from the family treasury afterward to make a full recovery.”
On the stage.
Just as Su Yueli stood firm, a tall, burly youth stepped up from the opposite side.
It was indeed Pang Lei.
Pang Lei cracked his neck, his eyes sweeping over Su Yueli's body without any restraint, his gaze filled with killing intent and lust.
“You really are a beauty. No wonder the Second Young Master died at your hands.”
Pang Lei grinned savagely, lowering his voice to mock her. “Little beauty, in a moment, I'll crush your bones one by one. If it hurts too much to bear, hurry up and get on your knees to beg me. If I'm in a good mood, I might just leave you with a breath of life to take back to the manor so I can play with you slowly.”
In the spectator stands below the stage, many martial artists who recognized Pang Lei were whispering among themselves.
“That's Pang Lei of the Pang family. He's a ruthless character in the mid Fourth Realm, always brutal in his strikes!”
“This girl is done for. Looking at Pang Lei's stance, he clearly intends to draw blood on the stage.”
“Sigh, a rogue martial artist from the outer city... When facing a disciple of a prestigious family like this, they won't even get the chance to surrender.”
Hearing the awe-filled and certain discussions below, Pang Lei's arrogance flared even higher, and the blood qi within his body surged with excitement.
He thoroughly enjoyed this thrill of holding the power of life and death in his hands.
Faced with Pang Lei's vulgar words, Su Yueli remained indifferent. She had never cared to waste her breath on the trash talk of a dead man.
Even a lion uses its full strength when hunting a rabbit. Since she had stepped onto the stage, she did not intend to hold back.
The blood qi in her body mobilized instantly, but just as she was about to make her move, her thoughts suddenly shifted.
No... Last night at the inn, she had unleashed the fourth form, River Blocker, with all her might, and the result was an instant kill of an early stage Fifth Realm death-sworn assassin with a single punch, shattering his heart meridians on the spot.
This Pang Lei in front of her was only in the mid Fourth Realm, and his physical defense was even weaker.
If she fully unleashed her blood qi now and threw another punch of the fourth form, she would probably blow him to pieces on the spot.
Although the Martial Arts Tournament left life and death to fate, if the death was too gruesome, leaving flesh and blood flying everywhere, it would inevitably attract excessive attention and thorough investigations from the high-ranking members of the imperial family, adding unnecessary trouble.
Fearing she might kill him with a single punch, Su Yueli silently dispersed the intent of the fourth form. With a flick of her wrist, she switched to the second form.
“Let the match begin!”
The referee's arm swung down heavily.
Pang Lei's eyes gleamed with fierce light. He was about to channel his blood qi to teach this ignorant girl a lesson right off the bat.
He was even considering whether he should swallow the Bloodburst Pill in his robes right at the start to crush her in the most brutal manner possible.
But the thought had barely crossed his mind...
Bang!
A muffled boom echoed from the hard bluestone floor of the stage.
Su Yueli's figure vanished from where she stood. Pang Lei only felt a blur before his eyes as a terrifying gale blasted directly at his face.
“What?!”
His pupils dilated. Too fast!
It was so fast that he didn't even have time to raise his arms to block before a fair fist slammed squarely against his chest.
The second form.
Short-range force, erupt!
Boom!
A massive explosion erupted on the stage.
Pang Lei's body instantly stiffened. Immediately after, the clothes on his back were shredded into countless fragments by the violent force that pierced right through him.
Like a fired cannonball, his feet plowed through the bluestone stage before he spewed blood into the air, flying backward over dozens of feet.
With a heavy thud, he crashed onto the ground below the stage, rolling several times before finally coming to a halt.
His eyes bulged, and his entire body convulsed.
The clamor of the surrounding crowd instantly died down.
Everyone stared at Stage Forty-Three, their minds completely blank.
It was over?
Just like that?!
A prestigious mid Fourth Realm genius of the Pang family hadn't even lasted half a round, blown away by a single punch?!
On the high platform.
Pang Jinbiao, who was holding a teacup and preparing to enjoy the show, froze completely. The teacup slipped from his hand, shattering to pieces on the floor.
The grey-robed elder beside him looked like a choked duck, his eyes wide as saucers, unable to utter a single word.
Below the stage.
Pang Lei lay on the ground, unable to stop himself from vomiting a mouthful of fresh blood.
His sternum had caved in significantly, and his internal organs felt as if they had been completely displaced, wracked with excruciating pain.
With great difficulty, he raised his trembling right hand and felt the unopened small porcelain vial tucked inside his robes.
The Bloodburst Pill was still inside.
He was dazed, completely and utterly dazed.
He hadn't even had the time to take the medicine!
On the stage, Su Yueli slowly withdrew her fist. She looked down at Pang Lei, her expression thoroughly speechless.
“Since you knew your opponent was strong, you should have gone all out from the very beginning.”
Su Yueli shook her head, her voice cold. “If this had been a true life-and-death struggle, you would already be dead.”
This was what her master, Lu Chen, had taught her.
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