“Damn it!” Xiahou Lan felt the urge to curse. Whatever he dreaded came true. In this round-robin, he no longer expected to defeat anyone or reach the second tier.
His only hope was to beat one person to vent his frustration, and he’d pinned that on Hu Yue.
Yet, in this situation, he drew her.
Xiahou Lan was inwardly raging, cursing his rotten luck…
But complaints aside, rules were rules. If he didn’t fight, it was an automatic forfeit.
Gritting his teeth, Xiahou Lan dragged himself into the arena, overdrawing his strength to face Hu Yue, hoping for a quick win.
But under Hu Yue’s illusions, he nearly collapsed.
Then, while casting illusions, Hu Yue rushed in close, blasting Xiahou Lan out of the arena.
Xiahou Lan spat three mouthfuls of blood in fury, nearly fainting.
“Next match, Lin Xiao versus Wei Yanjie!”
As the referee’s voice rang out, Xiahou Lan caught his breath, avoiding a blackout. He couldn’t beat anyone, fine, but now he’d finally see Lin Xiao suffer.
Though Wei Yanjie had lost twice, he was still a top-fifteen powerhouse, far beyond Lin Xiao’s reach.
“Lin Xiao, don’t you dare concede!” Fearing Lin Xiao would surrender, Xiahou Lan taunted immediately.
Wei Yanjie hoped the same. After two losses, he was itching to vent, and Lin Xiao was the perfect target to unleash his fury on, proving he wasn’t weak—just up against tougher opponents, not someone anyone could trample.
“You’re not conceding?” Seeing Lin Xiao step up, Wei Yanjie sneered coldly.
Lin Xiao paused, finding Wei Yanjie’s words odd.
Was he being underestimated so much that everyone assumed they’d concede before him?
“Why don’t you concede?” Lin Xiao replied with a faint smile, his voice calm.
At this, Wei Yanjie froze. Lin Xiao, telling him to concede?
“You lost twice already. I want to try…” Lin Xiao’s voice, almost infuriating Wei Yanjie to explosion, rang out calmly again, “to make you lose a third time.”
“You!” Wei Yanjie roared in rage. He was already humiliated and furious over those losses, and now Lin Xiao dared to mock him with it.
“Good, very good! If a tiger doesn’t roar, you all think I, Wei Yanjie, am a sick cat!”
Furious, Wei Yanjie declared, “Let’s see if you can defeat me!”
With that, he drew a golden iron ring, its edge razor-sharp, exuding a vast aura. Swinging it, a dazzling red light shot out, tracing a brilliant arc through the air, slashing diagonally at Lin Xiao.
The red light, formed of vitality, was razor-sharp and carried sweeping force, like a horizontal rainbow piercing the sky, moving at incredible speed.
After unleashing it, Wei Yanjie charged forward.
This was a ferocious attack. Blocking the curving red light from the side would leave one vulnerable to Wei Yanjie’s close-range assault.
It was a two-part attack, or rather, one main and one auxiliary.
Most couldn’t even block the first, let alone Wei Yanjie’s ferocious follow-up.
And this was just a casual strike, yet its fearsome aura showcased Wei Yanjie’s strength.
To everyone, Lin Xiao was doomed to lose in one move. Except for Xia Jianren’s caliber, no one in this group could withstand a single strike from any of the trio.
Xiahou Lan, Jia Chao, Yu Xiang, and others watched, cold smiles curling their lips.
Lin Xiao was finally about to crash. They’d waited so long for this…
In the arena, Lin Xiao knew his spiritual power alone, without spiritual energy, couldn’t control Wei Yanjie.
But facing the overwhelming attack, he didn’t dodge an inch.
Others feared Wei Yanjie’s “auxiliary” attack, but he didn’t.
As a dual vitality-spirit cultivator, auxiliary attacks were just one of a Spirit Controller’s tricks.
In that instant, Lin Xiao unleashed his skeletal palm, channeling vast spiritual power into it, striking the curving red light from the side.
Simultaneously, he drew a black iron tube, gripped it with both hands, and swung it fiercely at the charging Wei Yanjie.
Clang! Thud!
Two sounds rang out. The red light hit the skeletal palm, pushing it back, but the light was stopped cold.
As they closed in, Lin Xiao’s black iron tube clashed with Wei Yanjie’s golden iron ring, sparks flying. The terrifying force seemed to explode between them, the metallic clash ringing in the spectators’ ears.
The impact sent both sliding back several yards.
Their clash was evenly matched.
The crowd was stunned. They’d expected Wei Yanjie’s ferocious attack to crush Lin Xiao in one move, but not only did Lin Xiao block the red light, he matched Wei Yanjie’s powerful strike with sheer physical vitality.
An even match.
If Lin Xiao had used spiritual power and vitality to match Wei Yanjie, they could accept it.
But that strike clearly concentrated all his spiritual power on the skeletal palm. The blow he delivered was purely physical vitality.
A first-level Martial King matching a third-level Martial King, and a top-tier one like Wei Yanjie?
How could his strength be that immense?
No one could understand.
Xiahou Lan and others, waiting to see Lin Xiao humiliated, froze, their bodies rigid.
Their minds screamed with disbelief. How could Lin Xiao withstand Wei Yanjie’s attack? How could he match his strength?
Lin Xiao, not defeated again?
This clash drew many eyes to Arena Ten, including those on the main platform.
Even Xia Jianren and Zhu Jian outside Arena Ten were shocked. They’d dismissed Lin Xiao, assuming he couldn’t possibly block Wei Yanjie. Even they’d need effort to counter such an attack.
But reality defied their expectations.
They even wondered if Lin Xiao had earned their serious attention.
