“Chen’er, your battle with Shi Yulian just now took a lot out of you. Why not rest for half an hour and challenge again later?”
At this moment, Ling Xiaotian stood up to remind him.
This peak showdown could not afford any mistakes.
If they could secure first place, then the Ling family would truly stand above the other families.
Though Ling Chen was proud, he understood this reasoning.
“I don’t care. You can rest as long as you like. Half an hour, a day, it doesn’t matter. Defeating you will only take me three moves anyway.”
Li Xinghui adopted a completely indifferent attitude.
And Ling Xiao felt that this Li Xinghui was cut from the same cloth as Ling Chen, both arrogant and looking down on everyone.
“Hmph!”
Ling Chen let out a cold snort, said nothing, and began to sit cross-legged to rest.
“Ling Xiao, go up and challenge Li Xinghui. Test his strength for Ling Chen.”
Ling Xiaotian sat back down, but Ling Yin stood up and, in his capacity as Supreme Elder, ordered Ling Xiao.
“Me, pave the way for Ling Chen?”
A cold smile flickered across Ling Xiao’s lips.
Though you’re the Supreme Elder and I’m still a disciple of the Ling family, making it hard to refuse you outright, do you think I’m stupid? Anyway, even if I lose this challenge, it won’t cost me anything. I’ll just mess around a bit.
“Disciple obeys!”
With that thought, he stood up and leapt onto the first arena.
“Li Xinghui, huh? What’s your relationship with Li Xingyun?”
Ling Xiao stood there and suddenly asked.
“Xingyun is my younger brother!”
“Oh, got it.”
A flash of killing intent passed through Ling Xiao’s eyes.
Since Li Xingyun had killed the people dearest to him in this world, he harboured no goodwill toward anyone from the Li family.
Moreover, Li Xinghui had been investigating the cause of Li Xingyun’s death. Sooner or later, he’d trace it back to him.
Rather than waiting passively, it was better to strike first.
But obviously, the arena wasn’t the right place to act. If he killed Li Xinghui in front of so many people, justified or not, the Li family would target him.
So he decided to stick to his original plan: exchange a few moves, then fake a defeat.
After Ling Chen fought Li Xinghui, he’d be able to gauge their true depths. Then, whether he challenged Ling Chen or Li Xinghui later, he’d have a better grasp of the situation.
He wasn’t a god, after all—just an early-stage Martial Vein Sixth Layer warrior.
Though his Mountain and River Martial Soul gave him an edge over most young martial artists, he couldn’t afford to be careless.
“Pity. When I met Li Xingyun in the Fulong Mountains, it felt like fate. Sure, there were some misunderstandings between us, but for him to die so mysteriously is truly regrettable.”
Ling Xiao looked at Li Xinghui and sighed, “The Supreme Elder of my Ling family has ordered me to challenge you, so I have no choice but to do so. Take my punch first.”
With that, he gave a slight bow, clenched his fists, and turned them into two blazing meteors that shot toward Li Xinghui.
At this moment, he kept his strength at the peak of Martial Vein Fifth Layer. This move didn’t use the Snow Lotus Qi Formula but relied on the Red Sun Technique.
Li Xinghui sat there, not even bothering to stand, casually flipping through a book.
Ling Xiao hadn’t yet tested his true strength, but this guy’s ability to show off was definitely top-tier in Tianfeng City.
Interesting.
Ling Xiao smirked inwardly. If he weren’t planning to fake a loss, this punch would’ve made the posturing Li Xinghui suffer.
He held back mid-attack.
The Meteor Fist was only at the Great Success level.
The Red Sun Technique, too, was only at Great Success.
Boom!
His fists, wrapped in fiery light, smashed toward Li Xinghui’s head. To onlookers, the power seemed impressive, but Li Xinghui didn’t even glance up.
He merely extended his left hand, which swiftly morphed into a claw-like shape, resembling a beast’s talon.
In that instant, Ling Xiao clearly sensed a beastly aura emanating from Li Xinghui.
Rip!
With a seemingly simple grab, he caught the weakest point of Ling Xiao’s fists, tearing his sleeve.
Even Ling Xiao’s arm, protected by the Nine Transformations Golden Body Art, bore faint scratch marks.
“Ow, damn, he’s strong!”
Ling Xiao flew backward dramatically, landing perfectly on the fourth arena.
Anyone with eyes could tell he was faking the defeat.
Ling Yin wasn’t blind; he saw it too.
“Ling Xiao, you’re a disgrace to the Ling family!”
He shouted in anger.
Ling Xiao sat on the arena and grinned, “Why get so worked up, Supreme Elder? I followed your orders and challenged Li Xinghui. But he’s just too strong—I couldn’t handle him.”
“Hahahaha!”
The crowd burst into laughter at his words.
They could all see that Ling Xiao and the Supreme Elder Ling Yin weren’t on good terms. He was deliberately riling him up.
“I heard Ling Feifan is Ling Yin’s grandson. Ling Xiao beat Ling Feifan, so of course Ling Yin’s not happy.”
“Ling Xiao defeated Ling Feifan fair and square. Ling Yin’s pretty petty for a Supreme Elder of the Ling family.”
“No wonder the Ling family was so weak before. With someone like him in charge, it’d be strange if they weren’t. Good thing Ling Xiaotian recruited disciples from outside, or the Ling family would still be a joke at this Tianfeng Gathering.”
“Exactly!”
“Enough, stop talking. Look, someone else is challenging Li Xinghui—it’s Shi Yulian!”
Shi Yulian was a bold woman. Even if she lost a challenge like this, the experience would be invaluable.
Opportunities like this didn’t come often.
No wonder she’d improved so much in the past year. When someone casts aside all distractions and focuses solely on progress, they become formidable.
As Shi Yulian stepped up, Ling Xiao reflected on his brief exchange with Li Xinghui.
It was just one move, and he’d faked a loss.
But even that single move revealed a lot.
Li Xinghui might seem careless, but he wasn’t careless at all.
That claw strike had precisely targeted his weak spot. Though Ling Xiao could’ve dodged, others might not have.
He suspected Li Xinghui possessed something special. No warrior at this level could do that otherwise.
Spotting an opponent’s weakness in an instant—that, to Ling Xiao, was the most terrifying skill.
“Though I know I’m no match, Yulian still wishes to spar with Young Master Xinghui. Is that alright?”
By now, Shi Yulian stood opposite Li Xinghui.
“Sure, go ahead.”
Li Xinghui slowly stood up and looked at Shi Yulian. Perhaps it was a trick of the eye, but Ling Xiao thought he saw a venomous, snake-like glint in his gaze.
“Eight Trigrams Roaming Palm!”
Shi Yulian’s expression turned serious as she unleashed an entry-level top-tier palm technique at the Small Success stage.
This technique blended movement and martial skill, both highly refined. When executed, her body moved as if boneless, twisting with snake-like agility.
There was no doubting Shi Yulian’s strength.
She’d consecutively defeated Wang Zui and Ling Yixue, and even against Ling Chen, she’d held her own impressively, far from embarrassed.
For the first twenty moves, she’d nearly forced Ling Chen into a loss.
It was only the gap in their realms that ultimately left her slightly behind.
So her challenge against Li Xinghui had many people optimistic about her chances.
