“Fifth Layer Martial Vein! Second stage of gang qi! I’m no match!”
Ling Xiao frowned, with his current strength, if he didn’t break through, there was no way he could defeat Ling Shisan.
But escaping wouldn’t be a problem.
Yet Ling Xiao didn’t flee.
He wanted to try!
Perhaps in a dire situation, he could turn the tables and break through?
True geniuses are madmen, if they don’t dare to take a single risk, how can they ever improve?
The opponent’s aura was terrifying, the powerful presence combined with full-body gang qi, just standing there, exerted immense pressure on Ling Xiao.
But the greater the pressure, the stronger Ling Xiao’s fighting spirit grew.
The gang qi in his body was already stirring!
Ninety-one percent!
Ninety-two percent!
Ninety-three percent!
…
Ninety-nine percent!
Under the terrifying pressure, the true qi in Ling Xiao’s body kept converting into gang qi, his third martial vein had reached over ninety-nine percent transformation.
He was just a step away from breaking through to the Fourth Layer Martial Vein.
It could be said, he could break through at any moment!
His foundation was more than sufficient!
Indeed, not running was the right choice!
Ling Xiao was inwardly thrilled, if he’d turned and fled just now, relying on Soaring Cloud Steps: Dragon Transformation, even Ling Shisan might not have caught him.
But making such huge progress would’ve been utterly impossible.
“Thirteenth Elder, I only blocked Ling Feng’s attack, his severe injuries were caused by his own gang qi backfiring, what does that have to do with me?”
Ling Xiao continued refining his internal true qi while speaking calmly.
“Brat, even now you dare to argue, fine, considering you’re a Ling Clan disciple, I’ll spare your life! But I must cripple you!”
With that, Ling Shisan didn’t hesitate any longer.
He struck a palm directly at Ling Xiao’s chest.
“Enough!”
Ling Xiao was about to use his gang qi to fight with all he had, but the head referee intervened just in time.
With a casual block, Ling Shisan’s attack dissipated into nothing, losing all its power.
“Elder! He struck so viciously, harming my son like that, are we just going to ignore it?”
In front of this head referee, Ling Shisan didn’t have the slightest courage to resist, no matter how furious he was, he could tell the difference in strength.
If he dared to act, he’d come out worse today.
“This is the competition square! It’s the venue for the grand tournament! Not a place for you to cause trouble!”
The head referee said coldly.
His meaning was clear, attacking Ling Xiao during the grand tournament was forbidden, but outside of it, he wouldn’t interfere.
Ling Shisan seemed to catch the referee’s implication, giving Ling Xiao a cold glance, “Kid, I’ll give the elder face today, but my son’s vengeance will be repaid!”
With that, he turned and leapt into the air, departing.
It should be said, compared to the cunning and scheming Ling Jiu, Ling Shisan was straightforward and far more ruthless.
Ling Jiu still cared about Old Master Ling’s opinion, but Ling Shisan didn’t, because he knew he’d never become the Ling Clan patriarch, he lacked the qualifications.
So when he said he’d take revenge on Ling Xiao, those words were no empty threat.
“Young man, take care of yourself, everyone must take responsibility for their actions, no one else can help you!”
The head referee glanced at Ling Xiao calmly, not taking sides, just stating a fact.
“This junior understands!”
Ling Xiao, of course, knew what he was facing, but was he supposed to hold back against Ling Feng?
He couldn’t do that.
Showing mercy out of fear of the opponent’s father would clearly affect his martial will.
The loss would outweigh the gain.
“He actually won! He even faced Ling Feng’s father without fear! What’s going on, what’s happening…”
Among the crowd, Ling Yu, who’d been flushed with excitement earlier, now turned deathly pale, her face drained of all colour.
She’d hoped Ling Feng would defeat Ling Xiao, allowing her to repay the humiliation she’d suffered.
But the result plunged her from the clouds into an abyss, leaving her utterly despairing.
Was this still the little beggar she used to bully at will?
Unknowingly, he’d grown to such heights.
To say she didn’t regret it would be impossible.
Ling Yu now deeply regretted not sticking it out, not staying by Ling Xiao’s side.
Ling Feng, that useless fool, was indeed unreliable.
Her eyes glinted with traces of resentment, staring coldly at Ling Xiao, as if plotting something.
Due to Ling Feng’s severe injuries, his fight with Ling Yihang naturally couldn’t proceed.
So the most thrilling moment arrived.
“This is the final match of the elimination tournament, Ling Yihang versus Ling Xiao!”
The two disciples still undefeated so far.
The former was the Elite Hall’s number one, the latter the biggest dark horse of this elimination tournament.
This naturally drew countless eyes.
Ling Shuang, ranked third in the Genius Hall, arrived.
Ling Yun, ranked second in the Genius Hall, also came.
Only Ling Feifan still hadn’t shown up.
“Oh? A bit unexpected, I thought it’d be Ling Yihang and Ling Yixue vying for first, didn’t expect a dark horse to emerge, interesting!”
Ling Shuang, like Ling Yixue, was a girl, average-looking but with an excellent figure, likely due to her martial training.
Her personality differed from Ling Yixue’s, though a girl, she was fiery and bold.
Upon reaching the stands, she grinned at Ling Yihang and Ling Xiao on the combat stage, sharing her thoughts.
“Junior Sister, who do you think will win between these two?” Ling Yun asked calmly.
“Can’t tell.” Ling Shuang shook her head.
“Can’t tell?”
The surrounding crowd was somewhat puzzled.
In their view, the outcome was obvious, Ling Yihang had long mastered qi-to-gang transformation and was already a peak Third Layer Martial Vein warrior.
Meanwhile, Ling Xiao, at least up to now, hadn’t revealed any gang qi.
By that comparison, Ling Yihang was clearly the sure winner.
“Right, can’t tell, this Ling Xiao is mysterious, I feel he’s still hiding some trump cards, though I didn’t see his earlier fights, a woman’s intuition is usually spot-on.”
Ling Shuang said with a smile.
“Even if he has trump cards, he can’t be Ling Yihang’s match, do you dare say Ling Yihang doesn’t have any trump cards?”
Ling Yun countered.
“That’s why I said I can’t tell, these two, along with that Ling Yixue, will be disruptors in the grand finals, you’d better watch out, who knows, three people might get pushed out of the top ten.”
Ling Shuang giggled and fell silent.
Because the two on the stage were already facing off.
“Surrender, you’re no match for me!”
Ling Yihang stood with his hands behind his back, eyes gazing at the sky, as if Ling Xiao wasn’t even worth a glance.
His words underscored his disdain and contempt for Ling Xiao.
“Not necessarily!”
Ling Xiao said calmly.
“You’ve already qualified for the finals, why insist on embarrassing yourself, my only opponents are the top four of the Genius Hall.”
Ling Yihang maintained his lofty arrogance.
“Maybe that’s just because you’ve never met me before.”
Ling Xiao replied, neither servile nor overbearing.
“Fine, if you can take three of my moves, I’ll concede myself.”
Ling Yihang didn’t want to waste time.
“Then you’re guaranteed to lose!”
Ling Xiao didn’t want to waste time either, after all, the real battles were in the finals, this was just the elimination round.
Even if he took first here, it’d only be first in the Elite Hall.
“First move!”
Ling Yihang wasted no more words, delivering a simple, unremarkable punch.
This punch was plain, not even qualifying as a martial technique, just a casual strike.
But it was infused with gang qi.
That alone was enough!
