The Challenge Letter (continued)

Therefore, Liang Fan did not take Si Ming's reminder to heart. It wasn't that he ignored it, as it was well-intentioned. However, his martial arts pride did not allow him to back down before the battle even began, otherwise he would lose even a battle he could have won.

Even if he lost, he couldn't leave any regrets. Liang Fan held this thought until—

"Cloud Mist Detonation!"

The white mist that enveloped the entire arena ignited instantly, and an incandescent light, too bright to be seen with the naked eye, Blink. The raging flames, carrying dark spots, engulfed the entire arena. The powerful impact caused the entire martial arts hall to shake. The array set up at the edge of the arena was activated, and several Divine Arts waiting in place immediately cast defensive Divine Arts to prevent the flames from spreading outward and to avoid injuring the audience.

"Caishuang! Xiaoshuang!"

Liang Fan roared and tried to rush onto the stage, but was stopped by the staff maintaining order.

"Get out of the way, we concede this match!"

The staff turned their attention to the referee, who nodded and made way for them. Liang Fan channeled all his power, his entire body enveloped in icy aura, and charged into the incandescent flames. The referee followed him in.

It's not that these staff members are cold-blooded, but anything can happen in martial arts competitions. You might think one side has defeated the other, only to have a stunning reversal the next moment. There have been many such cases in the past. Some competitors even deceive their own teammates to hide their strength. If they allow this to happen, they will be held responsible for interfering with the competition. Therefore, during the competition, they only follow the referee's instructions, and the referee must make judgments based on the actual situation and bear the corresponding responsibility. So this profession is not one that just anyone can do.

A moment later, the referee and Liang Fan each rushed out of the flames carrying one person. It was Song Caishuang and Song Xiaoshuang from the Glacier Martial Arts School. These lovely sisters in the eyes of outsiders were now covered in scorch marks, their hair had been burned off, and they no longer looked pitiful. Their clothes had also been burned to ashes, with some residue stuck to their skin, making them look like charred corpses. They were clearly severely burned.

The audience erupted in uproar. Although there had been serious injuries in the past few days of competition, none had been as impactful as today. Two beautiful young women in the prime of their youth had been disfigured, a truly cruel act of heartlessly destroying something beautiful.

Liang Fan stared blankly as the paramedics sprayed healing mist onto the two women and quickly moved them away. He had checked on them during the rescue and knew that they were not in mortal danger. Although the heat had seeped into their bodies, they cultivated ice-attribute Internal Cultivation, which kept the heat on the surface and did not damage their vital organs. However, for women who valued their appearance, this situation was worse than death.

Even if a martial artist has amazing physical recovery ability, such severe burns will take at least three to five years to fully recover. Even if the injuries are healed and the scars are removed, they may not be able to return to their original appearance. After all, they are not Spirit Transformation and do not have such precise and meticulous control.

Grief and regret quickly turned into boundless rage.

Liang Fan rushed to the edge of the ring, grabbed Lian Buqi who was leaving the arena amidst boos, and roared, "You could have stopped just now, why were you so ruthless?"

"I don't understand what you're saying. I'm just respecting my opponent and choosing to go all out. Is that wrong? I can't judge their strength. What if they survive their ultimate move and defeat me? Who will speak up for me then? You'll probably just laugh at me for overestimating myself and holding back, right?" Lian Buqi noticed that the referee was also watching them, so he answered flawlessly.

Serious injuries to athletes are not uncommon in Martial Dao League; for example, there have been five such cases in this season alone. If it weren't for Si Ming's reminder, Liang Fan would have assumed it was an accident. However, during the battle just now, he clearly saw that Lian Buqi had revealed a cruel and gleeful smile when unleashing his ultimate move. This person clearly knew what he was doing and was enjoying it.

"You clearly had the upper hand just now. Song Caishuang and Song Xiaoshuang were helpless even when fighting two against one, let alone having a teammate like you. You could win without even using your special moves."

"Who can say for sure? What if you've saved up some kind of explosive move? I'm using my ultimate technique just in case, to play it safe and win, which doesn't violate the rules of the game."

Lian Buqi pried Liang Fan's fingers open with force and sneered, "Even if they were wrong, it was because they were too weak. Once you step onto the stage, you should disregard life and death. If you don't even have that kind of awareness, who's being naive to expect your opponent to stop after a few hits?"

He stubbornly denies that he intentionally beat someone to the point of near death, so even the referee can't say anything to him. In martial arts competitions, swords and spears have no eyes, and injuries are inevitable. Unless he continues to attack after the opponent has surrendered or lost the ability to fight, it is difficult to determine whether there was malicious injury. Even if the video is brought out afterward, he can argue that his smile was just his face twitching.

Of course, if someone is killed, whether intentionally or unintentionally, the entire team will be disqualified from the competition.

Liang Fan was furious, his eyes bloodshot and his clenched hands trembling uncontrollably. He knew the other party was saying this on purpose, taking advantage of his lack of evidence to provoke him. However, the image of the siblings burned beyond recognition kept Blink through his mind, and the anger in his heart burned brighter and brighter. Just as the string of reason was about to snap, his fist was ready to strike when suddenly a whip lashed out and wrapped around his wrist.

It was teammate Mei Yan who stepped in, scolding, "Didn't you see? He deliberately provoked you. As long as you struck first, he could legally retaliate, even if he seriously injured you, and no one could blame him."

"Heh, got caught?" Lian Buqi frankly admitted it, and stepped forward, saying in a deep voice, "That's right, I did it on purpose, but what can you do to me? Who told you to be weaker than me? Even if you wanted to avenge your teammates, you couldn't. That's just how the world is."

I won't let you get away with this!

"The threat of the weak is like the roar of a groundhog; it only makes people laugh."

"Enough! You two, separate right now!"

The referee immediately stepped in, separating the two men who were locked in a tense standoff, and stared at Lian Buqi, saying, "What you just said... are you admitting that you deliberately injured your opponent?"

Lian Buqi laughed confidently, "Oh dear, referee, how could you misinterpret my words? What I meant by 'intentionally' was deliberately provoking this guy in order to launch a legitimate counterattack. I admit that doing so was inappropriate, but it shouldn't be related to this match, right?"

The referee glared at him and said, "Alright, the match will continue. International Union Academy is currently leading 2-0. Players who have finished their matches, please return to the waiting area and do not obstruct the normal progress of the match."

Lian Buqi smiled nonchalantly, turned around and went back to the waiting area. His teammate, who had just been on the field with him, was cursing loudly. "That guy is a madman. I'm never going to participate in a duo battle with him again. When he goes berserk, he doesn't even spare his teammates. If I hadn't activated my protective aura in time and been in the edge area, I probably would have been carried out like those two young ladies."

When the others saw Lian Buqi return, they didn't greet him. Instead, they deliberately looked away, isolating him.

Only Tao Chengsi walked over and said, "You went too far this time. I wouldn't say anything even if you beat someone half to death, but you shouldn't have deliberately disfigured them and tortured women in this way. This will damage the reputation of our entire team."

Lian Buqi scoffed, "I perfectly kept my promise; I didn't kill anyone, nor did I leave any evidence against them."

Tao Chengsi said, "If that's how you put it, then I'll arrange for you to be in charge of the fifth singles match from now on. That way, I'll keep my promise and not make you a substitute, and I'll let you participate in the match. But whether you'll actually get to play is another matter."

Some statistics show that the probability of a fifth singles match is only one in four. Most of the time, the match is already over after the first four rounds. Lian Buqi naturally didn't want to gamble on such a probability. After a moment of silence, he reluctantly agreed, "Okay, I'll listen to you from now on, as long as I'm scheduled to be the first player in tomorrow's match."

Tao Chengsi gave him a deep look and said, "No problem, but you must remember today's promise. Also, this 'later' cannot refer only to this Martial Dao League. Don't play word games with the Diplomatic School."

"... Okay, I promise you." Lian Buqi pouted, revealing an extremely regretful expression.

Tao Chengsi said nothing more and stepped onto the stage. He was to fight in the third match, and standing opposite him was Liang Fan, who was still furious.

"If I told you that I also disapprove of Lian Buqi's methods, and that even the entire team dislikes him, would that make you feel any better?"

Liang Fan waved his hand and said, "No need to say more. I know my current emotion is called displaced anger, and I know it's wrong, but I can't control myself. Blame it on your bad luck to have to be teammates with someone like this."

"I understand," Tao Chengsi said, taking off his glasses and tossing them aside. "But there's one thing I need to clarify: the one who's really in trouble isn't me, but you, because you can't even vent your anger by taking it out on others."

"What did you say!"

"Although I sympathize with you, I am a martial artist. Once I step onto the stage, I must fight to the death to win. I cannot hand over victory easily. You are not the protagonist. You cannot win simply by having a compelling reason and unwavering belief in victory, nor can you defeat a powerful enemy by reminiscing about the past, roaring in your heart, or thinking of avenging your comrades. This is reality, and it does not change according to human will."

"You think you're stronger than me?"

"I've watched your match videos and carefully analyzed your data. I know our cultivation levels are roughly equal, and a normal duel would be a 50/50 affair, with the winner depending entirely on luck. However, I have a Bloodline Ability, which increases my chances of winning by 15%. You, on the other hand, are currently enraged and unable to calmly engage in battle. Moreover, you cultivate ice-attribute Cultivation Method, which are not the type that unleash greater power when emotions run high. In fact, quite the opposite, your agitated state of mind will affect your Cultivation Body. Thus, I gain another 15% chance of winning."

Liang Fan took a deep breath, suppressing his anger, and said, "If the outcome of a battle could be determined by analyzing data, then there would be no need for anyone to fight. Everyone could just list their data and compare it before taking action."

"Data cannot determine the outcome, but it can influence it. People with my personality are often portrayed as supporting characters in novels and movies, shouting 'Incredible!' or 'It's a miracle!' when the protagonist unleashes their power to turn the tide of battle. However, in reality, this is called 'Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.'"

"You really know how to flatter yourself."