One Elbow Kill, Shocking the Entire Audience

Zhao Tieshan's final command was issued, igniting the atmosphere of the martial arts arena.

Dong! Dong! Dong!

Three war drums were struck by bare-chested, burly men. The drumbeats were like falling thunder, striking the heart of everyone present.

An overseer let out a high-pitched roar, waving the command flag in his hand.

"First round of the Grand Competition, a hundred-person free-for-all, begin!"

Nearly a hundred members of the Battle Hall rushed towards the three arenas in the center.

Shouts and roars intertwined.

The scene instantly descended into chaos.

The rules for the first round were straightforward.

All participants would engage in an indiscriminate free-for-all within the area formed by the three arenas and the surrounding open ground.

No teammates.

No rules.

Any means could be used.

The number of people on the field would decrease.

The last twenty people remaining.

The first round would end.

These twenty people would qualify for the next round.

Lu Chen was amidst the crowd, not rushing towards the center of the arenas.

His eyes were calm as he moved his feet, quickly observing the situation across the battlefield.

His objective was clear: qualify.

To survive a free-for-all of nearly a hundred people, one needed to understand how to assess the situation.

The strongest few, Zhang Meng and Li Kui, had already secured advantageous positions on the arenas.

A vacuum had formed around them.

No one dared to provoke them for the moment.

Most of the members were fighting in pairs or ganging up in groups of three to five against opponents who appeared weaker.

Screams, the clash of weapons, and the sound of bones breaking rose and fell.

People were constantly being knocked to the ground.

Those who fell were trampled by the surrounding combatants, losing their ability to fight.

Overseers at the edge of the field dragged them away.

Lu Chen was like a fish, weaving through the chaotic crowd.

He deliberately avoided the battle groups that had gone bloodthirsty.

He also skirted around the core areas of the arenas where Zhang Meng and the others were located.

He roamed the edges of the battlefield, conserving his energy and looking for the opportune moment.

This appearance of not fighting for anything attracted the attention of some.

In a free-for-all, those who stayed outside the fray were seen as easy targets.

"This kid is hiding, let's take him out first!"

A man with a scar on his face exchanged glances with two companions.

The three immediately reached a consensus.

They formed a triangular formation and silently closed in on Lu Chen.

The three of them had a good relationship and had agreed to team up in the first round, clearing out the weak first to ensure their own advancement.

Lu Chen, a newcomer who had only recently joined the gang, was the best target.

The scarred man approached from behind.

He swung the short staff in his hand, whistling through the air, aiming directly for the back of Lu Chen's head.

With this strike, even if it didn't knock the newcomer unconscious, it would be enough to make him lose his balance.

At that point, his other two brothers could swarm him and finish the fight.

At the instant the staff was about to hit him.

Lu Chen, who had been with his back turned, suddenly sidestepped.

The staff grazed his nose as it swung past.

At the same time, Lu Chen moved.

He didn't use any specific technique.

He didn't even look at the attacker.

His body followed the momentum of his sidestep, his right arm's muscles tensing, his elbow like a heavy hammer, smashing backward fiercely.

A muffled thud.

The scar-faced man felt a tremendous force coming from Lu Chen's elbow, hitting his chest.

Crack!

The sound of his chest bones caving in and breaking was clear.

The scar-faced man's sneer froze on his face.

Extreme pain and disbelief replaced it.

He was hit by a force that sent him flying backward several meters, his feet leaving the ground.

He knocked over two gang members who were fighting as he flew.

Finally, he crashed heavily to the ground, blood gushing from his mouth, and he immediately lost consciousness.

This sudden scene caused the surrounding people to stop their actions.

Including the scar-faced man's other two companions.

They watched with their own eyes as their brother was struck by the newcomer with a back elbow, leaving him in an unknown state between life and death.

What kind of strength was this?

"You... you..."

The remaining two men's faces drained of color. They pointed at Lu Chen, unable to speak.

Lu Chen slowly turned around, his calm gaze falling on them.

There was no killing intent in his gaze, no anger, only indifference.

It was this indifference that sent a chill from the soles of their feet straight to the crown of their heads.

"Attack him together! Kill him!"

One of them, driven by fear into ferocity, roared to bolster his courage and charged at Lu Chen with his knife.

The other reacted, gritting his teeth, and attacked from another direction.

Facing their pincer attack, Lu Chen didn't dodge or evade.

He stepped forward with his left foot, lowered his body slightly, and planted himself firmly on the ground.

Without drawing a weapon, he simply raised both arms, crossing them in front of him.

Clang! Clang!

Two crude sabers struck Lu Chen's upper arm and forearm almost simultaneously.

The expected scene of blood splashing did not appear.

Instead, two muffled thuds, like striking tough leather, replaced it.

The two gang members felt as if their sabers had hit a wooden stake wrapped in Iron Skin.

A tremendous recoil force traveled up the hilts, numbing their tiger's mouth and almost making them drop their weapons.

Looking at Lu Chen again, he had taken two blows with his body, only swaying slightly.

Where he had been struck, his clothes were torn, revealing skin that bore only two shallow white marks.

Not even the outer layer of skin was broken.

"This... how is this possible!"

The two men's eyes nearly bulged out, their hearts filled with horror.

This was not the defensive capability a human body could possess.

This moment of stunned disbelief decided their fate.

Lu Chen moved.

With a shake of his arms, a surge of immense strength erupted, directly flinging the two sabers away.

He lunged forward like a bull, smashing hard into one of the men.

The man was sent flying backward.

An unknown number of ribs in his chest were broken.

He lost consciousness in mid-air.

Having dealt with one, Lu Chen didn't stop. He turned and threw a charging punch, blasting at the last man.

That man had already been scared witless. He only managed to raise his saber horizontally in front of his chest to block.

Lu Chen's fist landed squarely on the blade.

The crude saber, forged from fine steel, bent inward and slammed hard into the man's chest.

The man let out a scream and flew out of the fight, falling to the ground, his condition unknown.

In the blink of an eye, the three gang members who had provoked him were dealt with by Lu Chen in the most direct and brutal way possible.

The strength and defense he displayed caused those around him who had ideas about him to subconsciously take a few steps back, widening the distance between themselves and this jinx.

This was in no way the strength a newcomer should possess.

Lu Chen stood in place, shaking his numb arm.

Copper Skin's defense was formidable; taking two direct hits still caused some pain.

However, this level of pain was something he had long grown accustomed to.

He scanned his surroundings. No one dared to approach him easily anymore.

This was exactly the effect he wanted.

To establish dominance.

To tell everyone in the most shocking way possible that he was not a pushover.

Lu Chen had an unusually easy time during the subsequent free-for-all.

He slowly paced within his territory.

Anyone who accidentally strayed into his range would be sent flying with a single punch or kick.

He was like a moving iron tower, exuding an oppressive aura.

As time passed, the number of people on the field dwindled.

From nearly a hundred, to fifty, then to thirty.

The battles became increasingly fierce.

The remaining participants were all skilled fighters.

To avoid drawing too much attention, Lu Chen also began to sustain "injuries."

He intentionally held back, allowing some attacks to land on him.

Then, he feigned exhaustion, appearing to be out of breath and unable to continue.

He took a blow to his back.

He was kicked in the leg.

The wind from a punch grazed his face, making him look quite disheveled.

But he never fell.

Thanks to his Copper Skin defense, these attacks were merely tickles to him.

When the last gang member on the field was punched off the stage by Zhang Meng, the enforcer's hoarse shout finally rang out.

"Stop! The first round of the free-for-all is over! Twenty participants advance!"

Lu Chen stood in the center of the field, breathing heavily, his body covered in wounds, looking as though he had barely managed to survive a bloody battle.

He had successfully secured a spot among the final twenty.

On the high platform, Zhao Tieshan gazed at the tall figure in the arena, a flicker of curiosity in his eyes.

"This Lu Iron Skin is quite interesting."

He whispered to the deputy hall master beside him.

"He does have some tricks up his sleeve. His strength and resilience are top-tier for a newcomer."

The deputy hall master nodded in agreement.

Zhao Tieshan smiled and said no more. Instead, he stood up, and his resonant voice once again echoed throughout the venue.

"Congratulations to all who have advanced! Rest for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, and prepare for the second round: a 20-to-5 arena match!"

"Now, let's announce the matchups!"

The enforcer began to loudly read out the results of the draw.

Lu Chen stood below the platform, listening to his opponent while regulating his breathing.

"Group Ten, Lu Chen, versus... 'Mad Dog' Zhang San!"

As this name was announced, a low murmur of surprise rippled through the crowd.

The other advancing gang members looked at Lu Chen with newfound sympathy in their eyes.

Mad Dog Zhang San.

A notorious fierce fighter in the Battle Hall. His skill wasn't the absolute best, but when it came to fighting, he was more desperate than anyone.

His moves were chaotic, completely reckless, and once you got entangled with him, even if you won, you'd lose a layer of skin.

Lu Chen raised his head and looked at a lean, tough man not far away, who was licking the blood from a cut on his knife with his tongue.

The man happened to look at him too, grinning and revealing a cruel smile.

That was his opponent, Mad Dog Zhang San.