Final Victory

"Are you kidding me? You're telling me to surrender? Do you think I'm stupid? Do you think you can scare me? Quit the chatter and bring it on!" Yan Dong thought Xian He was bluffing and had actually been injured internally. If they kept fighting, he was sure to win.

"Smack!"

He'd already given Yan Dong a chance. If Yan Dong refused it, he couldn't blame anyone else.

Xian He didn't hesitate to slap him.

The slap tore the skin on Yan Dong's face, and blood sprayed out.

The audience fell silent.

They had indeed seen blood, but it was running down Yan Dong's face.

"I never thought Yan Dong would be the first to get hurt. That kid Xian He sure can endure."

"What a pity. If Yan Dong had fallen for it, he'd have won already."

"What nonsense are you talking about? How can you tell Xian He's holding back? In that situation just now, it was obvious Yan Dong's Qi-Breaking wasn't enough to inflict internal injuries."

The audience split into two camps. One believed Xian He was pretending he hadn't been hurt; the other thought Yan Dong hadn't broken through his defenses. They argued fiercely, and neither side could convince the other.

"Boss Xiao Yang, what do you think?" Li Zhen asked. He thought Xian He was just putting on an act.

Xiao Yang narrowed his eyes slightly and said gravely, "I think Yan Dong hasn't broken through Xian He's defenses. I noticed that every time Xian He gets hit, the white light on his skin grows stronger. It seems he's cultivated some incredible, high-level technique."

"A high-level technique? That seems unlikely," Li Zhen countered. "The high-level techniques we each learned were taught to us personally by our ancestors. They're never passed on to outsiders. There's no way he could've learned one."

"Maybe Old Man Yun taught him," Xiao Yang guessed.

Old Man Yun was utterly bewildered. He had always followed his ancestors' instructions and had never taught Yun Ling or Xian He a single technique.

Like Li Zhen, he thought Xian He was just toughing it out.

If Xian He spat blood after the next slap, he would rush up, stop the match by force, and take him away so he wouldn't get himself killed.

In the ring.

Yan Dong clutched his bleeding face and glared resentfully at Xian He.

The referee, who was also the host, asked, "Yan Dong, your face is injured. Do you want to continue the match?"

"Of course I do!" Yan Dong declared firmly. The match had reached its climax. If he quit now, the audience would probably drown him in spit.

Besides, he didn't think he would lose. The final victory would surely be his!

Still, it was a little surprising that he'd run into such a tough opponent as Xian He in the preliminaries. Tomorrow's round of thirty-two would be even more difficult.

Across from him, Xian He had already taken his position, calmly waiting for Yan Dong's slap.

The seal on his left cheek was still at level three. Yan Dong's next attack could only deal 633 points of Qi-Breaking. After subtracting Xian He's Qi Control and reducing the power by another forty percent with the Thirteen Grand Protectors Horizontal Training Technique, only 300 points of Qi-Breaking would remain.

It would still only inflict a level-three seal, not any substantial internal injury.

Yan Dong wiped the blood from his left hand, raised his right arm, and drew it back like a hunting bow pulled taut.

"Smack!"

His palm flew like an arrow and struck Xian He hard across the face.

Xian He's head merely tilted to the side again, and he quickly recovered.

[ Ding! The host's head has been attacked. The damage-reduction effect of the Thirteen Grand Protectors Horizontal Training Technique has activated. Physical damage from enemies will be reduced by 50% for the next stick of incense. ]

Yan Dong, the referee, and the audience below all stared at Xian He with eyes as wide as bells.

Xian He's left cheek was still only swollen and bruised. He hadn't spat blood.

Old Man Yun, who had been ready to throw in the white towel and surrender, knitted his golden eyebrows into a knot.

"That brat can endure way too much. He's suffered two layers of internal injuries and still looks fine. Is it really worth risking his life over a sack of lousy rice seeds? Couldn't he go home and quietly sell eggs and Wood Powder Porridge?"

Even if he were short on food or clothes, he was earning several thousand Copper Coins a day. In less than half a year, he could become the richest man in the Sky Fortune Tribe. Why enter such a dangerous competition?

"I really can't understand what goes on in that little head of his," Old Man Yun sighed.

"Splatter!!!"

Old Man Yun was only halfway through his sigh when a sound like water being slapped came from the ring.

He looked up. Xian He had struck again.

The wound on Yan Dong's left cheek had worsened, splitting open to a finger's breadth and exposing the muscle beneath.

Xian He shook the blood from his hand. He had already inflicted two layers of external wounds on Yan Dong's left cheek. Four more layers, and Yan Dong would pass out from the severity of his injuries.

Yan Dong's eye twitched, and tears welled up despite his best efforts. A piercing pain throbbed in his left cheek, and he could feel warm streams running down it.

He didn't dare touch it. He drew a deep breath and swung again with all his might.

"Smack!!!"

This strike's effective Qi-Breaking was only 250. It still failed to inflict internal injuries on Xian He.

[ Ding! The host's head has been attacked. The damage-reduction effect of the Thirteen Grand Protectors Horizontal Training Technique has activated. Physical damage from enemies will be reduced by 60% for the next stick of incense. ]