"Die!!"
Accompanied by Tang San's distorted roar, the metallic clank of a released mechanism exploded across the Spirit Fighting Platform.
Sixteen crossbow bolts gleaming with a dark green glow tore through the air with piercing shrieks, fanning out to seal off every possible path for Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong to evade.
This was the Tang Sect's killing move.
The arrowheads had been coated with diluted King of Hell's Post venom, painstakingly concocted by Tang San the night before. Even a minor scratch would turn a Soul Elder-level Spirit Master into a puddle of pus within three breaths.
Tang San watched the cold lights shoot forth, a cruel, delighted curve rising at the corner of his mouth.
He could practically see the two traitors' bodies rotting away beneath the venom as they screamed in agony.
Tang Sect Hidden Weapons never miss. He silently recited the words, carrying the absolute confidence of a transmigrator.
However.
Qian Mo, seated in a Grand Tutor Chair at the edge of the arena, did not even lift an eyelid.
He merely stretched lazily and let out a long yawn. Then, as if casually complaining about the weather, he muttered:
"This wind direction looks a little off."
The instant his words fell.
[Peerless Auspiciousness System] Passive Triggered—Law of Causality: Reversal.
The previously still air above the Spirit Fighting Platform suddenly seemed to be violently churned by an invisible hand.
Just as the sixteen crossbow bolts came within three inches of Xiao Wu's pert nose.
An incomparably bizarre vortex appeared out of nowhere.
There was no Spirit Power Fluctuation, no skill windup. It was simply... bad luck colliding with turbulent air.
"Buzz—!"
Something that defied physics happened.
The bolts, which had been charging forward with unstoppable force, seemed to strike an invisible rubber wall the moment they touched the vortex. They traced an extraordinarily smooth U-shaped turn through the air.
Rather than slowing down, they accelerated!
With the airflow boosting them, their arrowheads even produced more shrill Sonic Booms.
Target: return along the original path.
The sinister grin on Tang San's face froze instantly, and his pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints.
"What?!"
He did not even have time to react. His brain was still trying to process the beyond-the-syllabus philosophical question of why hidden weapons could turn around.
"Pfft pfft pfft pfft—!"
A dense series of Muffled Sounds rang out as Sharp Blades pierced flesh.
All sixteen crossbow bolts, not one missing, embedded themselves precisely into Tang San's limbs, shoulders, and thigh root.
Though they avoided Lethal Vital Points such as his heart and throat, it was clearly Heaven deliberately sparing his life so he could suffer.
"Argh—!!!"
His miserable scream instantly drowned out the clamor of the Spirit Arena.
Tang San looked like an enraged hedgehog, his entire body filled with the hidden weapons he had once been proud of. Blood instantly stained his already patched shit green Team Uniform red.
More deadly still was the poison.
The tyrannical toxin crazily corroded his Meridians through the wounds. Tang San felt as though he had been doused in Sulfuric Acid, the severe pain twisting his Facial Features nearly out of place.
"Impossible... my Godly Zhuge Crossbow... how could this..."
Tang San knelt on the ground, his hands trembling as he tried to pull out the arrows, yet he did not dare touch his wounds. His eyes were full of a collapsing Worldview.
Below the platform, Qian Mo unhurriedly peeled a grape and popped it into his mouth, then waved at the handsome young man who had been left staring blankly on the stage.
"Xiao Ao, don't just stand there."
Qian Mo pointed at Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, who were preparing to rush in and rescue him.
"Recite some scripture for them. Send them on their way."
Oscar came back to his senses, unprecedented fervor bursting from his peach-blossom eyes.
He hoisted the three-hundred-pound Soul Tool, the Six-barreled Gatling, onto one shoulder. The rotating barrels gradually accelerated, producing a teeth-grating hum.
Blue Soul Power Light gathered deep within the barrels like a volcano on the verge of eruption.
Oscar took a deep breath, then grinned at the charging Dai Mubai, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.
"Boss Dai, times have changed."
"Namo Gatling Bodhisattva, Six Roots Pure Depleted Uranium Rounds!"
"Three Thousand Six Hundred Revolutions Per Breath, great compassion delivers all living beings!"
"Take this—die!!!"
The trigger was held down.
"Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap Tap—!!!"
Blue flames instantly erupted two meters from the muzzle. Dense Spirit Power Bullets poured forth like a raging storm, completely tearing apart the space ahead.
Dai Mubai, who had activated White Tiger Adamant Transformation and whose muscles had swollen all over, had intended to rely on the physique of a power-attack Soul Elder to withstand this assault.
However, the moment the first bullet struck his Protective Soul Power, he knew he was wrong.
Spectacularly wrong.
"Bang!"
His protective soul shield shattered like paper.
Then came the second bullet, the third bullet, the hundredth bullet...
Though Qian Mo had set the bullets to "blunt impact mode" rather than lethal mode, the kinetic energy carried by every bullet was comparable to the impact of a Barbarian Bull.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!"
Dai Mubai was blasted into the air, convulsing nonstop and flailing his Limbs. He could not come down at all, as though he were performing an absurdly comical routine of b-boying.
He wanted to scream, but the dense barrage pounded his chest, abdomen, and cheeks, leaving him unable even to open his mouth. All he could make were muffled "mmph mmph" groans.
Ma Hongjun beside him was in even worse shape.
The fat man had just opened his mouth to spit out a stream of Phoenix Fireline, but before he could make a sound, the dense bullet storm forcibly choked the flames back into his throat.
The bullets struck his bloated fat, sending layers of flesh rippling as tears and snot streamed down his face from the pain.
"Stop shooting! Stop shooting! I surrender!!"
Ma Hongjun clutched his head and scurried about like a rat, trying to find cover.
"Boom!"
Oscar raised the muzzle slightly and fired a charged High Explosive Round.
Ma Hongjun was blasted dozens of meters away like a rubber ball, precisely wedged into the gap between two steel bars at the edge of the Spirit Fighting Platform.
He could neither get in nor get out. Only his butt remained exposed, trembling under the lingering shockwaves.
A mere ten seconds.
The gunfire ceased.
Smoke curled from the barrels. Oscar blew on the heated muzzle, his face blissful. "That felt good!"
At that moment, only Xiao Wu remained standing on the Spirit Fighting Platform.
She had not attacked the small fry being suppressed by the barrage.
Her gaze remained fixed on the man kneeling on the ground, covered in arrows and groaning in agony.
Tang San.
The "Brother" who had once sworn to protect her, only to pull the trigger on her without hesitation in the end.
Xiao Wu activated Teleport.
With a flash of Pink Light, she appeared before Tang San out of thin air.
Tang San struggled to raise his head. On that swollen, purplish face, there was still a trace of shock and... pleading.
"Xiao... Xiao Wu..." Tang San rasped, extending a bloodied, mangled hand. "I'm your Brother..."
"Shut up."
There was not a trace of pity in Xiao Wu's eyes, only the coldness of Ten Thousand Year Profound Ice.
She leaped high into the air, her long right leg drawing a full moon arc through the sky. Red Soul Power Light instantly condensed around her heel.
It was the killing technique she had honed through countless battles in the Star Dou Great Forest.
Only this time, her target was the "family" she had once known.
"This kick is for That Comb."
"And for those six years of deception!"
"Bang—!!!"
Xiao Wu's heel crashed heavily into Tang San's still-swollen face with overwhelming force.
There was no suspense whatsoever.
Tang San did not even manage a groan. He was like a man struck by a pile driver, the back of his head slamming viciously into the ground.
The hard granite floor instantly cracked, forming a spiderweb-like crater.
Tang San lay embedded in the crater in the shape of a spread-eagle, face-down and completely unconscious.
The world became quiet.
"Foul! This is murder!!"
Yu Xiaogang, who had remained petrified below the stage, finally came to his senses.
He abruptly jumped up. His stiff face flushed Pig Liver Color from extreme fury and fear as he pointed at Oscar on the platform and roared:
"That weapon is not something a Spirit Master should possess! That's cheating! Referee! Declare them the losers immediately! Arrest these murderers!"
The host wiped away cold sweat and looked helplessly toward Qian Mo.
Qian Mo stood, dusted off nonexistent dirt from his clothes, and slowly walked over to Yu Xiaogang.
He lowered his head and looked down at the middle-aged man roaring like a lost dog.
"You call it a foul because you lost?"
A mocking smile lingered at the corner of Qian Mo's mouth.
"Looks like your 'Master' theories only taught people how to win using despicable methods. They never taught them how to lose with a shred of dignity."
He pointed at the unconscious Tang San on the platform.
"When he used poisoned hidden weapons to launch a sneak attack, why didn't you call it murder? Now that he was outmatched and killed by his own methods, you suddenly want to talk about rules?"
"You're pretty good at double standards, Yu Xiaogang."
Qian Mo took a handkerchief from his robes and covered his Mouth and Nose with disgust, as if Yu Xiaogang carried some infectious disease.
"Five Million Gold Soul Coins."
Qian Mo's voice was not loud, yet it clearly carried throughout the entire venue.
"Remember to transfer it into Spirit Hall's account. Short me even one coin, and I'll tear down those few rotten huts of yours."
The moment his words fell, the entire arena went silent for a second.
Then.
"Temple Team! Temple Team!!"
"Gatling Bodhisattva! Gatling Bodhisattva!!"
Thunderous cheers erupted from the spectator stands. In this world where strength reigned supreme, crushing victories were always the powder keg most capable of igniting people's hormones.
Amid the deafening roar, staff members dragged away Shrek's trio, covered in blood, like Dead Dogs.
Qian Mo turned and left. A pleasant system notification sounded in his mind:
[Ding! Detected that Child of Destiny Tang San has suffered severe injuries and his Dao Heart has shattered. Seized 5000 Fate Points.]
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