Even Your Dad Doesn't Want You Anymore

The deacon read the name from the bamboo slip.

"Second round, Zhao Ming, versus, Li Pingsheng!"

As soon as the deacon finished speaking, the crowd below erupted into a buzz of discussion.

"They're facing off already?"

"Is there even a need to fight? Li Pingsheng was clearly forcing his right arm during the match against Chen Tieshan; he's bound to lose against Zhao Ming."

Instructor Wu on the high platform lifted his teacup.

Li Pingsheng caught sight of a figure at the entrance of the distant corridor.

Yunmei.

She was flanked by two Zhao Family guards; her face was pale, but she wasn't crying.

This wasn't a competition; it was a kidnapping!

He could not retreat.

If he backed down today, tomorrow it would be his grandfather, his mother, Second Uncle, and Second Aunt.

As long as the Zhao Family knew he had this weakness, they would surely use it to threaten his entire family indefinitely.

Li Pingsheng had to step onto the stage.

Before heading up, he spoke to Lu Qingshan beside him.

"Brother Lu, I'll leave it to you."

Lu Qingshan nodded.

"Alright, rest assured."

Li Pingsheng walked onto the arena.

Zhao Ming walked up from the opposite side as well.

He didn't strike immediately; instead, he stepped closer and said to Li Pingsheng, "Haha, your little sister, she's quite obedient."

"She hasn't made a sound where I'm keeping her. Truly rare!"

"You'd best be sensible too. If you kneel quickly, she'll be spared some fright, right?"

Inside Li Pingsheng's body, the poison was acting up within the meridians of his right arm.

Under the Synesthesia talent, he could "see" the toxic energy tightly strangling the remaining thunder energy in his meridians.

The moment he used Thunderbolt Fist, his right arm would be crippled from the inside out.

Seeing Li Pingsheng's face turn sallow and sweat bead on his forehead, Zhao Ming knew exactly what was happening.

The poison had taken effect.

Zhao Ming stepped back, and a surge of blood energy erupted from his body.

Someone in the crowd shouted.

"Bone Refining Minor Success! Zhao Ming actually broke through to Bone Refining Minor Success!"

This was exactly the effect Zhao Ming wanted.

He didn't just want to win; he wanted to beat Li Pingsheng into the ground right in front of his sister.

"The match begins!"

After the deacon's announcement, Zhao Ming charged forward, aiming for Li Pingsheng's right arm and chest.

Li Pingsheng could only retreat.

Thunderclap Explosion could not be used, his right arm could not move, and the Mystic Gate Thunder Method could not be exposed.

Until Yunmei was safe, he couldn't afford to push Zhao Ming into a corner.

The scene on the arena turned into a one-sided beating.

Relying on the Wind Treading footwork and the power from his waist and hips to maneuver, Li Pingsheng was in a dire situation.

Zhao Ming landed a punch on his left shoulder, forcing him to stumble back three steps.

Another sweeping kick struck the side of his knee, and Li Pingsheng dropped to one knee.

The crowd's perspective shifted.

"It's over. What did I tell you? That match against Chen Tieshan used up his last bit of strength."

"His right arm is truly crippled; he can't even lift it."

"Zhao Ming is doing this on purpose to torture him!"

On the arena, Zhao Ming's fists and kicks rained down relentlessly.

The feeling of defeating a genius gave him a perverse sense of satisfaction.

Zhao Ming glanced out of the corner of his eye at the two guards, seeing they were also watching intently.

Everyone believed that Li Pingsheng was destined to lose.

At this moment, a commotion broke out beside the arena.

Several chore disciples carried stretchers to transport the injured disciples from the previous match, while others held basins and towels, delivering them to the various viewing stands.

Amidst the chaos, a figure crept toward the edge of the Zhao Family viewing stand.

Lu Qingshan.

He kept his head low, carrying a basin of water in his hands.

The two Zhao Family guards had most of their attention on the arena, with the remaining fraction guarding their surroundings.

One of them sensed something was wrong and just started to turn his head.

Too late.

Lu Qingshan spun around, reached out, and exerted force.

The foundation of a True Disciple showed itself at this moment.

He scooped up Yunmei and used all his strength to shove her toward the arena.

"Go!"

Yunmei stumbled forward a few steps, breaking free from the guards' control.

She steadied herself, looked at the battered figure on the arena, and shouted, "Brother! I'm fine!"

Li Pingsheng, who was in the middle of dodging, froze.

He lifted his head.

His eyes held nothing but killing intent.

Zhao Ming's expression shifted.

He realized the hostage was gone.

Forget it, then just go die already!

Zhao Ming thought, intending to cripple Li Pingsheng while the poison had yet to be neutralized.

But at this very instant.

Li Pingsheng chose to consume

[Potential Points: 2]

to illuminate [Vitality—Primary Specialty: Blood Strengthening].

After [Blood Strengthening] was illuminated for the second time, another hidden line extended to a different specialty.

[Primary Talent—Resilient Meridians: When meridians are damaged, eroded by poison, or suffering from qi and blood backlash, this can temporarily bind, divert, and slowly repair the injuries, allowing the body to maintain combat capability even in a severely wounded state.]

The qi and blood that had been suppressed by the poison began to churn.

The cold poison, thunder force, and the remaining power of the Ice Marrow Fluid coiled within his right arm's meridians were forcibly squeezed together by a surge of strength and pressed against the very edge of the meridian walls.

His internal organs felt as if they were burning, yet new heat emerged from his bone marrow.

This was not a cure.

This was trading his life to push the body's limits, exchanging it for a short window of combat time.

Zhao Ming saw the qi and blood that had weakened on Li Pingsheng's body surge forth once more.

On the high platform, Pei Guang stood up.

The Hall Master, who had kept his eyes closed the entire time, also stopped tapping the armrest.

"Im... impossible!"

Zhao Ming panicked.

He used all his strength to unleash the Zhao Family's finishing move—Bone-Crushing Mountain-Collapsing Fist.

This punch combined Bone-Crushing Force, the Zhao Family's hard-body cultivation methods, and even the effects of the Blood-Burning Secret Medicine; the wind from the punch forced many disciples below the stage to retreat.

Zhao Ming wanted to prove that even without a hostage, he could still win.

However, facing this punch.

Li Pingsheng did not even lift his right arm, throwing only his left fist.

[Martial Wisdom] activated.

Li Pingsheng could sense the flow of all of Zhao Ming's qi and blood, the flaws in his exertion, and the disorder in his state of mind.

This punch looked fierce, but because his mentality had collapsed, his qi and blood were already in disarray.

Li Pingsheng took a step forward.

Not a retreat, but an advance to meet him.

On his left fist, the intent of the Thunderbolt Fist was compressed to the extreme, not a single spark of lightning leaking out.

He would not activate the Mystic Gate Thunder Method.

He would not expose the Heavenly Thunder Guidance.

Using only martial arts and fist intent.

He threw a punch.

The two fists collided without a thunderous sound.

Zhao Ming's fist force was shattered from its very core.

His entire arm, from fist to shoulder, had its bones pulverized.

He flew backward, smashing through the wooden railing at the edge of the ring and crashing to the ground below, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The entire arena fell into a deathly silence.

Everyone who had been whispering earlier, certain that Li Pingsheng would lose, could not utter a single word now.

Zhao Ming lay on the ground, blood streaming from his nose and mouth, trying to crawl up but failing.

Li Pingsheng stood at the edge of the ring, his troublesome right arm still hanging at his side as he retracted his smoking left fist.

"Zhao Ming."

"I told you, why would I need my right hand to send you flying?"

Zhao Ming lay on the stone slabs, his face covered in blood, using his remaining strength to look toward his father in the VIP seating.

"Father... save me..."

He thought his father would be so enraged he would leap up, intervene, or at the very least protect him.

But Zhao Zhentian merely stood there, his face terrifyingly dark.

The look in his eyes toward Zhao Ming was nothing but coldness and disgust.

"Useless trash!"

The two words fell.

Zhao Ming froze.

Zhao Zhentian did not look at him again, saying with a pained heart:

"The Zhao Family gave you talent, gave you pills, gave you cultivation techniques, and gave you guards. Yet you couldn't even beat someone from the Outer City."

"I, Zhao Zhentian, do not have a son like you."

With that, he turned and left.

Zhao Ming watched his father's retreating back, the emotions in his eyes turning frantic.

Li Pingsheng had defeated him.

But Zhao Zhentian had made it impossible for him to go on living.

He was finished.

The position of Young Master, the family's glory, all his pride—it was all gone now.

"Young Master Zhao lost?..."

"He lost so miserably this time; even his own father has abandoned him."

"The Zhao Family Young Master? Isn't he just a beggar now?"

He heard the whispers of the crowd around him.

Zhao Ming lay on the ground and suddenly laughed.

Using his one functional hand, he pulled a small black porcelain bottle from his robes.

It was the item the Black-Robed Gu Master had shoved into his hands before leaving.

"Do not take this unless it is an absolute last resort."

"Take it."

"And you will no longer be yourself."

Zhao Ming looked at Li Pingsheng, then toward the direction where Zhao Zhentian had departed.

His eyes held nothing but venomous hatred.

"You all look down on me... then I will make you all fear me."

"Even if I have to become a monster, I won't let you have an easy time!!"