The steward read out the name slips.
"Second round: Zhao Ming versus Li Pingsheng!"
As soon as the steward finished speaking, a buzz of discussion rippled through the crowd.
"They're matched up already?"
"What's there to watch? Li Pingsheng was clearly forcing himself when he fought Chen Tieshan just now. His right arm was barely holding up. Against Zhao Ming, he'll probably lose."
On the raised platform, Instructor Wu lifted his teacup.
Li Pingsheng saw the figure at the far end of the corridor.
Yunmei.
She was wedged between two Zhao Family guards. Her face was pale, but she wasn't crying.
How was this a competition? It was practically a kidnapping!
He couldn't back down.
If he did 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 keep using it to threaten his whole family.
Li Pingsheng had to step onto the platform.
Before he went up, he said to Lu Qingshan beside him,
"Brother Lu, sorry for the trouble."
Lu Qingshan nodded.
"All right. Don't worry."
Li Pingsheng stepped onto the fighting platform.
Zhao Ming came up from the other side.
He didn't attack right away. Instead, he walked closer and said to Li Pingsheng, "Haha, your little sister is pretty obedient."
"She didn't cry once while she was with me. That's rare!"
"You'd better be sensible too. The sooner you kneel, the less frightened she'll be. Right?"
The poison was taking effect in the meridians of Li Pingsheng's right arm.
With the [Synesthesia] talent, he could "see" the poisonous force tightly entangling the remaining thunder force in his meridians.
If he used Thunderbolt Fist, his right arm would be ruined from the inside out.
Seeing his face turn ashen and sweat bead at his temples, Zhao Ming knew what was happening.
The poison had taken effect.
Zhao Ming took a step back, and a surge of blood and qi burst from his body.
Someone below shouted,
"Bone Refining Minor Success! Zhao Ming actually broke through to Bone Refining Minor Success!"
That was exactly the effect Zhao Ming wanted.
He didn't just want to win. He wanted to knock Li Pingsheng flat in front of his little sister.
"The match begins!"
As soon as the steward announced it, Zhao Ming rushed forward, striking at Li Pingsheng's right arm and heart.
Li Pingsheng could only retreat.
He couldn't use Thunderclap Explosion, couldn't move his right arm, and couldn't reveal the Mystic Gate Thunder Method.
Until Yunmei was safe, he couldn't push Zhao Ming too far, either.
On the platform, one fighter had the other pinned down.
Li Pingsheng relied on Wind Treading footwork and power from his hips and waist to keep Zhao Ming at bay, but he was in a terrible position.
Zhao Ming's fist struck his left shoulder, forcing him back three steps.
Then a sweep caught the side of his knee, and Li Pingsheng dropped to one knee.
The crowd's opinion shifted.
"It's over. I told you, beating Chen Tieshan took the last of his strength."
"His right arm really is ruined. He can't even lift it."
"Zhao Ming is deliberately torturing him!"
On the platform, Zhao Ming's fists and kicks kept raining down.
The thrill of defeating a genius had him feeling especially good.
Zhao Ming glanced at the two guards out of the corner of his eye and saw that they were engrossed in the fight too.
Everyone thought Li Pingsheng was sure to lose.
Just then, a commotion broke out at the edge of the arena.
Several servant disciples carried a stretcher out with a fighter injured in the previous match, while a few others brought basins of water and towels to the viewing stands of the various families.
In the confusion, a figure edged up to the side of the Zhao Family's viewing stand.
Lu Qingshan.
With his head lowered, he carried a basin of water.
The two Zhao Family guards had most of their attention on the platform, with only a little left to watch their surroundings.
One of them sensed something was wrong and began to turn around.
Too late.
Lu Qingshan spun, reached out, and struck.
The foundation of a former True Disciple showed in that moment.
He scooped Yunmei up in one motion and used all his strength to push her toward the platform.
"Go!"
Yunmei dashed forward several steps, breaking free of the guards' reach.
She steadied herself, looked at the figure being beaten on the platform, and shouted, "Brother! I'm safe now!"
Li Pingsheng, who had been dodging, froze.
He looked up.
His eyes held nothing but killing intent.
Zhao Ming's expression changed.
He realized the hostage was gone.
"Forget it, then. Just hurry up and die!"
Zhao Ming thought he should cripple Li Pingsheng while the poison was still active.
But in that instant,
Li Pingsheng chose to spend
[Potential Points: 2]
and activate [Vitality—Minor Specialty: Blood Strengthening].
After [Blood Strengthening] was activated for the second time, another hidden thread stretched toward a different specialty.
[Basic Talent—Resilient Meridians: When the meridians are damaged, poison corrodes the body, or qi and blood rebound, temporarily bind and divert the injuries, slowly mending them so the body can keep fighting even while grievously wounded.]
The blood and qi that had been suppressed by the poison began to churn.
The Cold Poison coiled in the meridians of his right arm, the thunder force, and the remaining power of the Ice Marrow Fluid were forcibly squeezed together and pressed against the very edges of the meridian walls.
His internal organs felt as if they were on fire, yet fresh heat welled up from his bone marrow.
This wasn't a cure.
He was pushing his body past its limits at the cost of his life, buying himself a brief window to fight.
Zhao Ming saw the blood and qi that had weakened in Li Pingsheng's body flare up again.
On the raised platform, Pei Guang stood.
The Hall Master, who had kept his eyes shut the whole time, also stopped tapping the armrest.
"N-no... impossible!"
Zhao Ming panicked.
He gathered all his strength and unleashed the Zhao Family's killing move—Bone-Crushing Mountain-Collapsing Fist.
This punch combined Bone-Crushing Force with the Zhao Family's body-tempering method, and even carried the effects of the Blood-Burning Secret Medicine. Its wind sent many disciples below stumbling backward.
Zhao Ming wanted to prove that he could still win, even without a hostage.
Yet, facing that punch,
Li Pingsheng didn't even raise his right arm. He only struck with his left fist.
[Martial Wisdom] activated.
Li Pingsheng could sense the flow of Zhao Ming's blood and qi, the flaws in his force, and the turmoil in his mind.
The punch looked fierce, but Zhao Ming's state of mind had crumbled, and his blood and qi were already in disarray.
Li Pingsheng stepped forward.
He didn't retreat. He met Zhao Ming head-on.
The intent of Thunderbolt Fist was compressed to the absolute limit in his left fist. Not a trace of lightning escaped.
He didn't activate the Mystic Gate Thunder Method.
He didn't reveal Heavenly Thunder Guidance.
He relied only on martial arts and the intent of his fist.
He threw one punch.
The two fists collided without much of a boom.
Zhao Ming's punch was broken from its very core.
Every bone in his arm, from fist to shoulder, shattered.
He flew backward, smashed through the wooden railing at the edge of the platform, and crashed onto the ground below, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The entire arena fell silent.
Everyone who had whispered before, certain that Li Pingsheng would lose, was now speechless.
Zhao Ming lay face-down on the ground, blood streaming from his mouth and nose. He tried to get up, but couldn't.
Li Pingsheng stood at the edge of the platform. His troublesome right arm still hung limp at his side as he lowered 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. Summoning all his strength, he looked toward his father in the VIP seats.
"Father... save me..."
He thought his father would leap up in fury and intervene. At the very least, he would protect him.
But Zhao Zhentian only stood there, his face terrifyingly dark.
His eyes held nothing but coldness and disgust.
"Useless!"
At those words, Zhao Ming froze.
Zhao Zhentian didn't look at him again. His voice heavy with grief, he said,
"The Zhao Family gave you strong bones, pills, cultivation methods, and guards. You couldn't even defeat someone from the Outer City."
"I, Zhao Zhentian, have no son like you."
With that, he turned and left.
As Zhao Ming watched his father walk away, his eyes filled with madness.
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—now it was all gone.
"Young Master Zhao lost?..."
"He really got crushed this time. His own father doesn't even want him anymore."
"The Zhao Family's young master? Isn't he basically a beggar now?"
He heard the whispers around him.
Zhao Ming lay on the ground, then suddenly laughed.
With the hand that could still move, he pulled a small black porcelain bottle from his robe.
It was what the Black-Robed Gu Master had pressed into his hands before leaving.
"Don't take it unless you're desperate."
"Once you do,"
"you won't be yourself anymore."
Zhao Ming looked at Li Pingsheng, then toward the direction Zhao Zhentian had gone.
His eyes held nothing but venom.
"You all look down on me... then I'll make you all fear me."
"Even if I turn into a monster, I'll make sure none of you get off easy!!"
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