Crimson Edge Drinks Blood · Phoenix Fire Scorches the Plains (VII)

Azure-gold flames burned around Li Xuanqing.

The tightly bandaged puncture wound in Li Xuanqing's chest was slowly bleeding again. Bright red blood seeped from the edges of the bandages, winding down his clothes and gathering into a small pool beneath his feet.

But he did not stop.

Azure Flame blazed even more fiercely.

"You won." Hai Yansheng's voice remained calm, devoid of any emotional fluctuation.

Li Xuanqing did not answer.

He merely raised his right hand.

Azure Flame condensed in his palm into a sharp Flame Blade, its tip aimed directly at Hai Yansheng's throat.

"Concede, or end up like them."

Hai Yansheng fell silent.

He did not look at the Flame Blade hanging before his throat.

He only lowered his head and looked at the Deep Sea Domain beneath his feet, already eroded into fragments by Azure Flame.

The edges of the domain kept collapsing, blue motes of Soul Power drifting through the air like the final breath of a dying man.

He remained silent for a long time.

A very, very long time.

Then he turned around.

Step by step, he walked down from the arena.

His back remained composed.

His steps remained steady.

Just as they had been when he arrived.

Yet from beginning to end, he never looked at Li Xuanqing a second time.

The referee took a deep breath.

He looked over the wreckage on the arena stage—shattered ground, craters everywhere, horrifying bloodstains, and wounded fighters sprawled in disarray.

With all his strength, he announced loudly:

"First five-versus-five match—the Li Family wins!"

"In the five-versus-five event, the Li Family leads one to zero!"

A brief silence.

Like the final, suffocating calm between heaven and earth before a storm descended.

Then—

"Boom—!!!"

Cheers and cries of amazement, like roaring mountains and crashing seas, burst