Arrival at the Imperial City, Tournament Registration

She shook out her numb right arm. There was not the slightest trace of fear on her face; instead, Su Yueli's display of strength stirred an even more primal urge to conquer within him.

"You can take one of my punches. No wonder you dare act so arrogantly."

Pang Hu rolled his neck, and the blood and qi of the Fourth Realm erupted from him. The bluestone beneath his feet cracked inch by inch. "I've ridden plenty of fierce mares to death at the border, but one as fiery as you? You're the first!"

Before his words had even faded, his body charged at Su Yueli like a rampaging rhinoceros, tearing through the air with a howl.

He threw a punch straight at her face, showing not the slightest tenderness for a delicate flower.

Su Yueli frowned slightly. Faced with that heavy, thunderous blow, she advanced rather than retreated, turning her body slightly to evade its edge.

Then she reached out with her right hand, her fair fingers instantly locking around Pang Hu's wrist.

Second form, Bone Entangler!

The blood and qi within Su Yueli reversed course, and a burst of inch-force exploded from her fingertips.

Crack... The sound of breaking bone rang through the hall.

Pang Hu's iron-armored right arm, the arm he had always been so proud of, was twisted into the shape of a pretzel by what looked like a light grasp from Su Yueli. Jagged white bone pierced through the flesh and jutted into view.

"Ah—!"

Pang Hu let out a miserable scream. The agonizing pain made his knees buckle, and he dropped to his knees before Su Yueli.

With a single move, a Fourth Realm genius had his right arm crippled!

Su Yueli released him and looked down at him from above.

She did not want to kill anyone. Away from home, Pang Hu had the Pang Family of the Great Li Imperial City and an Eighth Realm patriarch behind him. Unless necessary, she had no desire to make such a deadly enemy for herself for no reason.

Crippling one of his arms was both a warning and justice for the girl who had nearly been violated.

Su Yueli turned to leave. But at that moment, venomous killing intent flashed through Pang Hu's eyes as he knelt on the ground. At some point, a dagger had appeared in his left hand.

"Filthy bitch, die!"

Pang Hu clenched his teeth until they cracked. Gathering every last bit of his blood and qi, he drove the dagger toward her heart from behind.

The ambush was vicious, aimed wholly at taking her life.

"Watch out!" Lin Ye, sprawled in the distance, roared.

Su Yueli sighed. What she cultivated was the Ultimate Dao Killing Art; her perception of killing intent far surpassed that of ordinary people.

The instant Pang Hu moved, the blood and qi within her body reacted instinctively.

She turned and punched.

That punch struck Pang Hu's chest after being launched later, yet arriving first.

Violent blood and qi surged through his body. Pang Hu's breastbone caved in at once, and with a ripping sound, a large hole burst open through the clothes on his back.

His charging body froze in place. The dagger in his hand was only an inch away from Su Yueli.

Pang Hu's eyes bulged wide, his face filled with disbelief.

"You... dare kill..."

Before he could finish, blood mixed with chunks of organs gushed wildly from his mouth. His body crashed to the ground, twitched twice, and went utterly still.

One punch had shattered his heart meridians.

The hall fell into dead silence, broken only by the patter of rain outside.

Looking at the corpse on the floor, its eyes still open in death, everyone felt a chill shoot from the soles of their feet straight to the crowns of their heads.

A moment later, gasps rose and fell throughout the crowd. Everyone shook their heads as they looked at Su Yueli.

"He's dead... Pang Hu actually died!"

"The sky is falling! This girl has brought down a disaster of monstrous proportions!"

"That was the Pang Family's second young master! If Pang Jinbiao learns that his most beloved son died in this godforsaken backwater, he'll go completely mad!"

"Who can bear the wrath of an Eighth Realm master? Forget this girl—even this inn will probably be razed to the ground!"

The murmurs never ceased. No one believed Su Yueli would survive.

Offending a lineage with an Eighth Realm powerhouse in the Imperial City was practically the same as being sentenced to death.

No matter how monstrous her talent was, she would never see tomorrow's sun.

Su Yueli ignored those voices predicting doom. She flicked the blood from her hand and walked over to Lin Ye.

"Still alive?"

Clutching his chest, Lin Ye grimaced in pain as he struggled to climb to his feet.

"Cough, cough... I won't die. Three broken ribs. A little recovery and I'll be fine."

He looked at Pang Hu's corpse on the ground, then at the expressionless Su Yueli. His eyes were full of shock and conflicted emotions.

The innkeeper, holding onto his daughter who had narrowly escaped death, hurried over and knelt before Su Yueli, knocking his head against the floor like pounding garlic.

"Thank you, heroic lady, for saving our lives! Thank you, heroic lady, for saving our lives!"

The innkeeper wept bitter tears, but his face was also full of panic. "But, heroic lady, you killed someone from the Pang Family. You absolutely cannot remain in Lingshui City. Hurry and flee for your life under cover of night!"

"It's nothing."

Su Yueli's tone was calm. She said nothing more and turned to climb the wooden stairs back to her room on the second floor.

When soldiers came, she would block them with weapons; when water came, she would dam it with earth. Things had already come to this—fear was useless.

Midnight.

Su Yueli sat cross-legged in her room, meditating to settle her blood and qi.

Knock, knock, knock.

Someone knocked softly on the door.

"Come in."

The door opened. Lin Ye entered, his face somewhat pale and his chest wrapped in thick bandages.

Gone was his chatterbox manner from the day. He kept his head lowered, looking deeply guilty.

"Miss Su."

Lin Ye walked to the table, gritted his teeth, and dropped to one knee with a thud.

"I acted on a rush of hot blood without considering the consequences. Instead, I dragged you into a disaster that could cost you your life!"

Lin Ye's eyes were full of self-reproach. "The Pang Family holds great power in the Imperial City, and their Eighth Realm expert can reach the sky with one hand. Miss Su, leave at dawn tomorrow. Don't go to the Imperial City."

"If the Pang Family investigates, say Pang Hu was killed by me! Say I used a poisoned hidden weapon too shameful to see the light and succeeded in an ambush. A man must bear the consequences of his own deeds. I, Lin Ye, will never drag a friend down with me!"

Su Yueli opened her eyes and looked at the young man kneeling on one knee.

He was responsible enough, though unfortunately far too easily carried away.

"Get up."

Su Yueli said helplessly, "I killed him in front of everyone. Dozens of pairs of eyes in that hall saw it. Do you really think you can take the blame?"

"Besides, Eighth Realm martial artists are not fools. You are only at the Third Realm Peak. Even if you used every despicable trick at your disposal, you could never breach the blood and qi defenses of someone in the Mid Fourth Realm in a single strike. The Pang Family need only inspect the fist mark on the corpse, and the truth will be clear at a glance."

Lin Ye was left speechless. He grew anxious. "But..."

"There are no buts."

Su Yueli cut him off and looked out at the rainy night beyond the window. "If he hadn't tried to kill me, I wouldn't have killed him. But since I did, then a deadly feud has been forged."

"Things have already come to this. Saying anything is useless. This trip to the Imperial City will probably not be peaceful."

Before a lineage like that, even if she did not attend the Martial Dao Tournament, they would surely track her down and come for her.

If she returned to Tie Tu, she might even bring disaster upon him and the others.

Rather than flee, she might as well continue to the Martial Dao Tournament. Perhaps she could resolve this feud there.

Or perhaps she could seize the championship. At that point, someone might step forward to mediate.

Yet Lin Ye stood frozen where he was. Seeing not the slightest fear on the girl's cool, calm profile, the shock in his heart became indescribable.

Faced with a death threat from an Eighth Realm lineage, she did not even consider running?

After chatting a while longer, Lin Ye could only return to rest first.

The following morning.

The heavy rain had stopped, and the sky was only beginning to brighten.

Su Yueli carried her luggage downstairs. The inn's main hall had already been cleaned, and Pang Hu's corpse was gone. Only a faint scent of blood still lingered in the air.

The innkeeper and his daughter had been waiting at the entrance since early morning. When they saw Su Yueli emerge, they thanked her profusely again and pressed a large bundle of dry provisions and braised meat into her hands.

Su Yueli did not refuse. After accepting them, she mounted her horse and left the city.

She had not gone far when a rapid clatter of hoofbeats sounded behind her.

Clutching his chest, Lin Ye caught up on a black horse.

After yesterday's brush with life and death, he had clearly restrained himself and was no longer as talkative as before.

Yet it was in his nature. As the two traveled together, he still could not help occasionally chattering a few words.

Su Yueli did not find him annoying. She treated it as a way to relieve the boredom of the road.

The pair journeyed through dust and wind for another full five days.

At noon on that day.

At the end of the horizon, a majestic colossal city finally appeared in their sight.

They had arrived at the Great Li Imperial City.

Towering black city walls stretched endlessly into the distance, while the city gates were incomparably broad.

Once they entered the city, the prosperity rushing toward them made a flicker of wonder pass through Su Yueli's eyes.

Carriages and pedestrians flowed along the wide streets. Restaurants and teahouses stood in rows on either side, while martial artists dressed in luxurious brocade passed among them.

Third Realm and Fourth Realm martial artists could be seen almost everywhere here.

Looking upward, immortal cultivators riding flying swords or spiritual birds occasionally whistled across the sky.

The meeting of immortals and mortals, along with its strict hierarchy, was displayed here in the Imperial City with breathtaking clarity.

Leading her horse, Su Yueli stopped a passerby by the roadside to ask.

"Sir, may I ask where the registration office for the Great Li Martial Dao Tournament is?"

The passerby sized up Su Yueli and Lin Ye. Seeing that they were dressed like outsiders, he remained courteous.

Pointing toward the city center, he said, "Follow this main street straight ahead. Pass three market wards, then cross Vermilion Bird Bridge, and you'll reach the Imperial Martial Arena. But the Imperial City is enormous. Even on horseback, it'll take you at least half an hour."

"Thank you."

Su Yueli thanked him, unable to help feeling a little awed.

It took half an hour to ride through the city. The Great Li Imperial City truly was vast.

Half an hour later, the two finally arrived at the Imperial Martial Arena.

At a glance, it was already packed so tightly that not even water could pass through. Dozens of fighting stages stood across the plaza.

The registration office was set up at the main entrance of the martial arena.

Several registration stewards dressed in Great Li official robes sat behind long tables, recording information in jade registers with wolf-hair brushes.

Young martial artists from every major province crowded the area, each one brimming with vigorous blood and qi.

Many had elders with deep, unfathomable auras accompanying them as protectors. They were clearly scions of lineages with deep foundations.

Su Yueli even sensed several Fifth Realm and Sixth Realm auras within the crowd.

The waters here truly ran deep.

Su Yueli and Lin Ye joined the queue. Before long, it was their turn.

"Name, bone age, place of origin." The steward did not even look up as he asked coldly.

The Great Li Martial Dao Tournament was held once every thirty years. Participants had to be mortal martial artists, and their bone age could not exceed forty. This was an ironclad rule.

Lin Ye stepped forward first and handed over his identity document. "Lin Ye, twenty, Lin Lineage of Shuo Province City."

The steward checked his bone age and tossed him a wooden plaque carved with a number.

Su Yueli stepped forward immediately afterward.

"Su Yueli, twenty, Azure Province City, Ironbone Martial Hall."

Su Yueli did not state her true age. With her current appearance, no one would believe her if she claimed to have lived for decades.

The steward looked up at her. A flicker of admiration passed through his eyes, but his hands did not stop moving.

After quickly recording her details, he likewise handed her a wooden plaque.

"Keep your number plaque. Return here at the hour of the dragon in three days for the preliminary selection."