One Punch Sends Him Flying

Several hundred people, ten groups, ten small arenas.

Li Ye quickly discovered that he had been assigned to the sixth arena. There were seventy or eighty others there as well, each eager to try their hand, their powerful auras spilling forth.

"What terrible luck. Why did it have to be the sixth arena?"

A complaint suddenly sounded beside him. A collateral branch disciple at Spirit Martial Tier Four wore a bitter smile.

Looking closer, Li Ye soon understood why so many collateral branch disciples wore such expressions. There were actually more than ten main branch disciples in this group. The gap between the collateral branches and the main branch was plain to see. No wonder they sighed over their bad luck.

"Look, isn't that Li Dakui, one of the main branch's somewhat famous geniuses? What rotten luck—he's in the sixth group too! Is anyone supposed to survive this?"

Li Dakui! Li Ye's heart tightened. He had heard of this man. Though Li Dakui was not particularly orthodox within the main branch, his talent was far from weak. This was also his final martial competition before turning eighteen, and his cultivation had reached peak Spirit Martial Tier Six! He was undoubtedly one of the strongest in the sixth group and had every hope of advancing as the group's top ranker!

Li Ye had done his homework on the rules for the second round in advance.

The several hundred participants were divided into ten groups, with only ten advancement slots in each group. In other words, only one hundred people in total would ultimately pass. Those hundred would become Outer Disciples of the Lineage and receive its cultivation.

This was the greatest goal of countless collateral branch disciples!

Unfortunately, it was not easy to carve a bloody path through any group. After all, the weakest people present were already at Spirit Martial Tier Three! Based on previous years, one needed to be at least Spirit Martial Tier Four to have any hope of claiming a top-ten group position. At Spirit Martial Tier Five, advancing was basically guaranteed!

Li Ye was now at peak Spirit Martial Tier Four, yet his true combat strength was enough to surpass those at Spirit Martial Tier Six! He could even fight a Spirit Martial Tier Seven expert, so advancing from his group was no problem at all.

With a sweep of his eyes, he found that most people in the sixth group were at Spirit Martial Tier Three. Fewer than thirty percent had reached Spirit Martial Tier Four, and only five or six had reached Spirit Martial Tier Five or above, including Li Dakui, the sole Spirit Martial Tier Six cultivator.

Very soon, matches began on every arena.

According to the rules, a victory earned three points, while a loss earned none. The final top ten would advance according to their scores. In other words, everyone had to fight every other participant once—a fairly equitable format.

"I heard you can choose to fight consecutive matches. As long as you win twenty in a row, you can advance early!"

"Stop dreaming. Aside from the main branch geniuses, even ordinary main branch disciples wouldn't dare do that. Winning consecutively might let you advance quickly, but if someone defeats a streak holder midway through, they can seize that person's winning streak. The loser, meanwhile, is eliminated immediately! We should just fight steadily, one match at a time!"

The hushed conversations around him made Li Ye's heart stir.

Under normal circumstances, I would need to fight at least fifty or sixty matches before the outcome is decided. This winning-streak system seems tailor-made for me.

Throughout the entire sixth group, even Li Dakui would not put much pressure on him. Li Ye immediately formed a plan.

At this moment, people were already fighting on the arena. They were two collateral branch disciples at Spirit Martial Tier Three, fighting with the force of tigers and the wind of dragons, though neither was particularly outstanding.

Soon, one of them was defeated, while the victor chose to rest and prepare for the next match.

Li Ye was in no rush to step up. Instead, he observed for a while. He discovered that the other groups had produced quite a few strong contenders. Spirit Martial Tier Five cultivators were not uncommon, and there were some at Spirit Martial Tier Six as well.

Naturally, the most outstanding were the few famous members of the main branch.

"Li Xuan! I never expected him to break through!"

Li Xuan was conspicuously present in the second group, and the terrifying aura around him was even more obvious than yesterday. He had clearly reached the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm!

He had already swiftly defeated five people, ending every match in a single exchange! Even a collateral branch expert at Spirit Martial Tier Five had fallen in one move! In an instant, he became the focus of everyone's attention!

On the spectator stands, Li Huangran wore a smug expression. Seeing his son's outstanding performance, a smile appeared on his face.

"Third Brother, Xuan has actually broken through. Congratulations, Third Brother!"

Several Lineage higher-ups seated on the stands congratulated Li Huangran. Before this, only three people in the entire clan had broken through to the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm before turning eighteen! Now that Li Xuan had become the fourth, he instantly became a blazing-hot genius within the Lineage!

"He still has a long way to go. Compared to Yue and the others, the boy is still a little green. He needs to keep working harder."

Though he said so, everyone could see the pride and satisfaction in his eyes, impossible to conceal.

Below, Li Ye also witnessed Li Xuan's astonishing performance. He was secretly startled and felt a trace of pressure.

Even Li Xuan has broken through. I wonder whether Li Yue has improved as well? I need to break through to Spirit Martial Tier Five as soon as possible. Otherwise, I won't have absolute confidence of victory if I encounter them.

With that thought, Li Ye directly leaped onto the arena. Standing there was none other than Li Dakui, hailed as the strongest of the sixth group! He had already won four consecutive matches, beating everyone so thoroughly that no one dared challenge him!

"I thought you were all a bunch of cowards. Didn't expect one of you to have some guts. State your name!"

Li Ye had left the Lineage for several years, and many people had already forgotten him. Li Dakui did not recognize him, or perhaps Li Dakui simply had never placed Li Ye in his eyes.

After all, the aura Li Ye currently released was merely peak Spirit Martial Tier Four, two realms below Li Dakui.

"Li Ye!"

Yet only after Li Ye spoke did Li Dakui react.

"Huh? Aren't you that good-for-nothing from back then? What are you doing here?" Clearly, Li Dakui had not heard about what happened yesterday. His face was full of surprise.

At the same time, some of the Li Family higher-ups in the stands noticed what was happening here.

"I heard a few days ago that this good-for-nothing had returned. I didn't expect it to be true, nor did I expect you to let him pass the first-round test. Sixth Brother, that is not right of you. As the chief examiner for the first round, bending the law for personal gain like this will surely displease the clan elders."

Li Huangran's low voice sounded. Li Xuanji remained noncommittal, merely giving his third brother a calm glance. "Third Brother, don't be in such a hurry. Whether I bent the law for personal gain or not, you'll see soon enough."

Seeing Li Xuanji's attitude, a trace of displeasure flashed across Li Huangran's face, though it was barely noticeable.

"Fine! I'll watch!"

At this moment, many people on the arena grounds recognized Li Ye as the famous good-for-nothing. His appearance immediately caused a stir.

"Good-for-nothing, for the sake of us both being main branch disciples, I'll give you a way to live. Get lost!"

Li Dakui curled his lip disdainfully, not taking Li Ye seriously at all.

His goal was twenty consecutive victories, advancing forcefully as the first-ranked member of his group!

"You're that confident you can defeat me?"

As soon as the words fell, the aura of Spirit Martial Tier Four burst forth from Li Ye's body, leaving many people utterly stunned.

"Spirit Martial Tier Four! And peak Tier Four at that! What happened to this good-for-nothing over the past few years for him to gain such cultivation?"

Peak Spirit Martial Tier Four was not considered too bad even within the main branch, placing him around the middle to lower ranks. Yet this only made Li Dakui slightly taken aback before he immediately burst into loud laughter.

"I thought you had some backing. So this is all it is!"

Li Dakui laughed heartily as the terrifying aura of peak Spirit Martial Tier Six surged forward head-on, forcing many members of the sixth group below to retreat again and again.

"This Li Dakui truly is the strongest person in our sixth group. His first-place position is completely beyond doubt. He might even fight his way into the top thirty of this martial competition! He may have a chance to challenge the Inner Disciples!"

Several collateral branch disciples at Spirit Martial Tier Five wore grave expressions. In their minds, Li Dakui had become a towering mountain they needed to surpass—their greatest challenger.

Some people even jeered from below, telling Li Ye, that good-for-nothing, to get off the stage.

"Li Ye! There was a road to heaven, but you refused to take it; hell had no gate, yet you insisted on barging in! Since that's the case, let me see what lucky encounter you've had these past few years!"

Li Dakui clearly followed a path of wild, ferocious strength. His moves were broad and forceful, yet every punch carried the weight of a thousand catties!

An ordinary martial cultivator at peak Spirit Martial Tier Six possessed only seven or eight hundred catties of force. This showed that Li Dakui possessed considerable talent in this respect—he had been born with divine strength.

Not taking Li Ye seriously in the slightest, Li Dakui threw a punch directly at him, intending to settle the matter in one move just as he had in the previous matches.

"Good!"

Seeing Li Dakui's punch come roaring toward him, Li Ye gave a low shout. He did not dodge at all, instead throwing out a punch of his own! He actually chose to meet force with force!

"This kid has gone mad!"

Seeing this, many people sneered. A peak Spirit Martial Tier Four cultivator facing an opponent two realms above him head-on, especially one born with divine strength, was simply courting death!

At peak Spirit Martial Tier Four, he could at most wield four hundred catties of force. The gap was far too great!

Even a savage grin appeared in Li Dakui's eyes, as if he could already see the overconfident Li Ye having an arm blown apart by his punch!

But in the next instant, everyone saw Li Dakui sent flying by Li Ye's single punch! With a scream, he fell from the arena, his face deathly pale!

"What? How is that possible?"

In an instant, everyone was shocked! Even several Li Family elders on the spectator stands were stunned, never expecting such an outcome!

"This good-for-nothing actually defeated the naturally strong Li Dakui through brute force?!"

Li Ye won! At the same time, his record became five consecutive victories, and Li Dakui's previous four-win streak was transferred directly to him!