One Punch Sent 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 another seventy or eighty people with him, each eager to try their hand, radiating powerful auras.

"Such rotten luck. Why did it have to be the sixth arena?!"

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

Looking more closely, 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 obvious at a glance. No wonder those people sighed over their bad luck.

"Look, isn't that Li Dakui, the somewhat famous genius of the main branch? What terrible luck—he's in the sixth group too! Is he leaving anyone else a way to live?!"

Li Dakui! Li Ye's heart tightened. He had heard of this man before. Though his lineage within the main branch was not particularly orthodox, his talent was not weak. This was his final martial competition before turning eighteen, and his strength had already reached the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Six! He was absolutely one of the strongest in the sixth group and had every chance of advancing as the group's top contender!

Li Ye had done his homework on the rules of the second round beforehand.

The several hundred participants had been divided into ten groups. Only ten people from each group could advance, meaning that only one hundred people in total would ultimately pass. Those hundred would become Outer Disciples of the Lineage and receive its training.

This was the greatest goal of countless collateral branch disciples!

Unfortunately, carving a bloody path through each group was no easy task. 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 competing for a place in a group's top ten. At Spirit Martial Tier Five, one could basically advance with complete certainty!

Li Ye was now at the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Four, but his true combat strength was enough to surpass those at Spirit Martial Tier Six! Even against a seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm expert, he had the strength to fight. Advancing from his group was therefore no problem at all.

With one sweep of his gaze, 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, while only five or six had reached Spirit Martial Tier Five or above, including Li Dakui, the sole Spirit Martial Tier Six cultivator.

Before long, martial matches began on every arena.

According to the rules, a victory earned three points, while a loss earned none. The final top ten would be ranked by score and advance. In other words, every person had to fight everyone else once. It was quite a fair system.

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

"Stop dreaming. Other than the main branch's geniuses, even ordinary main branch disciples wouldn't dare do that. Consecutive victories can let you advance quickly, but if someone defeats a streaking fighter 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 whispered conversations around him stirred Li Ye's thoughts.

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

Throughout the sixth group, not even Li Dakui would put much pressure on him. Li Ye immediately made up his mind.

At this moment, people were already competing on the arena. Two collateral branch disciples at Spirit Martial Tier Three were fighting with tiger-like ferocity, though neither performance was particularly outstanding.

One soon conceded defeat, while the victor also chose to rest and prepare for the next match.

Li Ye was in no hurry to step up. Instead, he observed for a while. He discovered that quite a few powerful fighters had emerged in the other groups. Spirit Martial Tier Five cultivators were not uncommon, and there were even some at Spirit Martial Tier Six.

Of course, the most outstanding among them were the few renowned members of the main branch.

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

Li Xuan stood conspicuously 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, dispatching every opponent in a single exchange! Even a collateral branch expert at Spirit Martial Tier Five had been defeated in one move! He instantly became the focus of everyone's attention!

On the viewing platform, 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 viewing platform offered Li Huangran their congratulations. After all, before this, only three people in the entire clan had broken through to the seventh level of the Spirit Martial Realm before the age of eighteen! Li Xuan had now become the fourth, instantly turning into a blazing-hot genius within the Lineage!

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

Though he said so, everyone could see the unconcealable delight and pride in his eyes.

Below, Li Ye also saw 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, or I won't have absolute confidence of victory if I face them.

With that thought, Li Ye directly sprang onto the arena. The person standing there was none other than Li Dakui, hailed as the strongest in the sixth group! He had already won four consecutive matches, beating people so badly that no one dared challenge him!

"I thought you were all a bunch of cowards. Didn't expect there'd be one with guts. State your name!"

Li Ye had been away from the Lineage for several years, and many people had already forgotten him. Li Dakui did not recognize him, or rather, he simply had not taken Li Ye seriously.

After all, the aura Li Ye was currently releasing was merely at the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Four, two realms below his own.

"Li Ye!"

But after Li Ye spoke, Li Dakui finally reacted.

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

At the same time, some of the Li Family higher-ups on the viewing platform noticed the situation here as well.

"I heard a few days ago that this good-for-nothing had returned. I didn't expect it to be true, or that he would even be allowed to pass the first round of testing. Sixth Brother, that is not right of you. As the chief examiner of the first round, showing such favoritism and bending the law will surely displease the clan elders."

Li Huangran's deep voice rang out. Li Xuanji was noncommittal. He cast a calm glance at his third brother and said, "Third Brother, don't be impatient. Whether I showed favoritism and bent the law, you will 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 recognized Li Ye, the famous good-for-nothing. The moment he appeared, it immediately caused a commotion.

"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 lips in disdain, not taking Li Ye seriously at all.

His goal was twenty consecutive victories, advancing into first place in the group with overwhelming force!

"You're so certain you can defeat me?"

As soon as he spoke, the aura of Spirit Martial Tier Four erupted from Li Ye's body, leaving many people utterly stunned.

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

The peak of Spirit Martial Tier Four was not too bad even within the main branch, placing him around the middle to lower ranks. Yet this only made Li Dakui pause in surprise for a moment before he burst into laughter.

"I thought you had some kind of backing. So this is all there is to it!"

Li Dakui laughed loudly as the terrifying aura of peak Spirit Martial Tier Six surged forth head-on, forcing quite a few members of the sixth group below the arena to retreat again and again.

"As expected of Li Dakui, the strongest man in our sixth group. There's no suspense at all over him taking first place in the group. He might even fight his way into the top thirty of this competition! He may have a chance to challenge the Inner Disciples!"

Several collateral branch disciples at Spirit Martial Tier Five in the sixth group wore solemn expressions. Li Dakui had undoubtedly become a towering mountain they needed to surpass, their greatest challenge.

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

"Li Ye! There is a road to heaven, yet you refuse to take it; there is no gate to hell, yet you insist on forcing your way in! Since that is the case, let me see what fortuitous encounter you've had over these past few years!"

Li Dakui clearly followed a path of fierce, overwhelming strength. His moves were broad and sweeping, and every punch carried the force of a thousand jin!

An ordinary martial cultivator at the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Six possessed only seven or eight hundred jin of strength. It was clear that Li Dakui was remarkably gifted in this regard—born with divine strength.

Not taking Li Ye seriously in the slightest, Li Dakui threw a punch at once, intending to end things in one move, just as he had in the previous matches.

"Good!"

Seeing Li Dakui's punch come at 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 is insane!"

Seeing this, many people sneered. Using the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Four to clash head-on with an enemy two realms higher, one who possessed innate divine strength no less, was simply courting death!

At the peak of Spirit Martial Tier Four, he could possess at most four hundred jin of strength. The gap was far too great!

Even a vicious grin appeared in Li Dakui's eyes, as though he could already see the overconfident Li Ye's arm being blown apart by his punch!

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

"What? How is this possible?"

In an instant, everyone was stunned! Even several Li Family elders on the viewing platform were shocked, never expecting this outcome!

"This good-for-nothing actually defeated Li Dakui, who was born with divine strength, through brute force?!"

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