Watch Me Play Weak and Catch Him Off Guard!

Li Yao stood in the Seventh Arena and looked down at the crowd. One by one, they lowered their heads. No one dared meet his eyes.

He sighed. This wouldn't do. If nobody challenged me, how was I supposed to farm Background Value?

Li Yao grew anxious.

After a moment's thought, he steeled himself and quietly circulated his Spiritual Power, forcing out a little blood.

Just enough clung to the corner of his mouth. It looked as though he'd suffered an internal injury after giving everything he had to defeat Ruan Tian.

Someone below had sharp eyes and spotted the blood at once.

"Holy shit! He's coughing up blood!"

"Seriously? Let me see!"

"Damn! He is! There's blood on his mouth!"

"I knew it! Ruan Tian ranked seventh on the Strength Rankings. There was no way he'd go down that easily!"

"Exactly! He must've forced himself to keep fighting until he beat Ruan Tian, and taken an internal injury in the process!"

"I bet he's at the end of his rope!"

"Hahaha! I knew someone as strong as Ruan Tian couldn't lose so easily. Turns out he beat Li Yao half to death first!"

"What are we waiting for? Get him!"

"If I don't knock him down today, my Dao heart will never be steady!"

"That guy's way too arrogant!"

"Go on! Get him!"

The crowd below erupted. The people who'd been staring silently at the ground a moment ago now looked fired up, their eyes shining.

Li Yao laughed inwardly, but kept his face composed. He even swayed a little, pretending to be weak.

That made the crowd even more excited.

"See that? See that? He can barely stand!"

"I'm going up! Let me at him!"

"I'm first! Don't cut in!"

"Get lost! I said it first!"

They shoved one another below the stage, each fighting to go up.

Li Yao watched, delighted.

He was about to call out, "Come on, then!" when he saw the referee approaching.

The referee was a middle-aged man in his forties. Dressed in a black suit and gold-rimmed glasses, he looked quite scholarly.

He stopped below the stage and looked up at Li Yao. "Student Li Yao, you have thirty minutes to regulate your breathing. Would you like to use them?"

The excited crowd went quiet as though someone had dumped cold water over them.

Right. The rules gave each defending fighter time to recover after a match.

If Li Yao chose to use it, they could only wait.

The people below looked at one another. Nobody spoke.

Li Yao panicked.

He'd finally whipped them into a frenzy. If he took that break, wouldn't all that excitement die?

An idea came to him.

Li Yao looked at the referee, his expression troubled.

He glanced from the referee to the crowd, then sighed. "A man's word is as firm as a nail driven home. I said I wouldn't take a break, so I won't. Come on—beat me to death."

The crowd exploded again.

"Holy shit! What did he say?"

"He said he's not taking a break?"

"Damn! He's asking to die!"

"He's coughing up blood and still won't rest? If that's not asking to die, what is?"

"He's just showing off!"

"I can't take it anymore! I'm going to get him!"

"Me too!"

"Nobody stop me!"

The referee froze. He looked at Li Yao. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure." Li Yao nodded. "I keep my word. I said no break, so no break."

The referee studied him, then glanced at the excited crowd below. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "Very well. Since you've chosen to forgo your recovery time, the match will continue."

"Good!" Li Yao grinned down at the crowd and shouted, "Come on! Who's first?"

"Me!"

"Me!"

"I am!"

Three voices rang out at once.

Li Yao looked up to find three people jumping onto the stage together.

"Hey, hey, not all at once!" Li Yao waved them back. "One at a time. I can still take ten of you."

"I'll go first!" A burly student stepped forward and told the other two, "Get down. I'll take him on."

The other two exchanged a reluctant glance, then jumped off the stage.

The student turned to Li Yao and cupped his fists. "I'm Zhao Gang, an Eighth-Rank Martial Master. Please enlighten me!"

"Zhao Gang, is it?" Li Yao smiled. "Come on, then. I'll give you three moves."

"No need!" Zhao Gang threw a punch straight at him.

Li Yao slipped sideways and dodged it.

For a while, he did nothing but evade Zhao Gang's attacks, countering only when Zhao Gang occasionally left an opening.

Even then, he held back, afraid he might use too much force and knock Zhao Gang off the stage.

Nearly a hundred moves passed like that before Zhao Gang finally lost his patience.

"Are you planning to dodge forever?"

Zhao Gang was panting. After attacking for nearly a hundred moves, he was almost exhausted, and his Spiritual Qi was nearly spent.

Li Yao said nothing. Seizing the opportunity, he suddenly closed in and struck with his palm.

Before Zhao Gang could react, he flew backward.

Thud.

Zhao Gang was stunned. I lost? Just like that?

He wasn't even injured. How had he lost without knowing what had happened?

Seeing Zhao Gang on the ground, Li Yao let out a long breath, as though he, too, had reached his limit.

Silence fell over the crowd below and the spectators in the stands.

They all wondered whether they'd seen it wrong.

"Holy shit! Li Yao won again?"

"Is he really a Sixth-Rank Martial Master?"

"Did I see that right?"

"Wasn't he coughing up blood earlier? How's he still so strong?"

Li Yao looked down at them and asked weakly, "Who else?"

Then he added, "Looks like I won't make the top ten after all."

"Who are you trying to fool? How could a Sixth-Rank Martial Master beat someone at the Eighth Rank?"

"Exactly! You must be hiding your strength!"

"You coughed up blood earlier. You're barely holding on!"

"Right! He's barely holding on!"

"I'll go! Let's see how much longer he can last!"

Someone jumped onto the stage.

Li Yao looked over. It was a tall, thin young man in white training clothes who looked full of energy.

"I'm Qian Duoduo, an Eighth-Rank Martial Master. Please enlighten me!"

"Qian Duoduo?" Li Yao smiled. "That's quite a name."

"Save it. Take this!"

Qian Duoduo lunged forward and drove a fist toward Li Yao's chest.

Li Yao raised an arm to block, then struck back with his palm.

The two fought across the stage.

The spectators below watched, their blood surging with excitement.

"Qian Duoduo! You've got this!"

"Smash him!"

"Let's see him act so arrogant now!"

"Looks like I'll have to get serious."

With that, Spiritual Power surged through Li Yao's body, and he punched at Qian Duoduo.

Qian Duoduo raised an arm to block, but the blow was too powerful. He flew off the stage and crashed to the ground below.

"Pfft!"

Qian Duoduo spat out blood and struggled to his feet.

"You... what rank are you really?"

"Sixth Rank." Li Yao smiled. "Why would I lie to you?"

"Impossible!" Qian Duoduo's eyes widened. "How could a Sixth-Rank Martial Master have that much power?"

"Maybe I'm talented." Li Yao shrugged.

"Holy shit! Qian Duoduo lost too?"

"Li Yao won again?"

"Am I dreaming?"

"This is ridiculous!"

Li Yao stood on the stage, looked down at the crowd, and asked again, "Who else?"

The people below looked at one another. No one said a word.

Li Yao sighed and was about to speak again when the system's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for defeating Zhao Gang. Background Value +1,000. Current Background Value: 21,000.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for defeating Qian Duoduo. Background Value +1,000. Current Background Value: 22,000.

Ding! The host has defeated consecutive opponents, triggering a consecutive challenge reward. Bonus Background Value: 2,000. Current Background Value: 24,000.

Li Yao was delighted.

This system really knows the way to my heart.