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 look him in the eye.

He sighed. This won't do. If no one challenges me, how am I supposed to farm Background Value?

Li Yao grew anxious.

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

Just enough clung to the corner of his mouth. It looked as though defeating Ruan Tian had taken everything he had, leaving him with internal injuries.

Someone below spotted the blood right away.

"Holy crap! He's bleeding!"

"Seriously? Let me see!"

"Damn, he is! There's blood on his mouth!"

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

"Exactly! He must've pushed himself to beat Ruan Tian and taken internal injuries in the process!"

"I bet he's running on fumes!"

"Hahaha! I knew someone as strong as Ruan Tian couldn't lose that easily. Turns out he injured Li Yao badly!"

"Then what are we waiting for? Get him!"

"If we don't knock him off that platform today, I'll never have peace of mind!"

"That guy's way too arrogant!"

"Get up there! Take him down!"

The crowd below erupted. The people who had stood with their heads down in silence now looked fired up, their eyes shining.

Li Yao laughed to himself, but kept his expression calm. He even swayed a little, pretending to be weak.

That only excited the crowd more.

"See that? He can barely stand!"

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

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

"Get lost! I called it first!"

They shoved one another, each fighting for the chance to get on the platform.

Li Yao could hardly have been happier.

He was about to shout, "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 rather scholarly.

He stopped below the Arena, looked up at Li Yao, and asked, "Student Li Yao, you have thirty minutes to recover. Would you like to use them?"

The excited crowd fell silent at once, as if someone had dumped cold water over them.

Right. The rules gave every defender time to recover after a match.

If Li Yao took it, they would have no choice but to wait.

They glanced at one another, saying nothing.

Li Yao felt a stab of panic.

He had finally worked the crowd into a frenzy. If he took the recovery time, all that excitement would die out.

An idea came to him.

Li Yao looked at the referee with a troubled expression.

He glanced from the referee to the crowd, then sighed. "A man keeps his word. I said I wouldn't take time to recover, so I won't. Come on, then. Beat me to death."

The crowd erupted again.

"Holy shit! What did he say?"

"He said he won't recover?"

"Damn! He's asking to die!"

"He's bleeding and still won't take a break? What else would you call it?"

"He's just showing off!"

"I can't take it anymore! I'm going up!"

"Me too!"

"Nobody stop me!"

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

"I'm sure." Li Yao nodded. "I keep my word. I said no, and I meant it."

The referee glanced at him, then at the excited crowd. After a moment's hesitation, he nodded. "All right. Since you've chosen not to recover, the matches will continue."

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

"Me!"

"Me!"

"I am!"

Three voices rang out at once.

Li Yao looked over. Three people had leaped onto the Arena together.

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

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

The other two exchanged a look. Reluctant as they were, they jumped off the Arena.

The student turned to Li Yao and cupped his fists. "I'm Zhao Gang, an Eighth Rank Martial Master. Show me what you've got!"

"All right, Zhao Gang." Li Yao smiled. "Come on. I'll give you three moves."

"No need!" Zhao Gang said, then drove a fist straight at him.

Li Yao sidestepped the punch.

From then on, he kept dodging Zhao Gang's attacks, striking back only when Zhao Gang occasionally left himself open.

Even then, he held back, afraid that too much force would send Zhao Gang flying off the platform.

Nearly a hundred moves passed this way before Zhao Gang finally lost patience.

"Are you going to dodge forever?"

Zhao Gang panted. He had been attacking the whole time, and after nearly a hundred moves, he was close to collapse. His Spiritual Qi was nearly gone too.

Li Yao said nothing. He seized the opening, closed in, and struck with his palm.

Before Zhao Gang could react, he was sent flying.

Thud.

Zhao Gang was stunned. Wait, I lost just like that?

He wasn't even hurt. Had he really lost without knowing how?

Seeing Zhao Gang on the ground, Li Yao let out a long breath, as though he, too, had used up his last bit of strength.

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

They wondered if their eyes had deceived them.

"Holy crap! Li Yao won again?"

"Is he really a Sixth Rank Martial Master?"

"Did I see that right?"

"Wasn't he bleeding earlier? How is he still this strong?"

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

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

"Who are you trying to fool? A Sixth Rank Martial Master beat an Eighth Rank one?"

"Exactly! You must be hiding your strength!"

"You were bleeding earlier. You've got to be forcing yourself to stand!"

"Right! He's barely hanging on!"

"I'm going up! Let's see how much longer he can last!"

Someone jumped onto the platform.

Li Yao saw a tall, thin young man in a white training uniform. He looked full of energy.

"I'm Qian Duoduo, an Eighth Rank Martial Master. Show me what you've got!"

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

"Enough talk. Take this!"

Qian Duoduo lunged forward and punched at Li Yao's chest.

Li Yao raised an arm to block, then answered with a palm strike.

The two began trading blows on the Arena.

The crowd below watched, their blood pumping.

"Qian Duoduo! You've got this!"

"Smash him!"

"Teach him not to be so arrogant!"

"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. It sent him flying off the Arena and onto the ground below.

"Pfft!"

Qian Duoduo spat 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 be that strong?"

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

"Holy crap! Qian Duoduo lost too?"

"Li Yao won again?"

"Am I dreaming?"

"This is ridiculous!"

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

The people below glanced at one another. No one spoke.

Li Yao sighed and was about to say more when the system's voice suddenly sounded in his head.

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

Ding! Congratulations, host, on 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 what I want.