Violent Pill

Liu Kuang returned to where the Liu family was gathered and was immediately greeted by cheers from its many disciples.

Although Liu Kuang had fought with vicious ruthlessness, this battle had brought the Liu family boundless glory.

The Liu family had already produced a genius like Liu Ruoxue.

If Liu Kuang also entered the Myriad Phenomena Hall, the Liu family's standing in Tianshui City would undergo a tremendous change.

"Well done."

Yang Benhong's indifferent voice rang out. "When you face Qin Hao next, do you know what to do?"

Liu Kuang reined in his hostility and sneered. "You needn't remind me, Senior Brother Yang. I will kill Qin Hao!"

"I once swore that if I didn't kill Qin Hao, I would no longer deserve to call myself a man!"

Yang Benhong nodded. "Elder Chi is known in the Myriad Phenomena Hall for being stern, impartial, and absolutely fair! As long as you don't give Qin Hao a chance to surrender, Elder Chi won't say a word even if you beat him to death in the arena."

"But dealing with Qin Hao is only one part of it. More importantly, you must take first place!"

"Take this!"

Yang Benhong waved his hand, and a pill glowing with a faint blue light shot toward him.

"Senior Brother Yang, this..." Liu Kuang caught the pill, looking startled.

He could feel the potent medicinal power contained within it, with a faint hint of something wild and violent.

"This pill is called the Violent Burst Pill!"

"After taking it, you can unleash more than twice your own strength for fifteen minutes!"

Yang Benhong lowered his voice. "Most importantly, as long as you suppress its power and activate no more than fifty percent of its potency, even Elder Chi himself won't be able to detect that you've taken a pill if he examines you afterward."

The Myriad Phenomena Genius Tournament strictly prohibited taking pills that increased one's strength!

Of course, no one had ever taken such a pill in any previous Tianshui City Genius Tournament. Such pills were exceedingly precious. Even if the three great lineages wanted to buy them, they had nowhere to find them.

Some powerful cities, on the other hand, would activate special formations once their genius tournaments began to detect anyone cheating.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother Yang, but I won't need a pill like this to deal with a mere Qin Hao." Liu Kuang sneered. He was absolutely confident that he could crush Qin Hao.

"Fool!"

Just then, Liu Ruoxue's icy voice rang out. "Senior Brother Yang means for you to take first place. He gave you the Violent Burst Pill only as a precaution."

"A single Qin Hao isn't worth mentioning."

"But you must secure the Azure Origin Fruit! Senior Brother Lei has great use for it."

"If you win the Azure Origin Fruit, Senior Brother Lei certainly won't treat you poorly."

Lei Zhen, a genius of the Myriad Phenomena Hall's inner hall!

Liu Kuang drew a deep breath.

He naturally understood how precious the Azure Origin Fruit was. It could cleanse the meridians and marrow, improving one's aptitude!

He hadn't expected Lei Zhen to want it too. Compared with gaining the favor of an inner hall genius, a single Azure Origin Fruit was nothing.

"I understand. Thank you for the reminder, Young Miss," Liu Kuang hurriedly said.

Liu Ruoxue nodded indifferently. "Remember, you must not activate more than fifty percent of its potency. Otherwise, no one will be able to save you!"

Once Elder Chi discovered it, the consequences were easy to imagine.

Moreover, neither of them said outright that if Liu Kuang fully activated the Violent Burst Pill's potency, his cultivation at the Early Stage of the seventh level of the Body Tempering Realm would leave him utterly unable to withstand its backlash. His meridians would shatter, his dantian would rupture, and he would be reduced to a cripple!

But whether they told him or not made little difference.

If things truly reached that point, even if Liu Kuang survived the backlash, Elder Chi would not spare him.

The Myriad Phenomena Genius Tournament continued.

That afternoon, Chen Yuntian and Liu Kuang won several more matches, drawing another step closer to the top three.

Besides them, the martial artist from outside the city named Liu Xiao also kept winning!

"Where did this fellow come from? He's cut his way through every obstacle and opponent, and now he's about to fight his way into the top three!"

"I know him. Liu Xiao comes from the Liu Family Stockade outside Tianshui City. He's the most gifted genius the stockade has produced in nearly a hundred years, and his name is known far and wide in the surrounding area. But he lost both parents as a child and grew up with his eldest uncle, who has taken excellent care of him and spared no expense to support his cultivation!"

"This Liu Xiao is truly a genius! Once he enters the Myriad Phenomena Hall, his future will probably be limitless!"

The eyes of many faction leaders were already burning with interest.

Although Liu Xiao was not one of their disciples, he was still young and unmarried. If they could form a marriage alliance with him, he would count as a member of their faction.

Quite a few faction leaders began setting their sights on Liu Xiao.

Elsewhere, another match also drew considerable attention.

Qin Hao... against Qin Xiongfeng!

Qin Xiongfeng was also a disciple of the Qin family.

At this stage of the tournament, apart from Chen Yuntian, Liu Kuang, and Liu Xiao, only Qin Hao and Qin Xiongfeng still had a chance to contend for the top three.

Qin Xiongfeng's advance into the top ten had also surprised many Qin disciples.

Usually so low-key, Qin Xiongfeng had actually reached the peak of the sixth level of the Body Tempering Realm.

But now that the two were facing each other, one of them would inevitably be eliminated.

"Qin Yuntian, make that useless son of yours surrender! Qin Xiongfeng is our Qin family's last hope!"

A glimmer of hope appeared in the Grand Supreme Elder's dim old eyes. He said excitedly, "As long as Qin Xiongfeng enters the Myriad Phenomena Hall, you can remain the head of the Qin family, Qin Yuntian. Our Qin family will still have hope."

"Grand Supreme Elder, how can you think that way? Haven't you seen Hao's strength yet?" Qin Yuntian asked in disbelief.

"Shut up! Qin Yuntian, what more do you want? Our Qin family cannot be left with no one to carry it forward! Are we supposed to pin our hopes on that useless son of yours? Don't think I don't know how Qin Hao's cultivation improved! Qin Xiongfeng cultivated through his own efforts and never asked for extra resources from the lineage. The strength he has today is proof enough of his excellence!"

The Grand Supreme Elder trembled as he said, "He's a hundred times better than that useless son of yours with his first-grade martial soul!"

Qin Yuntian flew into a rage. "Grand Supreme Elder, you keep calling him useless, but when has Hao failed to display heaven-bestowed talent? It seems age has clouded your eyes so badly that you've lost even the most basic judgment!"

"You... how dare you!" The Grand Supreme Elder's hands shook uncontrollably with anger.

"Young Master Qin Hao, regardless of who wins or loses our match, let's stop short of hurting each other. What do you say?" Qin Xiongfeng was neither servile nor arrogant, nor did he mock Qin Hao's talent and aptitude as others had.

"Agreed!"

"Let's begin."

Qin Hao nodded and sighed inwardly.

He could tell that Qin Xiongfeng's talent was indeed quite good. Unfortunately, fate had toyed with them, and the random draw had pitted them against each other.

"All right, then. Be careful, Young Master!"

Qin Xiongfeng gave a low shout and struck with his sword.

He had watched every one of Qin Hao's battles. Each time, Qin Hao had won with remarkable ease, handling everything effortlessly without ever revealing his true strength.

To him, Qin Hao felt no less dangerous than Chen Yuntian!

Thus, Qin Xiongfeng put all his strength into this sword strike.

"Your sword is too slow!"

"Qin Xiongfeng, watch closely. Swordsmanship must be swift, ruthless, and precise! Above all, you must advance fearlessly. You are the sword, and the sword is you!"

Qin Hao changed, becoming like a boundlessly sharp sword poised to cleave heaven and earth apart.

In just an instant, Qin Hao returned to normal.

Even so, Qin Xiongfeng had felt it. In that instant, he had seemed to stand in hell, surrounded by countless sharp swords sealing him off from every direction. He couldn't muster even a trace of courage to resist.

At the same time, Qin Hao struck with his sword.