"Xiao Gang, stop talking."
Seeing Grandmaster ramble on as though the trouble were not already big enough, Flender frowned. Clearly, he felt Grandmaster was going too far by deliberately stirring things up. He grabbed Grandmaster's shoulder and urged him to stop, his voice growing stern.
Flender raised his head, about to say more, only to notice the chill on Dugu Bo's face. His pupils abruptly contracted, and he hurried a step forward, shielding Grandmaster behind him.
The instant Flender moved, before Dugu Bo could act, Little Dragon Girl suddenly darted forward from where she had been standing motionless. Afterimages sprang up along her path, making her movements impossible to track.
As those afterimages appeared, Flender's and Liu Erlong's expressions changed drastically. Seven soul rings spiraled up around each of them. They were about to intervene when... a miserable scream like a pig being slaughtered rang out behind them.
"Aah!"
Everyone in the surrounding stands gaped, staring at the arena in utter astonishment. For a moment, the entire Royal Hunting Ground sank into an eerie silence.
What had just happened?
Little Dragon Girl had appeared beside Grandmaster at incredible speed, then abruptly leaped up. Her seemingly supple lower leg swung straight at his head, the terrifying power it carried forcing even the air aside.
Sensing something was wrong, Grandmaster's expression turned extremely ugly. Two soul rings spiraled up from his feet, and his hands hurriedly formed a strange seal before him. He tried to release his martial soul, but failed.
And so Grandmaster raised his palm to meet her kick.
Yet the moment Little Dragon Girl's leg met Grandmaster's palm, an utterly terrifying force poured into him with savage brutality.
Crack!
Her leg struck Grandmaster's palm, and a sharp snap of breaking bone rang out instantly.
"Pfft!"
Grandmaster's face twisted into