Brother, Don't Thank Me for the Wrong Thing

The masked man's second round was more decisive than the first.

This time, he didn't seem intent on tormenting anyone, ending everything with his most decisive moves.

Compared to fighting opponents one after another, this kind of simultaneous attack was a greater test of a contestant's reflexes and control over their body. Their mind had to anticipate what was coming and direct their limbs to keep up in time.

It was downright dazzling.

The eight contestants used all kinds of martial arts, giving the eye more than it could follow. Even though it was difficult to see what was happening, the masked contestant in the center of the ring managed to counter every attack!

"Holy shit, that's beyond anything a human can do!"

"Which guild does this talent belong to? I really need to know who he is."

"Could he be some rookie who came here to practice?"

"A rookie?! No way. Isn't he almost as good as Zheng Xun?"

"I've never seen Erchui without a weapon. His props are all so destructive that every fight kicks up a cloud of smoke, and you can't see a thing."

"Stop guessing. Didn't Zheng Xun just finish a dungeon? He should be resting."

The crowd below the ring buzzed with discussion as the fight onstage drew to a close.

The masked man smacked the last contestant out of the ring.

"That's it?" He looked around, seeming a little bewildered, before finally nodding. "That's it."

But he seemed to have underestimated how simple things would be. Soon, another six people climbed into the ring.

"I... huh?" He was just about to speak to Shen Guanyu when he noticed there were more people in the ring.

"You want to challenge me too?"

His voice already sounded impatient, but he still followed the rules.

"Come on!"

These six people's progress bars were half as long as the previous eight's. The masked contestant gifted each of them three moves and sent them all out of the ring.

By the time the third group came up, the contestant looked utterly speechless.

Speechless or not, he still swiftly sent them flying.

Group after group came and went, until he had dispatched five in all.

Finally, no one else stepped into the ring.

"Thirty-six! Did he just fight thirty-six people in total?!"

"Even if some of them were just there to make up the numbers, more than thirty is still terrifying!"

"And next he's going to challenge Shen Guanyu!"

Shen Guanyu had taken the time to rest. He looked at the masked contestant standing in the center of the ring, and the other man looked back at him.

"I..."

"Finally, it's your turn." He sounded a little eager. "I originally planned to play dead and let you win, but since I'm already here, there's no harm in having a spar."

Shen Guanyu was somewhat baffled by the out-of-the-blue remark, but the other man gave him no chance to ask what he meant and was already urging the referee on.

"Raise the flag, raise the flag. I'm going back to eat when this is over. I'm starving."

The referee belatedly reacted and raised the flag.

The final round began!

The masked contestant fought differently again this round. After Shen Guanyu used his signature fist technique, he successfully broke down the move, then returned the same punch to Shen Guanyu!

He had actually copied Shen Guanyu's fist technique!

A gasp swept through the audience, and Shen Guanyu himself was a little stunned.

This fist technique had been passed down through his family for generations. It was never taught to outsiders, and only members of the Shen family could inherit it.

There was no other way to learn it!

Could it be... that he had learned the entire fist technique just by watching Shen Guanyu use a few moves?

Shen Guanyu was shaken to the core. He was young, after all, and had yet to temper his state of mind to a certain level.

The masked man sensed an opportunity. He seized the instant Shen Guanyu was distracted and drove his right fist straight at his face!

Shen Guanyu dodged desperately, narrowly avoiding the blow.

Fortunately, he was experienced. He quickly regained his composure and threw himself back into the fight.

Compared with the previous fights, this battle was on an entirely different level. When experts exchanged moves, both the fluidity and the spectacle increased many times over.

The voices around them gradually died down. Everyone held their breath, waiting for the outcome.

They were using exactly the same technique, something even a layman could see.

Shen Guanyu himself was drenched in sweat. The last person he had fought who knew the Shen family's fist technique had been his father, Shen Yuan.

And now he was facing another version of himself-or rather, a version of himself who was rapidly absorbing the basic moves of the fist technique and fighting with increasing ease!

The masked contestant's talent was unimaginable!

Shen Guanyu knew perfectly well that losing was only a matter of time, even though he and the masked man were evenly matched at the moment.

Sure enough, after three minutes, Shen Guanyu was already beginning to falter.

Two minutes later, a punch struck Shen Guanyu in the chest. His body tipped backward, and he fell from the ring.

"Ahem, ahem." He braced himself with one leg and gripped the edge of the ring with his other hand. "I lost."

Since Shen Guanyu, the ring defender, had left the ring, the other side was declared the winner.

The masked contestant had won once again!

Wave after wave of cheers erupted from the crowd.

According to the rules, the masked contestant was now the ring defender, and everyone else was still eligible to challenge him.

But whether because of the previous round or not, the others had all lost confidence.

Winning or losing lasted a moment, but looking cool lasted a lifetime.

They knew they couldn't put on a performance as brilliant as the previous round, and they would get kicked out of the ring besides. They would only be humiliating themselves.

Ten minutes passed, and no one stepped forward to challenge him.

He had successfully defended the ring!

He was the first ring defender in this server's Blue Tower to make the rankings!

The enormous golden sphere overhead burst open, and colorful streamers rained down, covering the victor in the center of the ring like a king's cloak.

The man in the ring enjoyed the fruits of victory, while the crowd below wore all kinds of expressions.

The Silver Snow Guild member hidden among the crowd quietly left. Shen Guanyu looked in the direction he had gone and hesitated, but did not immediately follow.

He turned and looked up at the masked man, whose gaze happened to fall on him at the same time.

"My name is Shen Guanyu," he said. "Thank you for getting me out of that predicament. I hope I can see you again."

Then, without waiting for the masked man's reply, he followed in the direction the Silver Snow member had gone, his steps looking rather hurried.

Zheng Xun, suddenly being thanked: ?

Brother, don't thank me for the wrong thing. I really only got into the ring because I wanted to beat up Jiang Feiguang.

As he drew back his gaze, Zheng Xun unfortunately caught sight of Jiang Feiguang below the ring again.

The other man's gaze was full of venom, along with some calculation.

Zheng Xun, inexplicably feeling a chill down his spine: ??

He lifted his leg to leave the ring. The steps happened to be in Jiang Feiguang's direction.

Jiang Feiguang suddenly lunged and yanked his scarf!

It could only be said that the timing, location, and people were all in place for this. The fighting had been so intense that, no matter how tightly the scarf had been wrapped, it was hanging loosely on his head by the time the fight ended.

His baseball cap flew off and landed upside down on the ground.

The floating camera sphere had been following the victor the whole time, and its other end was connected to the four large screens above the ring.

A familiar, handsome profile appeared on the screens, and the entire Blue Tower fell silent.

Only one person in the second-floor stands was shouting into a phone.

"Hello, hello, hello? Brother Xiao, it's me. Yes, yes, yes, I haven't taken him running around. Don't worry. We went to the amusement park and rode the kiddie rides. I've got a bit of a handle on these family relationships already... You're asking about Old Zheng? Old Zheng's doing great. He's with me. You say he's trending? How's that possible? The two of us have been so low-key... Holy shit!"

Cheng Jie, who had been frantically assuring Xiao Jun over the phone that he hadn't taken Zheng Xun wandering around, happened to look back, and his eyes nearly popped out of his head.

"Brother Xiao," he said, having already imagined ten thousand ways he could die, "you misheard me just now. I'm not with Zheng Xun. I'll go to the Blue Tower and catch him right now!"