Lin Changkong's voice was not loud, but the surroundings were utterly silent, and the other disciples were all as quiet as cicadas in winter.
Thus, his words drilled into Luo Qingyi's ears with perfect clarity.
Luo Qingyi trembled slightly with rage. She glared at Lin Changkong like a ferocious demon, killing intent surging from her eyes, wishing she could devour him alive.
"Heh heh, Elder Luo, you should mind the rules. This is the New Disciple Martial Competition. If you interfere in the grudges between disciples themselves, wouldn't that be far too shameless?
"Of course, if you insist on throwing your face away, then go ahead and try. Let's see whether you can hurt Lin Changkong right under my nose."
Just as Luo Qingyi truly wanted to make her move, Ye Wuchen's arrogant voice drifted over lightly from the side.
Luo Qingyi turned and glared at him, her gaze savage enough to eat someone alive.
But it was useless. Ye Wuchen looked back at her and picked his nose with his little finger.
"What, not convinced? Then beat me to death. If you can kill me, I won't interfere today. But if you can't kill me, don't even think about touching Lin Changkong."
Luo Qingyi's mouth twitched, but in the end, she did not act.
She knew very well that she would gain no advantage by fighting Ye Wuchen. And with Ye Wuchen's shameless bastard of a personality, he would definitely anger her half to death.
Meanwhile, on the fighting platform, Lin Changkong had already given Luo Ling a brutal beating. Even after stomping on her several times, he was not satisfied, and he raised his fists to batter her face again.
Luo Ling screamed miserably as she was beaten. The stone slabs behind her head shattered into pieces, and in the end, Lin Changkong beat her unconscious and beyond recognition before finally stopping.
Then he kicked her off the arena as well.
At this point, apart from him, there was no one left on the platform with a cultivation of Qi Gathering Second Level or above.
He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the remaining disciples. Every one of them shrank back, not daring to meet his eyes.
Especially those who had previously believed that he would be no match for Luo Ling and the others, and would be beaten into permanent crippling injuries. Their faces had gone deathly pale, and they lowered their heads, not daring to raise them at all.
Lin Changkong rested his saber across his shoulder and looked at the crowd with a smile. "Whoever refuses to accept this, step forward."
The crowd hurriedly backed away. No one dared take even half a step forward.
"If no one does, then get the hell off the platform. Anyone who stays, I'll take as refusing to accept this. And anyone who refuses to accept it, I'll beat them to a pulp!"
The disciples looked at one another. Though they were reluctant to give up the rewards for the top thirty, when they thought of Luo Ling and the others' miserable state, not one of them dared disobey.
Thus, groups of disciples leaped down from the fighting platform. Before long, Lin Changkong was the only one left standing on it.
Lin Changkong nodded and looked at Ye Wuchen. "Elder Ye, the field's been cleared. I'm the champion now, right?"
Ye Wuchen bared his teeth. "Fuck! I can understand you wanting the championship, but did you have to pull off something this outrageous?"
With Lin Changkong's stunt, only the champion could be decided. There was no way to determine the top ten, top twenty, or top thirty.
All the Qi Gathering Second Level and Qi Gathering Third Level disciples had been kicked off by him, while the rest had run away on their own. Other than the champion, there was no one left for any other ranking.
In the Heavenly Fire Sect's hundreds of years of history, this was absolutely the first time.
Even Ye Wuchen, outrageous as he was himself, had to admit that Lin Changkong's move was even more outrageous than his own!
But he liked it!
Hong Ye laughed as well and called out from afar, "Junior Brother, you're fucking awesome!"
Only Luo Qingyi and Zhang Qingfeng wore faces uglier than ugly.
Luo Qingyi snorted coldly. Having no face left to remain, she flicked her sleeve and left.
Zhang Qingfeng was even more humiliated. He had never imagined that despite all their elaborate arrangements, Lin Changkong would still bulldoze through every expert among the new disciples and seize the championship.
Not only had their scheme failed to cripple Lin Changkong for life, it had instead made his name ring throughout the sect.
This guy was simply a Demon King who stirred chaos wherever he went.
Without question, on that day, Lin Changkong's name spread throughout the entire Heavenly Fire Sect Outer Sect.
Not only did he become synonymous with a Demon King among the new disciples, even many old disciples heard of his exploits.
Naturally, the old disciples were not nearly as shaken by it.
Quite a few even felt the rumors were wildly exaggerated. He was merely a disciple promoted from the Servant Courtyard. If he truly possessed such talent and ability, how could he have remained in the Servant Courtyard for several years?
Therefore, it was highly likely that he had used some underhanded method.
No one knew whose mouth this so-called "underhanded method" had come from, but before long, it really had spread among some disciples.
Especially among the old disciples. Since they had not seen it with their own eyes, they found it even more believable.
Otherwise, how could a disciple from the Servant Courtyard possess such strength?
However, Lin Changkong did not hear these rumors, nor did he have any interest in hearing them.
Once the New Disciple Martial Competition ended, he left with Ye Wuchen and Hong Ye. By custom, the champion of the New Disciple Martial Competition was rewarded with a fifth-grade weapon.
A fifth-grade weapon was absolutely not something as common as cabbage in the Heavenly Fire Sect. Even within the Inner Sect, not many disciples could obtain one. In the Outer Sect, it was an utterly scarce treasure.
The saber Lin Changkong had originally used was only first-grade.
The increase in power brought by a fifth-grade weapon was enormous. With his current strength, if he held a fifth-grade weapon and possessed a martial skill like Blood Fiend Saber Qi—
Even against someone a minor realm above him, he was fully confident he could fight the bastard to the death.
Of course, no one now thought he was at Qi Gathering Fifth Level. Even Ye Wuchen believed he was most likely only at Qi Gathering Third Level.
After all, advancing two minor realms in a single day was simply too inconceivable.
Weapon Pavilion.
Ye Wuchen led Lin Changkong up to the third floor. "All the fifth-grade weapons are here. There aren't many, but there should be one that suits you. Pick one yourself."
Ye Wuchen was not only in charge of the Martial Arts Hall, but also the Weapon Pavilion, so he knew the place like the back of his hand.
"Mountain Splitting Axe—broad and powerful, with immense force behind every strike."
"Cold Cloud Spear—forged from cold iron, with a certain frost effect..."
"Meteor Hammer..."
Lin Changkong looked around and tried them out as well. These weapons were indeed quite powerful. When activated with spiritual qi, he could clearly feel his combat strength rise.
But none of them suited his hand. He had never practiced with them and was not used to them.
Not until his gaze landed on a completely crimson saber did his eyes light up.
It was an extremely broad saber. The blade alone was wider than two palms, nearly three feet long, and thick and heavy. If not for its shape as a saber, at first glance it looked more like a crimson tombstone.
Heavy and majestic, yet its sharp edge was fully revealed.
Lin Changkong reached out and gripped the hilt, testing it. It was extremely heavy; its weight alone was likely several hundred jin.
Yet when he held it in his hand, it felt more natural than all the other weapons. After all, saber techniques were what he had practiced from the very beginning.
And with his current realm, wielding it was not difficult either.
Ye Wuchen said, "This saber is called the Crimson Flame Saber. It was forged from subterranean fire iron, and for someone who uses fire-attribute spiritual qi, its amplification is even greater.
"The Crimson Flame Blood Fiend Technique you cultivate is indeed very suited to it. But this saber is somewhat cumbersome and not very friendly to those in the Qi Gathering Realm. Have you thought it through?"
Lin Changkong swung it a few times. It truly was heavy, but the feeling of power when this saber came down in a chop was simply overflowing.
He felt that even without spiritual qi, relying solely on his physical strength, with this saber in hand, he could kill a Qi Gathering Third Level cultivator and perhaps even contend against a Qi Gathering Fourth Level cultivator.
Of course, with spiritual qi reinforcing it, its power could naturally be brought out even better.
"I like this feeling of power overflowing through my body. This is the one!"
Before you continue