Decapitation!

"Will Tie Ma continue his glorious streak and seize a commanding third consecutive victory, or will the newcomer One Leaf Knows Autumn emerge victorious? Let's wait and see!"

"Now, please welcome our two contestants!"

When Ye Qiu heard his alias, he immediately rose from his seat and followed the markings on the waiting room floor toward the entrance passage.

Yes, One Leaf Knows Autumn was his alias.

Cheers and wolf-like howls rang out constantly from the stands.

As a newcomer, Ye Qiu had no advantage in cultivation, and with a Trash Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass, he naturally wasn't favored to win.

The boos directed at him never stopped,

while cheers for Tie Ma filled the stands.

Before long,

a tall, burly figure stepped onto the Soul Fighting platform.

He had a long, horse-like face and dark skin, and stood an astonishing two meters tall. His build was strange: narrow shoulders and a thick back, with hands as broad and thick as palm-leaf fans.

As soon as he stepped onto the platform, he threw his head back and let out a deafening roar. At the same time, the phantom of an Iron Hoof Horse rose behind him, rearing up and neighing. Beneath its hind hooves was a Soul Ring Configuration of one white, one yellow, and one purple ring.

Clearly,

he was Ye Qiu's opponent, Tie Ma, a level thirty-eight Soul Elder with the Iron Hoof Horse Martial Soul.

Ye Qiu leaped onto the platform and looked at Tie Ma, a trace of disappointment appearing in his eyes. This guy didn't even have a standard configuration.

It seemed his two consecutive victories in death matches had been entirely thanks to his advantage in cultivation.

After all, the Soul Fighting Arena's matchmaking rules only considered the number of Soul Rings. Soul Elders at level thirty-eight or thirty-nine clearly had better odds of winning.

Ye Qiu wore a mask, so no one could tell exactly how old he was...

Even so,

he still heard plenty of doubts, with people wondering why someone so young would seek death.

Tie Ma looked at Ye Qiu and couldn't help bursting into laughter.

"Haha... looks like I'm in luck. I actually ran into a greenhorn. Kid... don't get so scared that you fall to your knees and beg for mercy later!"

As his words fell,

Tie Ma clenched his large hand, squeezing the air hard enough to make it pop.

"Is that so~"

An amused look appeared on Ye Qiu's face beneath his mask, and he said lightly, "But I won't give you a chance to beg for mercy."

With that, Ye Qiu slowly raised his right hand.

Thick, sturdy stalks of Blue Silver Grass grew up around him.

The sound of his heartbeat echoed in his ears...

"Kid, you're courting death!"

Tie Ma roared and activated Martial Soul Possession.

A mane grew from the back of his neck, and muscles knotted across his hunched body. Then the referee shouted:

"The death match in the main Soul Fighting Arena officially begins!"

The next moment,

Tie Ma's First Soul Ring flashed with streaks of white light. His legs swelled in an instant, stretching his trousers, and his speed surged... He charged straight at Ye Qiu.

"So you really are a greenhorn. You're too slow!"

In the space of a single breath,

amid the jeers and the sick, bloodthirsty laughter from the stands,

Tie Ma appeared three meters in front of Ye Qiu. Holding nothing back, he activated his second and third Soul Rings in succession. First his arms swelled, then his great, fan-like hands gleamed darkly, taking on the color of iron... He swung them toward Ye Qiu's temples with crushing force.

"Whoa-!"

All at once, every sound in the stands turned into a cry of disbelief!

"Haha..."

Cruelty showed on Tie Ma's face, and he was immensely pleased with himself.

He thought the sight of him about to smash Ye Qiu's head had frightened the spectators.

But the next moment,

when Tie Ma discovered that his ankles were bound by Blue Silver Grass as thick and hard as tree roots, his expression changed completely.

"No-!"

Tie Ma's eyes went wide as he stared at the three purple Soul Rings beneath Ye Qiu's feet and roared in terror.

"Impossible! That's absolutely impossible!"

Ye Qiu had said he wouldn't give Tian Ma a chance to beg for mercy. Like a giant python, his Blue Silver Grass swiftly coiled around Tie Ma, crushing his ribs and breaking both his arms along with them!

"Aah-!"

Held upright where he stood, Tie Ma threw his head back and let out a piercing scream. Blood poured constantly from the corners of his mouth, and his eyes were full of disbelief.

The entire audience fell silent, and even the announcer froze...

Ye Qiu hadn't even used a Soul Skill.

Yet he had won just like that!

Pshhk!

With a casual sweep of Ye Qiu's hand, the dagger he held sliced through Tie Ma's neck in an instant. He had come to steel his nerves, and he showed no mercy, chopping Tie Ma's head clean off.

"Aah-!"

In the stands, there were screams of terror and shrieks of excitement.

Thick, hot blood gushed out, splattering directly across Ye Qiu's eye sockets and cheeks and staining his clothes red.

Ye Qiu looked at the head that had rolled onto the ground, its eyes still wide open. His racing heart stopped abruptly, and his face beneath the mask turned somewhat pale... Then, strangely, his heartbeat settled down again. As he looked at the headless corpse still standing there and twitching, he seemed unusually indifferent.

Life was truly too fragile, even in this fantasy world...

Ye Qiu slowly withdrew the bloodstained Blue Silver Grass.

Tie Ma's headless corpse, hot blood still pouring from it, crashed to the ground with a thud.

Roar-!

Only then did waves of cheering erupt from the stands.

"One Leaf Knows Autumn!"

With that excited shout,

Ye Qiu's alias echoed throughout the stands of the main Soul Fighting Arena.

The announcer came to his senses as well. He hurried onto the Soul Fighting platform and loudly declared, "The winner of this death match is One Leaf of Autumn!!!"

"Contestant, please leave the platform and go backstage to register your points."

Without a word, Ye Qiu turned and left, reeking of blood. Hardly anyone dared approach him along the way, until he reached the backstage area where points were registered... The staff finally showed their surprise too. They quickly registered his points and gave him a reward of ten Gold Soul Coins.

This was also one of the reasons the Soul Fighting Arena had endured for so long... An Iron Soul Fighter received a prize of ten Gold Soul Coins for every victory.

For a commoner Soul Master, that was already a substantial sum.

Still wearing his mask, Ye Qiu headed straight for a restroom inside the Great Soul Arena. He had no intention of finding another place to use Kamui; inside the Great Soul Arena was clearly the safest and most convenient place.

Click!

Ye Qiu closed the stall door and activated Kamui without even locking it.

As the stall door slowly swung open,

he had already vanished from inside.

Under the night sky, a splash rang out from a stream near Peach Blossom Village, and a patch of blood quickly spread through the water.

Ye Qiu submerged himself completely in the icy stream, washing the heavy smell of blood from his body. As he recalled the moment he had severed his enemy's head, his heart shuddered again, and it took quite a while before it finally settled down.