Arina left the arena begrudgingly.

Her injuries were severe and she had completely lost her strength. Any inner strength martial artist could easily beat her to the ground.

Ye Lingchen could sense her unwillingness. If it were a fair fight, her sacrifices would at least have enabled her to severely wound Zokawa and make him lose the power in his first battle. This result ended up being extremely dissatisfying!

"The second match, Eris against Akai!" At the conclusion of Wu Tianbao's announcement, a man walked slowly out of Hellas's team.

His weapon was also a spear and a round shield. It appeared that Hellas's martial artists were equipped with the same equipment and it became their standard weapon.

"Shameless Sun Nation. You'll pay for this!" Eris's first sentence upon appearance was very hostile, while he made absolutely zero effort to conceal the murderous intent in his eyes.

The women in their team had received such shameless treatment and the anger in their hearts had already started burning. The Sun Nation's people had to pay the price!

In fact, the next match would prove to be a much crueler one.

It was no longer a match, but an actual life-and-death battle!

Hellas was brimming with anger and had to go all out in order to maintain their fourth place.

Whoever that lost in that round would have to bid farewell to the top four. The Sun Nation was not the top four, but if Hellas lost, some of their resources had to be given up!

Akai's attack was very twitchy, and every part of his body looked like a weapon. He wielded his katana fiercely, but Eris attacked ruthlessly and showed little concern for his own body. After blocking some of the attacks using the shield, Eris began launching a frenzied attack.

The spear pierced Akai's abdomen at once, sending his falling off the arena. Whether he survived it remained to be seen!

The third Sun Nation contestant was Anzai.

Masked and dressed as a ninja, his methods were also extremely strange and even more enigmatic than an assassin's.

However, his attacks still fell short when facing Eris. The both of them fought ruthlessly for their lives and both eventually ended up losing!

Akai was pierced in the thigh by the spear, while Eris blood gushed out after being struck by three darts!

Tragic!

Everyone thought that the earlier battle was tragic enough, but the duel between the Sun Nation and Hellas reflected the true essence of being only one victor—one or the other had to die.

Those peak-level King Stage martial artists kept quiet and showed no intention of advising or persuading.

That...ought to be the way of the martial artist!

Wu Tianbao's voice suddenly became a little indifferent. "The world's martial arts resources are limited. They were obtained from the Void Realm through the sacrifice of human life! Anyone who wishes to obtain it must experience the difficulty in obtaining those resources! Countless resources would have been spent to nurture so many martial artists!

"Resources will never be enough no matter which country you're from!

"How?

"Martial artists must fight for it!

"You must fight for it yourself!

"The International Martial Arts Tournament is where you strive for resources, for oneself, for your own country, and for the future talents of your own country...

"As cruel as it may seem, this is a martial artist's fate.

"Give it your all, everyone! The only way to have no regrets is to try your utmost best!

"The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility. A martial artist does not seek glory nor does he try to distinguish himself from ordinary people—a martial artist represents struggle and protection. All glory is obtained through bloody battle!

"Martial artists are bound to experience life and death at any time!

"Don't feel pressured. All you need to remember is that your true worth comes when you work hard at all times!"

Wu Tianbao's words plunged the scene into silence yet again.

The battles continued.

It was between Gaia and Asao—Hellas's third contestant and the Sun Nation's fourth, respectively.

Asao was a woman who had astonishingly immense strength and inclined toward tough ruthlessness. Strongly oppressive qualities were present in her every move. Her kicks and dazzling moves could easily overwhelm a person and each step forced her opponent back!

Gaia was forced to exit the arena having his arm broken.

Hera, the fourth Hellas contestant, was a purple-haired girl just like Arina.

The battle became a duel between two women.

Hera and Arina were clearly sisters, and for that reason, the former's moves were extremely savage too. Her spear attacks were compact and tight, like rain, and her strength was so overbearing that she looked as though she was going to turn her opponent into a skeleton with those stabs.

Asao attacked in an equally unrelenting manner.

In the end, both women were seriously hurt and the sight was too shocking. In particular, Asao's chest had been stabbed with the spear, wrenching everyone's hearts.

Both sides lost!

Victory was once again in the hands of the fifth contestants.

Hebe against Aso!

Both were used as the final reinforcement, so it was only natural that they were strong individuals.

Hebe was the strongest among the five Hellas contestants. The length of his spear appeared longer and his shield was also larger. He strode with confidence and his aura was like a rainbow.

Meanwhile, Aso was bare-handed. His thick knuckles were a little terrifying, and he looked to have cultivated a claw technique.

The two went up to fight for their lives!

Who would lose? Who would be eliminated?

The final battle was extremely fierce. Both contestants were evenly matched, with robust claws and rainbow-colored spears that surprised every onlooker.

However, no one expected black nails to grow from Aso's hands at the last moment. A bunch of black and lustrous hair appeared on his arms, and his eyes turned yellow, making for an extremely strange sight.

The next moment, Aso speed was taken up a notch and he delivered a devious yet savage attack. The extent of his bloodlust was absolutely surprising.

Hebe lost.

There was a big wound in his chest, and his bones were even visible. Without his martial artist's physique, he would have long dropped dead.

He fell to the ground and cried, not because of the pain, but because...

They had lost!

Arina cried too, and so did everyone in Hellas.

Defeat, rather than injuries, drew out their tears. They had lost 30% of the resources that would be given to Hellas in the coming year. The purpose of those resources was none other than to resist Hell's Gate in Hellas and nurture even more powerful individuals!

The loss of those resources might even result in their country being seized by the Void Realm!

Resources were more than sufficient to change the outcome in the battlefield.

Hellas's peak-level King Stage martial artist went down and said with a smile. "That's enough. Your performance has been good. Very good. You didn't disappoint at all today and I'm proud! Don't cry. It's only one year! With me around, we maintain our record for one year, two years, or even three years! We'll just try again next year!

"That is the way of a martial artist!"

His voice was sonorous and powerful!

Killing intent was also rife in his tone, and Ye Lingchen seemed to feel the grandeur of a mighty army at that moment!

Everyone was in awe of him.

Losing was no big deal! He had seen the character of his country's warriors and knew that they were unafraid of fighting and death!

There was nothing wrong with losing resources, because one could always seize and kill to obtain them. More importantly, the spirit of a martial artist must never be lost.

If push came to shove, he could just venture into the Void Realm. What was there for a martial artist to be afraid of?!

The expressions of those in the arena were complicated. Their seniors explained to them the true meaning of a martial artist over and over again, flooding them with emotion each time.

"Sh*t!" Jing Shan hammered the railing indignantly and yelled, "What was up with the Sun Nation's last contestant? It's just despicable! Could it be a mutation?"

…