Li Jueyong had woken up again after his loss and was mixed in with the spectators, his expression twisting slightly when Li Yang stepped onto the stage. He originally intended to arrange for a person or two to challenge Li Yang during this year's sparring matches, but he was only planning on having them give Li Yang a beating so that he would become a bit more serious, he wasn't going to have them beat him down like this Ping Shisui was going to.

He might disdain Li Yang's carefree and lazy nature but they were still half-brothers and members of the same sect, he didn't want to see Li Yang brutally beaten and wounded by someone much stronger than him. His twisted expression twitched slightly when Li Yang opened his mouth and spoke, calling him Lil Yongi in public for a second time. Did he not care about the worry some of the people present had for him?

Ping Shisui was equally shocked by Li Yang's sudden challenge, standing up from her seat while narrowing her brown eyes. The sect informed them of the various people in the Deepsea King sect they had to watch out for before each of the annual sparring matches, but Li Yang's name had never come up. He was the son of the exalted Third Elder but had a lazy and carefree attitude, he didn't even seem to care about cultivating or increasing his own strength.

There were more than just a few that considered him foolish, was he trying to prove exactly that by challenging her now? She made her way down to the stage and stopped a few steps away from Li Yang, brushing away a few strands of her shoulder-length black hair while questioning him suspiciously.

"What exactly are you planning? Are you really just trying to prove other people right about your foolishness, or are you praying for some miracle to protect your younger brother's pride?"

Ping Shisui brought out her weapon as she spoke, assembling the three parts of her spear that she carried on her back. A lion had to use all its power even when hunting a rabbit, she wouldn't underestimate Li Yang to the point of not even using her weapon. Faced with her questions, Li Yang simply raised an eyebrow and looked at her as if she was an idiot.

"No? Are you hard of hearing, got a bit of dust in the ears? I said I was gonna spank you since I'm the only one who gets to bully Lil Yongi. Well, that and this serves as a good chance to show off to my future wifey. When you're gonna marry a woman as beautiful as her you have to work your ass off for every single date. You probably already know her, look, she's watching us right now."

Li Yang used his chin to gesture towards the section of the seating area where Mei Kongxu was sitting, Ping Shisui and those close enough to hear his words also turning to look at her. Mei Kongxu looked somewhat sullen now that she was suddenly the centre of attention, but the gazes swiftly left her and landed back on Li Yang, now in the form of vicious glares.

Li Yang had expected things to go like this, there was no way Mei Kongxu wasn't extremely popular in her sect with how beautiful she was. She probably had countless pursuers hoping to be joined with her, yet now they all learned that she was already promised to someone else, someone who hadn't shown anything that made him worthy of her. Li Yang simply smiled cockily in the face of all the glares, relishing in their annoyance as Qi slowly started to seep out of his body. Ping Shisui immediately noticed the Qi, instantly discerning what cultivation realm Li Yang was at.

"So you've carved your fourth rune and reached the middle-stage of the Human Rune realm, that's your trump card? You can't be so dumb that you've already forgotten that I beat someone who had six runes earlier, right, you can't be that disappointing?"

If this was Li Yang's trump card and what he planned on using to win this battle, then Ping Shisui could only consider him a true disappointment. If that was the only thing he had to back up his cockiness, then he truly wasn't worthy of marrying their sect's goddess. Li Yang wasn't bothered by her and simply stretched out his right arm while gesturing for her to come at him, he didn't even bother to pull out a weapon.

"Won't you figure all that out when you attack? Well, if you're too scared to move then I can also understand that, it must be hard for a fairy like you to attack a beautiful adonis like me."

Li Yang wore an insufferably smug expression as he praised himself, his actions and his newfound status as Mei Kongxu's fiance resulting in the people from the World-rending Behemoth sect booing him as loudly as they could. Ping Shisui's expression also twisted slightly, her feet kicking off the stage as she dashed forward while stabbing out with her spear.

The two were extremely close to each other, only a few steps, so Ping Shisui managed to cross the distance in no more than the blink of an eye. But the moment she approached him, she noticed that Li Yang's eyes turned as sharp and ferocious as those of a wild beast, a stark contrast to his earlier carefree charm.

And then, as the tip of the spear was practically right on him, he gave a casual twist of his torso so that the spear only grazed him and slid past him. His right arm shot out, his fist embedding itself in Ping Shisui's abdomen and knocking all the air out of her lungs while forcing her to hunch over. He had moved far faster than she had expected, not leaving her with any room to dodge or react. And then, just as she managed to suck in a painful breath of air, his teasing voice reached her ears.

"Fairy Sister has to be careful, agitation in a fight means defeat. And oh, your stomach feels rather soft, have you not been careful with your diet?"

Ping Shisui felt like spewing blood due to Li Yang's comments, furiously straightening her hunched over body to face him. But his other fist reached her face the moment she straightened her body, his foot sneaking its way to the back of her own foot before pulling back. Her body suddenly felt strangely light, her legs vanishing out from underneath her as his fist smashed into her face and dyed it red with blood.

The lack of footing, strangely light body, as well as the fist to the face, resulted in her body spinning, the back of her head smashing into the stage while her feet pointed nearly straight into the air. She then felt a sharp slap hit her buttocks, the by-now insufferable to her voice of Li Yang reaching her ears.

"Alright, that's one slap. I think two or so more should be enough to punish this naughty fairy."

The slap caused her body to spin further, the back of her head sliding along the stage for a bit before she spun so much that her feet touch the stage again. She regained her footing and stumbled backwards, the light feeling in her body having vanished when her feet touched the ground again. Her breathing was somewhat erratic as she kept her gaze locked on Li Yang, who remained standing in his previous spot.

Her mind was racing to figure out what had just happened, his dodging speed, attacking speed, as well as the light feeling in her body, none of them were normal. But while she was inspecting him to figure out his secrets, Li Yang raised his right arm and held it up to his face, clenching it a few times before smiling at Ping Shisui.

"Your stomach felt a bit soft, but your buttocks was nice and firm. I thought you skimped on your diet, but it seems you've just been focusing your training on something else, please forgive my earlier erroneous statement."

Ping Shisui nearly blew a fuse when she saw Li Yang admire his hand as if he was still relishing in the sensation he had just felt, she couldn't help but kick off the ground and charge forward once more. She stabbed out with her spear again, crimson flames sparking around the tip and wreathing the entire weapon in a gleaming flame that lit the air around it on fire.

Li Yang twist his torso once more just as the spear was about to touch him, waiting for it to get so close that part of his robe actually caught on fire. But Ping Shisui was prepared for it this time, sliding her left hand further down the handle of the spear and giving it a push to force the speartip into a sideways slash.

But even this lightning-quick response of her's wasn't enough, Li Yang ducked down faster than she swept out her weapon. The spear cut through the air above him and his own foot swept out, hooking onto Ping Shisui's own foot and once again causing her body to feel strangely light. Her footing once again vanished as Li Yang swept her feet out from underneath her, his body almost instantly completing a full circle as he spun around.

Her body had just ended up horizontal in the air when Li Yang finished his spin hopped up, the leg that had swept her feet out from underneath her shooting up and smashing into her waist. Her body bent slightly around the leg, Li Yang lowering it as quickly as he raised it. His arm shot out once he lowered his leg, another sharp slap sounding out as his hand met Ping Shisui's buttocks, his voice quickly following it.

"That's two. And truly, still as enjoyable as the first time, I might even make a habit out of it."

The light feeling in Ping Shisui's body vanished as Li Yang spoke, her body falling to the ground. She quickly stretched out her arm and caught herself, pushing off of the ground to roll away from Li Yang before springing up into a standing position again, her spear left behind as she was forced to drop it to roll away properly. Her breathing had grown even heavier now, her face dyed with blood as her waist and abdomen ached.

The first time could be considered a fluke born from her own carelessness, but there was no excuse for it now that it had happened again. He had easily dodged her attack and mounted a counter-offensive, moving so fast that she didn't have the chance to properly react. And the lightweight feeling that assaulted her with his attacks only made it worse, it threw her off and made it harder to properly control her body. Once she was hit she was practically at his mercy unless she could instantly adjust to the lightweight feeling.

Li Yang once again brought his hand up to his face and gave it a few clenches, his insufferable smile and actions causing the booing from the crowd to reach a new height. Ping Shisui didn't let Li Yang's silent taunts get to her this time, studying him with the same vigilance and wariness that she would a highly dangerous beast. Li Yang lowered his hand and gave it a few shakes, his knees bending slightly as he alerted Ping Shisui.

"Aw, you don't want to play with me anymore, Fairy Sister? Well, then I hope you won't mind if I come to play with you, be careful now."

Li Yang kicked off the stone stage the moment his words finished, rushing forward like a shooting star and causing Ping Shisui's pupils to narrow sharply. He reached her front nearly instantly and sent a straight kick right at her face with his left leg, his attack occurring so fast that the only response available to her was to cross both arms in front of her face to block.

But the moment her defence was raised, Li Yang's body shift subtly so that his foot slid past her crossed arms. He bent his leg so that his foot didn't slide past her face, hooking his foot behind her crossed arms and lowering it. Her defence was pulled down as he lowered his leg, her body ending up wide open by the time his foot touched the ground again. And it was at this moment that his right leg shot up in a diagonal manner, his foot smashing into her cheek while his left leg slid along the ground and knocked her legs out from underneath her again.

Both of them spun in the air, one from being attacked and the other due to the strange and unique movements of his attack. But Ping Shisui was once again assaulted by the lightweight feeling, her spinning speed actually slowing down so that it was Li Yang that ended up correcting his position first.

And since he was the one to finish standing up properly, there was nothing stopping his arm from slapping out once more, a crisp slap landing on Ping Shisui's buttocks. This slap was quite a bit harder than the first two, actually knocking Ping Shisui back to the ground as his voice sounded out.

"And that's three. I kinda want to keep going since I rarely get a chance like this, but you've already lost so there's not really any point to it. Also wouldn't want the future wifey to get any wrong thoughts, have to be friendly with her, you know?"

Ping Shisui was lying on the ground as Li Yang spoke, a burning sense of shame and embarrassment sweltering within her chest. She had been beaten and lost fights before, but it had never been like this where she was so summarily crushed without even knowing quite how the enemy did it. As such, she felt more than a little displeased and unsatisfied.

"Don't you...Gh!"

She raised her head and was about to spring up to continue, but an immense pressure suddenly bore down on her as she raised her head, forcing her flat on the ground. She was just barely able to glance up at Li Yang, who was looking down at her with a gaze she could only liken to an emperor looking down at his subjects.

"A defeated foe should just stay down. Come back when you've improved your skills and can elevate yourself above being someone defeated. Of course, if Fairy Sister Shisui wants to taste a few more spankings in the future then I will be more than willing to help you, we can keep it as a nice little secret."

The intensity of the pressure increased as the intensity of Li Yang's gaze increased, Ping Shisui feeling as if her lungs were about to explode within her chest. But the pressure luckily vanished before her lungs collapsed, Li Yang's intense gaze vanishing and being replaced by the teasing one he had worn earlier. She grit her teeth in indignation but wasn't so foolish and agitated that she couldn't see the truth. She had been crushed, she didn't even possess the capital to raise a proper defence, she wasn't even qualified to figure out exactly what Li Yang had done.

She stood up and shot one last look at Li Yang, the teasing look in his eyes and the faint curve of his mouth embedding itself in her mind. She picked up her spear and left the stage, Li Yang placing his hands behind his head as he started to saunter towards the edge of the stage. He had fought his battle, so now it was Mei Kongxu's time to show her skills. But before he managed to leave the stage, Mei Kongxu's voice sounded out from behind him.

"Wait, you don't need to bother leaving."

Li Yang halted his steps and turned his head to look at Mei Kongxu, who had already entered the stage without him noticing it despite supposedly heading in the direction where she was sitting. She tore at the sleeves and hem of her silver dress, tearing them off so that it would be easier for her to move in the long and flowing dress. Li Yang's eyes drift down to the long and slender legs that she had just enticingly revealed, his smile remaining the same as he fully turned around.

"I want to call this playing unfair, but we never really agreed to not challenge each other. It's shameless but within the rules, I like it, that's a nice and quick-witted thought."

The bet between them was only to go on stage to see who could win the most duels, they really hadn't said that they weren't allowed to challenge each other. Mei Kongxu didn't bother commenting on his comment, the eyes she was using to look at Li Yang flashing with interest for the second time since they met.

"Gravity and speed, those were the laws no? You also excel at hand-to-hand combat, your strong laws and martial skills allowing you to crush even someone with higher cultivation. With that level of strength, why would you bother hiding it? Especially when you seem like the kind of person who enjoys standing out."

Li Yang was slightly surprised that Mei Kongxu was actually able to accurately pinpoint the two laws he had used just from seeing what effects they produced, he thought he would be able to keep it hidden for at least a little bit longer. But if they were found out then they were found out, there was no point in caring too much about it. The corners of his lips turned up slightly as he responded to her question, opening his arms wide as he gestured towards the sea of spectators around them.

"Why hide it? For fun, what else? Look at them, over 90% of the people here thought so little of me that they disregarded me while others disdained me for my attitude or my actions, the number of people that actually thought anything of me can probably be counted on one or two hands. But look at them all now, they're so dumbfounded and shocked that they can't even keep their mouths close. Just what do you think is going through their heads, how many of them regret not getting closer to me earlier? Isn't that just hilarious?"

His words left not just Mei Kingxu but also the audience somewhat dumbfounded. That was the reason he had hidden his strength all along? Just so he could reveal it and leave them all dumbfounded and shocked, just to see who would be filled with regret? Just so he could have fun at their expense? It was a reason so silly and idiotic that even the cold and disinterested Mei Kongxu let out short laughter, the shadow of a smile appearing on her face for the first time as she spoke.

"Really, I wasn't wrong in thinking that you were an idiot. But we should get our duel underway, I want to see just why those unique moves of yours felt so familiar."