Wu Yu once again came to the arena. He spoke with enthusiasm like always, “We have just witnessed a blood-boiling match between two talented young men. But now is time for the one match most of you have been waiting for you!”

He looked at the contestants’ area and said, “Will Murong Fang and Li Chyou please come to the arena?”

As he finished speaking, the two people arrived at the arena full of battle spirit. They never ceased eye contact.

“Why the coldness, Chyou?” Murong Fang smirked.

“I’m going to enjoy beating the shit out of you!” she glared at him and brought out her training halberd in response. “Bring out your saber, scheming bastard!”

He shrugged and brought out a saber from his Space Ring. It looked different from the weapons used thus far. It was covered with runes and they glowed a metallic grey. The audience gasped when they saw the weapon.

“Oh my, what a surprise!” Wu Yu spoke up, “Contestant Murong draws the first Spirit Treasure in this tournament!”

“I-Is that a Qi-based weapon?” the boy looked on in surprise.

“You’re right!” Li Yan nodded, “That’s a Spirit Treasure; one with the metal element!”

“But can’t Qi be used on normal weapons?” He has seen people apply Qi on their normal weapons in this very tournament.

“Yes, but normal weapons can’t handle them. They get worn out,” Li Yan explained, “The more you course your Qi through an ordinary weapon, the faster it’ll break. But Spirit Treasures won’t.”

“Isn’t that a huge cheat?” the boy was dumbfounded.

“Why?” Li Yan frowned.

“If they don’t wear and tear, Spirit Treasures are really handy. One of them is enough to last you for your and your descendants’ lifetime!”

“Stupid!” Li Yan smacked his head, “It’ll still wear out as you continue to use it. And repairing and maintaining them is a huge pain in the ass and in the wallet!”

“Oh, uh, I understand!” the boy rubbed his head awkwardly.

“Stop speaking drivel,” Li Yan snorted, “Look, Chyou`er brought out her Spirit Treasure!”

The boy snapped his head back to the arena. And just like Li Yan said, the training halberd that she had was nowhere to be seen, and instead, there was halberd with a dark brown shaft and a cyan-colored blade. There was a yellow cloth tied to the base of the blade which fluttered in the wind.

But unlike Murong Fang’s Spirit Treasure which had a glowing rune on it, the blade on her halberd glowed with a cyan hue.

“Before, you ask, Chyou`er has a different type of Spirit Treasure!”

He turned around and looked at her with a questioning gaze. Seeing this, Li Fen sighed and explained, “Spirit Treasures are two types: Metallic and Runic. The Metallic ones are made by smelting elemental metals while the Runic ones are made by inscribing elemental runes on weapons without elemental attributes.”

“I see,” the boy nodded. “But-”

“Shut it!” Li Fen scolded him, “The fight’s beginning!”

Just like she said, Wu Yu screamed, “Fight!”

Li Chyou propped up her spear and charged at Murong Fang. Once she was close enough, she thrust it at him.

“Shit!” he evaded sideways. Unlike fighting against a sword, if he tried to evade back against a halberd, he would’ve earned himself a one-way ticket to hell.

He came close and slashed down at the shaft of her halberd, trying to sever it from the middle. Sensing his intention, Li Chyou backed away and intercepted his slash with the blade. A metallic noise rang out in the stadium.

After the collision, they both backed away.

“Oh my, so ferocious!” he tried to taunt her.

“Haah~” she sighed, “Am I the girl, or are you? You talk too much!”

“Hmm,” Murong Fang became grim at her words. The Qi in his body started churning and poured into his saber. The grey rune started to glow brilliantly.

Seeing this, Li Chyou became warier and gathered Qi to block the attack.

“『Hundred Handed Iron Maiden』” he roared and jumped up in the air. He slammed his saber down on the ground and cracks started forming. In an instant, a line of spike thrust out from the ground towards Li Chyou.

“Tch!” the boy heard Li Fen click her tongue. “Why are they screaming the names out loud?”

“Well, we all did it when we were young!” Li Yan smiled helplessly.

“Well, I ne-”

“『Butterfly’s Flight』” his words made her freeze. Seeing her look, he laughed heartily and looked away. But immediately a tremendous atmosphere accompanied by a chilling atmosphere weighed on Li Yan’s shoulder.

He turned his head around and saw Li Fen smiling at him, menacingly! “O-Oi, it’s just a joke!” he stammered and laughed awkwardly.

“When we get home, I’ll tell you another joke,” that menacing smile hadn’t left her face, “You’ll laugh to death-” her expression became threatening as she glared at him, “-I promise you.”

My God! The boy shook his head helplessly. He briefly prayed for Li Yan before returning his attention back to the stage.

Back at the arena, Murong Fang and Li Chyou were still fighting though it looked like they had expended some energy in the process. They had no time to look elegant as they tried to win this fight which would determine the fate of their clans and the power balance of Huangye town.

Well, they might’ve forgotten that they need to battle Wang Meimei in the finals if there were no upsets but who could blame them. Both Murong Fang and Li Chyou despise each other; especially Li Chyou. The boy did not doubt that Li Chyou would kill Murong Fang given the chance.

As the fight went on, the fight looked as though it was in Murong Fang’s favor. He was constantly on the offense as Li Chyou either blocked or evaded. The more he attacked, the more tyrannical his expression became.

The boy looked at Li Chyou. Although it looked as though she was having a hard time, the boy chose to put his faith in her. She’s trained all this time and he didn’t think that her efforts would betray her.

Li Chyou ducked under Murong Fang’s saber as it swept over her head. In that instant, her eyes lit up as she found up an opening. Quickly pouring copious amounts of Qi into her halberd, she thrust it at his abdomen with all of her might.

“『Dawn Mist Drill 』[1]!” she screamed out. The surrounding wind all gathered around the tip of her halberd and spun rapidly, making a translucent drill image.

“Fuck!” Murong Fang cursed with widened eyes as her halberd penetrated his abdomen. The crowd’s clamoring came to a stop immediately as they processed what they just witnessed. It felt as though time had stopped.

“Y-You!” Murong Fang stuttered under the pain.

Li Chyou rammed the halberd further in as sounds of flesh being cut rang out accompanied by his agonizing screams.

“This-” Li Chyou let go of the halberd and walked towards Murong Fang. She grabbed the base of the blade[2] and pulled, “- is just repaying a part of my debt to you!” The bloody blade of the halberd separated from his abdomen as blood spilled onto the arena.

“Fuck…” Murong Fang staggered a few steps back, clutching his abdomen before puking up blood. He looked Li Chyou in the eye, “…you too.” And fell to the floor with a thud!

The crowd looked on with silence. Li Chyou took one last look at Murong Fang. Victory. It was hers. She looked up towards the stands where the members of the Li Clan sat. With a radiant smile, she raised her halberd into the air.

Coincidentally, Wu Yu spoke up, “As Murong Fang is unable to battle, Li Chyou is the winner!”

The crowd went ballistic, especially the Li Clan’s people. They stood up and jumped as they cheered. The boy sat down. Relief washed over his body as he looked to the sky.

We’ve won… With that thought in mind, he looked over at the Murong Clan’s people. All of them looked pale as though the ground under them had given out. One of them, a middle-aged man with elegant facial features, bit his lips until blood came out. Unlike the others, his face had gone red out of anger.

“LI YAN, YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!” The elegant-looking man, Murong Lu, screamed in anger. His voice carried a Qi and as such resounded throughout the stadium, bringing forth tremendous pressure. The boy like many other weaker individuals in the stadium coughed up blood while others bled from their apertures. Murong Lu’s yell had caused massive damage!

He was Murong Fang’s father.