The Storm Prison isolated the stage from the rest of the world. Inside the howling vortex of wind, two predators faced off.
Li Ye's body was vibrating. The [Explosive Blood Pill] was a volatile fuel. His veins throbbed against his skin like black worms, pumping superheated, chaotic Qi through his system. The world was tinged red in his vision. The roar of the blood in his ears drowned out the wind.
[WARNING: HEART RATE CRITICAL.] [WARNING: MERIDIAN DAMAGE INITIATED (2%)] [RECOMMENDATION: VENT ENERGY IMMEDIATELY.]
"Vent," Li Ye growled, his voice a guttural sound barely recognizable as human.
He exploded forward.
[PHANTOM STEP: OVERDRIVE]
He moved so fast the wind of the prison seemed to stand still around him. He appeared instantly in front of Wang Teng, the black sword raised high.
"BREAK!"
GONG!
The impact was cataclysmic. The heavy Blood-Drinker Sword slammed into the shimmering surface of the Golden Bell Shield. The sound wave was so intense it caused the stone floor beneath Wang Teng's feet to spiderweb with cracks.
Wang Teng didn't budge. He stood inside his golden dome, a smug sneer plastered on his handsome face.
"Futile!" Wang Teng laughed, though his eyes flickered with slight surprise at the sheer weight of the blow. "My shield is reinforced with a sliver of Innate Qi from an Elder! A mere mortal cannot—"
GONG! GONG! GONG!
Li Ye didn't stop to listen. He became a blur of violence. He swung the heavy sword like a blacksmith's hammer, raining down blows from every angle. Top, side, diagonal.
The arena resonated with the maddening, rhythmic clanging. Sparks flew like fireworks every time black iron met golden light.
Wang Teng's smile began to strain. He wasn't hurt, but the impacts were rattling his teeth. The sheer animalistic ferocity of Li Ye's assault was unnerving.
"Enough, dog!" Wang Teng snarled. He thrust his golden sword through the barrier.
It was a one-way shield; he could attack out, but nothing could get in.
The golden blade, sharp as a razor, aimed for Li Ye's throat.
Li Ye didn't dodge. He twisted his body, letting the blade pierce his left shoulder instead of his neck.
SHLICK.
Blood sprayed.
"Got you!" Wang Teng grinned.
But Li Ye didn't retreat. He stepped forward, impaling himself further on the blade to get closer to the shield. His face, inches from the golden barrier, was a mask of blood-streaked fury. He smiled, revealing crimson-stained teeth.
"Now you can't move your sword," Li Ye whispered.
Wang Teng's eyes widened. He tried to pull his sword back, but Li Ye's shoulder muscles clamped down on the blade like a vise.
Li Ye raised his right hand, still gripping the Blood-Drinker.
[SYSTEM ACTIVATION] [TECHNIQUE COMBINATION: FROST PALM + BLOOD SIPHON]
He pressed the flat of the black sword against the golden shield.
"Freeze."
He dumped his entire reserve of Ice Empress Qi into the blade. The temperature on the stage plummeted instantly. The sweat on Wang Teng's forehead froze into ice crystals.
The golden shield, blazing with heat and metal energy, suddenly turned a dull, frosted white where the sword touched it. The golden light sputtered, fighting the invasive cold.
"What... what technique is this?!" Wang Teng panic. He felt the connection to his defensive artifact weakening.
"And now... drink."
The Blood-Drinker Sword, already gorged on the slaughter of twenty men, roared. It activated its inherent ability, sucking Qi not from blood this time, but directly from the energy construct in front of it.
It was a two-pronged attack. The cold made the golden Qi brittle; the siphoning pulled the energy away before it could reinforce the structure.
Crack.
A tiny, hairline fracture appeared on the golden dome, right under the black blade.
Wang Teng stared at the crack in disbelief. "Impossible. It's... invincible..."
Li Ye ripped his shoulder off Wang Teng's golden sword with a sickening squelch. He ignored the gaping wound. The Blood Pill was dulling the pain.
He raised the Blood-Drinker high with both hands. The black blade was now wreathed in a terrifying aura of red blood-mist and white frost.
[EXECUTIONER'S SLASH: FINAL FORM]
"Nothing is invincible," Li Ye roared, his voice echoing like thunder inside the storm prison.
He brought the sword down.
KREEE-SHHHH!
It wasn't a gong sound. It was the sound of a thousand glass windows shattering simultaneously.
The Golden Bell Shield exploded into countless shards of fading light.
Wang Teng stood exposed. His greatest defense was gone. For the first time in his life, the Young Master of the Tiger Faction felt the cold wind of reality hit his skin.
He looked up at Li Ye. The man towering over him was not a servant. He was a reaper bathed in blood, his eyes glowing with hellish intent.
"My turn," Li Ye said.
Wang Teng screamed and swung his golden sword in a desperate, clumsy arc.
Li Ye didn't even use his sword to block. He caught Wang Teng's wrist mid-swing.
CRACK.
He squeezed. The bones in Wang Teng's wrist pulverized. The golden sword clattered to the stone floor.
"AAAAH! MY HAND! DO YOU KNOW WHO MY GRANDFATHER IS?!"
"I don't care," Li Ye said coldly.
He kicked Wang Teng in the knee.
SNAP.
Wang Teng's leg bent backward at a grotesque angle. He collapsed to the ground, howling in agony, clutching his ruined limb.
The Storm Prison around them began to fade as Wang Teng lost concentration. The howling wind died down, revealing the scene to the silent, stunned audience of ten thousand.
They saw their invincible Young Master on the ground, weeping like a child. They saw the "Waste" standing over him, a sword dripping with an unknown fluid.
Li Ye placed a heavy boot on Wang Teng's chest, pinning him to the floor.
"You said you would cut off my limbs," Li Ye recounted, his voice devoid of emotion. He raised the heavy black sword.
"No! Wait! I'll give you anything! Spirit stones! Pills! Women! Take Lin Xiaoyue! Take her, she's yours!" Wang Teng blubbered, snot and tears mixing on his face.
Li Ye paused. His eyes narrowed.
"She was never yours to give."
He swung the sword. Not to kill. Not yet.
HACK.
He took Wang Teng's right arm off at the shoulder.
The scream that tore from Wang Teng's throat was inhuman. Blood geysered from the stump.
Li Ye immediately slapped his left hand onto the wound. [Frost Palm]. He cauterized the massive injury with intense cold, stopping the bleeding instantly, but leaving a agonizing, frozen stump.
"You said you would make me watch," Li Ye continued, stepping over the thrashing body. "Watch what? You crumbling into nothing?"
He raised the sword over Wang Teng's dantian—the center of his cultivation.
"NO! NOT MY CULTIVATION! KILL ME! JUST KILL ME!" Wang Teng begged. To lose his power was a fate worse than death in this world.
"As you wish."
Li Ye drove the sword down.
It didn't go into his heart. It plunged straight into his lower abdomen, piercing the dantian.
A shockwave of golden energy exploded from Wang Teng's body as his cultivation base shattered. The energy rushed up the blade of the Blood-Drinker Sword, a feast of Half-step Qi Condensation essence.
Wang Teng's body arched, his eyes rolling back into his head. He went limp.
He wasn't dead. But he was finished. A cripple. A eunuch of power.
Li Ye pulled the sword out. He looked down at the broken thing at his feet.
He raised his head and looked at the VIP box, specifically at the elders who were now standing, their faces pale with shock and fury.
He pointed the blood-drenched sword at them.
"Next."
Before the Elders could react, a tremendous pressure descended from the sky. It felt like a mountain crushing down on the entire arena.
A figure clad in purple robes floated down from the clouds, landing softly on the bloody stage.
It was an Inner Sect Elder. An expert of the Foundation Establishment realm.
The Elder, a man with a severe face and a long black beard, looked at the carnage. He looked at the twenty-one corpses. He looked at the crippled Wang Teng.
Then, he looked at Li Ye.
"Enough," the Elder's voice boomed, silencing the entire mountain range. "The tournament is over. Li Ye, you have won first place."
He paused, his gaze heavy.
"And you are under arrest for excessive ruthlessness and the suspected use of Demonic Arts. Come with me to the Discipline Hall."
Li Ye groaned. The effects of the Blood Pill were wearing off, replaced by a tidal wave of exhaustion and pain. His shoulder wound was throbbing.
He didn't resist. He was too tired to fight a Foundation Establishment expert. Not yet.
He sheathed his sword. He looked at the crowd one last time. He saw awe. He saw terror.
He saw Su Hong licking her lips.
He saw Han Ruoxue looking at him with a complicated expression—no longer disdain, but fear mixed with something else.
Li Ye smiled wearily.
"At least," he thought as the Elder grabbed his shoulder and flew into the sky, "I'm not boring."