Chapter 127: Chapter 126: 9 Wins
The next day, Zhao Xuanqi, who many spectators had been eagerly awaiting, appeared again to compete in the D Class arena.
That night, the D Class arena had no opponent whose record matched Zhao Xuanqi’s. The arena could only assign him a martial artist with the next-best record. As one might expect, after just two exchanges—before Zhao Xuanqi had even made a real move—his opponent admitted his inferiority and directly conceded.
This allowed Zhao Xuanqi to easily advance to the C Class arena with a five-win streak.
The advancement rules for the C Class arena, however, were different from the D Class arena.
The C Class arena also used a point system. The ten points from the D Class arena would carry over, and a martial artist had to earn another ten points in the C Class arena. Only by accumulating a total of twenty points could they advance to the next level.
However, in the C Class arena, losing a match would deduct two points, while winning a match still only awarded two points. If the ten points accumulated in the D Class arena were also all deducted, the martial artist would be demoted back to the D Class arena.
In the C Class arena, it was quite common for martial artists to have their points wiped out and get demoted.
Furthermore, to prevent anyone from rapidly accumulating a winning streak and advancing on a night when the Martial Arts Arena lacked strong contenders, the C Class arena stipulated that each martial artist could only participate in two matches per night.
On the evening of the third day, Zhao Xuanqi began his journey in the C Class arena.
The skill level of martial artists in the C Class arena was clearly higher. In his two matches that night, both opponents matched with Zhao Xuanqi had reached the realm of Inner Cultivation. One of them had even achieved the stage of Internal Organs Resonating.
However, not even a master like Gao Wujie, who had reached Five Qi Tongxuan, could stop Zhao Xuanqi’s advance. Moreover, Zhao Xuanqi’s strength had improved considerably since then, so opponents of this level posed no threat to him whatsoever.
Formidable, overbearing, and unrivaled, he completely suppressed his opponents. The exhilarating release of power was intoxicating to all the spectators. Amidst his continuous winning streak, the betting odds on Zhao Xuanqi in the Martial Arts Arena dropped lower and lower, but his fame grew ever louder, causing the audience for each of his matches to swell.
Fourth day, second match.
In the C Class arena, a crowd thronged around one of the platforms, packed so tightly it was overflowing.
But strangely, despite the massive crowd, there was no shouting or clamor. Instead, it was remarkably quiet.
A terrifying aura permeated the arena, pressing down on everyone’s hearts like a great mountain and making it hard to breathe.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Intense tremors, like muffled thunder rolling across a plain, continuously echoed from the platform where two figures repeatedly collided.
Zhao Xuanqi’s body was covered in both a Qi Surge and Blood Essence, his height reaching about 2.3 meters, making him look like a demon. His attacks were a torrential storm, with perfect transitions between various Beast Forms. Supported by his Xuanwu Breath, his offensive onslaught made the audience feel an intense sense of suffocation.
His opponent was a young man of twenty-three or twenty-four. His body had entered a state of Qi Circulation Throughout the Body, revealing a formidable foundation.
He stood over two meters tall. Most terrifying were his arms; under the circulation of his Qi and Blood, his skin had taken on a deep, dark-black hue, completely different from an ordinary person.
This was the effect of his body breaking through its human limits after cultivating a special Secret Transmission.
The man’s internal organs rumbled, and a strange light flickered in his eyes. Among his five viscera, his liver was operating abnormally, ceaselessly neutralizing the toxins contained within his body.
This person was named Guo Dongchang, from the Northwest Black Evil Sect, a famously powerful school from the Northwest. His current record was eight wins and one loss.
Guo Dongchang had already reached the realm of Five Qi Tongxuan, just like Gao Wujie and Ning Dao’an, having mastered one of the Five Qi.
However, the first organ he cultivated to the Tongxuan stage was not the heart, which most martial artists would choose, but the liver.
The liver is associated with the wood element, governs drainage, and can neutralize toxins throughout the body.
The Black Death Palm cultivated by the Black Death Sect was an insidious Poisonous Skill Palm Method. Its Force was soft and sinister. During cultivation, various poisons were used to temper the body’s poison resistance, ultimately causing one’s own bodily fluids to contain toxins.
Through physical contact, the Black Death Palm could use its Soft Force to drive toxins into an opponent’s pores. The poison would then enter the bloodstream and, with the rapid circulation of Qi and Blood during battle, quickly take effect.
Furthermore, since he had reached the realm of Five Qi Tongxuan, his liver’s detoxification function was extremely powerful, which in turn greatly increased the amount of toxicity his body could contain.
Against an ordinary person or a common martial artist, a strike from his Black Death Palm—even to a non-vital area like the hand—would cause immediate paralysis, or even death from the poison taking hold.
Even against experts of the same level, the penetrating poison would cause weakness, fatigue, and other effects. The longer the fight dragged on, the more thoroughly the poison would accumulate and activate, and the stronger this debilitating effect would become.
The deep black color of Guo Dongchang’s arms was a manifestation of the toxins surging within him.
Before the match began, Guo Dongchang was very confident in his own strength, believing he had a decent chance of winning. Otherwise, he could have simply avoided this fight.
According to his plan, he wanted to use the Poison Skill of his Black Death Palm, combined with his school’s agile footwork, to dance around Zhao Xuanqi until the poison built up and Zhao Xuanqi’s Physical Ability declined, at which point he would defeat him in one fell swoop.
But he never would have expected that although Zhao Xuanqi seemed enormous, he was propelled by the Soaring Form to an extreme speed, as nimble as a flying bird. Moreover, his combat experience was so rich that he immediately saw through Guo’s strategy.
After just a few short exchanges, Zhao Xuanqi seized the initiative.
His opponent immediately launched a terrifying and frenzied counterattack.
Under the effect of his Xuanwu Breath, Zhao Xuanqi threw several dozen consecutive punches without even needing to take a single breath.
’That kind of terrifying explosion of power, dozens of punches in a row, and he didn’t even have to breathe?!’
Guo Dongchang couldn’t comprehend it. He even suspected his opponent had already achieved Tongxuan in his lungs.
As someone whose first of the Five Qi Tongxuan was the liver, his physical stamina in a direct confrontation wasn’t much higher than that of a martial artist at the Internal Organs Resonating stage. Under Zhao Xuanqi’s frenzied assault, before the poison he had injected into his opponent’s body even had time to take effect and weaken him, Guo Dongchang himself was already feeling breathless from the torrential storm of attacks.
Under the high-intensity exertion, his muscles weren’t getting enough oxygen. An intense, aching soreness made it increasingly difficult for his Spirit to muster the strength in his muscles for explosive power.
BOOM!
Finally, as his movements slowed, Guo Dongchang was struck in the chest by a palm. His body flew back uncontrollably and tumbled violently off the platform.
He spat up blood, his eyes filled with unwillingness to accept defeat. He felt that if he could have just dragged it out a little longer, he would have had a chance to win.
TSSS!!
But in the next moment, he saw Zhao Xuanqi standing calmly on the platform. Zhao Xuanqi channeled Force into his palms, and as his Qi and Blood surged, he actually ruptured some of the capillaries in his palms, forcing the poison out through his pores. It emerged as a dark-black substance—precisely the toxins Guo Dongchang had driven under his skin during their exchange.
Zhao Xuanqi’s understanding of Pile Skill and Blood Circulation was beyond what ordinary martial artists could compare to. Even if his body’s current strength and control prevented him from completely neutralizing the poison, he could delay its onset as much as possible. For a tournament match, being able to do that was more than enough.
At that moment, the unwillingness on Guo Dongchang’s face finally faded, replaced by a sigh.
This scene showed him that with his opponent’s ability to control his Qi and Blood, Guo’s Poison Skill would have needed at least a Quarter Hour to begin taking effect.
’But how much time had passed from when I got on stage to my defeat? Was it even two minutes?’
The gap between them was immense; he had no choice but to admit defeat. On second thought, his opponent probably hadn’t even used his full strength in that final palm strike. Otherwise, he likely wouldn’t even be standing right now.
"Thank you for holding back."
Guo Dongchang was not an unreasonable person. He understood after a moment’s thought and cupped his fists toward Zhao Xuanqi.
"You let me win."
Zhao Xuanqi returned the cupped-fist salute.
’This man’s head-on offensive power is more than a step weaker than Gao Wujie in his Heart Demon state. His Secret Transmission is quite strange, though. If Gao Wujie had faced him, he might have fallen for it if he wasn’t careful.’
’But to me, a Five Qi Tongxuan opponent like this is no longer a threat. Forget the Dragon Gate Secret Technique—I didn’t even use my full strength in my normal state, and he was already defeated.’
’I’m afraid that even if I were to fight Gao Wujie again, I wouldn’t need to activate the Dragon Gate Secret Technique to win anymore.’
"Zhao Xuanqi wins!"
With the referee’s loud cry, Zhao Xuanqi secured his ninth consecutive victory in the tournament.
Yet, Zhao Xuanqi’s expression remained perfectly calm.
’An opponent of this level is still far from enough for me!’
