Chapter 149: Two Left
Chapter 149
Meanwhile, back on the stage... Hearing his name being called out and echoing through the entire arena made Liyu feel something warm. Not warmth in the true sense, but something close to pride. He had done it.
From now on, the story of the failure heir would be totally erased from the minds of everyone who knew it. In its place would be the story of the Honored One, the person who brought the top geniuses of the selection tournament to their knees with nothing but his slaps.
A small smirk appeared on Liyu’s face as he raised his hand and waved at the crowd. After all, he should do something. As he did, however, a pain unlike anything bearable shot through his nerves, and his smile stiffened slightly.
Freaking hell... Liyu cried out in pain internally, but outwardly, his face remained full of smiles as he looked as casual as ever. He couldn’t afford to ruin the invincible image he had created and turn the Honored One’s name into a joke now. Still, it hurt.
More than hurt, even. Shit... that big guy really did some damage to me. Liyu thought as he lowered his hand. Once again, an unbearable wave of agony shot through his body. Every twitch of the muscles in his body brought pain upon him.
It was sharp and violent, threatening to rip him apart from the inside. But being the cool guy he was, Liyu maintained his calm demeanor and continued to look composed as he waited for his next opponent.
Sincerely, though, he was in no condition to fight right now. His body was hurting like hell.
Just then, the referee appeared directly in front of him. The man looked at Liyu as if he was measuring him somehow, making Liyu feel slightly strange.
After a while, the referee shook his head as if he couldn’t make any sense of what he was looking at. Which, in this context, was Liyu, of course. Then he spoke. "Go down from the stage."
Liyu raised an eyebrow. He was certain that the referee had not received any orders allowing him to rest. The deal he had made with Elder Ting was that he wouldn’t be taking any rest of any kind and would defeat all of his opponents without a break.
So, was this referee perhaps his fanboy as well and wanted to help him? Liyu’s thoughts churned slightly as he raised an eyebrow and stared at the referee as if scanning him. Seeing Liyu’s gaze, the referee’s eyes twitched.
He looked at Liyu before shaking his head. "You should go down so I can fix the stage. You will need the stage to fight the rest of your opponents, after all," the referee said with a blank expression.
A look of realization dawned on Liyu’s face as he looked at the stage that had been utterly and totally decimated, especially after Shi Mo’s final attack to take him down. He quickly nodded before moving. One step.
A sharp pain shot through his nerves, almost making him groan in agony. But he kept his cool and started walking forward as if he wasn’t feeling any pain at all. Soon, he had returned to the Li camp.
Meanwhile, the referee watched Liyu leave with a small frown. A few seconds ago, he had tried to scan Liyu himself to confirm whether the boy was hiding his true cultivation stage. Of course, it sounded stupid.
After all, if there was a way for Liyu to truly hide himself from the senses of someone as powerful as Elder Ting, then surely there was nothing the referee could do to find out anything. There was another thing as well. The referee couldn’t believe that Liyu could be hiding his true cultivation realm.
Li San was the strongest cultivator in the entire Night Region, and he was only at the Silver Core Realm. Comparing Li San’s power to Elder Ting’s was like comparing the strength of a child to that of a fully matured and muscular adult.
There was simply no comparison at all. Sincerely speaking, the referee doubted that Li San could be helping Liyu hide his true cultivation level. That meant there were only two possibilities.
Either a powerful teacher was helping the kid from the shadows... Or that was truly Liyu’s cultivation stage and realm. As unlikely as the first possibility was, the referee would still prefer it over the second option.
Because if it was the second option... Then this Liyu kid would be something beyond an anomaly. The referee shook his head. It wasn’t his place to care about all this. Instead, he had to fix the stage.
Turning his gaze back toward the decimated battle stage, the referee felt like sighing again. But he held himself back. Sighing too much would make him look old. He was only a little over two hundred years old, after all.
Not old at all. The referee stared at the utterly destroyed stage for a few more seconds before his gaze slowly sharpened. "Since it seems that this isn’t enough, I’ll need to raise the stage a few more steps and make it truly unbreakable this time..." With that, the referee got to work.
Meanwhile, Liyu was still walking calmly, his hands tucked into his pockets and his face blank as he looked calm and composed... cool, even.
Although that was nothing more than a façade to hide the pain that would have made a grown man cry like a baby if they were struck with it... The pain was ravaging him every second. Brutal was the only word Liyu could use to describe it.
But he kept his calm and acted as if nothing was wrong. Soon, he reached the Li camp, and before he could say anything, Li Xie rushed forward and hugged him firmly.
"Brother Yu... you really did it! Thanks a lot, and I’m sorry we couldn’t help..." Li Xie said a lot of things, but none of them entered Liyu’s ears. After all, the moment he was pulled into that hug, the pain ravaging his body suddenly spiked, causing his eyes to twitch.
Still, he didn’t groan. But internally, he was holding himself back from killing Li Xie. "Hey, dude, are you alright?" Li Jie asked after seeing the stiff look on Liyu’s face. Liyu simply shrugged it off and gave them a small smile.
"I’ll catch up with you guys later. I’ve got to rest for a while." The two brothers gave a small nod. Without any doubt, the battle between Shi Mo and Liyu had been far from a petty little fight.
The fact that it had utterly decimated the entire battle stage was enough to tell them everything they needed to know. Liyu surely had to be weakened after that fight. It was a blatant miracle that he was even still able to stand right now... Or maybe it was because he was a freak, after all.
They didn’t think much about it, though. Instead, they felt relieved. After all, there were only two people left. Only two opponents remained for Liyu to take care of, and after that, he would win the selection tournament. Meaning the Lis would become the winners of the selection tournament. Li Jie and Li Xie couldn’t help but look at Liyu with admiration on their faces.
He might truly win this... He might truly save the clan from the disgrace the two great clans had wanted to impose upon them.
Liyu, though, didn’t pay the two brothers any attention. Instead, he sat down in a meditative position and started to cultivate.
Or rather, he focused on converting more of his Qi into Primal Qi and using it to restore his body to peak condition.
As he started to heal, the healing process gradually sped up. Liyu couldn’t help but think back to his fight with Shi Mo. He had to admit that he hadn’t expected Shi Mo to push him that far.
And he was certain that if not for his Primal Qi, which had boosted his overall physicality by four times at that final moment, then he surely wouldn’t have been able to win. He would have been crushed beneath that terrifying gravity pressure and lost the tournament.
He is strong... Liyu would give him that. That made Liyu’s thoughts wander toward the two opponents he had left to fight. First, he would be facing Guan Haoran. He was stronger than Shi Mo. There was no doubt about that in Liyu’s mind.
So he wondered just how far Guan Haoran was going to push him. And then there was Shi Tian, whom Liyu was saving for last... As the saying goes, save the best for last. Or rather, what was more fitting in this kind of setting was...
Save the most troublesome for last. Yes. No one needed to tell Liyu that Shi Tian would be troublesome. He could already tell. That guy’s aura alone had threatened Liyu, which was already a great feat. So yeah... Shi Tian would be the one Liyu took down last.
Liyu’s mind didn’t linger on his remaining two matches for long, though. Instead, it wandered toward the amount of gold coins he would have amassed by now... He had won 143,500 gold coins in the last match against the Guan brothers.
He had bet it all again, and by now, it would have risen to 430,500 gold coins... That was massive. But Liyu wasn’t planning on stopping anytime soon. Instead, he would continue betting again and again.
Before the tournament ended, he should have around one million gold coins... Liyu subconsciously licked his lips as he salivated at the thought of that staggering amount of money. He would be rich... Filthy rich...
Meanwhile, at the leaders’ seats, Shi Gubing’s face had turned sour as he realized that he was about to go bankrupt. Since Shi Mo had lost the match, he would have to bear the burden of paying the winners.
Paying most of the crowd wasn’t a big deal. But paying people like Elder Ting and Li San... Now, that was bound to hurt his wealth by a large margin. And he couldn’t try to play dirty or force his way out of it. After all, he was in the presence of a Golden Core expert.
Trying to force his way out of paying or attempting to avoid the debt in front of Elder Ting would be the peak of known stupidity. Shi Gubing couldn’t allow himself to be that stupid. So he took in a deep breath and, with a blank expression, began paying everyone.
His heart bled as he watched his wealth start to dwindle... I am really going to kill that bastard... Making my Shi Clan lose the selection tournament isn’t enough for him, and now he wants to make us lose our fortune as well... Shi Gubing’s face darkened as he continued paying.
The more gold coins he handed out, the more his heart bled. That bastard Liyu... He was truly the bane of the Shi Clan... I am really going to kill that bastard. Making my Shi Clan lose face is not enough for him, and now he wants to make us lose a fortune as well. I will make sure I end him.
If not today, then one day. Shi Gubing thought, hatred brewing deep within his eyes as he looked at Liyu, who was currently meditating.
Guan Ju’s thoughts were along the same line, although he was a little relieved that he wasn’t in Shi Gubing’s position. The money he had lost compared to what Shi Gubing had lost was like a peanut. So, he was relieved about that.
However, when it came to making sure this Liyu brat didn’t live a long life, he was completely on board. Liyu must die. The fact that he had been able to cause the two great clans so much trouble while still being at such a low cultivation level was already terrifying enough.
Guan Ju didn’t even want to think about what that kid would be capable of if he was allowed to reach the Foundation Realm. Or worse... the Core Realms.
Wouldn’t that be the same as saying the two great clans were completely cooked? I must end him no matter what. Guan Ju thought with a darkening gaze as his hand twitched slightly.
Meanwhile, Li San had a small smile on his face as he looked at his earnings, which had shot through the roof after Shi Mo had been defeated. Now, he had almost a hundred million gold coins in earnings. That was good. Really good.
Although, this would be the final match he would be betting on. The reason being that Guan Ju had already spoken about not having enough money to pay anymore.
So, there was no reason to continue betting. If it was only the money of the crowd, Guan Ju would have been able to cover the losses in case Guan Haoran lost.
But paying several tens of millions of gold coins? Now, that was something even a great clan like the Guan Clan wouldn’t be capable of doing easily. So, it was understandable. Still, it was a great win for Li San.
He turned his gaze toward the remaining two camps. At the Shi camp, he looked at Shi Tian, who still had his eyes closed. His expression was calm and completely unreadable.
Then, he looked toward the Guan camp, where Guan Haoran sat with a hint of amusement on his face as he continued staring at Liyu, who was meditating within the Li camp. Those were the two left. If Liyu managed to take them out, then it would all be over.
The selection tournament would finally come to an end, and Liyu would become the winner of all five golden tokens. Li San smiled slightly. This brings back some memories. He is a lot like his mother, isn’t he? Li San thought as he looked at the meditating Liyu.
He had never believed that anyone would become the sole winner of the selection tournament. Well, apart from that last tournament several years ago, when Li Shiyuen had taken down every single one of her opponents and become the sole winner.
That had been one of the reasons her popularity had first appeared and then shot through the roof. Until this day, no one had managed to achieve what she had done. But now, it seemed that her child was close to achieving the very same thing.
It was just that Li San knew for certain that these two remaining people were the aces of the two great clans. And without any doubt, they were bound to be trouble in the truest sense. Go on, kid. You can do this. I choose to believe in you.
Go for it. Li San thought as he awaited the second-to-last match.
Elder Ting’s gaze was calm and unreadable as he looked at Liyu. There were only two more opponents left. If that kid wins the remaining two matches, then without any doubt, he would be more than impressive. Elder Ting turned his gaze toward Guan Haoran.
The young man was far from weak. Then, his eyes shifted toward Shi Tian. In Elder Ting’s mind, Liyu had little to no chance of defeating that monster. He shook his head slightly. I highly doubt that kid can pull this off and become the sole winner of the tournament.
He turned his gaze back toward Liyu and shook his head once more. But who knows? I can’t say for certain. That kid, after all, has been shattering all my logic. He might just do the impossible and win this. Let’s watch and see, then.
Elder Ting thought as he patiently awaited the match to begin.
Meanwhile, back at the Li camp, Liyu finally felt his body return to its peak condition. No more pain. No more broken bones. He was back to full health.
Almost at the same moment his recovery was completed, the referee’s voice reached him. "Liyu, come onto the stage and finish your match." Liyu’s eyes snapped open.
There are two more, isn’t there? Let’s end this, then. He thought before rising to his feet.