Couldn't Handle One Strike

While the group was still talking, the balance of the battle on the arena had already begun to tip.

To be fair, Bopo was no weakling. As an Assault Type warrior, had he actually managed to close the distance to Si Tingxue, she would have faced real danger.

But closing that distance proved to be exactly what he couldn't do.

And as time wore on, though he could drive the ice mist away, the bone-deep chill kept seeping into his body regardless.

Bopo could feel himself slowing down. Each breath he exhaled carried wisps of frost.

His expression had turned ugly.

With a furious roar, he poured his Spirit Power into full circulation, sending a violent tempest howling along his twin blades.

He knew — if he didn't go all-out right now, he wouldn't even have the chance later.

Throwing caution to the wind, he unleashed his Storm Sword Qi. The raging gale temporarily blasted the ice mist apart, and for the first time Bopo spotted Si Tingxue's position.

His eyes were shot through with red. Snarling, he charged straight at her.

Si Tingxue watched him with a blank expression and raised her Staff.

Before her, sharp ice lances were condensing — hundreds of them, dense as a field of stars, hovering in the air and catching the sunlight with a cold, glittering brilliance.

She swept the Staff in a wide arc. The mass of ice lances streaked forward like a torrent of light, all aimed at Bopo.

The sheer chill radiating from those lances — the crushing force behind them — drained the color from Bopo's face.

Wind swirled across his body, whipping into a layered shield of howling gusts that wrapped around him.

Ice lance after ice lance hammered into the wind barrier in a relentless, unbroken barrage. The shield didn't last long before it was torn apart, and the remaining lances continued their course toward him.

Bopo's expression was wretched. He swung both swords frantically, trying to fend them off.

*Clang — clang — clang!*

Steel rang against ice in rapid succession. Many of the lances were deflected, but several more punched through his armor and embedded themselves in his body.

Blood welled freely from his wounds, staining his fur crimson.

Still, Bopo had kept his twin blades over his vitals. The wounds were numerous but not fatal.

Not fatal, though, didn't mean fine.

The cold carried by each embedded lance bled into him steadily. He felt as though his entire body were being locked in ice — even his blood seemed to be slowing, barely flowing. If this continued, it wouldn't be long before he was frozen solid.

Exhaling plumes of frost, eyes savage, Bopo let out one last roar and charged at Si Tingxue. He still had strength left. He had to use it now.

Si Tingxue watched him with cool detachment and gave her Staff a single flick. Three ice spears materialized and shot toward him.

His gaze snapped to the spears. He tried to dodge — but his body had slowed too much. He couldn't move fast enough.

At that moment, the white-furred Gnoll stepped in front of him.

The three ice spears halted before the white-furred Gnoll, then dissolved into water that pooled at his feet.

Ducan had stepped onto the arena as well. He stood before Si Tingxue and regarded the white-furred Gnoll with calm eyes.

The white-furred Gnoll glanced at Ducan, then at Si Tingxue. A faint smile crossed his face.

"This round," he said, "goes to the humans."

He placed a hand on the frozen Bopo. The chill seeped out of Bopo in a rush, dispersing as vapor.

The frost grip on Bopo's muscles released. He could move again.

Bopo's expression was sour. He fixed Si Tingxue with a cold stare.

"I'll remember this," he said flatly. "When we meet on Ice Vein Star — don't cross my path."

He turned and walked off the arena.

Ducan let out a dismissive snort and looked at the white-furred Gnoll.

"Care to continue?"

The white-furred Gnoll smiled faintly.

"Of course. As it happens, Prince Feiba of our Blood Bone Tribe would also like to exchange some pointers."

The words had barely left his mouth when a burst of flame erupted at his side. The next moment, Feiba stepped out from the fire.

He regarded Si Tingxue with cold contempt.

Watching, Si Tingxue's brow furrowed slightly.

Feiba was on the kill list — she knew perfectly well that he was no pushover. Among the Battle General-rank Gnoll geniuses, he was considered the strongest. Even she couldn't be certain of beating him.

At that moment, Lu Yuan stepped onto the arena and turned to Si Tingxue with a smile.

"You've used up a fair bit, haven't you? Let me handle this one."

Si Tingxue looked at him, then gave a quiet nod. "Sure."

Ducan had attended the Harvest Day banquet and met Lu Yuan before. He knew something of Lu Yuan's potential — and of the remarkable connections he'd somehow managed to cultivate. He gave Lu Yuan a friendly smile.

"In that case, it's all yours, Lu Yuan."

Si Tingxue stepped off the arena and walked over to Rebecca.

"Xiaoxue, are you alright?"

Rebecca looked her over with concern.

"Just a bit drained," Si Tingxue said, shaking her head.

Rebecca let out a breath of relief. She turned to look at the arena, indignation written all over her face.

"These Gnolls have some nerve — setting up a challenge arena right outside our Empire's gates! This is a direct slap to the Red Maple Empire's face. Yuan is going to make them pay for it!"

Si Tingxue glanced at her and saw nothing but absolute confidence — not a trace of doubt about whether Lu Yuan would win.

She nodded. "He will."

Like Rebecca, she had seen what Lu Yuan could do. She had every confidence in him.

The spectators in the crowd were another matter. More than a few looked visibly worried.

"That red-furred one looks pretty strong — how did he even get up there? He literally walked out of fire. Is that some powerful Combat Technique?"

"Is Lu Yuan going to be alright?"

"I believe in him! Look at everything he's accomplished — doesn't that speak for itself?"

"Same. And if Her Highness the Ninth Princess trusts him, what do we have to worry about?"

Just then, a voice rang out from somewhere in the crowd:

"Yuan! Kill that red-furred mongrel! How dare he set up a challenge arena at *our* Empire's gates! Tear him apart!"

Up on the arena, Lu Yuan heard it clearly. He turned toward the source with an odd expression.

He spotted Groat waving at him.

Standing beside Groat were Ding Wen, Yang Qiu, and a few others. As members of the Guard Corps, they ventured into the Land of Origin on their off-duty days — they had clearly heard the news and come to watch.

Lu Yuan couldn't help smiling.

Feiba and the other Gnolls had heard Groat too. Several of them turned toward him, cold killing intent flickering in their eyes. Spirit Power stirred.

But the moment their power rose, several formidable presences locked onto them from within the city.

The hidden experts of Red Maple City.

With those presences focused on them, killing Groat on enemy ground was out of the question. Setting up a challenge arena outside Red Maple City was already provocative enough.

The white-furred Gnoll and his companions drew deep breaths and forced the killing intent back down.

The smile faded from the white-furred Gnoll's face. He looked at the still-grinning Ducan.

"Then let's begin."

His figure vanished from the arena, returning to stand with the Gnoll delegation.

Ducan watched him go with a quiet snort. He sent a private transmission to Lu Yuan:

"Lu Yuan — if you get the chance to put that dog down for good, don't hold back. Whatever comes of it, we'll cover you."

Lu Yuan's lips curved upward. He sent back a brief reply: "Understood."

Ducan stepped off the arena.

Only Lu Yuan and Feiba remained.

Lu Yuan looked at Feiba's cold, impassive face and smiled.

"My friend asked me to kill you. Why don't you just stand there and not move? That'd make things a lot easier for me."

Feiba bared his teeth. Flames coiled around his entire body.

"Heiming told me you weren't to be underestimated. I hope you'll live up to that."

Lu Yuan raised an eyebrow.

*Heiming — isn't that the one who used a Departure Crystal to run?*

*This guy listened to that coward's advice and still came here?*

*A little overconfident, don't you think?*

A razor edge flashed through his eyes.

The next instant, Lu Yuan's body vanished.

The entire arena shuddered. A massive crater split open in the stone floor, spiderweb cracks radiating outward in all directions.

Lu Yuan reappeared directly before Feiba, trailing a wave of terrifying force. His greatsword, wreathed in threads of pitch-black light, came down in a single slash.

Ice shot through Feiba's veins. Flames surged across his whole body, swallowing him whole.

Lu Yuan's blade cut straight through the fire and drew a streak of blood.

On the far side of the arena, a burst of flame erupted — and from it, a headless body stumbled out and crashed to the ground.

**Boom.**

Only then did the sound of Lu Yuan's first footstep shattering the arena stone reach the crowd.

The moment Lu Yuan had confirmed that Feiba was the strongest Battle General-rank genius among the Gnolls, his decision had already been made — Feiba had to die.

Kill him here, and at the very minimum, Feiba would be locked out of the Land of Origin for one to two months. Even if the martial competition began within that window, he would miss at least three sessions — forty-eight days each — a total of a hundred and forty-four days away.

For a genius, a hundred and forty-four days was no small gap in growth.

By then, Si Tingxue might actually surpass him. Their odds in the competition would be that much better.

That was one reason.

The other was that Feiba was on the kill list — worth seven hundred thousand Credits.

Seven hundred thousand Credits. Too good to pass up.

Lu Yuan had been eyeing that number.

To guarantee a kill in a single strike, he had held nothing back — everything except Space Teleportation, Crimson Storm, Dark Harvest, and the Battle Disciple Emblem had been deployed, all to ensure one decisive blow.

Clearly, it worked.

One strike. Feiba was dead.

Silence fell over the arena.

Everyone stared, dumbstruck, struggling to process what they had just seen.

Even the two Gnolls who had reached Battle Sovereign rank stood with their mouths hanging open.

At their level, if they had been on full alert from the start, they might have had a chance of blocking Lu Yuan's attack. But they had never imagined — not for a moment — that Lu Yuan was so far beyond what Heiming had described. By the time they snapped back to their senses, it was already over.

They stared at Feiba's body on the ground. Their eyes locked onto Lu Yuan, filled with murderous fury.

"Human! You're dead!"

The brown-furred Gnoll let out a thunderous roar. A crushing surge of spiritual pressure radiated outward.

In that same instant, Ducan stepped in front of Lu Yuan and absorbed the pressure.

The corner of his mouth curved into a mocking smile.

"What's this, Difu? You want to take a swing at someone younger? Do you think this is Blood Bone City?"

Then a second figure appeared on the arena.

A golden-haired man with sharp, piercing eyes.

He looked at the two Gnolls with cold amusement.

"Planning to stay?"

He turned to Lu Yuan, and a grin spread across his face.

"Nice work, kid. I'm Si Chengxin — Boss of the Red Maple Guard Corps, the Emperor's brother. What do you say — after you graduate, come work under me. I hear you and our Tingxue are pretty close? I can put in a good word for you."

Lu Yuan: *???*

*What is happening?*

*This is a serious situation — what is he doing?*

Lu Yuan was completely at a loss.

Down below, Si Tingxue had heard every word. She went rigid — then a wave of cold air seeped off her body.

Beside her, Rebecca shivered and quietly took several steps back.

The brown-furred Gnoll's breath caught in his throat. He and the white-furred Gnoll both stiffened.

After a tense moment, the two of them exchanged wary glances between Ducan and Si Chengxin, then fixed their seething stares back on Lu Yuan.

Lu Yuan stood under their gaze looking entirely innocent.

"Why are you two elders staring at me like that? That red-furred fellow looked quite formidable — I figured I'd better go all out. Who could have guessed he'd be so fragile under the blade?"

"You—!"

Both Battle Sovereign Gnolls visibly choked, blood surging to their heads.

Even Ducan and Si Chengxin blinked.

Then Si Chengxin burst out laughing.

"Ha! He's right — the mongrel couldn't handle one strike. That's frankly his own fault. How can you blame the kid for that? If anything, you Gnolls should be the ones apologizing." His eyes went cold and sharp. "Otherwise, you're welcome to stay."

His killing intent settled across the two Gnoll Battle Sovereigns — and across Bopo, who had gone completely blank.

Bopo still hadn't processed it. Feiba — powerful, terrifying Feiba — had been cut down in a single blow.

At Si Chengxin's words, the two Gnoll Battle Sovereigns went rigid, their stares hardening.

"Si Chengxin. Do you really want a war with us?"

Si Chengxin smiled, all teeth.

"Come on, then. This is Red Maple City. You came here to cause trouble — be ready to have your bones broken."

At that, both Battle Sovereign Gnolls felt multiple presences lock onto them at once — not just from the arena, but from deeper within the city as well.

Their expressions darkened.

They were strong enough to hold their own, and fast enough to escape if it came to that — but right now, they had Bopo with them.

The Battle Sovereigns of Red Maple City wouldn't directly target Bopo. But with someone like Lu Yuan here, the chance of Bopo outlasting Feiba was slim.

Feiba was already dead. Losing Bopo here too would be a devastating blow — in lives and in face.

The two exchanged a look. Then Difu reached into his coat and coldly produced an Origin Bank card.

Si Chengxin caught it with one hand, tapped it open, and glanced at the balance.

"One million Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals? Barely enough."

He flashed a grin. "Get out."

Difu fixed him with an icy look.

"A Battle General is still just a Battle General. Don't get too smug."

"Oh? What was that? You don't want to leave?"

Si Chengxin's smile turned dangerous.

Difu's expression shifted. He grabbed Bopo and walked.

Si Chengxin watched them go with a cold smirk.

Then he turned and handed the card to Lu Yuan, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Good work, kid. If it weren't for you, today could have turned ugly for us."

Lu Yuan accepted the card with a slightly dazed expression.

"It was nothing."

Inwardly, though, he was still trying to catch up.

*All I did was step onto an arena and kill one Gnoll. And I'm walking away with seven hundred thousand Credits and a million Fifth-tier Spirit Crystals?*

*Things this good actually happen?*

Lu Yuan hoped there would be many more days like this.

He would never have too many of them.