65: Chapter 65 Fighting a Real Battle to the Death

A moment later, the new round of drawing lots concluded, and the giant arena's big screen refreshed with the full match list for the Top 25 to Top 10.

The moment the names of the two opposing sides appeared, the entire arena holding one hundred thousand spectators suddenly erupted into a tsunami-like uproar and boiling excitement!

[Lin Ye VS Ye Feng!]

These simple eight characters exploded like a thunderclap in every corner of the arena!

The long-awaited and unavoidable fateful showdown between the two heroes of Cangnan, anticipated by everyone in Quanzhou, actually staged prematurely in the brutal knockout round of the Top 25 to Top 10!

In the resting area, the remaining twenty-three top prodigies all cast their glances sideways, locking their eyes tightly onto the two figures, their faces filled with shock and the excitement of spectators watching a good show.

As soon as these competitors appeared, busybodies had already inquired about everyone's backgrounds. Everyone knew clearly that these two had been at loggerheads since their school days, harboring deep grudges. They were the only pair in the entire arena whose auras completely clashed and whose eyes carried inherent murderous intent.

Under the gaze of everyone, Ye Feng suddenly stood up. The restless thunder spiritual power around him grew even more violent, with purple-golden lightning wrapping around his body and crackling loudly.

The excitement, obsession, and murderous intent he had suppressed for many days erupted completely. There was not a shred of forbearance left on his face, replaced instead by ultimate fanaticism and confidence.

Finally!

He had finally waited for the opportunity to directly duel and fight to the death with Lin Ye!

No need to dodge, no need to wait, and no need to endure any longer!

Atop this top-tier arena watched by all of Quanzhou, where prodigies from ten cities gathered, he could make his move openly and honestly, completely crushing Lin Ye, shattering his dark horse myth, and washing away all of his own humiliation!

Ye Feng lifted his feet, walking step by step toward the stage. His posture was upright, his aura flamboyant, and his eyes were filled with the certainty of victory.

Outsiders only knew that he held the top-tier combination of the S-grade Hell Three-Headed Hound and the A-grade Thunderstorm Berserk Rhino as his retainers, but no one knew that for today's battle, he had also concealed his ultimate trump card.

That was a hidden trump card he had polished and activated overnight by exhausting all his savings and countless rare resources, a fatal means custom-built specifically for Lin Ye, sufficient to completely lock down all possibilities of Lin Ye staging a comeback on the basis of attribute and rank suppression.

In today's battle, what he wanted was not just victory, but a complete crushing and total defeat that would ruin Lin Ye's reputation and leave him with no day of redemption!

Compared to Ye Feng's manic excitement, Lin Ye's expression completely shed its usual calmness and indifference.

He stood quietly in place, his slender figure as upright as a pine. Without any wind, a faint aura of murderous intent quietly permeated around him. Deep within his pitch-black eyes, there was no longer a shred of laziness or contempt, replaced instead by bone-chilling and unreservedly intense murderous intent.

The opponent's relentless pestering had long since aroused a killing intent in Lin Ye.

During the City Tournament, he had deliberately avoided conflict because he disdained wasting his trump cards and exhausting his combat strength in a city-level arena.

But now, the opponent deliberately rigged the match and forced a matchup, single-mindedly desiring a life-and-death struggle. Then this long-accumulated, irreconcilable grudge should be completely settled right here!

Blindly dodging would only make the opponent push their luck even further.

On today's stage, there is no distinction of rankings, no distinction of victory or defeat, only life and death!

The two figures—one hot and one cold, one manic and one silent—stepped one after the other onto the wide Divine Combat Arena.

An invisible aura of extreme opposition instantly swept across the entire arena, pressing down so heavily that the commotion of the whole audience suddenly stagnated slightly.

In the stands, the one hundred thousand spectators instantly caught the distinctly different and bizarre atmosphere between the two.

The duels of other prodigies were all about contention, competition, and tactical maneuvering. Only the standoff between Lin Ye and Ye Feng had no pleasantries, no probing, and no forbearance—only an overwhelming, face-to-face enmity of life and death.

That was an absolute opposition of long-standing grievances that could never end until one side died; it was a dead-end scenario that could only conclude with the fall of one party!

After a brief silence, the atmosphere of the entire arena completely exploded. Cheers, shouts, and discussions shook the heavens, hotter and more fervent than any top-tier duel before it!

"A fateful showdown! After getting the data, I knew these two would sooner or later have a head-on, life-and-death battle!"

"This aura is too terrifying! This isn't a sparring match at all; it's a true match determining life and death!"

"Ye Feng is completely hyped up, clearly prepared to go all out to crush Lin Ye! But the murderous intent in Lin Ye's eyes can no longer be hidden either. This battle is definitely going to be an earth-shattering show!"

"The Top 25 to Top 10 premature life-and-death battle means whoever loses is eliminated, leaving no retreat route whatsoever! This is the most passionate and brutal match of the State Competition!"

In the VIP seats, various prestigious school mentors, high-ranking military officials, and government figures also straightened their postures, locking their gazes tightly onto the arena with solemn expressions mixed with a bit of anticipation.

Everyone knew that this battle, seemingly an internal struggle between two geniuses from Cangnan, was actually the ultimate collision between an unconventional dark horse evildoer VS a top-tier prodigy with perfect counters.

One side was Lin Ye, who broke conventional logic, rose against the heavens with an F-minus-grade Divine Kingdom, and possessed endless trump cards.

The other side was Ye Feng, who had planned for a long time, held dual suppression of attributes and ranks, and concealed an ultimate trump card.

An irreconcilable grudge, supremely counteractive combat power, and a tournament system with no way out.

Under the gaze of everyone, the extremely tense life-and-death standoff on the arena completely formed.

But just at the moment when everyone thought the two would immediately strike and start fighting, Ye Feng, who was originally manic, crazy, and towering with battle intent, suddenly calmed down instead.

The fanaticism and restlessness from just now completely faded away. In his eyes, there was only a deep chill and absolute confidence left, as the paranoid murderous intent accumulated over days precipitated into a cold desire for control.

He knew Lin Ye's forbearance and cunning all too well; the other party excelled most at holding back and concealing clumsiness, seeking victory through stability. To prevent Lin Ye from deliberately forfeiting and retreating pathetically if the battle turned unfavorable, he wanted to lock down all paths of retreat beforehand and force the other party to fight him to the bitter end.

Ye Feng raised his gaze, looking straight at Lin Ye in front of him. His voice was cold, hard, and sonorous, ringing throughout the arena of one hundred thousand spectators: "In this duel, our grievances have spanned years; there's no need to perfunctorily brush it off. Why don't we set a rule—before the retainers of both sides are completely wiped out, no one is allowed to actively surrender."

His tone paused, carrying an extremely humiliating wager, every word icy cold: "If anyone dares to surrender early, without needing the referee's judgment, right here in front of all the Quanzhou prodigies and one hundred thousand spectators, they must kowtow three loud kowtows to the other party in public and admit defeat!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire audience fell into a sudden silence!

Where was this an arena duel? This was a death-match wager that completely severed all paths of retreat, staking one's dignity and future!

Once defeated, not only would one lose the match, but they would also lose all face under the gaze of all Quanzhou, completely becoming a laughingstock throughout Nantan Prefecture.

The pupils of the various prodigies in the resting area shrank sharply, and the high-ranking officials and mentors in the VIP seats also wore solemn expressions. Anyone could tell that Ye Feng was determined to press Lin Ye to death on the arena and ruin his reputation.

Facing this nearly harsh wager, the murderous intent in Lin Ye's eyes not only did not recede, but instead boiled completely, without a shred of reservation remaining.

Ever since the City Tournament, Ye Feng had secretly spread rumors and slander, repeatedly provoked and offended him, and even spared no effort to mobilize worldly forces for a covert assassination. Every single incident had long since touched his bottom line.

In the past, his step-by-step concessions, forbearance, and restraint had not earned him restraint from the other side, but rather increasingly severe schemes and persecution.

Today, the other party deliberately rigged the match to force a matchup, and now set up such a humiliating rule, completely igniting the anger and murderous intent that Lin Ye had suppressed in his heart for a long time.

"Kowtow and surrender?!"

Lin Ye let out a low, cold laugh, his voice bone-chilling and wrapped in an intense aura of slaughter as it spread across the entire audience: "There's no need for such trouble!"

He raised his eyes to look straight at Ye Feng, the murderous intent in his pitch-black eyes soaring to the heavens without any concealment. Word by word, it shook the arena: "Since it's irreconcilable between you and me, then let's simply fight a true life-and-death battle. This battle will not stop until one of us destroys the other's Divine Kingdom core!"