71: Chapter 71 Refusing to Admit Defeat

Lin Ye, who had been forcibly pulled out of the battle, still had violent murderous intent churning around him. The scarlet in his eyes had not faded by a fraction, and the murderous hostility and unwillingness accumulated in his chest erupted completely.

Clearly, he was just a split second away from completely shattering Ye Feng's divine kingdom core and ending this long-standing mortal enmity, yet he was abruptly interrupted, falling short at the very last moment.

Lin Ye raised his eyes, his gaze icy and fierce, staring straight at the chief referee whose pressure was towering before him. Showing not a shred of awe or backing down, he sternly lashed out in public, his voice wrapped in lingering killing intent, resounding clearly across the venue: "Lord Chief Referee, with a single word of termination, do you plan to erase the irreconcilable mortal enmity between us?!"

"That Ye Feng secretly sent people to assassinate me, plotting against me at every turn and pushing me step by step towards death. Today, we bet on the rule of a fight to the death with our thralls, where the loser kowtows. We fought a bloody battle to the desperate end, and you say terminate and it's terminated?"

Lin Ye pressed forward step by step, the chill in his eyes piercing to the bone, every word ringing with conviction: "If I let him go today, once his foundation recovers, the next time will be him taking my life by any means necessary! This irreconcilable grievance should have been completely settled today in the first place. Do you expect me to keep a doomed enemy alive and wait quietly for him to turn around and kill me?"

This series of questions bluntly pierced through the unsolvable dead end between the two, plunging the entire audience into instantaneous silence, with no one able to refute.

Meanwhile, Ye Feng on the other side had long been completely consumed by the momentum of defeat and despair, completely losing his reason.

The territory of his divine kingdom was riddled with scars and completely devoid of life, with withered desolation everywhere. Tens of thousands of thralls suffered heavy casualties, nearly suffering total annihilation. One-fifth of his family's generational foundation was destroyed overnight, and years of cultivation accumulation were rendered completely void.

Yet the pride and paranoia deep in his heart absolutely refused to allow him to admit defeat!

"I didn't lose!"

Ye Feng's eyes were bloodshot, his hair disheveled, and he looked like a madman, tearing his throat as he roared crazily, his voice shrill and violent, "My thralls aren't all dead yet! My divine kingdom core is still here! I haven't lost yet!!!"

Completely ignoring the arena rules and the supreme pressure of the referee before him, the remaining hostility and unwillingness in his chest completely ran wild. His figure violently surged forward, carrying the final remaining might of thunder, and he lunged like a madman to slaughter Lin Ye, attempting to fight to the death in the very last moment to turn the tables and vent his anger.

But before he could get even half a step close, the void suddenly locked down!

A flash of glazed golden light surrounded the referee, and the power of the supreme rules suppressed him instantly. An invisible giant hand crashed down to bind Ye Feng's entire body, nailing him tightly in mid-air. His limbs grew stiff, his spiritual power was sealed, and he couldn't even manage to move a fraction.

No matter how frantically Ye Feng struggled, roared, or how towering his hostility was, he was still suppressed tightly, all in vain.

The entire audience fell into utter silence, everyone holding their breath and concentrating, waiting quietly for the referee to speak.

The chief referee's expression was indifferent and solemn. His gaze swept over the mad and out-of-control Ye Feng, then fell back onto Lin Ye, who was covered in murderous intent and had anger in his eyes. His voice was majestic, impartial, and devoid of any personal affection, resounding through the entire arena: "The private grievances and life-and-death blood feuds between the two of you are not within the jurisdiction of the arena. If there are private fights or disputes in the future, the federal laws will naturally manage them."

"However, today is the official competition of the State Competition. On the arena stage, rules are rules!"

"It is forbidden to destroy a contestant's divine kingdom core, and it is forbidden to cause life-and-death annihilation in the arena. This is the unyielding iron law of federal events that has remained unchanged for a thousand years. No one and no grievance is allowed to wantonly trample on it or act arbitrarily by making exceptions. This battle is forcibly terminated, indisputable, and requires no further words!"

With just a few simple sentences, every word was resolute and allowed for no disobedience, completely sealing the outcome of this battle and blocking all possibilities for the two to continue fighting in the arena.

Imprisoned in mid-air, Ye Feng listened to these words and felt his dilapidated divine kingdom and exhausted foundation. A trace of joy rose in his heart, and he finally sobered up at this moment; just a moment ago, he had almost become a crippled god.

Meanwhile, Lin Ye stood in place, his murderous intent churning and killing intent still unsettled, his scarlet eyes staring fixedly at the suppressed Ye Feng.

In the stands, the hundred thousand spectators trembled in their hearts, and all the prodigies in the arena wore solemn expressions.

Everyone understood that today's bloody battle, which was forcibly terminated, was not the finale, but the beginning of a true life-and-death deadlock.

On the arena stage, the biting murderous intent gradually receded, and the towering killing intent churning in Lin Ye's eyes was ultimately forcibly suppressed.

He knew very well in his heart that with hundreds of thousands of spectators watching with their own eyes, elites and prodigies from all sides present, and the referee's rule pressure locking down the entire venue, it was simply impossible for him to execute Ye Feng and destroy the opponent's divine kingdom in plain sight by defying the federal iron law.

Today's mortal feud was destined not to be completely settled here.

Since he couldn't kill him, he would secure a solid victory and defeat first, cementing the opponent's lost status.

Lin Ye raised his eyes, his expression cold and calm, looking at the chief referee before him, his voice clearly resounding across the arena: "Fine! Then I will abide by this rule, but I won this match, didn't I?!"

With just this simple sentence, the focus of the entire audience was instantly pulled back to the battle itself.

Hearing this, Ye Feng, who was imprisoned in mid-air and had just broken free from part of the rule suppression, seized it like the last straw of a drowning man. He instantly struggled crazily, roaring sharply with bloodshot eyes.

"Wrong! You didn't win! I didn't lose at all!"

His hair was disheveled and his complexion was pale, yet he gritted his teeth stubbornly, using his last bit of strength to quibble. Paranoid arrogance completely distorted his reason: "We set the rules long before the match! Unless all thralls are completely dead, no one is allowed to admit defeat! Now I still have surviving thralls alive under my command, and my divine kingdom core is intact. The battle has not been decided at all! Why judge me as defeated!"

Ye Feng knew better than anyone else in his heart that he had long since been thoroughly and cleanly defeated.

His divine kingdom had been thoroughly rooted by the plague, all life in the region was cut off, years of accumulation and his family's foundation were ruined overnight, and his legion was nearly completely wiped out. If the referee hadn't forcibly intervened, his divine kingdom would have shattered long ago and his cultivation would have been completely crippled.

Yet he could not afford to lose, nor did he dare to lose.

He was the high-and-mighty, arrogant genius of the Ye family, and a top prodigy of Quanzhou. To make him kowtow three loud kowtows publicly to Lin Ye in front of a hundred thousand spectators and the prodigies of Quanzhou to admit his mistake and surrender—this humiliation was a hundred times harder to bear than being killed.

To avoid kowtowing and leaving a lifelong stain, even if he threw away his face, he would cling stubbornly to the rules and refuse to admit defeat!

But as these dying, quibbling words fell, the arena holding a hundred thousand spectators instantly erupted with overwhelming, ear-piercing boos!

"Holy shit? How shameless can you get!"

"Anyone can see that you've completely collapsed! If the referee hadn't stopped it, your divine kingdom would have been smashed to pieces, dammit!"

"You were the arrogant one setting the rules before, and now you're the sore loser throwing a tantrum? The face of an arrogant prodigy has been completely thrown away!"

"Thralls aren't all dead? That's because Lin Ye was forcibly stopped! If it really came down to a fight to the end, your ashes wouldn't even be left, dammit!"

The boos, reprimands, and expressions of contempt filling the sky shook the heavens, and the dense spit-and-scorn gathered into a torrent, fiercely slamming onto Ye Feng.

Everyone in the audience could see it crystal clear: this battle had long since lacked any suspense, and Ye Feng was purely struggling on his deathbed while making shameless, quibbling excuses.

In the contestant seating area, the crowd of prodigies also wore looks of contempt. Even as opponents, they respected a fair and upright defeat, and they had never seen such a sore loser behavior that completely discarded the backbone and pride of a prodigy.