75: Chapter 75 I Admit Defeat

The audience was listless, and the applause was sparse. No matter how brilliant the match on the field was, everyone felt it was insipid and uninteresting. Many people didn't even raise their heads to watch the arena, their gazes lingering imperceptibly on Lin Ye, who was sitting quietly below.

With today's battle, Lin Ye completely shattered the cognitive baseline of Quanzhou's prodigies, forcibly raising the upper limits of combat strength and brutality for this tournament by several tiers. All remaining matches were reduced to mere padding and foil.

The schedule progressed steadily, and soon, it was time for Lin Ye's remaining two ranking matches.

No one expected that the next two duels would directly feature the rarest scene of this tournament.

Two top prodigies who were originally rated S-rank, possessed formidable strength, and steadily ranked in the upper echelons of Quanzhou took the stage in succession. The moment they saw their opponent was Lin Ye, not a shred of fighting spirit rose within them, they showed not the slightest pretense of preparing for battle, and they didn't even open their Divine Kingdoms.

With solemn expressions, the two exchanged glances before decisively raising their hands and speaking in deep voices publicly, "I surrender."

It was clean and neat, without the slightest hesitation.

A soft uproar instantly rippled through the entire audience, which was immediately followed by complete understanding.

No one was clear whether the two S-rank prodigies were out of respect and awe for Lin Ye's peerless combat strength in single-handedly shaking a top-tier legion and defying the odds to destroy the enemy, or out of heartfelt fear, dreading his unsolvable, eradicable plague divine arts, and fearing his extreme, ruthless mindset of fighting to the point of madness and being willing to annihilate all his familiars just to destroy his opponent.

Perhaps it was both.

Having witnessed with their own eyes how Ye Feng exhausted one-fifth of his family's foundation, holding eight thousand top-tier familiars and dual-talent blessings, only to still have his familiars nearly completely annihilated, his Divine Kingdom scrapped, and his path of Dao utterly destroyed, all the prodigies had long since buried a deep-seated dread in their hearts.

No one was willing to gamble their cultivation foundation and Divine Kingdom's heritage to fight to the bitter end against such an opponent who spared no cost, was madly bloodthirsty, and possessed vicious methods.

Rather than ending up a cripple like Ye Feng, it was better to gracefully surrender and preserve oneself.

Two consecutive proactive surrenders resulted in two bye victories.

Lin Ye's expression was calm, without a shred of complacency or arrogance. He stood up one after another, nodded slightly to the two prodigies who had candidly conceded, and sincerely expressed his thanks.

Victory and defeat depend on one's own heart; the other party gracefully yielded to preserve both sides without the need for a bloody, vicious battle. This open-mindedness was worthy of respect.

And as these two matches came to a close, the top ten seats of this Nantan Prefecture League were completely settled.

Once the matches concluded, Lin Ye hurried back to his room, retrieved some resources from his Divine Kingdom, and began healing his familiars to restore their combat strength.

The night passed in the blink of an eye.

The top ten of the prefecture league were finalized, and the top-tier ranking challenge matches opened as scheduled the next day.

According to the tournament rules, the top ten contestants could challenge each other to reshuffle the rankings and lay the groundwork for the final contention of the top three spots.

Everyone thought that Lin Ye, who had been deified by yesterday's battle, would become the focus of the whole audience, inevitably facing probing spars and ranking contests from various prodigies.

Yet, after a whole day of challenge matches, no one took the stage to challenge Lin Ye.

In the massive arena, countless prodigies took turns dueling and fighting for rankings, except for Lin Ye's battle seat, which remained empty throughout, with not a single person daring to step forward and declare war.

Having experienced yesterday's Dao-destroying bloody battle, everyone completely remembered Lin Ye's terror.

The unsolvable plague erosion, the berserk fighting style at all costs, the ruthless mindset of cutting weeds and eliminating roots, coupled with the unyielding hot-bloodedness of defying powerful figures and confronting powerful factions head-on, had long since been deeply branded into the hearts of every prodigy.

No one was willing to risk fighting him to the death. Even if they won the ranking, there was a high probability they would pay the painful price of severe damage to their familiars and loss of foundation, and might even leave permanent hidden dangers in their Divine Kingdom. Rather than both sides suffering, it was better to accept the default ranking and finish the event safely.

For a whole day, Lin Ye steadily occupied a top-ten seat, securely defending his ranking without a fight. He became the most special existence in this tournament, one that no one dared to provoke.

As time moved on, the third day arrived, and the final decisive stage of this prefecture league—the top ten to top three ultimate selection—officially began.

This battle would determine the top three of Quanzhou, lock in the core rewards of Jinghun Hall and the special admission qualifications of the federation's top academies, which was the ultimate glory dreamed of by all prodigies.

The top ten contestants took the stage in turn to draw lots for pairings. Soon, Lin Ye's final opponent slowly walked out of the contestant camp and stood opposite him on the arena stage.

This was an SS-rank prodigy whose strength firmly ranked in the middle tier of the top ten with a solid foundation. He had dazzling past battle records, a steady playing style, and originally possessed the strength to surge into the higher positions.

Yet after taking the stage, he did not open his Divine Kingdom, did not summon his familiars, and did not have a shred of fighting spirit. He just quietly looked at Lin Ye opposite him, his expression calm and candid.

Under the gaze of the entire audience, he slightly bowed, and then spoke aloud, his voice ringing clearly throughout the arena: "I surrender."

The audience fell slightly silent, followed by a soft uproar.

Before everyone could be puzzled, the prodigy candidly stated the reason: "I surrender not out of fear of a formidable enemy, but out of respect for contestant Lin Ye's strength and hot-bloodedness."

"Yesterday, when battling Ye Feng, he clearly could have won safely and preserved himself, yet he spared no effort to exhaust most of his familiars' foundation, smashing the shackles of the powerful and piercing through the unfairness of the arena with a tragic, bloody battle. Such courage and resolution are far beyond my reach."

"I know in my heart that if he hadn't had to fight to the death to break the deadlock and resist the pressure of power the day before, retaining all his strength, today he could comfortably rank in the top five, and even surge into the top three without any pressure. For the sake of a clear conscience regarding grievances and standing firm for his bottom line, he consumed his own foundation. Such a state of mind is worthy of my respect."

These words were poised and generous, affirming Lin Ye's strength, hot-bloodedness, and breadth of vision without the slightest wretchedness of shrinking from battle, instead fully displaying an open-minded magnanimity.

The audience off the stage instantly understood, and their favorable impression doubled.

This contestant did not force a fatal clash nor cowardly avoid the battle. With a graceful surrender, he both elevated Lin Ye's standing in the arena—proving that Lin Ye's strength and character were both peerless—and earned himself an excellent reputation of being humble, understanding the situation, and being open and aboveboard.

Everyone knew clearly in their hearts that he saw things with extreme clarity.

The top four spots of this tournament were already a foregone conclusion; there was simply no extra space.

Across the arena stood four insurmountable peaks—Lin Ye, who was bathed in blood to achieve apotheosis and possessed unsolvable methods; Bai Ruoxue, the SSS-rank prodigy of peerless holiness and top-tier talent; Xiao Qingwu, the aloof and ethereal SS-rank prodigy with unfathomable movement techniques; and Zhou Mingzhi, the SS-rank prodigy who controlled the undead and possessed invincible endurance.

As for the remaining top ten contestants, regardless of their foundation, combat strength, or talent, they had a generational gap in difference compared to these four, lacking any qualifications to contend for the top three.

Since they were destined to miss out on the top three, why bother fighting a bloody, desperate battle and depleting their foundation only to end up with nothing? It was better to gracefully surrender, pay tribute to the strong, earn a reputation for open-minded magnanimity, and bring this tournament to a decent close.