165: Persuading others with reason versus breaking the deadlock with violence

The round of 32 was undoubtedly the most anticipated stage of the Outer Sect tournament since it began.

In particular, the two matchups featuring Wen Youyi and Zhao Iron Pillar, which were obviously rigged, attracted the gaze of almost every Disciple and Elder.

The first match: Zhao Iron Pillar versus Fire Cloud Child.

On the arena, Fire Cloud Child wore a flaming Daoist robe, held a crimson feather fan, and looked arrogant, with undisguised contempt.

"Zhao Iron Pillar, you were lucky to escape at the Sword Mark Rift last time. This time, let's see where you can hide!" Fire Cloud Child lightly waved his feather fan, and the scorching fire spirit energy began to gather, causing the temperature of the arena to rise sharply.

Zhao Iron Pillar shouldered the heavy black iron sword mixed with a large amount of "star iron," grinned, and revealed a row of white teeth: "Hide? I didn't come here to hide today! It's just the right time to test my new toy on you!"

He slammed the heavy sword onto the arena, making a dull "thud," his Aura wild and untamed.

"You're courting death!" Fire Cloud Child's eyes sharpened. Without further ado, he swung his feather fan violently! "Blazing Flames Burning the Heavens!"

The violent wave of fire, like a burst dam, surged toward Zhao Iron Pillar with the momentum to burn everything to ash! In this strike, Fire Cloud Child held nothing back, intending to kill with one blow and wash away his previous shame!

Exclamations erupted from beneath the stage, and many people broke into a cold sweat for Zhao Iron Pillar.

However, Zhao Iron Pillar did not dodge or evade. Instead, he let out a beast-like roar, and the earthy-yellow spirit energy around his body surged, as if he had donned a suit of rock armor! His arm muscles knotted, veins bulged, and he swung the heavy sword. Without any flashy techniques, he delivered a vertical slash full of pure power against the oncoming wave of fire!

"Open up for me!"

The heavy sword broke through the air, bringing with it a dull wind pressure. The condensed Earth Element spirit energy attached to the blade actually emitted a sharp intent that seemed to cut through everything and destroy all magic! This was a qualitative change produced by the combination of the "star iron" material and Zhao Iron Pillar's brute strength!

"Boom—!!!"

The heavy sword collided violently with the wave of fire! The scene where Zhao Iron Pillar was expected to be swallowed by the flames did not occur; that violent wave of fire was actually split right down the middle by this unreasonable strike! The scorching flames rolled to the sides, unable to harm Zhao Iron Pillar in the slightest!

"What?!" Fire Cloud Child's pupils shrank, unable to believe it. His full-strength attack had actually been broken by the opponent in such a crude manner?

Before he could change his moves, Zhao Iron Pillar had already charged through the residual flames like a wild bull, his heavy sword descending toward his head with the force of Mount Tai! Before the sword arrived, the terrifying pressure had already made Fire Cloud Child's breathing stall!

"Fire Cloud Barrier!" Fire Cloud Child hastily conjured a flame shield.

"Clang—!!!"

Another deafening sound! The flame shield vibrated violently, its light dimming by more than half in an instant. Fire Cloud Child was shaken by the immense force, his blood surged, he retreated repeatedly, and the webbing between his thumb and forefinger went numb!

"Impossible! How could your strength be..." Fire Cloud Child was both shocked and angry.

"Heh heh, didn't expect it, did you? Take this 'Earth-Splitting Slash' of mine!" Zhao Iron Pillar pressed his advantage, swinging his heavy sword with wide, sweeping motions. Each strike was powerful and heavy, forcing Fire Cloud Child to constantly dodge and defend, in a sorry state.

The various exquisite fire-type Spells he was originally skilled at seemed pale and powerless in the face of Zhao Iron Pillar's pure, extreme strength and that strange heavy sword! It was as if all techniques became a joke when faced with an absolute gap in power.

This was the tactic Wen Youyi had formulated for him—using power to overcome a hundred techniques! By utilizing the "star iron" heavy sword's ability to break magic, along with the short burst of immense power from the "Mountain-Shaking Wrist," he completely abandoned defense and maintained a wild suppression throughout, disrupting Fire Cloud Child's rhythm and giving him no chance to cast complex Spells!

Fire Cloud Child was frustrated to the extreme. He had a full Cultivation base and numerous methods, yet he was forced into a chaotic scramble by the opponent's style, which was like a street thug brawling. He tried to open up distance, but Zhao Iron Pillar followed him like a shadow; he tried to use illusions to confuse him, but Zhao Iron Pillar ignored them directly and broke through with sheer force; he tried to call upon the arena's geothermal fire, only to find that the power of the geothermal fire seemed to be interfered with, becoming obscure and uncontrollable...

After dozens of rounds, Fire Cloud Child's spirit energy was heavily depleted. He had several wounds from the sword wind on his body, and his Daoist robe was scorched in several places (singed by his own out-of-control flames), looking miserable.

On the other hand, Zhao Iron Pillar fought with increasing vigor, like a tireless war machine.

"Enough!" Fire Cloud Child, disheveled and looking crazed, prepared to risk everything.

Just then, a flash of light appeared in Zhao Iron Pillar's eyes. The "Mountain-Shaking Wrist," which he hadn't used yet, was suddenly activated! Dark red light shone from the black spikes on his wrists, and his power surged once again!

"End it!"

The heavy sword tore through the air with speed and power exceeding any previous strike, carrying a desperate, unstoppable momentum as it slashed down fiercely!

Fire Cloud Child's hastily condensed defense shattered like paper, and the heavy sword slammed solidly into his chest!

"Pfft—!"

Blood sprayed wildly, and Fire Cloud Child flew backward like a kite with a broken string, slamming heavily into the light barrier at the edge of the arena before sliding down, unconscious.

The entire arena was dead silent.

The Great Master of the Five Elements Courtyard at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer had actually been defeated head-on by Zhao Iron Pillar of the Qi Refining Seventh Layer in such a savage, direct manner!

"Zhao Iron Pillar, wins!" The referee Elder's voice carried a hint of imperceptible amazement.

After a brief silence, the crowd beneath the stage erupted into a deafening uproar! The Ding Zi Courtyard and the Mutual Aid Society had created a miracle once again!

Zhao Iron Pillar shouldered his heavy sword, looked at the unconscious Fire Cloud Child being carried away, and spat: "Pah! All show and no substance!"

He walked off the arena to be greeted by Wen Youyi's approving gaze and the excited hugs of Wang Wu and Senior Brother Li.

"Well done, Iron Pillar."

"Heh heh, Boss, it's your turn next! Beat that Li Xue hard!"

Wen Youyi nodded, his gaze turning to the second focal point battle about to begin. His opponent, Li Xue, was already watching him coldly on the arena like a venomous snake.

"Don't worry." Wen Youyi straightened his robe, his tone calm. "I will have a good talk about 'Karma' with him."

Under the gaze of countless eyes, Wen Youyi stepped onto the arena slowly. Unlike the violent aesthetics of Zhao Iron Pillar's match, everyone sensed another completely different kind of storm in this one.

Li Xue licked his somewhat dry lips, a bloodthirsty glint flashing in his eyes: "Wen Youyi, your good luck has come to an end. I will make you taste what it means to be worse off than dead."

Wen Youyi looked at the faint bloody Aura and resentment radiating from his body, feeling the strange Cultivation Technique that resonated faintly with the "spirit net" and constantly drew upon external negative emotions to strengthen itself, his heart ice-cold.

"Cultivating such an Evil Path technique that harms others to benefit oneself, yet still feeling smug." Wen Youyi shook his head. "It seems I need to teach you a proper lesson and explain the basic principles of energy conservation and... Karma."

Li Xue was stunned, not quite understanding, but the anger of being slighted was instantly ignited: "Arrogant! Blood Fiend Palm!"

His figure moved, transforming into a blood shadow. A palm wrapped in thick Blood Fiend energy aimed straight for Wen Youyi's crown! Where the palm wind passed, there was a faint sound of wailing vengeful spirits, disturbing the mind.

Facing this vicious and sharp strike, Wen Youyi did not retreat but advanced instead. His right hand, wearing the "Thousand Mechanisms Hand," pointed like a sword. A point of pure starlight condensed at his fingertip, and he struck precisely at the Laogong point in the center of Li Xue's palm!

That was a key node in the operation of the Blood Fiend technique's spirit energy, and also one of the "interfaces" most closely connected to external negative emotions!

"Pfft!"

The fingertip collided with the palm, with no earth-shattering sound, only a slight noise like a bubble bursting.

The grin on Li Xue's face froze instantly! He felt a piercing pain in the center of his palm, as if something had been forcibly pinched off! What terrified him even more was that the Blood Fiend spirit energy around his body, which had previously been as easy to command as his own arm, now felt as if it had lost its source, its operation suddenly becoming sluggish and chaotic! The negative emotions and resentment he had drawn upon also seemed to have lost their target, rampaging within his body and backfiring on him!

"You... what did you do?!" Li Xue retreated in horror, looking at his slightly trembling palm from which the blood color had faded, as if he had seen a ghost.

Wen Youyi withdrew his finger and stood still, his tone flat: "Nothing much, just helped you unplug the 'network cable.' Relying on absorbing others' 'negative emotions' to level up makes the network unstable and prone to dropping, understand?"

Li Xue certainly didn't understand what "network cable" or "dropping" meant, but he clearly felt that his greatest reliance—the ability to continuously draw power from the outside world—had been casually crippled by his opponent! Now he was like a machine that had been disconnected from power, his strength plummeting instantly!

"Impossible! Sea of Blood is Boundless!" Li Xue looked crazed, forcibly driving his remaining spirit energy. The blood light around his body flared again, transforming into a rolling sea of blood that swallowed toward Wen Youyi. But this sea of blood, whether in scale or momentum, was far weaker than before!

Wen Youyi sighed: "It seems reason doesn't work, so I can only use physical transcendence."

His figure moved, walking into the weakened sea of blood as if strolling in a courtyard. starlight protected his body, and all evil could not invade. Wherever he passed, the sea of blood automatically parted, unable to get close to him.

He attacked again, starlight flashing at his fingertips. Each time he pointed, it landed precisely on another node of Li Xue's Cultivation Technique, or on a weak point where it connected to the "spirit net" (Heart Demon System).

"Here, the energy circuit is redundant, and the efficiency is low."

"Here, the interface is unstable and prone to leakage."

"Here, the firewall is just for show, one poke and it breaks..."

He commented while attacking, as if he were conducting a technical evaluation.

Li Xue was beaten with no power to fight back, his Cultivation Technique dismantled layer by layer, and his spirit energy kept collapsing. Even more terrifyingly, those negative emotions and resentment that he had absorbed into his body but had not yet refined began to wildly backfire on his mind once they lost the constraints of the Cultivation Technique!

"Ah—!" Li Xue let out a painful howl, black blood began to seep from his seven orifices, and his eyes became chaotic and crazed. He felt countless vengeful spirits screaming and tearing in his mind!

Finally, Wen Youyi delivered a palm strike containing purifying power, printing it onto Li Xue's Qi Sea point, thoroughly defeating him and temporarily dispersing the rampaging resentment in his body.

Li Xue collapsed to the ground like a pile of mud, unconscious, his Cultivation already half-crippled.

The entire arena was silent.

If Zhao Iron Pillar's victory was the pinnacle of violent aesthetics, then Wen Youyi's match was the model of eeriness and crushing dominance. He didn't even use much of his own spirit energy, as if he had just casually pointed a few times to dismantle a notorious Qi Refining Eighth Layer Peak expert like a toy, even causing his Cultivation Technique to backfire!

This was no longer a battle; it was more like... a teaching demonstration? Or perhaps, dimensionality reduction strike?

"Wen Youyi, wins!" The referee Elder announced the result with a hint of indescribable complexity.

Wen Youyi walked off the arena slowly, ignoring all the gazes of shock, awe, and fear.

Zhao Iron Pillar rushed up excitedly: "Boss! You were too awesome! What were you muttering to that guy? What network cable, dropping?"

Wen Youyi smiled: "Nothing, just explained a simple truth to him: taking shortcuts with crooked paths will eventually have to be repaid."

He looked up, his gaze meeting the Black Fiend Elder on the high platform, whose face was as gloomy as water and whose eyes seemed ready to spew fire.

Two carefully arranged rigged matchups, two Disciples in whom the other side had placed high hopes—one was violently crippled, and the other was "reasoned" into a backfiring technique, half-dead.

This slap to the face was truly resounding.

Wen Youyi said softly in a voice only he could hear:

"Like playing dirty? This is the price."

"Next, it should be the turn of... Falling Star Lake."