171: Chapter 171 A Counterattack

He was an inconspicuous-looking middle-aged Martial Artist who had been blending into the crowd from the very beginning, never taking the initiative to attack, and had been silently observing the situation on the entire arena.

Until this moment, when he finally found a once-in-a-lifetime, excellent opportunity!

The black dagger in his hand, coated in deadly poison, was like the fangs of a viper; with a faint, eerie sound of piercing through the air, it thrust silently toward the defenseless vital point of Luo Fengnian's back!

"Watch out!"

A terrified scream erupted from the spectator stands!

Luo Fengnian also sensed the deadly crisis behind him. His expression changed drastically, and he wanted to turn and parry, but it was already too late!

"Puchi!"

A dull sound of a sharp blade entering flesh resounded!

That black dagger, coated in deadly poison, viciously stabbed into Luo Fengnian's back!

Although at the last moment, relying on his astonishing reaction speed, Luo Fengnian had barely managed to avoid his vital heart point, the sharp dagger still left a terrifying wound on his back, deep enough to see the bone!

A piercing, bone-chilling pain, along with a rapidly spreading numbness, instantly coursed through his entire body!

"Ah!"

Luo Fengnian let out a pained grunt, his body stumbling forward uncontrollably, and the longsword in his hand dropped to the ground with a "clang!"

His face instantly turned deathly pale, and his lips turned purplish-blue due to the intense pain and the rapidly acting toxin!

"Hahaha! You little bastard! Go to Hell!"

Seeing this, the "Revenge Alliance" assassin, who had succeeded in his sneak attack, let out a wild laugh filled with endless resentment and glee!

The black dagger in his hand transformed once again into a deadly cold light, slashing viciously toward Luo Fengnian, who had already lost the strength to resist!

He wanted to completely strangle this Northern Territory Genius, whom His Highness the Yan King had placed high hopes on, in the cradle right in front of everyone!

However, at the very instant that the black dagger, filled with the Aura of death, was about to slash Luo Fengnian's throat.

"You're courting death!"

Two terrifying roars, filled with endless violence and chilling killing intent, exploded above the entire martial arts arena like two claps of thunder from the Nine Heavens!

Immediately following, two terrifying figures, as burly and majestic as mountains, leaped up from beneath the high viewing platform with a terrifying speed completely inconsistent with their massive size!

"Boom! Boom!"

Two loud bangs!

Those two figures, like two giant meteorites falling from the sky, smashed heavily onto the No. 2 arena!

The entire massive arena, paved with hard granite, trembled violently under this terrifying impact, and even fine cracks resembling spiderwebs appeared!

It was Big Fool and Wulu, who had been responsible for maintaining order at the scene and had already taken in everything on the arena.

The "Revenge Alliance" assassin only felt a blur before his eyes, and then two terrifying, giant hands, like steel pincers, tightly grabbed his two arms from the left and right!

He didn't even have a chance to react before he was forcibly lifted off the ground by those two irresistible, terrifying, immense forces!

"No—!"

In the assassin's eyes, for the first and last time, endless horror and despair appeared!

He let out a shrill, inhuman scream, struggling desperately, wanting to break free from those two terrifying, nightmare-like hands!

However, everything was in vain!

"Go... die!"

The honest faces of Big Fool and Wulu were now filled with cold, cruel, and chilling killing intent!

They exchanged a glance, then simultaneously let out a deafening, terrifying roar, and their terrifying arms, as thick as an adult's thigh, suddenly tore fiercely to the sides!

"Ah—!!!!!"

A shrill scream, enough to make the heavens and earth change color, resounded throughout the entire martial arts arena!

Amidst the gazes of hundreds of thousands of spectators, filled with endless horror and fear!

That top assassin of the "Revenge Alliance," whose strength had reached the Peak of the Fifth Rank, was actually torn into two halves, alive, by these two monsters, Big Fool and Wulu!

"Splash—!"

Blood filled the sky, mixed with red and white viscera and flesh, like a bloody rainstorm, drenching the entire arena!

That bloody, violent, and terrifying scene, full of primitive and wild impact, instantly caused the entire, incredibly noisy martial arts arena to fall into a deathly silence!

Everyone, whether it was the Martial Artists who were fighting crazily on the arenas, or the spectators cheering in the stands, upon seeing this terrifying scene that would make anyone sick, were scared deathly pale and chilled to the bone!

Especially those other assassins who were also hiding on the various arenas, preparing to wait for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack; seeing the miserable end of their companion, they were scared so badly that their souls flew away and their spirits scattered, their livers and gallbladders shattered!

They looked at Big Fool and Wulu, who stood quietly in the center of the arena like two blood-bathed demon gods who had walked out of Hell, their entire bodies exuding monstrous Evil Qi; in their eyes, there was unprecedented fear and despair!

They never dreamed that in this Yan Kings Residence, such terrifying monsters were actually hidden!

This... how could this still be human?

These were clearly two Vicious Beasts from ancient times wearing human skin!

Big Fool casually threw away the half-broken, still-twitching corpse in his hand, and then, with his huge eyes like copper bells, slowly scanned the ten arenas that had already fallen into a deathly silence. His voice, like rolling thunder, exploded in the ears of everyone harboring malicious intent!

"His Highness has ordered!"

"For this Hero Gathering, everyone relies on their own ability; life and death are up to fate!"

"But if anyone dares to engage in such sneaky, despicable tactics behind the scenes!"

"This person shall be your fate!"

That terrifying scene, filled with endless blood and iron-fisted deterrence, was like two invisible ancient divine mountains, pressing heavily upon the hearts of all those with ulterior motives!

They knew that their conspiracies were so ridiculous and so fragile in the face of absolute power!

A bloody assassination that was about to sweep through the entire Hero Gathering was forcibly strangled in the cradle in such a direct and shocking way!

After experiencing this bloody interlude, the preliminary selection soon came to an end.

In the end, one hundred of the strongest and luckiest Martial Artists stood out from the thousands of participants and successfully qualified for the next round.

And those peerless Prodigies who performed brilliantly in the preliminaries, such as Ma Qianli, Wan Guifeng, Xiang Hao, Zhao Yu, and Gu Shenwei, all advanced easily with a crushing momentum, without any suspense.

After a brief rest, the even more intense and cruel Round of 64 knockout tournament officially began.

Unlike the melee of the preliminaries, the knockout tournament adopted a one-on-one duel mode that tested individual hard power more.

The results of the draw were soon announced on the big screen.

And one of the matchups instantly attracted everyone's attention, igniting the atmosphere of the entire venue!

Arena No. 5—

The surrendered general from Suzhou Province, Zhao Yu!

Versus!

Central Plains Saber User, Wan Guifeng!

"My god! It's actually those two! Now there's going to be a good show!"

"Yes! One is a young general with spear skills like a Dragon and decisive killing! The other is an arrogant saber user with unparalleled saber techniques and absolute dominance! This is truly a clash of titans!"

"Who do you think will win between the two of them?"

"It's hard to say! Although General Zhao Yu's spear techniques are sharp, Wan Guifeng's saber techniques are even more domineering. It is said that he is already at the Realm of a Sixth-Rank Grandmaster! I still favor Wan Guifeng more!"

"I think General Zhao Yu has a better chance of winning! He is a battle-hardened general who has fought his way out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood! His rich combat experience and decisive killing are by no means comparable to that Wan Guifeng!"

On the spectator stands, intense discussions and arguments erupted instantly.

Everyone was filled with endless anticipation for this Peak duel of spear versus saber that was about to unfold before their eyes!

Under the gaze of everyone, Zhao Yu and Wan Guifeng slowly stepped onto the No. 5 arena that had already been stained red with blood.

Zhao Yu was still wearing his black battle armor filled with the Aura of iron and blood, holding a ferocious long spear made entirely of black iron in his hand.

His eyes were cold and sharp; he himself was like a peerless divine spear about to pierce the firmament, his edge fully exposed, his Battle Intent soaring to the sky!

As for Wan Guifeng, he was still in his uninhibited black martial attire, with his exaggerated, giant ghost-head saber casually carried on his shoulder.

A grin filled with arrogance and excitement was on his face, and his eyes, like those of a hungry wolf, stared fixedly at Zhao Yu opposite him, as if looking at prey that satisfied him immensely.

"Kid, I've remembered you." Wan Guifeng grinned, revealing two rows of chilling white teeth. "Your performance in the preliminaries was quite good; you are qualified for me to draw my saber."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yu only coldly spat out two words.

"Attack."

"Hahaha! Good! Arrogant enough! I like it!"

Upon hearing this, Wan Guifeng was not angry but laughed instead! His burly body suddenly shook, and a terrifying Saber Intent, as if it were substantial, erupted from his body!

That Saber Intent was so domineering, so violent, that the air on the entire arena seemed to be completely evacuated at this moment, becoming incomparably stagnant and oppressive!

"Kid! Take my blade!"

Wan Guifeng let out a deafening, violent roar! The giant ghost-head saber on his shoulder instantly transformed into a black streak of light, as if splitting heaven and earth, carrying a terrifying momentum capable of cutting a mountain in two, and slashed down toward Zhao Yu's head!

This strike had no fancy embellishments, no techniques!

All it had was the purest, most primitive, and most unreasonable absolute power and supreme dominance!

Facing this terrifying strike that would make any Sixth-Rank Early Stage Martial Artist despair, there was not the slightest panic on Zhao Yu's face.

In his cold eyes, an unprecedented, brilliant light erupted!

"Bring it on!"

He also let out a clear, long roar filled with endless Battle Intent!

The profound iron spear in his hand was no longer cold and lifeless; it seemed as if it had been completely imbued with life at this very moment!

"Aong—!" A high-pitched, resounding Dragon roar erupted from the spear body!

Zhao Yu's profound iron spear instantly transformed into a black flood dragon, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws with Divine Might. Carrying an Aura of indomitable, life-or-death ferocity, it boldly met the black streak descending from the sky!

"Spear out like a Dragon!"

"Boom—!!!!" A terrifying explosion that seemed to shatter the very heavens and earth erupted!

The spear and the saber collided violently in mid-air!

A terrifying energy storm, indescribable in words, swept crazily in all directions with the two of them as the center!

Under this terrifying energy storm, a thick layer of the incredibly hard granite arena was forcibly scraped away. Countless rock fragments shot wildly toward the audience below, scaring those nearby into fleeing with their heads covered, screaming repeatedly!

Yet at the very center of that energy storm, Zhao Yu and Wan Guifeng did not retreat a single step!

Zhao Yu's spear tip pressed firmly against that massive ghost-head saber. The muscles in his arms bulged high, his veins protruded, and he stood as motionless as a boulder!

And on Wan Guifeng's typically arrogant face, for the first time, a look of "surprise" appeared.

He never dreamed that this young brat, who looked more than a decade younger than him, could actually withstand his full-force strike!

"Hahaha! Interesting! Too interesting!"

After the brief surprise came an even more violent Battle Intent!

Wan Guifeng let out another crazy laugh. He twisted his right hand holding the saber hilt abruptly, and an even more violent force erupted from his arm!

"Come again!"

Seeing this, Zhao Yu's eyes narrowed! He did not choose to clash head-on with Wan Guifeng, whose strength far exceeded his own; instead, he flicked his wrist abruptly!

"Hum—!" The profound iron spear, which had been firmly suppressed, instantly began to vibrate crazily at an extremely strange frequency!

Spiraling forces, like ripples on water, surged crazily along the spear body toward the massive ghost-head saber!

Wan Guifeng only felt an extremely tricky deflecting force arrive. His terrifying strength, capable of splitting mountains and shattering rocks, had been forcibly deflected by seven or eight tenths by the opponent's seemingly casual flick!

Immediately after, Zhao Yu's figure slid backward abruptly. Like a ghost, he instantly opened up a distance of several zhang from Wan Guifeng!

His spear, like a maggot on the bone, struck out like lightning at a more tricky and ruthless angle toward Wan Guifeng's wide-open chest!

"Poison Dragon Emerges from the Cave!"

This spear strike was fast to the extreme! Ruthless to the extreme!

The sharp sound of air being pierced by the spear tip made everyone's eardrums ache!

However, Wan Guifeng seemed to have anticipated that Zhao Yu would use this Move!

Not only did he not dodge in the slightest, but a cruel, ferocious grin appeared on his arrogant face!

He completely ignored the lethal spear strike about to pierce his chest. The ghost-head saber in his hand transformed into a streak of black lightning again, slashing fiercely toward Zhao Yu's head in a tragic, mutually destructive posture!

He was actually trading injury for life!

"Madman!" Seeing this, Zhao Yu's pupils shrank abruptly!

He never dreamed that this seemingly crude and arrogant saber wielder would have such a crazy, death-defying fighting style!

With no other choice, he had to abandon this excellent offensive opportunity. He tapped his toes on the ground, and his entire body retreated gracefully like a fallen leaf caught in a gale, narrowly avoiding the lethal saber strike!

But Wan Guifeng did not let up!

The ghost-head saber in his hand, like a storm, slashed continuously and crazily at Zhao Yu, one strike after another!

"Gale Saber Technique!"

For a time, the entire arena was filled with terrifying, crisscrossing saber shadows!

Every saber shadow contained terrifying power capable of easily severing steel!

And Zhao Yu, amidst that terrifying saber momentum like raging waves, was like a small boat that could be completely overturned at any moment!

The spear in his hand transformed into shadows filling the sky, protecting all the vital points of his body so tightly that not even wind could pass through!

"Ding ding dang dang—!" A series of dense metallic clashing sounds, like a rainstorm hitting banana leaves, rang out crazily across the entire arena!

Countless sparks shot out crazily with every collision of the spear and saber!

In just a few dozen breaths, the two had already exchanged no less than several hundred Moves!

The lightning-fast offensive and defensive transitions, the dazzling and exquisite Moves, and the terrifying power of every collision that could shatter mountains and rocks, left all the spectators mesmerized and their blood boiling!

"Too... too strong! This is the true Peak showdown!"

"Indeed! Whether it is General Zhao Yu's agile, dragon-like spear technique, or Wan Guifeng's domineering and unparalleled saber technique, both have long reached a Realm we can only look up to!"

"To be able to witness such a brilliant battle in this lifetime, I have no regrets even in death!"

From the spectator seats, bursts of heartfelt exclamations and praise erupted!

Even on the high-up viewing platform, when Gao Feng saw the two's brilliant showdown, a trace of imperceptible approval flashed in his usually calm and waveless eyes.

"Both of these men possess the courage of ten thousand. If they can be recruited, they will surely become my right-hand men in my future conquests of the world."

Just at this moment, the battle situation on the arena changed dramatically again!

After three hundred rounds of crazy offensive exchanges, both Zhao Yu and Wan Guifeng had consumed more than half of their True Qi.

Their movements began to slow down.

And in this fleeting instant!

In Zhao Yu's cold eyes, an unprecedented, brilliant divine light erupted!

He had been waiting for this opportunity for a long time!

He deliberately revealed a flaw, and the spear in his hand slowed down by half a beat, as if he were exhausted!

Seeing this, Wan Guifeng fell for it!

He let out a crazy laugh, and the ghost-head saber in his hand slashed fiercely toward Zhao Yu's exposed chest with the momentum of a thunderbolt!

He intended to end this battle completely with this strike!

However, at the very moment that the massive ghost-head saber was about to strike Zhao Yu's chest!

Zhao Yu's seemingly exhausted figure leaned backward abruptly in a strange posture that completely defied physical common sense!

And his spear, which seemed to have slowed by half a beat, struck out like lightning from a completely inconceivable angle, with a speed even more tricky and swift, as if it were a final burst of energy!

This spear strike seemed to traverse the distance of time and space!

Striking later but arriving first!

"Return Horse Spear!"

"Puchi!" A muffled sound of a sharp blade entering flesh was heard!

The massive ghost-head saber brushed against the tip of Zhao Yu's nose, missing narrowly!

And Zhao Yu's profound iron spear, filled with the Aura of death, pierced fiercely into Wan Guifeng's right shoulder!

Blood instantly stained Wan Guifeng's black clothes red!

The outcome was decided!

The entire martial arts arena, after a brief silence, instantly erupted into a huge cheer like a mountain avalanche and a tsunami!

"Won! General Zhao Yu won!"

"Too brilliant! That final Return Horse Spear was simply a stroke of Genius!"

However, on the arena, Wan Guifeng, who had been pierced through the shoulder by the spear, felt no pain or anger at all; instead, he let out a crazy laugh full of endless satisfaction!

"Hahaha! Good! What a good Return Horse Spear! What a handsome spear technique!"

He released the ghost-head saber in his hand, letting the precious blade that had accompanied him for half his life fall to the ground with a "clang."

With his intact left hand, he gave Zhao Yu a thumbs up. His arrogant face was filled with heartfelt admiration!

"Kid, you are not bad! In this battle, I am convinced of my defeat!"

After speaking, he jumped off the arena without looking back, disappearing into the crowd amidst countless gazes filled with admiration and regret.

And just as the Peak showdown on the No. 5 arena had just come to an end.

On another arena, a showdown, even more visually impactful and savage, had also reached a white-hot stage!

No. 7 Arena—Southern Chu warrior, Xiang Hao! Versus! Great Qian attendant, Mei!

This was a Peak collision between pure strength and extreme technique!

Xiang Hao's burly body, like a small mountain, stood quietly in the center of the arena. His bronze skin was covered with shocking sword marks!

Blood flowed slowly down his muscle lines, staining the arena beneath his feet a dark red!

And opposite him, the "Mei" attendant, wearing a white robe and a plum blossom mask, with a figure as elusive as a ghost, was completely unscathed.

The soft sword in his hand, like a spirit snake, continuously spat out lethal cold light in his grasp.

His sword technique was like plum blossoms blooming proudly in the cold winter, seemingly beautiful, yet filled with endless trickery and ruthlessness!

Every sword strike inevitably brought up a spray of splendid blood!

"Hmph! Barbarian! Is this all the ability you have?"

The "Mei" attendant let out a cold laugh full of disdain and sarcasm. His figure transformed into a white afterimage again, and the soft sword in his hand, like plum blossom petals dancing all over the sky, enveloped all the vital points of Xiang Hao's body from all directions!

"Plum Blossom Sword Formation!"