146: It was so terrifying that the whole audience was shocked!

Energy Shield!

Li Pengfei wasn't foolish after all; the moment Xia Qi made his move, the Energy Shield enveloping his entire body was already activated.

Boom!

Accompanied by dazzling lightning and a roaring sound, the Energy Shield, which could have withstood the simultaneous attacks of hundreds of monsters, shattered instantly.

Destroyed in one hit.

Along with it, the force of the recoil surged into Li Pengfei's entire body like rolling waves.

In an instant, his body was paralyzed, rendering him completely unable to move.

This... what kind of power is this?!

Li Pengfei's eyes widened in disbelief as he watched Xia Qi slowly draw his longsword.

"Wait... wait a minute..."

Li Pengfei's tongue began to trip over itself, and he couldn't speak clearly.

From the beginning, Xia Qi never intended to strike Li Pengfei dead with a single bolt of lightning.

He knew he couldn't kill him, and it was a rare opportunity to torment Li Pengfei.

He wasn't in a hurry to cripple the boy all at once.

He would take his time and play with him.

Whoosh!

Thunder Breathing, Sword Skill, Lightning Flash!

As a deep breath of white mist was exhaled, Thunder Breathing, combined with the sword technique, was already executed.

Without even a second's delay, Xia Qi, holding the standard energy longsword, transformed into an invisible bolt of lightning.

Whoosh!

The next second, Xia Qi, shimmering with electrical energy, appeared behind Li Pengfei.

Pfft!

Blood erupted like a fountain, and one of Li Pengfei's arms spun in the air before falling to the ground.

"Ah~"

The intense pain twisted Li Pengfei's face; he still hadn't processed what had just happened.

"My... arm..."

The paralysis effect hadn't worn off yet, so Li Pengfei could only whimper, his words indistinct.

Below the arena, everyone was stunned.

What just happened?

It seemed like they saw a flash of lightning, and then Li Pengfei's arm was spinning in mid-air.

Hiss!

Xia Qi, is he really a new student?!

For a moment, everyone was speechless, not knowing what to say.

"Hey, shouldn't he surrender? That blood is like a fountain; he won't die, will he?"

In the silence, an older student from War God Academy shouted towards the host.

He knew Li Pengfei, and although he disliked Li Pengfei's personality, he was challenging a new student on behalf of War God Academy, so he felt he should at least speak up.

The female host also snapped out of her daze.

"Um... according to the challenge rules, if one party doesn't call out 'surrender', the match continues."

....

Indeed, that was the rule.

After all, there was no life-threatening danger in the challenge, so no one knew if the person currently competing wanted to continue.

Only by shouting 'surrender' would the challenge end.

Anyway, the healers in Shengjing were very powerful; as long as there was still a breath, they could basically save anyone.

In Li Pengfei's current state, how could he shout 'surrender'? His body was still paralyzed, he couldn't speak clearly, so how could he shout anything?

And that's exactly the effect Xia Qi wanted.

Since he couldn't openly kill Li Pengfei, he had to at least cripple him.

Even if the healers could reattach Li Pengfei's arm later, it definitely wouldn't be as good as before.

Or, to be even crueler, directly shatter his arm with a lightning bolt?

But there was no need; with so many people watching, Xia Qi dismissed the thought as soon as it arose.

Immediately after, Thunder Breathing activated again.

Lightning Flash's second strike had already been released.

Ah!

A scream echoed through the sky.

Lightning flashed, and his other arm flew high, scattering into pieces as it fell.

Then, the third and fourth flashes followed in quick succession.

Li Pengfei's left leg turned into fragments, and his right leg was directly sliced in half.

Dark red blood rained down on the challenge arena; the entire lightning-covered area was almost forming a small stream of blood.

At this moment, Li Pengfei lay on the ground, his chest heaving violently.

His tongue had been bitten off due to the intense pain, his mouth was full of fresh blood, and he looked like he wouldn't live much longer.

A green light descended from the sky, landing on his body.

Shengjing's healers had intervened.

This situation already fell under the category of being unable to shout 'surrender'.

Continuing the fight made no sense; to prevent Li Pengfei from dying of excessive blood loss, intervention was necessary.

Li Pengfei, who had been reduced to a 'human pig' (a cruel historical punishment where limbs were amputated), gradually regained consciousness with the help of the healers. If not for the Formation protection and the healers, he would have long since died.

At this moment, the onlookers below the stage were completely stunned.

This was too fast.

The entire process just saw a few flashes of light, and then Li Pengfei was lying on the ground like a cripple, utterly miserable.

They had originally thought that War God Academy, being a top-ranked academy, would provide a great show.

But this was it?

It was over in just a few breaths.

With the help of the healers, Li Pengfei's complexion finally improved significantly.

His limbs still needed to be taken back to the infirmary for treatment, but the bleeding had stopped, and he could speak again.

Li Pengfei was utterly miserable at this moment, covered in blood.

His eyes held a deep terror.

He had just walked through the gates of hell; his body was completely beyond his conscious control throughout the process.

Xia Qi silently returned his longsword to the weapon rack, his gaze sweeping over Li Pengfei.

Li Pengfei trembled uncontrollably as if he had seen a ghost.

"Surrender?" Xia Qi asked expressionlessly.

"I... I surrender!"

No matter how strong his sense of shame, compared to his own life, nothing else mattered.

At this moment, Li Pengfei surrendered incredibly quickly.

Points and everything else were no longer important; he was afraid Xia Qi would go back on his word and not let him speak, then flay him alive again.

The protective Formation was then withdrawn, and the healers continued to stabilize Li Pengfei's injuries on the side, waiting for the results before taking him to reattach his limbs.

The female host came onto the stage and announced Xia Qi's victory.

When the results were announced, all the new students present were invigorated!

"Haha, that's awesome, the new student won!"

"Amazing, worthy of being the National Champion, the number one new student, he cuts down old students like slicing melons and vegetables."

"Fierce! I had heard some rumors about Xia Qi before, but I didn't expect him to be this fierce."

"That sword strike just now was so cool, and Xia Qi is so handsome too..."

The new students were excited, but the old students' faces were all quite grim.

Losing was fine; they could accept that.

But the loss was too complete, too tragic.

He didn't even fight back.

He was just whittled down to a stick; Li Pengfei really disgraced the old students.

At this moment, Director Chang of the Office of Academic Affairs also arrived on the stage.

"According to the previous bet between Xia Qi and Li Pengfei, I will now announce the results."

"Upon verification, student Li Pengfei needs to pay student Xia Qi two hundred seventy-two thousand points."

"What?!"

Li Pengfei shrieked, almost bouncing off the ground.

If he had legs now, he would definitely have jumped up.

"He... how could he have so many points?"

"It must be a mistake! He's only been in Shengjing for a few days!"

Li Pengfei shouted heartbreakingly.

Two hundred seventy-two thousand points; even if he sold himself, he couldn't pay it back.