91: Chapter 91 Utterly Shameless!

Zhao Qian of the Duan Shui Sect stood firm on the ring and cupped his fists at Tang Nian.

"Please."

Tang Nian nodded slightly, a hint of fatigue already visible in her expression.

Her battle with Little Overlord had consumed a great deal of her energy.

Zhao Qian clearly saw this as well. Without the slightest hesitation, his figure flickered, and he took the initiative to launch a preemptive attack. His sword technique followed a grand and open style; while it appeared fierce, it was actually probing in every aspect.

Tang Nian's movements were elusive, like a butterfly weaving through flowers, and she moved with ease amidst the fierce sword light.

She was in no rush to counterattack, merely dodging continuously to keep her own consumption to a minimum.

"Why has the Duan Shui Sect's sword technique become so sluggish?"

"This Zhao Qian is probing Miss Tang's true strength!"

The onlookers below the ring also grasped the situation.

Chen Fan leaned against a mountain rock, his half-closed eyes cold.

Probing? No, this was exhaustion.

Every one of Zhao Qian's strikes forced Tang Nian to move, forcing her to circulate her Internal Energy. It was like cutting flesh with a dull knife, grinding away the opponent's vigor bit by bit.

Sure enough, after twenty moves, Zhao Qian seized a moment when Tang Nian was catching her breath and thrust his sword out fiercely, aiming straight for her lower abdomen.

Tang Nian tapped her toes and drifted back several feet, avoiding this seemingly fatal blow.

"I concede."

Zhao Qian cleanly withdrew his sword, cupped his fists at Tang Nian, and jumped straight off the ring.

He had lost, but his goal had already been achieved.

As he walked back to the Duan Shui Sect's camp, his gaze met Nie Shu's for a fleeting moment, and he nodded imperceptibly.

A cold, sinister arc appeared at the corner of Nie Shu's mouth.

He moved.

His white robes fluttering like a great bird, he landed lightly opposite Tang Nian.

The entire venue was in an uproar.

"It's Soul-Severing Sword Nie Shu!"

"What is he doing? He's actually challenging Tang Nian?"

"There's no need for this! With the strength of both of them, they could each easily hold one of the ten rings and secure a spot in the top ten. Why fight to the death now?"

A knowledgeable old Jianghu veteran stroked his beard and shook his head.

"You don't understand. Soul-Severing Sword's move isn't to win; it's to eliminate an opponent. The Tang Sect's movement techniques and hidden weapons are too bizarre. In the final ranking battles, no one is guaranteed a victory against her. By clearing her out of the field early, the road ahead becomes much easier."

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone around gasped.

What a ruthless scheme!

Chen Fan's hand subconsciously gripped the long saber wrapped in black cloth behind his back.

So that was it.

Nie Shu's goal was never to hold a ring; it was to nip all potential threats to him in the bud.

His goal was to clear the field.

On the ring, Tang Nian's expression was unprecedentedly grave.

"Young Master Nie, there doesn't seem to be any need for us to determine a victor right now, does there?" She attempted a final plea.

Nie Shu smiled; the smile was handsome, yet it made one's whole body turn cold.

"Miss Tang, you joke."

"At the Sword Testing Conference, the capable rise and the mediocre fall. I simply want to see if Miss Tang's Rain of Pear Blossom Needles is truly as powerful as the legends say."

He slowly drew his long sword.

"Please."

Before his voice had even faded, he had transformed into a streak of white lightning, his sword blade tearing through the air with a shrill hiss, aiming straight for Tang Nian's throat.

Fast!

Extremely fast!

Tang Nian's pupils contracted sharply, and she tapped her feet repeatedly. Her figure, like a fallen leaf blown by a gale, narrowly avoided the sword strike.

However, Nie Shu's sword momentum was continuous, each strike faster than the last. The sword light wove into an airtight net of death, firmly enveloping Tang Nian.

Tang Nian pushed her movement technique to the limit, struggling to hold on within the web of sword light.

She was like a small boat in a raging storm, in constant danger of capsizing.

In the blink of an eye, fifty rounds had passed.

Fine beads of sweat had seeped onto Tang Nian's forehead, and her breathing had become rapid.

Most of her Internal Energy had already been consumed, and now, under the high-intensity duel, she was stretched thin.

After another thirty rounds, Tang Nian's movements were noticeably slower.

Nie Shu seized this opening and thrust his sword out, leaving a wound on Tang Nian's left arm that was deep enough to see the bone.

Blood instantly stained her light purple sleeve red.

Tang Nian let out a muffled groan and, using the force from the sword, retreated sharply, putting several yards of distance between them.

She clutched her bleeding arm, panting, her pretty face deathly pale.

"I..."

She had just wanted to concede.

Just at that moment, a cruel smile appeared on Nie Shu's face.

"Want to leave? Too late!"

He stomped hard on the ground, his body surging forward again, the long sword in his hand carrying an unstoppable, tragic Aura as it thrust straight for Tang Nian's heart.

This strike was meant to kill!

Tang Nian was shocked; she had not expected the opponent to be so dismissive of Jianghu morality. In her haste, she could only channel all her Internal Energy into her right hand to meet the lethal sword blade.

She prepared to take the hit head-on and then concede.

However, just as her palms were about to make contact with the sword blade, Nie Shu's sword momentum underwent a strange change.

The originally fierce and unparalleled sword blade suddenly became light, like a venomous snake, bypassing Tang Nian's palms at an incredible angle.

At the same time, his left hand, unbeknownst to anyone, now held a steel needle shimmering with a ghostly blue light.

Pfft!

The steel needle struck after, yet arrived first, piercing with pinpoint accuracy into Tang Nian's Dantian Qi Sea.

Tang Nian's body stiffened abruptly.

It was as if all the strength in her body had been completely drained in that instant.

Immediately following that, Nie Shu's light sword blade landed on her chest.

Bang!

A muffled thud.

Tang Nian, like a kite with a broken string, flew backward, crashing heavily onto the edge of the ring, spitting out a spray of blood before passing out on the spot.

The entire venue was deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events.

After a brief silence, an uproar erupted that reached the heavens.

"Shameless! Utterly shameless!" A burly man with a curly beard was so angry he crushed the wine gourd in his hand. "Miss Tang was about to concede, yet he still used a poisoned steel needle to ambush her! What kind of hero is that!"

"Can being a hero put food on the table?" The middle-aged man dressed as a scholar beside him shook his fan and sneered. "All is fair in war. Young Master Nie's actions are called winning by wit; they are the methods of an overlord! Tang Nian hadn't called out her concession yet, so who can you blame?"

Curses, praises, and discussions rang out in a cacophony.

Nie Shu stood in the center of the ring, sheathing his sword, turning a deaf ear to the clamor around him.

He looked at Tang Nian, who lay in a pool of blood, dead or alive, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

Another one eliminated.

He slowly turned around, his gaze piercing through the crowd, landing once again on the figure in the corner carrying the black cloth bundle.

That look was as if he were eyeing his next prey.