Whoom!

  The howling tempest smashed into Bubai like a living beast, and his wide-open body was sent flying back like a ragdoll!

  His ears rung from the impact. Stinging pain licked his skin all over.

  A few head over heels tumbles later, Bubai finally planted his foot back on solid ground and held his crouch to tough through the remnant wind.

  When the wind’s wrath at last subsided, Bubai lowered his arms, only to see the paper-thin cuts crisscrossing all over it!

  Hiss~ His first real injury in all his matches.

  Bloody Merlin, he got a bit careless!

  He really didn’t expect the difference between the same Galestorm spells to be so absurd when used by different cultivators at the same realm!

  All those previous gale storms caused his mind to form a misconception regarding its power.

  Now, he got slapped by the real deal!

  Bubai can only say: Affinity, go pound sand!

  After a silent curse, Bubai gave his beggar outfit a once-over…

  What’s left was lightly-battered pouches of steel versus shredded rags that failed its censorship duty.

  Phew~ What’s important is safe. What’s not… who cares if it’s an open book.

  It’s just that… beneath that sorry excuse for a dressed-up story, Bubai felt more poison bleeding into his system from every single wound.

  That’s a double bummer.

  But at the same time, Bubai could feel his spores already hard at work, automatically repairing all his wounds... whether he wanted them to or not.

  Seems his special physique really can’t stay under the hood any longer.

  Above the battlefield.

  “That kid!” Elder Jia Gufan’s rugged frame sat up straight.

  "Even the body-building juniors from the clan won’t suffer lightly against that. That level of defense… it’s almost at the realm of copper skin! And that recovery… it’s too similar. Too similar! Isn’t it, elder brother?"

  "Hoh, indeed…" Jia Wunan’s weathered face creased into a thoughtful squint. "What an interesting physique. It’s the ideal mold for sculpting body trainers of our Jia Clan..."

  The Grand Elder’s gaze slid to the side. "What do you say, Elder Ma?"

  Ma Pei leisurely stroked his gray beard.

  “Hoh... the competition days are still long. There’s no need to make a decision so quickly. Let everyone have some time to take a good look.”

  The matriarchs made no comment. Needless to say, the Feng Clan didn’t welcome men.

  A seat over, the scarecrow Tai Yinjun similarly sat back disinterested. "Aye, count us out. Our Taiyin clan isn’t interested in muscle-heads like that dollie."

  "Hohoho…" There was a smile in Ma Pei’s eyes. "Old thief, don’t be so quick to decide. Perhaps the day will come when you’ll eat those words."

  Tai Yinju let out a dry scoff.

  "Gah! Make me eat my words? That dollie will have to first live through this match! According to our sources, that smiley dollie hasn’t missed once in recent years..."

  Below.

  With chest heaving, Du Ge chewed a pill while his almost-shut eyes observed the foe on his knees.

  That wide smiley face of his became a bit stiff when he saw all the freshly inflicted wounds visibly healing up.

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  Du Ge hoped he was just hallucinating, but he was sure he wasn’t affected by any drugs or illusions.

  “Sah… how outrageous.”

  Yet… the smile never left his face.

  There is a reason why he is always confident to take on tough nuts like these.

  After all, there’s no need to outfight him. Just outthink him.

  On the flip side, the kneeling Bubai was having the exact same thoughts.

  That smiley face was really a thorny opponent.

  That jerk actually forced him to expose more than he expected this early on.

  The most annoying part is that Bubai didn’t know if this sneaky jerk had any other cards up his sleeves.

  If he keeps pressing forward, his win is almost guarantee, but... at what cost?

  This led Bubai to consider another side of the coin.

  Every card shown was already a sunk cost.

  If the tenacity he shows scared his foe into raising the white flag… ugh.

  So much was invested, just to release the tiger back into the wild?

  That really doesn’t sit well with Bubai.

  Gotta think of another way...

  Feeling the coagulated toxin being squeezed out, an idea clicked in Bubai’s mind.

  A lump welled up in his throat, and… Pfff!

  Black blood sprayed out!

  Panic flashed across Bubai’s face.

  From his pouch, he dug out a pill bottle and hurriedly popped a common low-grade antidote.

  Seeing this, Du Ge folded his hands back into his sleeves and straightened out the facts.

  “Don’t bother. Unless you’ve got the Scorpion King’s heart, no antidote can save you from my Trinity Fragrance of Death. Even the foundation-builders who’ve tasted it has crossed over to the Other Shore.”

  Bubai almost rolled his eyes. Yeah, yeah, keep boasting.

  Pretty sure a high-grade antidote would do the trick. If not, then earth-grade.

  Of course, those were not something he had, but his dew wasn’t that far off, if not better.

  Even without that, it didn’t matter. After all... there was no need.

  Bubai gritted his teeth and pushed himself up from his knees.

  He staggered and almost fell, but eventually planted his feet firmly.

  Bubai wiped the black blood trickling from his lips and glared back at his foe with all the venom he could muster.

  “Heh, what a load of nonsense. I feel totally fine.”

  Du Ge’s ever-narrowed eyes seemed to crease in amusement. “Sah… I wonder about that.”

  Bubai’s face hardened. “If you don’t believe me…”

  One hand took out the dented heavy sword and slammed it into the ground. Deng!

  “Come try me! I can still fight ten more rounds!”

  “Really?” Du Ge tilted his head. “But, I’m pretty sure there isn’t even ten rounds left.”

  Cough. Er, right… there’s five rounds at most.

  Bubai didn’t mind the small details and defiantly pointed his finger at his foe.

  “It doesn’t matter how many rounds there are! Just bring it on!”

  “Sah… then come.”

  Du Ge slowly pulled out the last two knives from his waist belt, idly flipping them back and forth.

  The two stared each other down. Tension hummed like a live wire, yet neither budged.

  Bubai cursed inside. This poisonous viper is too cautious!

  So, Bubai’s eyes became fierce, and he took a step forward. Then another… and another...

  The baby steps broke out into a light run, and the heavy sword dragged behind him like a shadow of impending doom…

  Seeing the slowpoke with purplish-black lips stumbling over, Du Ge didn’t even bother to move.

  He just let his prey get closer and closer.

  Of course, Du Ge wasn’t so silly to really let a cornered beast get up close.

  When the gap was just about right, the storm gathered in his palms and the knives shot out!

  Twin vipers bulleted over!

  Bubai’s eyes bulged, and he swung his heavy sword with “all” his strength! “Yaaaah!”

  Daaang! Both death shots were successfully knocked off course, but the rebound sent his sword flying out from his grip!

  Yet, there was no time to care because an unseen wind scythe was already whistling over to bisect him!

  “Mooove!” Roaring, Bubai threw himself out of the way, barely letting death scrape by.

  Clang! The weighty blade hit the ground behind and lost all its momentum, toppling over and falling flat just like its owner.

  Bubai struggled to push himself up. Pfff!

  Another glob of black was coughed out.

  Bubai tried brushing it off, but his other shaky hand gave in.

  Bam. Face hit the ground.

  He tried struggling up again, but this time, his legs showed disobedience and even his arms acted like jelly.

  Seeing this, the smile on Du Ge’s face curled into something more grotesque.

  “Sah… how does it feel? Like a thousand ants gnawing you all over? The more you exert yourself, the worse it gets. Fun, isn’t it?”

  Fun indeed. Classic predator behavior. Wear down the prey’s defense, then go for the kill.

  Heaving hard with a soaked face, Bubai hoarsely gasped out. “You’ve done... your testing. Isn’t it... high time... you forfeit?”

  “Sah… who knows if it’s enough. When all’s said and done, I have yet to check what secrets you’re hiding in… that pouch of yours.”

  Oh, no wonder. Seemed this smiley face was eyeing his storage pouch.

  Not too surprising that it’s attractive.

  Let’s not even mention the value of the high-grade pouch itself.

  Just the eleven spirit stones recently added under public watch was enough to tempt most outer disciples to bet their lives!

  Vice versa, most would bet their lives to keep this wealth.

  Bubai protectively grabbed his pouch, growling back, “Then… hah... come get it… if you dare-”

  Cough. Cough! Another bloody black rose blended right into the obsidian floor.

  The fragrance of death grew, yet the twin embers glared back, refusing to die out.

  Du Ge let the fierce glare breeze past.

  "Sateh. It’s time for me to claim what’s rightfully mine and in return... let me kindly bring an end to your suffering."

  The executioner’s hands vanished back into his sleeves and the soundless footsteps of the grim reaper approached.

  The other shore was waiting. The underworld judges above watched with interest.

  Who will get the last laugh in the end?