Crank. Crank. Crank…

  The coliseum’s iron jaws fell shut with a thump, sealing off the only gateways out.

  Bubai squinted at the sun, feeling its harsh light beat down through the unseen barrier.

  That light energized his body, but his every step forward was stiffer than the last.

  He didn’t really feel much when he was watching the show from a safe seat, but now…

  The enclosing barrier muffled the uproar of the stadium’s spectator, yet it still rattled his bones all the same.

  Making matters worse was the stares.

  That’s right, he’s not joking.

  What really shook him were the stares!

  All those eyes pinning him from every direction really gnawed at his raw nerves and pressured him like never before.

  Sure, public speaking was not his forte in his past life, but the dreams of that other life filled in that gap.

  So no, this wasn’t stage fright. This was something else entirely.

  This was no ordinary discomfort. It was something deeper, rawer... closer to just pure instinct.

  In more apt terms, it was his tingly tingly acting up.

  This was not something Bubai could simply shake off.

  Ever since his foundation establishment, he’d gained a heightened sensitivity to the eyes on him.

  It let him know when there are others observing him and perhaps even pinpoint their sources if he tries.

  This innate boon was a useful gift, one that kept him sharp, alert, and warned him when to stay under the radar.

  In some senses, this was actually a rather overpowered cheat.

  But here and now... this passive skill was like overpowered jaws that bit back at its owner just as hard.

  Just imagine each line of sight as a needle lightly pricking his skin from the direction of its origin.

  Now, imagine thousands of such needles pricking him all over like a swarm of invisible mosquitoes!

  Yeah, nada fun. Not at all.

  It scraped at his nerves like claws on glass and was overwhelming his senses.

  If not for his resilient spiritual power and willpower, Bubai might have simply collapsed to his knees due to how disoriented he felt!

  Grandpa heavens above must be messing with him! This little buff that turned into a debuff was really uncalled for!

  Of all the things that could happen, he really didn’t expect the first thing he had to deal with wasn’t the trash talk of his opponent, but a tsunami making his Bubai tingle go haywire...

  Life was really unpredictable. It really was small variables like these that kicked him where it hurts.

  Coming to a stop, Bubai took deep breaths to suppress the dizziness and did his best to tune out the external influence overloading his senses.

  His little actions didn’t go unnoticed by this opponent on the other side of the arena.

  "Nervous? Well, you should be. If you know what’s good for you, surrender unconditionally before it’s too late."

  Bubai slowly opened his eyes and was greeted by the smirking face of Lian Ke.

  There seems to be a misunderstanding, but Bubai didn’t bother correcting it.

  Instead, he fired back. “You wish.”

  Several shurikens were pulled out from his storage pouch and fanned out between his fingers.

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  Lian Ke chuckled and started bouncing lightly on his toes. “Playing with those toys from the secret realm? What can you even do with that little thing?”

  Bubai played it cool and smiled back. “Funny, that’s what your mom said, and now, she can’t wait to crawl into my bed.”

  For a split second, somebody’s face went stiff, but he quickly masked it.

  “Hah. Good one. But a clever mouth won’t save you. When I’m done with you, you’ll be wishing you never crawled out of your bed this morning.”

  Their eyes locked, flashing something sharper, colder, and electricity seemed to crackle between them.

  All it took to spark the fire was a simple: “Begin.”

  In an instant, Lian Ke’s light feet rushed across the arena, covering ground at an alarming speed!

  But Bubai simply stood still, silently gauging the distance.

  Ten meters, nine… eight… seven… target in range. All hands, fire at will!

  Shurikens whirred toward the incoming target like angry wasps!

  But the enemy beelining towards him effortlessly took a light turn and let the projectiles whiff past!

  Yet the volley of shurikens never stopped!

  Step, turn, fire! Step, turn... fire!

  Shuriken after shuriken was snapping out like rounds from a well-oiled machine gun!

  In response to the barrage, Lian Ke’s feet moved like dragons and snakes, making him an almost impossible target!

  The gap closed with each miss, and Lian Ke mocked, "Come on, is that it? Why don’t you give up? Even if you had a hundred more of those toys, they wouldn’t touch me!”

  Seeing every single shuriken miss its mark and doing little to slow down the opponent’s advance, Bubai clicked his tongue.

  As expected, this quick-feet wasn’t so easy to hit.

  Bubai can’t say his marksmanship was perfect enough to achieve the same level as those ninjas who could even change the trajectory of their thrown projectiles mid-flight.

  But, there was no doubt his accuracy was still rather high.

  Against the average outer disciple, he had the confidence to nail their leg even if they sprinted about!

  But this Lian Ke…

  When watching him in the fighting pits, it didn’t seem like much.

  But now that he was facing off against this guy, Bubai realized this guy’s mobility really put him a notch above the ordinary cannon fodders!

  This wasn’t too surprising, considering that most peak late-stage Qi refiners have already touched upon and even surpassed what’s known as the mortal limits.

  Figures. Thrown weapons were rarely seen in these cultivator skirmishes.

  Not only is it costly to stock up, the hit rate was also trash.

  Without actual cultivator auxiliary skills, landing a hit on a quick-reacting cultivator was only but a nightmare.

  But… there are always clever ways to workaround this shortcoming.

  Noting his shurikens have been scattered just about enough, Bubai gathered power through his stance and yanked on all the thin wires that have bundled up in each of his hands!

  Fwip! Copper wires sprang up around Lian Ke, crisscrossing and closing in from both sides like a road block!

  Lian Ke snorted, unimpressed. “I’m not blind! You think these mortal tricks will work on me?”

  Screeching to a stop, Lian Ke instantly unhooked a machete hanging on his waist.

  A swing and swipe sliced right through all the wires like butter!

  By the time the weightless wire fell to the ground, Lian Ke’s fleet foot already closed the last stretch between them!

  A dagger was whipped out and flipped around into a reverse grip- Clang!

  Machete smashed into dagger!

  Borrowing the force from the blow, Bubai let it push him out and smoothly slid backwards.

  Even in retreat, his other hand slipped out another set of shurikens and out they flew!

  Ding! Dink! Clink!

  All got deflected, with one even snagged out of the air by Lian Ke, who flashed a wicked grin, “Right back at you!”

  Swish! Bubai sharply bobbed to the side, and the shuriken was heard bouncing harmlessly against the hard floor.

  But his sharp eyes never left the guy who was shrinking the gap between them once more!

  Cling! Clang! Dagger bit the machete. Machete smashed the dagger. Sparks flew. Palm warded off fist!

  Nobody seized the upper-hand, but Bubai did his best to pull away and took advantage of every inch of space to launch shurikens to keep the other at bay.

  But it was like the wind was carrying the opponent’s shoes because no matter how much he got delayed, Lian Ke still bit onto Bubai like a rabid dog!

  Clang! Crack! Another bout of fierce weapon clashes chipped them, but their weapon-bearing arms went wide…

  Bubai took the chance to deliver a sudden uppercut with his elbow, to which the other sidestepped with a swish and his machete became a guillotine coming straight for Bubai’s neck!

  Screech! The chipped dagger barely parried the glancing blow before snapping!

  Losing an edge, Bubai threw his weight forward to body slam the other, forcing Lian Ke to stumble back!

  Right after, Bubai barely evaded the second slash from the machete and quickly used the opening to slip free while spamming another volley of shurikens to buy some precious distance.

  The opponent didn’t chase him, and Bubai finally had a breather.

  Neither side got scratched during that confrontation, but Bubai was already panting hard for breath.

  By contrast, Lian Ke barely broke a sweat, and he can’t help but smirk. “If running in circles is all you can do, then this is the end!”

  Lian Ke’s fingers completed a series of seals, and his chest puffed up.

  In the next instant, a jet of flames spewed out from his mouth and roared toward Bubai!

  Fire style: Torch Blowing Technique!

  Panic covered Bubai’s face, and he hastily dipped out and rolled away from the fiery wave!

  Shurikens were quickly tossed out just to zone the other off, yet the blazing torrent directly melted through them like wax and didn’t stop chasing Bubai!

  This was the Lian Ke guy’s ultimate move! How could it be so easy to escape!

  However... contrary to his outward appearance, panic isn’t the right word to describe what Bubai’s feeling inside.

  In fact, his mind was calm like a still lake. Everything was an act, and it was all for this moment.

  Finally, the ultimate has come out. That means...

  Bubai cracked the pellet pinched between his fingers.

  When Bubai bounced up from his roll, the pellet was hurled to the ground.

  Poof!

  A thick plume of smoke exploded from the pill, and Bubai disappeared behind the smoke screen with a wicked grin.

  It’s time to kick things up a notch!