CHAPTER 148 MARTIAL ARTS COMPETITION

The swarthy teenager had tousled hair and a look of decadence and sin in his manner. But his eyes

held a darkly dangerous and indifferent expression. Anyone who held his gaze would shrivel backward

with fear.

Keeping his eyes on the lad, Jack walked up to Kevin and asked, "What the hell is Bruce doing here? I

thought this bastard went insane and got locked up."

"Who the hell knows? The freak defeated my brother in the tournament three years ago. His bloodline

force was awakened, and he turned into an ape. With that, he unleashed a formidable power. I heard

that the brat's father is from an alien race from the border. So he is a real bastard," Kevin replied. As he

spoke about the teenager, his voice was laced with both fear and rage. They were two emotions that

battled for dominance within Kevin.

Without a word, Bruce made his way to the participants. Since he arrived, he hadn't paid any attention

to anyone. His eyes remained unfocused and uninterested in his environment and the people around

him.

Darren glanced at Bruce too. The chilly, impassive aura emanating from the young man was both

impressive and oppressive.

Perhaps Bruce had sensed Darren's gaze, and he returned his gaze. Shock suddenly took over his

face. A second later, the impassive and dangerous expression returned as if the shock had never

existed.

'How strange. This is our first meeting, yet I feel like I've seen him before, ' Darren thought, creasing his

eyebrows together.

"Colin, shall we begin the test?" Clive inquired triumphantly, his hands behind his back.

But upon seeing Bruce, Colin felt worried. 'This teenager looks strong. Perhaps Darren can't handle

him, ' he thought.

"You don't look well, Colin. Are you afraid?" Clive said icily.

Meanwhile, the chief of the Ji Family and the chief of the Yu Family also held severe expressions on

their faces now that they noticed Bruce.

"Kevin, be careful if you're going to fight him. If you find that you are no match for him, just back off,"

the chief of the Ji Family whispered.

Kevin snorted. "He prevailed last time because my brother's fifth layer of bloodline hadn't been

awakened. But I'm not him. I look forward to seeing what this bastard's capable of now," he said coldly,

ready to unleash all his power if his opponent was Bruce.

"Jack, if your opponent is Bruce, you must keep your eyes open. Don't push yourself too much," the

chief of the Yu Family urged.

Looking grim, Jack nodded his head slightly with wariness. 'He was terrifyingly powerful three years

ago. I bet he is even stronger now.'

"The tournament begins. It's time to draw lots," Colin declared after gritting his teeth.

There were fifteen participants in total, eight outer disciples of the Lotus Holy Land, five from the Ji

Family, one from the Yu Family, and one from the Wei Family.

All the participants moved forward and drew lots.

A lotus-shaped platform rose out from the square ground, shaking the arena as it ascended.

"Everyone, should we allow participants to kill in this tournament? We must agree unanimously," Clive

said.

"Now that it's a competition, of course, the participants are not allowed to take a life. Don't be so

aggressive, Clive."

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. You let that bastard join the test because you want to use

him to take out our disciples. But I won't allow that to happen. If he dares to kill any of my disciples, I'll

end his life, humph!"

The other two chiefs also stepped in to voice their opinions. They had no intention to see their talented

disciples die on the platform.

"Ha-ha. Cool down, guys. Let's hear about Colin's and Lino's opinions," Clive said with a smirk. The

reactions of the two family chiefs amused him. He was glad to see them get nervous.

"Killing isn't allowed," Lino replied directly.

"I see. All the participants are not allowed to kill. Anyone who breaks the rule will be disqualified and

executed on the spot!" Colin announced loudly to everyone.

The participants were the elites among the young generation. It would be a loss to lose any of them. NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

"Let's begin. Darren Chu is going to fight Bruce Wei," one disciple announced.

Upon hearing this, the people of the Holy Land felt their hearts skip a beat. 'Seriously? Darren is going

to battle that strange yet powerful lad? What a lousy draw for Darren!' they sighed.

But Darren had three chances to change his opponent. The Holy Land spectators were quickly relieved

at the thought that Darren could choose to match with someone else.

"I request to change my opponent," Darren shouted as everyone present had speculated.

He chose to challenge another disciple of the Wei Family.

"Jonathan, your task is to figure out his real power. If you cannot win, you should at least weaken him

in this first match. Understand?" Kevin said to the disciple, who was going to fight Darren.

"Don't worry. At my current strength, I am confident that I can take him out," Jonathan replied

confidently.

He and Darren leaped onto the platform.

"Brat, I don't know how you have the balls to fight me," Jonathan said, glaring at Darren defiantly. He

didn't sense a strong aura from Darren, so he thought that he could easily knock him down.

"You speak too much. Make your move," Darren shouted coldly, thinking little of his opponent.

"How dare you look down upon me? I will show you what I can do. Draw your blade!" Jonathan said,

anger building in his voice.

Taking note of the blade on Darren's back, he surmised that he was a blade cultivator.

"I can defeat you without using it," Darren snapped in contempt.

"You're way too arrogant. I will break your legs and make you spend the rest of your life on a

wheelchair," Jonathan threatened.

'According to the rule, we can't kill. But I can maim him and make sure he never stands again, ' he

thought.

With violent vital energy expanding from his body, he clenched his fists and launched toward Darren at

full speed.

Darren stood still, watching him coming. When Jonathan was three inches away from him, he activated

Shadow Lightness and vanished into thin air.

"Incredible!" Jonathan exclaimed with a stunned expression.

Then he felt a chill creep up his back. 'Oh, crap.'

However, he realized it too late. As he turned around to meet his opponent, a mighty fist plunged into

his spine.

Crack!

His body was shot away and flew towards the edge of the Lotus Battle Ring. He hit an invisible wall and

fell to the ground.

Darren's single punch could land a force of thousands of pounds. If he had used all his strength, which

would be at least ten times stronger than this, Jonathan would have already lost his life.

Despite that, Jonathan's bones crushed. He would not have any martial abilities again.

The rest participants who watched the fight knitted their eyebrows. 'He showed little of his real strength.

But he moves so fast. He will be difficult to handle, ' they mused to themselves.

The fight was over.

The competition continued. Participants stepped onto the platform to vie for victory against each other.

Several rounds later, there were six participants remaining—two from the Ji Family, two from the Lotus

Holy Land, one from the Wei Family, and one from the Yu Family.

The disciples of Lotus Holy Land had failed to make the talented disciples of the three Ancient Families

show their real strength. But this was to be expected for they were much weaker than them.

Now the fight among geniuses began.

"Darren Chu will battle Jack Yu.

Kevin Ji will fight Darrin Zhu.

Bruce Wei will fight Robbie Ji," the tournament disciple continued to announce.

This was the order in which the participants appeared.

"I demand to change my opponent," Darren said, using his second chance to make the change.

"Ha-ha. Looks like you're not an idiot. You could sense you're no match for me," Jack said proudly. He

immediately jumped to the conclusion that Darren didn't want to fight him because he was afraid of

him.

But a second later, he panicked. Looking at Bruce, he thought, 'This is not good. Is this brat going to

take Bruce's opponent so I will have to battle the bastard myself?'

"I chose to fight Robbie," Darren said, a conniving sneer tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Jack's heart sunk.

Since Darren chose to battle Bruce's opponent, Jack would have to fight Bruce. Jack stared at Darren

with resentment growing in his heart. One moment he had thought Darren was afraid, and now he

realized that he had been tricked. He wanted nothing more than to tear him into a million pieces.