The deacon in charge of Li Lang’s arena finally settled the other contestants and made their way up to the platform, causing his opponent, Mei Long, to stop glaring.

The deacon proceeded to give them the same spiel, explaining the rules of the fight before declaring the start of a new round.

“Fight!”

Mei Long wasted no time and jumped straight at Li Lang. Unlike the previous opponent, Mei Long wielded a classic wooden sword empowered with his Qi and didn’t hesitate to use it.

It may be a wooden weapon, but it could still easily break bones.

The sword slashed out fiercely toward Li Lang’s face, and he nimbly dodged out of the way.

The head was one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body, but at the same time, it was also the part hardest to hit. That was because it was where the eyes were. Even an untrained person would flinch and dodge out of the way if something came for their head, and cultivators were no different.

Li Lang dove and weaved past the attacks. To the untrained eye, it may seem like he was doing well, but in reality, he was doing everything he could to avoid the blows. He didn’t excel in speed or anything, so he had to rely on large movements to get out of the way. This meant he would get tired faster, and it was only a matter of time before he would slip up from exhaustion.

Wait, I shouldn’t be dodging everything if he’s taking me seriously. Something feels off…He’s only targeting my face!

“You…are…” Li Lang barely managed to squeak out between blows. “Aiming…for my…face?”

Contrary to Li Lang, Mei Long was able to speak with ease as he continued his unrelenting slashes.

“Instructions from the Young master. He wants to make you more manly by giving you a few scars.”

“...”

Having discovered this fact, Li Lang’s movements became more refined as he knew what Mei Long was aiming for. It became easier for him to dodge, but it didn’t change the situation where he didn’t even have the leeway to retaliate.

The difference in cultivation was just too wide and defending was everything that Li Lang could manage. Mei Long was in the fifth stage of Energy Gathering while Li Lang was only in the third.

After a whole ten minutes of dodging, it didn’t surprise the crowd when Li Lang finally slipped up as his movement lost its sharpness.

Li Lang’s body didn’t move as he commanded, and he could only helplessly watch as the wooden sword nick his cheeks, cutting open a small wound. He had tried focusing his Qi there to defend against the blow, but the attack was too powerful, and he didn’t make it in time to coat his skin with Qi.

A tiny trickle of blood dripped down his cheeks and stained the arena as he continued to roll around.

I’ll only lose if this keeps happening. I have to counterattack! He’s not letting his guard down, so the only way is… but I’ll have to be able to take a head-on blow for that to work!

Li Lang felt his blood heat up as he continued to dodge. He knew the longer this went, the more disadvantageous it was for him. With a lower cultivation, he would likely run out of steam first.

The young boy gritted his teeth as he steeled his resolve.

The attacks so far were all focused on his face, which made it much more predictable. It was to the point that even Li Lang, who only had a month or two of combat experience, could predict its trajectory.

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However, it was still impossible for a beginner like Li Lang to parry the attacks.

On the next swing that came down diagonally at him, the large-headed boy prepared to receive the blow with his forearm. He concentrated all his Qi toward his left arm and exerted all the force he could muster in trying to expel the Qi out of his body to envelop his arm.

As he tried his best, his eyes didn’t leave the wooden blade being swung down on him.

I won’t make it in time!

The blade swiftly made contact with the young boy’s arm, and the sound of impact resounded through the arena.

Pain swelled up in Li Lang’s forearm, but after a quick second, he realized it didn’t hurt as badly as he expected. Glancing over at where the pain came from, Li Lang’s eyes widened when he spotted the faint glow of his Qi stabilized around his forearm.

I…did it? Wait, no time to celebrate.

Li Lang found Mei Long was just as stunned, having discovered his opponent was suddenly able to evoke a layer of Qi to defend against his attack. It was something he never expected as it was not a feat someone in the third stage of Energy Gathering could accomplish.

“Look at that! He managed to coat his arm with Qi to defend against the blow!”

“Still… I bet it hurts. It’s still not easy to block a weapon unarmed, even if it’s a training sword.”

“Congratulations Junior! You’ve broken through!” A voice shouted in the background.

It was only then that Li Lang realized he had inadvertently broken through in the middle of combat! All the fights he had with Qi beasts had pushed him to the brink. Now, faced with danger once more, he was finally able to control his Qi.

It only took the big-headed boy a second to realize that he could freely envelop his body with the Qi now. It was as if he suddenly developed muscle memory, being able to spread out a thin layer of Qi throughout his body or concentrate it into one part.

He didn’t waste the opportunity to take advantage of his stunned adversary and threw out a punch with all his Qi concentrated on it. It landed squarely at Mei Long’s jaw, pushing him several steps back.

“Hmph!” Mei Long spat out some blood. “So what if you’ve broken through? You’re still a whole stage behind me!”

He got into a different sword stance before quickly slashing down at the empty space in front of him. A shockwave of Qi was sent flying from the tip of his sword, flying straight at Li Lang.

Thankfully, Li Lang was conditioned to dodge attacks and quickly ducked out of the way. By reflex, he closed the distance with his opponent immediately after dodging.

“You’re not bad at running away from attacks, but let’s see if you have the speed to be able to catch me!”

Mei Long jumped back to keep some distance from his opponent, but his feet suddenly buckled.

“What?”

Having received a blow to the jaw, the young cultivator hadn’t realized how much that blow had rattled his brain. And that was a fatal mistake, and also his last mistake in the tournament.

Seeing his opponent stagger, Li Lang jumped into the air and unleashed his only offensive martial art, the Skysoar Kick. It landed right on the dazed Mei Long’s chest, sending him flying off the stage.

“Winner, Li Lang!” the deacon declared as soon as Mei Long went out of bounds.

The crowd instantly cheered triumphantly at the surprising results. The underdog had won, and many were stirred by such unexpected outcomes.

However, the winner didn’t bask in the glory, but instead stood completely still on the stage.

I’ve broken through?

Li Lang inspected the state of himself. He didn’t feel that he had physically grown stronger like the previous breakthroughs, but his control of Qi was definitely better.

He looked down at his hand as he enveloped it with Qi and stared at the soft glow. Using his empowered hand, he lightly tapped his other hand, and it was instantly blown back.

Layering Qi outside my body empowers it much more than I thought. It isn’t just a defensive skill, but can be offensive as well… Another thing to add to my training regime.

The cheering was so loud that many from the more distant arenas turned to see what was going on.

“What is going on over at arena number seventeen? I don’t think there was anyone of note over there.”

“I heard there was a big upset and someone broke through!”

As Li Lang’s arena became the center of attention, only one girl remained unfazed. Ling Xue was practically the only one in her group that completely ignored the spectacle. Instead, she gazed up into the sky.

“It is almost time…” she quietly muttered.