After months of training, Li Lang’s various martial arts techniques had improved drastically and could not be compared to before.

Li Lang’s Skysoar Kick landed squarely on the back of the other contestant who had been caught off guard. Even with his Qi protecting him, the kick instantly caused the young man to fall face-first into the ground. Before the victim could make out what had happened, Li Lang placed his new spear right against the back of his opponent’s head.

If someone was paying careful attention, they could notice Li Lang’s breathing was uneven despite not having expended much stamina. He quickly surveyed his surroundings after having successfully carried out his ambush.

He glanced up in time to see Wei Ping atop the cultivator, who had been exhausted after employing a powerful Qi art. His mask-wearing ally didn’t hesitate to plunge his dagger into the neck of the man below him. Instantly, the victim was enveloped in a bright white light and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Meanwhile, Long Yi had already finished off the Qi beast with his opening attack. It wasn’t surprising considering Long Yi had made great strides in his cultivation throughout this half a year.

Unlike Wei Ping or Li Lang, Long Yi had grade three aptitude. He was also afforded the same advantage as them, making ample use of Cleansing Drugs to further accelerate his progress. All this meant he had already broken into the fifth stage of the Energy Gathering realm two months ago.

As for Wei Ping, he had broken through to the fourth stage shortly after his duel with Bai Yuchen, the young master they had encountered out in the underground expanse zone they had ventured into. The fight had served as inspiration for him, allowing him to break past his bottleneck after digesting the gains he made in the duel.

Unlike his two companions, Li Lang didn’t manage to make a breakthrough yet during this half a year. He was extremely close, just on the brink of it. It didn’t mean he was lazy, but simply because every cultivation level was exponentially harder than the one before.

Normally, a regular disciple with grade two aptitude would take two years on average to break through from the fourth stage to the fifth stage. The fact that Li Lang, who had grade one aptitude, had almost done it in half a year would shock the whole cultivation world if it became known. They would definitely suspect him of having a chance encounter or made use of a rare heavenly resource for him to make such progress despite his aptitude.

All three of them were already deviants for their quick progress. It could be said that their progress matched even the once-in-a-generation geniuses of the average sect.

With both Wei Ping and Long Yi having finished off their target, they turned to Li Lang with a questioning look.

“What’s wrong? Hurry up and finish him off. They won’t really die and will be just teleported away,” Long Yi reminded.

“I thought rendering someone immovable to the point where they can’t resist would mean the Grand Elder would also teleport them out…I’m just testing it out.”

Li Lang’s reply had been said without confidence. That was because he was actually struggling with finishing off his opponent. Despite knowing they wouldn’t die, it was still hard for Li Lang to go through with murder using a melee weapon.

It may have been different if he was using a ranged weapon where it was easier to disassociate with the violence, but stabbing someone produced a vivid sensation.

It couldn’t be helped that Li Lang struggled with this. Despite having memories of being an adult, he had lived in a world far away from any conflict and strife. He had never even considered murdering another person with his own hands. He was a scientist who stayed cooped up in his lab and not a soldier.

Thankfully, Li Lang didn’t have to continue struggling with his indecision.

As if having heard Li Lang’s words, the cultivator at his feet suddenly shone with white light before disappearing.

Still… this is quite a weakness I have. I’ll have to work on it if I want to survive in this world. I doubt I’m strong enough to hold back when the time comes that my life is in danger and running isn’t an option.

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“...I guess you’re right. That works too.” Long Yi muttered.

“Anyway, did you get the seal after killing the Qi beast?”

“I’m not sure… The beast turned into dust when it died and some of it was absorbed into my hand here and became a mark.” Long Yi held up his hand where there was now a circular mark on the back of his hand.

“I t-think that m-means we only g-get a seal for l-landing the killing blow. We’ll h-have to be mindful of t-that since we a-are working as a team.” Wei Ping declared.

Once the three young men reviewed how their ambush went, they quickly set off for the next. Despite having eliminated some competitors, they still needed seals themselves.

Following the sound of fighting, it didn’t take them long until they came across another fight. It was between two cultivators and a Giant Serpent. The two cultivators surrounded the giant serpent that was as thick as the nearby trees. They took turns inflicting blows when the snake’s attention was directed at their partner, but they seemed to be holding back, as their attacks were too weak to deal a fatal blow.

“Those two should both be in the fifth stage of Energy Gathering. Why are they holding back so much?” Li Lang voiced his question as he crouched by the tree line.

“Who cares? It should be as easy as the last ambush. Let’s get this over.” Long Yi retorted.

Just as he was about to step out, Wei Ping quickly held back his companion.

“Let’s w-wait and see, first.”

Turning to find Li Lang agreeing as well, Long Yi could only shake his head as he crouched back down.

Thanks to their cautiousness, the trio soon discovered the reason for the tepid fighting.

“Huang Dao, are you seriously going to fight me for this prey? We are both wasting our time and allowing our other competitors to get ahead.”

“Shut up, Liang Nian. This was my prey in the first place. There’s no way I would yield it to you! Besides, no one said it’s against the rules to hinder other contestants!”

Seeing the scene, Li Lang’s group exchanged awkward glances.

”I expected the others to catch on soon about fighting each other, but these two are something else.”

“I t-think we can a-act now…”

The trio quickly sprang into action after seeing everything to be seen. They rotated out who would be responsible for the Qi beast this time and made short work of their opponents. It was almost too easy to finish someone off when they were caught off-guard, but none of them felt ashamed about their method.

It was a tournament, so if the organizers didn’t intend for this to happen, they would’ve made some rules against it beforehand.

This time, Li Lang had time to adjust mentally to the ordeal and was able to successfully thrust out his spear in the opening attack. His hand had trembled, but it was already a huge improvement from his previous hesitation. The fact he had witnessed the contestants being teleported out instead of actually dying had helped a lot.

When his opponent disappeared from his blow, a trail of glittering dust replaced them and sailed through the air, heading straight toward Li Lang. It quickly came into contact with his hand, and he soon found a circular mark similar to the one Long Yi had.

So you can take the seals from others too…

Like this, the trio continued to ambush others who were in the midst of fighting.

By the time they encountered their fifth group, they had witnessed a completely different kind of scene from before. Instead of cultivators battling against Qi beasts, their fifth encounter completely consisted of human parties. Two groups of five were fighting against each other, totaling ten people between them.

“So the others have caught on. Let’s return to the grand hall to bank our seals for now. It’s not a good idea being so close to the battlefield when the fighting ramps up.” Li Lang immediately suggested.

“Return to the hall? Wouldn’t there be even more people there?” Long Yi cried out.

“Yes, but I don’t think we’d be allowed to fight within the grand hall. Otherwise, we could just stay in there forever and ambush others as they finish hunting the Qi beasts. Wouldn’t make for a very exciting show for the audience, would it? The entire area inside the barrier should be a safe zone.”

“Y-yes…It’d be b-better than heading further i-into the forest like e-everyone else is thinking. We c-can rest in the grand hall w-while others fight e-each other,” Wei Ping added.

The trio swiftly navigated through the forest back toward the giant yellow barrier that could be seen from the distance. The sounds of fighting grew quieter, as the battles had died down and people began to keep a low profile in fear of being targeted.

Just when the trio caught sight of the resplendent golden building, Long Yi suddenly tackled the other two to the ground.

By the time they landed, a deafening explosion rang out right where they were heading. Immediately following the explosion, three figures darted out from the treeline from different directions and surrounded the trio.

Li Lang had just gotten up in time to make eye contact with one of his assailants. It was a familiar face, but it took him a moment to recall the name.

“You…I’ve seen you before.”