The most melodramatic rebirth in history

Chapter 180 Xu Peng vs. Ke Wei
It was with this in mind that, when Brute Force landed, he suppressed the surging blood and qi within his body and launched another fierce attack despite his injuries.

"Hmph~, trying to finish this quickly!?" As the approaching barbarian charlatan grew larger in his pupils, Blood Five, having guessed his opponent's intentions, immediately flashed a cruel and ruthless glint in his eyes, then sneered inwardly, "Just what I wanted...!"

The smile was very subtle, and apart from a very few high-ranking members of the Jade Purity Sect, no one could detect it.

"Bloodthirsty Blade, severing breath and cutting blood—!"

With a deafening roar, the jet-black broadsword suddenly revealed a strange, blood-red energy fluctuation, followed by a violent compressive force rising from the blade.

"Bam—!"

The iron rod, which was just a beat away from reaching him, suddenly accelerated and collided violently with the swirling broadsword.

Then, an intense feeling of suffocation instantly enveloped the man holding the stick, his flushed face contorted in agony, and his rapidly flowing blood suddenly stopped, giving the impression of congealing into a solid.

The discomfort was so suffocating, yet there was nowhere to vent it, causing a deep sense of despair to rise in Manli's wide eyes. But before he could think any further, the side effect of oxygen deprivation—dizziness—came!
The pitch-black broadsword, imbued with terrifying strangulation power, slowly pressed down. The man wielding the stick, whose consciousness was somewhat blurred, knelt on the ground, resisting entirely through his survival instincts.

If this continues, once brute force loses its power and its strength is completely dissipated, it will definitely be torn into a pile of bloody minced meat by the sharp sword in Xue Wu's hand.

"stop--!"

A furious shout, filled with shock and rage, rang out. Having learned from past mistakes, Elder Chen acted swiftly this time, and in less than a breath, he had already flashed into the raging energy center between the two combatants.

"Bang—!" Immediately, Elder Chen frowned, withdrew his hand, and injected a powerful energy into the back of the man with the stick. With the support of this power, the brute force that had just regained consciousness suddenly swept out and knocked the man with the knife back.

"Blood Five wins!"

"Elder Chen, the competition is not over yet!"

Xue Wu staggered back more than ten meters before stopping, a trickle of blood hanging from the corner of his mouth. He looked at the old man announcing the results with deep apprehension in his eyes.

"Clang-!"

A crisp metallic sound rang out, seemingly a defiant protest against the man's words.

"puff--!"

With his hands, torn apart, released the savage staff amidst the numbing pain. His bloodshot eyes widened suddenly, then he rebounded, straightened his body, tilted his head back, spat out a mouthful of blood, and collapsed unconscious.

Clearly, whether it was the power previously injected into his body or the impact of the sudden release of his suppressed blood, he was caught off guard and, even with his physical strength far exceeding that of ordinary people, he could hardly withstand it.

"Warning, second time!"

The old man stared intently at the knife-wielding man for several seconds, until cold sweat beaded on the man's forehead. Only then did he wave his hand and use his qi to pull up the barbarian staff. He then turned around, grabbed the unconscious brute, and leaped off the stone platform.

"Elder Ling, make sure Feng Ling kills this man tonight!"

A voice transmission reached the ears of the withered old man. This time, not only Elder Chen was filled with murderous intent, but even the man in the purple-gold crown in the VIP seat narrowed his eyes, his gaze turning extremely cold.

"Sect Master, rest assured, we don't need tonight. As long as we move tomorrow's match forward, I have a way to kill him directly!" Ling Weiyun's clone raised an eyebrow and replied confidently.

"Oh!? Tell me about it...!"

So the man in the purple-gold crown and the withered old man secretly communicated and chatted happily.

Even the kind-faced old man with a serious expression, staring at the battle platform below, failed to notice anything unusual.

"Wow...! A legendary expert is indeed terrifying!"

As soon as Elder Chen left, Xue Wu felt a great relief from the pressure. As he exhaled a breath of turbid air, he slumped to one knee, leaning on his broadsword.

He knew perfectly well what the warning meant. Unfortunately, he was unaware that he wouldn't see the sun rise tomorrow.

"Blood-Drinking Sword, drawing away vital energy...!"

Just as the exciting battle on Blood Five's side ended, a thunderous shout came from another stone platform, and everyone's eyes lit up.

The person who spoke was Ke Wei, and the man opposite him with blood trickling from the corner of his mouth was undoubtedly Xu Peng!

"Hiss! Senior Brother Xu Peng is so strong, he managed to hold out against Senior Brother Ke Wei for so long?"

After the initial probing, the battle between the two has now entered a heated phase, with the radiant, sharp sword energy instantly attracting everyone's attention.

"Bang~...!" Amidst the flying sparks, the two swords clashed violently, and a strange energy, almost tangible, entered Xu Peng's body, causing him to have a terrifying thought that he wanted to faint.

If he really closes his eyes, then defeat is inevitable!
"Damn it!"

Thinking of this, Xu Peng immediately bit his tongue to regain a bit of clarity. Then, he exerted his power and used his sword to knock away his opponent's attack. At the same time, he took the opportunity to retreat rapidly.

Ke Wei's moves are similar to Xue Wu's moves; "Blood Extraction" and "Break Breath and Blood Severance" both have the effect of drawing the opponent's blood.

However, the former focuses more on tearing the blood and qi outward, while the latter confines and squeezes the blood along with the breath.

If Xu Pengzhen is suppressed by Ke Wei's move, then the outcome of this battle is already decided!

The lesson from brute force was still fresh in Xu Peng's mind, and he would never allow such a thing to happen to him.

"Without wind, one sword settles the sea!" Barely managing to control the churning blood and qi within his body, Xu Peng's expression suddenly turned solemn. Taking advantage of the brief moment when his power of the ghosts and gods surged, he let out a loud shout and wielded his bright blue sword as he swiftly turned back.

"Hmph! Senior Brother Ke Wei, be careful!" A powerful blue light, accompanied by a cold voice, shot out at lightning speed, like a violently howling arrow, bringing with it a swirling hurricane.

"Well done!"

With a shout, Ke Wei's face darkened instantly, and a surge of demonic power erupted into the Blood-Drinking Sword. He then swiftly twirled the sword, creating a strange ripple wherever the blade passed. As expected of the fourth-place finisher in the previous competition, his mastery of manipulating qi in this move had reached a minor level. The man in blue below, seeing this momentum, raised an eyebrow, already having a result in mind.

"Good heavens! If I'm not mistaken, the outcome will be decided very soon!"

Many elders were astonished. Both of their performances were unexpected. However, the most surprising one was Xu Peng. It wasn't that his cultivation level had increased quickly, but rather his move "One Sword to Stabilize the Sea"!
"One Sword to Stabilize the Sea" is a unique move created by Xiang Qiubai, a core disciple at the peak of the tenth level of cultivation.

Normally, it would be impossible for an ordinary person to obtain a cultivation method. But who knew that guy would actually go to the library and donate his cultivation manual? I don't know if he was truly selfless or just showing off!

"Bang bang~...!" The spinning hurricane and the eerie water ripples collided suddenly, and in an instant, a burst of piercing white light was splashed out. All the disciples whose cultivation level was below the eighth level felt as if their eyes were being pricked by needles, and they immediately raised their sleeves to cover their eyes.

Immediately afterwards, a series of violent tearing roars resounded throughout the entire venue, and the point where the two clashed radiated light, as if a small sun with an extremely unstable interior was being conceived.

"Bam—!"

With a final, earth-shattering roar, fragments of stone flew everywhere. The sun, whose energy had become extremely violent, suddenly bulged and exploded. All the elders who could open their eyes froze, staring intently at the misty stone platform that was being ravaged by the howling sword energy.

Even they couldn't see the situation inside clearly at this moment, they could only vaguely make out that two dark figures holding swords stood facing each other.

"Hiss!" As the rubble quickly dissipated and the blinding light faded, the other people fighting on the stone platform all showed expressions of shock, subconsciously paused, and glanced at the two of them.

On the stone platform covered with rubble, the ground in the center of the battle had sunk half a meter deep, and the two men in the pit still maintained their sword tips facing each other.

"Senior Brother Ke, the thirty moves are over!" The aloof man looked calmly at the panting man opposite him, whose lips were stained with blood, and uttered a sentence devoid of any emotion.

"Has his strength reached this level?" The fat and thin disciples murmured absentmindedly, their feelings complicated, especially the sadness that flashed across their eyes, revealing their low spirits.

"I see!" The man in blue's eyes flickered, then he raised an eyebrow and returned to normal. From beginning to end, he ignored the two men whose attitudes had changed in the slightest.

This is a long-standing grievance that Zhu Bupang and his companion have been harboring in their hearts. How could they possibly be cured immediately by a few words from others?
If Zhu Bupang and his companion were to face Ke Wei one-on-one, they might have a chance of winning. However, they themselves felt they couldn't win as easily and calmly as Xu Peng!
Thinking this, Zhu Bupang and his companion felt a little breathless. After all, the stronger their enemy became, the heavier the invisible burden weighed on their hearts.

Even though Feng Ling had promised them that he wouldn't let Xu Peng off the hook in the competition, the two of them still felt a bit uneasy despite being touched.

It's truly regrettable that you have to rely on others to deal with your own enemies.

"What?! Ke Wei actually lost?! This is impossible, impossible...!"

With the dust settled, many elders were shocked by the result and cried out in disbelief. The inner and outer disciples, who had just regained their sight, were completely stunned and dumbfounded.

The whole audience...

Silence!

"Pfft—!" Upon hearing this, Ke Wei, who was panting heavily, turned red in the face, as if he had been slapped in the face in public. After sheathing his sword and taking three or four steps back, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Xu!" After regaining his footing, Ke Wei breathed a sigh of relief. He first wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, then looked at the calm-looking man opposite him with a complicated expression, and sighed, "You survived thirty-one moves!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was startled, then quickly came to their senses. A flash of inspiration struck them, and they seemed to have thought of something, turning their gazes once again to the aloof man.

"Hmm?" Upon closer inspection a second time, Xu Peng remained motionless after uttering his previous statement, still maintaining the strange posture of holding his sword.

Although his expression remained calm and composed, the crowd eventually sensed something unusual from his slightly trembling body.

"Pfft—!" To everyone's surprise, the arrogant man who had just seemed like a victor suddenly tilted his head back and spat out a three-meter-high column of blood.

Then, his energy dropped drastically, and a strong sense of fatigue and soreness washed over him like a tidal wave. Finally, Xu Peng could no longer hold on, and like a brute force, he collapsed to the ground, barely breathing and unconscious.

"Hmph, arrogant idiot! I really regret being teammates with someone like you!"

On another broken stone platform, Xue Wu, who was sitting cross-legged healing his wounds, suddenly opened his eyes, turned his head and gave a disdainful snort to the arrogant man lying on the ground.

When his gaze fell on the man who was also sitting cross-legged, Xue Wu suddenly grinned, looking quite evil. However, the other party did not seem to be afraid and closed his eyes to heal without even glancing at him.

"Ke Wei, you win!" With a loud shout, the fat and thin disciples breathed a sigh of relief as they watched the unconscious, arrogant man being led off the stone platform by Elder Chen. They thought to themselves: Thank goodness, this isn't real!

Not only did Zhu Bupang and his companion breathe a sigh of relief, but Ke Wei's master and the elders who had high hopes for Ke Wei also breathed a sigh of relief.

However, the happiest person was neither Ke Wei's master nor the elder who favored him, nor even the victorious Ke Wei, but rather Zhu Bupang and Xu Peng.

Xu Peng lost the match this time, so he will naturally have to enter the quarterfinals again, just like he did with brute force before.

As a result, Xu Peng is very likely to face brute force, and he will probably have to put in a lot of effort if he wants to successfully win that advancement spot!
They might even be eliminated outright!
"Staying silent when happy or angry can prevent the enemy from probing your true strength. This is the most basic method of mental cultivation that Elder Ling taught you. Have you forgotten it all when you encounter your enemies?"

Seeing that the time was almost up, the man in blue had a thought and immediately turned around to give the two people beside him a cold snort, then used his clone to give them a stern reprimand.

Then, ignoring the innocent looks from the two who were begging for mercy, he curled his lip and said fiercely, "In short, your performance just now was very unsatisfactory, and I will report it to Elder Ling truthfully!"

"Boss, please don't! Please don't let Master find out, or we'll be in big trouble!"

"That's right! As long as the boss doesn't say anything, we'll do anything for you, even if it means working like slaves!"

Zhu Bupang and his companion looked pained, glanced around, and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, quickly bent down and moved a little closer to the man in blue.

"Cough cough... Never mind, never mind!" Seeing the two kneeling on either side of him, hugging his legs and looking at him with pitiful expressions.

Feng Ling's lips twitched violently. He quickly exerted a slight force to shake the two of them away, then sighed helplessly, "However, remember, this is the last time...!"

Amidst the myriad troubles and disturbances of the world, may the sages bring you, the readers, a pure land for your souls.

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(End of this chapter)