I want to tread the heavens

On the stage, Ling Xiao seemed oblivious to the surrounding commotion. He slowly straightened up, his breathing still steady, though a few beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Those few moves just now, though seemingly effortless, actually demanded extremely high levels of control over mind, reaction, and timing; the slightest mistake could have resulted in broken bones and torn tendons.

He didn't even glance at the unconscious Guo Lie on the ground, his gaze calmly sweeping over the remaining people on the stage. After the earlier incident, fewer than thirty people remained standing on the stage. Most people subconsciously kept their distance from Ling Xiao, regarding him as a "porcupine" not to be easily provoked. But a few gazes still carried hostility.

Among them, the coldest one came from Guo Yan in another corner of the ring.

From the very beginning of the diarrhea incident, Guo Yan had been observing coldly from the sidelines, even deliberately distancing himself from Guo Meng and Guo Lie. At this moment, he looked at Ling Xiao, his thin face expressionless, only his eyes flashing with a cold, sinister light, like those of a venomous snake.

Ling Xiao felt a chill run down his spine. This Guo Yan was far more difficult to deal with than Guo Meng and Guo Lie. Not only was his cultivation more solid (peak of the fourth level of Qi Refining), but he was also sufficiently cunning, calm, and patient. He was like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows; when he struck, it was always a fatal blow.

Moreover, Guo Yan is skilled in hidden weapons and poisons, making him a natural nemesis for Ling Xiao, who relies on close-quarters combat and footwork. The arena space is limited, making it difficult to defend against hidden weapons.

"I have to find a way to deal with him first, or... prevent him from using hidden weapons against me." Ling Xiao's mind raced.

Seemingly sensing Ling Xiao's wariness, Guo Yan's lips curled into a cold smile. He slowly raised his hand, and between his fingers, three thin, bluish needles were now held, their tips gleaming ominously in the sunlight.

"Ling Xiao, your good luck ends here." Guo Yan's voice was dry and hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing. "I'll show you how laughable your little tricks are in the face of real strength."

Before he could finish speaking, his wrist suddenly jerked!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Three poisoned needles, arranged in a triangular pattern, shot silently yet with lightning speed towards Ling Xiao's face, throat, and chest! The angles were so precise that they completely blocked his escape route! Even before the needles arrived, a faint, sweet, metallic scent wafted towards him!

"Watch out for the poison needles!" someone in the audience exclaimed.

Ling Xiao's pupils contracted sharply! The poison needle was too fast and covered a wide area; relying solely on the "Swimming Fish Step" was no longer enough to completely avoid it!

At this critical moment—

"Whoa—!!!"

A sharp, short howl, seemingly filled with endless terror, suddenly erupted from below the side of the arena! The sound wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally piercing and ear-piercing, drilling straight into the eardrums! More importantly, the direction and timing of this howl were aimed directly at Guo Yan's ear from the side and behind!

Guo Yan was completely focused on launching the poison needles, never expecting such a strange and targeted howl to suddenly come from the sidelines. He felt as if his eardrums had been stabbed hard by a needle, his mind went blank for a moment, and his wrist trembled slightly involuntarily!

This slight tremor caused the normally incredibly precise poison needle to deviate by an extremely minute margin!

When masters clash, it's all about a split second!

The moment the wolf howled, Ling Xiao had a sudden inspiration, and his body reacted almost instinctively! Instead of trying to completely avoid the three poison needles, he suddenly exerted force in his waist and abdomen, and his whole body fell backward as if it had broken. At the same time, he pushed off the ground with both feet, and his body slid smoothly backward along the ground!

"Swoosh! Swoosh!"

Two poisoned needles flew past his face and chest, embedding themselves in the blue stone of the arena behind him. The needles trembled on their own, corroding two small pits in the hard stone and emitting hissing white smoke.

The bullet aimed at the throat, however, was slightly higher due to the slight tremor in Guo Yan's wrist. It grazed Ling Xiao's raised chin, taking away a strand of hair and a bit of oily skin, leaving a burning pain.

Extremely dangerous!

Ling Xiao's back slammed heavily against the stone railing at the edge of the arena, stopping his slide. Without pausing, the instant his body hit the railing, he braced himself with his hands, springing back to his feet like a spring. Blood seeped from the wound on his chin, but his eyes were icy, fixed intently on Guo Yan.

Guo Yan snapped out of his daze after the interruption, his face growing even darker. He looked down at the crowd, where Fa Cai was squatting, tilting its head and emitting low growls, as if the piercing wolf howl from before had nothing to do with it; it was merely expressing its discontent.

"It's you again, you beast!" Guo Yan's eyes flashed with murderous intent. But he also knew that getting entangled with a dog at this moment would only make him look worse. He looked at Ling Xiao again, his hand once more gripping the poison needle.

However, Ling Xiao will not give him another chance.

In the brief moment that Guo Yan was slightly distracted by his desire to make money and annoyed by his missed poison needle, Ling Xiao made his move!

Instead of rushing towards Guo Yan, he charged towards the center of the arena, where several weaker disciples were engaged in a chaotic battle!

His goal was never to challenge Guo Yan one-on-one. His goal was to make it into the top 50! If he eliminated a few more, he would secure his advancement! A direct confrontation with Guo Yan was too risky; a wise man wouldn't do that.

With his "Swimming Fish Step" fully unleashed, Ling Xiao's figure weaved through the crowd like a ghost. He didn't use any fancy moves, just simple slaps, strikes, pushes, and trips. Each strike was precisely aimed at the moment when the opponent's moves were worn out, their center of gravity was unstable, or at the key point in their fight.

"Ouch!"

"Who pushed me?!"

"Thump!"

Screams, curses, and thuds of people falling to the ground rang out one after another. With Ling Xiao, this "eel," stirring things up, the melee in the center of the ring became even more chaotic. People were constantly being "accidentally injured" or "affected," inexplicably losing their balance and falling off the ring, or being knocked down by their opponents.

Ling Xiao, on the other hand, was like a petrel in a storm, nimbly weaving through the chaos, occasionally striking out opponents who were in poor condition or surrounded, helping them to "escape".

His movements were far from graceful, even somewhat "sneaky"—he targeted joints and acupoints, focused on the lower body, and specifically attacked from behind. But they were extremely effective.

In just over ten breaths, another seven or eight people were "sent" off the stage by him, either directly or indirectly.

The number of people standing on the stage quickly decreased.

Guo Yan tried several times to lock onto Ling Xiao with poison needles, but Ling Xiao was extremely slippery. He always cleverly used the bodies of other contestants as cover, or suddenly changed direction and plunged into the crowd just as Guo Yan was about to make his move, making Guo Yan hesitate to strike.

"Damn it!" Guo Yan's face turned pale with anger. He realized he was in an awkward situation: in terms of direct combat strength, he was confident he could crush Ling Xiao. But Ling Xiao wasn't fighting him at all; he was just using the rules and the chaos to frantically "crush" the elimination counts of others. At this rate, before he could even catch Ling Xiao, Ling Xiao would have accumulated enough "capital" to advance.

Finally, when Ling Xiao delivered a skillful side kick, sending the last shaky Qi Refining Level 3 disciple off the stage, there were exactly ten people left on the stage.

"stop!"

The presiding officer's voice rang out promptly, and the gong sounded again.

"The chaotic battle in the T-group is over! Ten people on stage have advanced!"

Ling Xiao was among them. He stood in a corner of the arena, slightly out of breath, almost completely unharmed except for a minor scratch on his chin. At his feet lay several unfortunate souls he had "helped" sitting haphazardly.

Guo Yan stood on the other side of the ring, his face so dark it seemed to drip water, the poison needle in his hand almost crushing. He had won, defeating several opponents fair and square, and remained on the stage. But looking at the composed (on the surface) Ling Xiao, he felt as if he had lost the whole world.

The audience erupted in uproar once again.

If there was an element of luck and trickery in defeating Guo Meng and Guo Lie before, then the precise judgment, cunning moves, and extreme utilization of the situation that Ling Xiao displayed in the chaos just now sent a chill down the spines of everyone with discerning eyes.

This isn't luck. It's a battle instinct honed through countless trials, a instinct specifically designed for survival.

You may despise his methods for being less than honorable, but you cannot deny their effectiveness. Within the rules, he achieved his goal—advancement—at minimal cost.

Moreover, in the so-called "group of death," under the "special attention" of two Qi Refining Level 4 experts and one Qi Refining Level 4 peak expert, he secured a spot in the next round in such an "easy" way.

"Shameless! Vulgar!"

"This is fucking acceptable? He's completely disgraced the martial arts world!"

"I think it's pretty impressive. If I were in that situation, I'd be beaten to a pulp."

"Anyway, he won..."

The discussion erupted once again. This time, while disdain remained, there was a noticeable increase in astonishment and attention.

In the audience, Guo Dahai's chest heaved violently; he was practically bursting with rage. Guo Yun remained calm, merely picking up her teacup, taking a small sip, and concealing the deeper smile that had been playing on her lips.

The elder of the Lin family clapped his hands and chuckled, "What a brilliant 'avoiding the strong and attacking the weak, winning amidst chaos'! This young man truly understands the ways of survival. Xiaotian, do you still think this is just clever trickery?"

Lin Xiaotian opened his mouth, looking at the somewhat disheveled but frighteningly calm young man on the stage, and for a moment he couldn't utter a rebuttal. He asked himself, if he had suppressed himself to the third level of Qi Refining, in that chaotic situation, could he have done better than Ling Xiao? Perhaps not.

Su Xuejian whispered to the woman beside her, "Aunt, he seems... to completely disregard Guo Yan's threat. His goal has always been clear—to advance in rank. All his actions serve this goal. This kind of person is very dangerous."

"Hmm." The older woman nodded slightly. "He has a clear goal, a firm will, and flexible methods. He's not burdened by empty fame. He's a character. No wonder the third branch of the Guo family values ​​him so highly."

On the arena, Ling Xiao remained oblivious to the surrounding commotion. He slowly walked off the stage, and Facai immediately wagged its tail and came up to him, nuzzling his hand and making ingratiating whimpers, as if to say, "See, I was a great help, wasn't I? Praise me!"

Ling Xiao looked down at its amber eyes, which seemed to be asking for praise, and then at the speck of dirt on its paws (evidence of the pebbles it had thrown earlier). In the end, he could only sigh helplessly and rub its fluffy head.

"Well done...not bad," he said in a low voice, finally managing to curl a small, genuine smile upwards at the corners of his mouth.

Although the method was bizarre, the process thrilling, and the price was their meager allowance... they won the first hurdle.

Moreover, he seems to have found a way to barely survive even with an absolute difference in strength... a "self-taught method".

It was underhanded, but effective.

This is enough.

The secret realm, here I come.