Many people had originally shown little interest in the first sparring match. Blood Guards fighting each other was hardly anything special—everyone had come from the Blood Guard Corps and knew each other's tricks and methods inside out.
Moreover, the cultivation gap between the two Blood Guards currently on the stage was quite obvious.
It should have been a one-sided affair.
But the actual outcome left everyone dumbfounded. That second-layer Heaven Rank had somehow managed to hold his ground under the relentless assault of a sixth-layer Heaven Rank. Even drenched in blood, even outmatched in cultivation, he remained tenacious, fighting back stubbornly.
Quite a few onlookers showed flickers of emotion.
On the sparring platform, the battle raged on. Wei Cheng's Blood Guard moved with agility, circling around Yang Huai and striking from time to time, toying with him like a cat playing with a mouse, sending him spinning in every direction.
Wu Zhengqi, who had been watching from the sidelines, gradually took on a contemplative expression.
At a certain moment, Yang Huai reached out with a massive hand and suddenly let out a low shout: "Got you!"
With a thunderous boom, energy waves surged and spiritual power clashed. The scene on the platform left everyone stunned. In that split second, Yang Huai had somehow seized one of Wei Cheng's Blood Guard's calves and blocked a vicious strike.
Immediately after, Yang Huai revealed a savage grin. Gripping his opponent as though he were a small chicken, he slammed him savagely toward the ground. If this blow landed cleanly, even a sixth-layer Heaven Rank cultivator would either die or suffer grievous injuries.
Wei Cheng let out a cry of alarm.
In the space between a lightning flash and a spark, that sixth-layer Heaven Rank's body folded at an uncanny angle, coiling around Yang Huai's thick arm like a nimble serpent. The instant his back was about to hit the ground, both fists transformed into a sky full of fist shadows, enveloping Yang Huai.
Boom…
The sparring platform shook violently, and the ferocious battle came to an abrupt halt.
Everyone looked over. There stood Yang Huai, eyes wide with fury, half-kneeling on the ground and frozen in the posture of his final strike. His opponent lay sprawled on the floor, mouth and nose caked in blood, looking utterly wretched.
In that last desperate moment, he had managed to defuse the crisis with all his might, but he had still been slammed into the ground by Yang Huai. His back had gone completely numb, making him half-convinced his spine had snapped.
It was over? Below the platform, after a brief silence, a wave of whispered murmuring arose. From the look of things, the second-layer Heaven Rank had actually won—which was truly astonishing. Even Wei Cheng thought so, his face frozen in a look of blank disbelief.
"First bout, Alchemist Wei wins!" Wu Zhengqi stepped forward two paces, gesturing toward Wei Cheng's side as he announced the final result.
Wei Cheng blinked, confirming he hadn't misheard. His expression remained dazed. Though he was now also a Heaven Rank cultivator, an alchemist's cultivation was largely built up through spirit pills and elixirs—it wasn't quite the same as a martial artist who had genuinely earned his strength through hard work. So even though he had watched the entire fight unfold, he still didn't have a clear grasp of what had happened, let alone understand how he had won.
But if Wu Zhengqi said so, it had to be correct.
He turned to glance at Yang Kai and saw that the latter wore a calm, indifferent expression, showing no signs of objection. His heart immediately settled.
Just then, a commotion arose on the sparring platform. The sixth-layer Heaven Rank was struggling to rise to his feet. He looked utterly disheveled, but at least he still had the strength to move. Yang Huai, on the other hand, remained frozen in that same position, not moving a muscle. Only the blood dripping steadily from his mouth and nose, tapping against the ground in a soft, rhythmic sound, indicated he was still breathing.
Seeing this, Wei Cheng finally understood—Yang Kai's Blood Guard had been knocked unconscious…
No wonder he had won.
"My lord, your subordinate has fulfilled his duty!" The sixth-layer Heaven Rank cupped his fists toward Wei Cheng.
"Mm, well done. Rest for now." Wei Cheng gave a slight nod.
"Yes!" The warrior acknowledged, but when he jumped down from the platform, he couldn't help glancing back at Yang Huai, his expression still tinged with lingering fear.
He had never encountered such a stubborn second-layer Heaven Rank. Today's victory had been incredibly narrow. If the opponent had been able to hold out a little longer, who would have won was genuinely anyone's guess.
On the other side, Yang Kai also leaped onto the platform. He examined Yang Huai's injuries and found nothing serious—the fellow's physical body was absurdly tough. Though he looked terrible, it was all superficial wounds, with no damage to bones, tendons, or internal organs. He had only passed out from sheer exhaustion, so Yang Kai channeled spiritual energy to wake him.
"My lord!" Yang Huai came to, immediately realizing he must have lost. Filled with shame, he cupped his fists. "Your subordinate performed poorly and has disappointed my lord."
Yang Kai patted his shoulder. "It's nothing. The cultivation gap is what it is. Doing as well as you did is already impressive enough. Besides, you've only been cultivating for too short a time…"
Yang Huai gave a muffled acknowledgment. Today's fight, his greatest takeaway was the terrifying potential of the Flawless Tyrant Body Art that Yang Kai had taught him.
He knew his own strength well enough—at merely the second-layer Heaven Rank, in the past he absolutely could never have fought a sixth-layer Heaven Rank to this degree. He probably wouldn't have lasted twenty breaths. But after cultivating the Flawless Tyrant Body Art, he had nearly beaten his opponent. It was almost unbelievable, and he had only been practicing it for a few days. If he continued for a bit longer, perhaps he really could win.
"Who will Alchemist Yang send for the second bout?" Wu Zhengqi asked.
Yang Kai had only brought one Blood Guard along, and the poor fellow had just been beaten half to death. The second bout simply couldn't be fought. Wu Zhengqi had never encountered a situation like this before either, so he didn't know what to do and could only ask Yang Kai first.
Yang Huai struggled to his feet and cupped his fists. "My lord, your subordinate requests to fight!"
Yang Kai chuckled. "Fight what? Standing upright is already a challenge for you right now. One more round and they'd really beat you to death."