Yao Peng and the remaining eight people he had brought along froze slightly as they looked at Huang Ying and the human pincushion he had created. They worked for the Liangyu clan, and they were cultivators, so death was something they were all too familiar with. But this? Death in less than a second, abrupt and grim? It was disconcerting, the slightly upturned lips of Huang Ying now taking on an eerie appearance in their eyes.

"You won't come? Alright, then I'll come to you, get ready."

Was it arrogance or confidence that drove those words? Or was Huang Ying just so mad that he honestly wanted them to prepare properly before he attacked? Yao Peng couldn't tell, he could already feel that the things he had previously believed were slipping out of his grasp. But the beast in front of them wouldn't give them the chance to properly organize their thoughts, he gave them five seconds of time to prepare and then sprung into action.

His leg lashed out, his foot embedding itself in the abdomen of the pincushion-like corpse in front of him. The body bent slightly around Huang Ying's, the earthen branches moving in tune with the body's limbs. And then a burst of wind was added onto the already explosive strength of Huang Ying's kick and blasted the corpse away, turning it into a cannonball that was launched at the remaining men.

Yao Peng and the others gathered their wits as the corpse flew at them, two of them stepping forward to block it. He had killed one when they sent out just one defender, it was a mistake they did not want to repeat. One of the men lashed out with his spear to swat the corpse away, the other man standing ready with his sword so that they could react to any response that Huang Ying might have.

But the moment the spear touched the corpse was the moment Huang Ying's response revealed itself. The body burst open like an overripe melon, the sharp earthen branches that had burrowed through it launching themselves wildly through the air. They also grew as they flew, fueled by the Qi that Huang Ying had absorbed from the first corpse, each branch propagating as new branches grew out from it.

There was a limit to how much the two men could block so they ended up getting a few cuts and holes in them as the branches reached them, but they managed to reduce the power of each branch so that it didn't end up as anything fatal. But as they were dealing with the branches, they heard the sound of something cutting through the air.

The two blades that made up Huang Ying's double-headed spear had been flung out, one heading for the sword wielder while the other flew past the spearman, seemingly heading for Yao Peng. The sword wielder ground his teeth and ignored the branch that was about to pierce his thigh, raising his sword to block the blade. The spearman moved in to fill the gap, or at least lessen the burden on the swordman, but the moment he moved his spear they heard a thunderous warning from behind them.

"It's coming from behind you, guard!"

The eyes of the spearman shot open, but it was already too late. The blade that was heading for the swordman suddenly jerked to the side, as if someone had tied a string to it and was tugging it fiercely. The blade shot sideways as if it was being swung, the spearman had stepped closer to help the swordman so he was already so close that he could forget about dodging.

The blade cut into his slightly outstretched arm, but a blade embedded itself into the back of his neck before he could even grunt in pain. The blade that had shot past him had spun as it flew, moving like a pendulum and finally embedding itself into his neck. It nearly removed his head from his shoulders, his legs turning limp as he fell to his knee, his eyes empty and lifeless.

But the swordman, who had turned his gaze sideways, felt a chilling sensation coming from his front before he could even say anything. His pupils shot to the front just in time to see Huang Ying bursting through the web of earthen branches that was still assaulting the man, his lips turned up so far that his sharp canines were revealed.

Both his hands held something that looked like tiny brown threads that connected to the base of the two blades, but they seemed so thin that there was no way they should be able to support the weight of the weapons. The man's sword flashed upwards in an attempt to force Huang Ying back, but he simply yanked one of the threads, one of the two blades flying back and landing in his grasp.

The sword was blocked and Huang Ying stepped into the bosom of the man, his other hand shooting forward and digging into one of the holes that the branches had poked in his body. Even in the end, as earthen branches burst from within his flesh, the swordman had no idea what Huang Ying had done.

"Fucking bastard."

But there was at least one person in the audience that understood what Huang Ying had done, and Ying Feixu cursed under her breath when she realized where he got it from. One of her own secret techniques, connecting her two daggers with invisible threads made from crystal and wind, that way she could easily attack with them in unpredictable patterns.

Only Huang Ying had gotten to see this technique, she had used it on him in one of their training sessions when she tried to catch him off-guard and kill him. And now he had taken it for himself, his wind forming a hollow shell while earth formed the core, and since both sections were made from sturdy Qi he could even make them incredibly thin and hard to see yet have them retain the strength to support his weapons.

"That's another two, Yao Peng. Come on now, by this point you've surely realized that you need to come at me all at once, right? So come on, stop sitting back and actually do something, it'll be far too boring if you just stand there gawking as you die one by one."

Huang Ying obviously couldn't hear Ying Feixu's cursing, assembling his two-headed spear while cocking his head slightly. Ten people had been reduced to seven in quick succession, and while the remaining seven were the strongest members of the original ten, Huang Ying wasn't afraid of all of them ganging up on him.

"Be quiet, we don't move on the order of a mongrel."

Yao Peng had no choice but to give a sharp reply to Huang Ying's statement, it was one of the few ways he could at least save a tiny amount of face for the Liangyu clan at this moment. Huang Ying simply wasn't bothered by insults like that, slowly walking forward as the tip of his spear dragged along the stage.

"Well, that mongrel is currently eating you up one by one, so don't take it as an order but as a warning."

A sliver of his devouring Qi entered the two corpses as he stepped past them, stealthily devouring their Qi and memories to bolster Huang Ying's strength. Huang Ying's head turned slightly as he walked, his gaze landing on Ying Feixu and the others. He didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes told Ying Feixu everything she needed to know.

'Watch and learn.'

Three of the men in Yao Peng's group shrunk back slightly as Huang Ying approached them, the swift decimation of their teammates had already sowed the seeds of terror in their hearts. But those very same three people also clenched their teeth and charged forward as one, they knew that stepping back here wasn't an option, not with Yao Peng watching. Since that was the case they figured that they may as well just toss themselves into the fray and oblige Huang Ying's arrogant statement, at least then they would stand a chance.

But the chance they hoped for and desired never came. Their cultivation was higher than Huang Ying's but even a blind man would be able to tell that their experience was too far apart, the men had the outer shell but lacked the substance to fill it up. Huang Ying on the other hand was all substance, a squelching mass of violence and experience that poured out from every single opening in his shell.

The three men charged forward as one, trusting their sides and backs to each other, and it was in that smart move that their mistake could be found. Huang Ying's foot landed on the stage again as he completed his next step, but his Qi surged into the ground from his foot, that nearly soundless step producing a furious rumbling sound.

The stage beneath the feet of the man in the leftmost position bulged and squirmed as the earth beneath it rose up and tossed like a wave. His posture was instantly ruined and he fell sideways, the man next to him supporting him so that he didn't fall over. But in doing so, his arms and attention instinctively became occupied by something other than the monster in front of him, after all, he had his ally protecting his side.

Huang Ying shot forward the moment the first man started to wobble, his spear pointed directly at the man in the middle, the one who caught the first man. The third man didn't step out to block, remaining at his ally's side and shooting out several sharp glacial thorns while stabbing his pike forward.

But Huang Ying didn't act like the man expected him to, he actually did the exact opposite and ignored the attacks completely. The thorns stabbed into his body and the pike pierced through his waist, blood spurting everywhere. Huang Ying grabbed onto the hilt of the pike and pulled it strongly, the man holding it yanked forward and out of position.

The forwards stabbing spear was swept sideways, but the man had been pulled so far forward that the blade would end up behind his head. But that didn't mean that he was safe, it only meant that his death would be all that more painful. The sturdy handle of the spear smashed into the side of his head, shattering his skull and sending shards of bones bounding through his brain.

Huang Ying stepped forward as he smashed the spear sideways, sweeping it in the other direction as the man fell to the ground with a broken head. The tip of the spear carved through the chest of the middle man and cut straight through the head of the man whose posture had been broken at the start. Once the head was cut in half, Huang Ying used his great physical strength to reverse the direction of the spear once more and carve a new gash into the body of the middle man, opening his abdomen so that the organs stuffed inside it fell to the ground.

His law of devouring quietly snuck into their bodies and devoured their Qi and memories, eating up a bit of their flesh and blood as well and using it to facilitate the regeneration of Huang Ying's own body. The frozen thorns fell out of his body as the wounds closed themselves, and he simply pulled out the pike by pushing it all the way through so that it fell to the ground behind him.

A simple move that took advantage of their instincts and apparent familiarity while also taking advantage of his own ability to quickly regenerate wounds. Simple and effective, but cruel, to both the enemy and himself.

"Down to four. You're disappointing me, Yao Peng, I hoped that you would bring something better than this."

Huang Ying stood amidst the corpses as he spoke, his expression a bit downcast, his robe still drenched in blood. The three men around Yao Peng saw his wounds close up, not even leaving behind scars as they vanished, and something in their minds broke.

"Run!"

The three men turned tail and ran without looking back, their most primordial instincts screaming at them. That thing was not a man, it was not an enemy. That thing was a monster, a primordial entity that could not be fought, could not be bested, could not be killed. It was death, waiting for them to jump into its open maws so that it could chew them up and swallow them, trapping them in the eternal darkness of its stomach.

"This is what you cobbled together after I gave you fair warning, Yao Peng? Unskilled fighters and people who can't even stand tall in the face of death? I know that your master's clan won't bring too many of their forces to something as small as a pre-competition, but this is just disappointing."

Huang Ying shook his head as he looked at the fleeing men, they had crumbled the moment the shadow of death had touched them. And sure, the Liangyu clan wouldn't bring its stronger and more valuable members to a pre-competition, they probably wouldn't show themselves before the actual competition started. But this was the best he could gather up? Rabble that had no place in combat? Worthless enemies that couldn't even give him the smallest thrill?

"Even if you win here, do you really think Adjunct Zhe will let you live?"

Yao Peng ground his teeth so loudly that it sounded like they were about to crack, the escape of the three remaining members was far removed from anything he had ever expected. In truth, his own feet wanted to turn around and carry him away from here, but he couldn't do that, not with so many people watching. Even if he died, he had to at least uphold the smallest bit of the Liangyu clan's face. His words could be considered a very quiet threat, but Huang Ying simply maintained his expression, gesturing towards the seats around them.

"Look around, do you see your Adjunct Zhe anywhere? I wonder, did he not bother showing up because he trusts you, or because he tossed you away?"

Just like Huang Ying said, Liangyu Shao Zhe wasn't present among the seats, he hadn't even bothered to show up to his subordinates battle. Yao Peng didn't respond to Huang Ying's question, only the grinding of his teeth got a bit louder. The truth was so simple that it wasn't even worth mentioning, Huang Ying wasn't an enemy that Yao Peng should have any trouble with.

At least that was what the official records showed, but if they had access to the unofficial records then things would probably have looked a bit different. But they didn't have those records so there was nothing that could be done, Yao Peng would just have to do what he could in this situation.

As such, he brought out his sword and charged forward, bursting with energy as flames blazed to life around him. Huang Ying welcomed his charge, slowly stepping towards him and splitting his spear into its two bladed components. Yao Peng had seen Huang Ying's regeneration so he knew that just giving him a bunch of wounds wouldn't be enough, he had to ruin him with a single attack.

He readied his weapon, all the flames that burned around him gathering around the sword and turning it a blinding orange as the metal reached temperatures it wouldn't be able to sustain for long. His cherished sword would become ruined by this, but victory was more important than the weapon so he had no choice but to bear the cost.

His feet kicked off the ground, a blazing explosion erupting from his soles and launching him forward so that he could catch Huang Ying off-guard. He stabbed his sword forward with all his might as he shot forward, aiming the tip directly at Huang Ying's heart. Going for the brain wasn't a bad idea, but the head offered more ways he could dodge so he calculated that he had a higher chance of hitting the heart. Like this, Huang Ying would die instantly even if he dared to take the attack with his own body as he had earlier.

And sure enough, Huang Ying didn't even raise his weapons to produce any defence, the grin on his face sending chills down Yao Peng's back. But the second Yao Peng's blade was about to touch Huang Ying's skin, the truth was revealed. A thin layer of earth emerged from his skin, sliding along his body as if it was water. A separate layer of wind also appeared above this earthen layer, sliding in the same direction as the earthen layer, rolling around Huang Ying's body.

The heated tip of the blade touched the first layer and was dragged slightly off-course before it pierced through, reaching the earthen layer. The earthen layer pulled it a bit more, the blade forced to follow along with the sliding earth until the tip was no longer pointed at Huang Ying's heart but his lung instead.

And then the weapon ran right through him, cooking his flesh and evaporating his blood while it blackened his bones. But it wasn't a fatal wound, not to a monster like Huang Ying, so the bloody grin on his face told Yao Peng everything he needed to know.

'Hook. Line. And sinker.'

Yao Peng felt his mind chill as he saw that grin, the look in those eyes. A dark sensation of death washed over him as he saw Huang Ying tighten his grip on his weapons, and without thinking twice, he pulled out the final trump card that he had prepared in case everything went wrong.

"Wait, you can't attack me, I'm a chosen one!"

The chest area of Yao Peng's robe lit up as he spoke, the emblem of the Liangyu clan appearing above his robe, flickering slightly as the energy it was composed of moved. This wasn't just the emblem of the Liangyu clan, it was the mark that declared him one of their chosen disciples for this competition.

It was unknown how, but he had managed to hide it until now. And since none of the officials of this place had made any move, it seemed like this method of hiding also made it so that he could break the rule that chosen disciples were not allowed to attack each other. As long as that emblem was fastened to his chest, Huang Ying could not attack him. It wasn't the most glorious, but like this, he could at least bring the news back to his master so that they could prepare more appropriate enemies for Huang Ying.

But what a shame it was that he still didn't understand his opponent, the monster standing in front of him. Huang Ying only glanced once at the emblem before raising his gaze again, that grin burning itself into Yao Peng's retinas.

Huang Ying's arms moved, his blades slicing through Yao Peng's legs, severing them from the rest of his body. He immediately started dropping, but Huang Ying let go of one blade and grabbed hold of Yao Peng's throat, holding him up so that he didn't fall. The two locked eyes, Huang Ying's law of devouring sneaking into Yao Peng's body and heading for his memories.

"You see, Yao Peng, the thing about rules is that they really don't matter to those who don't care about them or the consequences of breaking them. Now then, let's see how you learned things so quickly, shall we?"

Yao Peng felt his vision go dark as Huang Ying's law of devouring descended upon his brain and mind, that horrible grin the last thing he ever got to see. He didn't know it, but the earlier statement that Ying Feixu made came true without suspense, it wasn't a fight, it was just a massacre, nothing more.