Early Brackets,End Stages

Shivers ran down the spines of the audience. What an exciting fight to behold! Two rival families throwing down against each other on a public stage, potential branch family prodigies of their respective clans.

Both underdogs fighting for their interests. It was a high-stakes battle for both, and it could easily be seen by the state of their gear. They adorned the best they could get their hands on.

But Ai Zu's gear was miles better, if not his cultivation. He donned razor-sharp silver claws that would retract and release at the command of his ki, along with the black armor of the serpents.

Both took their stances, readying for the referee's signal.

No one knew why the referee was so still for so long, not moving an inch and not letting the fight begin. Maybe he was just that evil, or maybe the tense pressure got to him as well.

There was a long pause, and then the referee's hand hit the ground, and it began. This was only the second round of the qualifiers brackets, and the hype was already this tense.

The spiky-haired Ai Zu was already bringing in the heat, but soon enough, Liu started to throw fire at him as well.

"Flame Emperor, 8th Form: Fire Hell!"

And a fury of attacks followed. Each finger had a retractable claw that, one by one, gave off an unrelenting barrage.

"Sword Soul Fire Dragon's Will!"

But Liu was not so easily to relent. He blocked and dodged most attacks. He came out of this engagement with only a few grazes to his face.

"Magma Comet!" "Starfall Fist!"

Ai Zu moved into closer range in one burst of speed. It was so fast that one could say he teleported right in front of him in a crouching stance.

And from the low angle that Ai Zu found himself after using that movement technique, he swung his arm, which exploded into flames midway, looking like a shooting star as the flames turned blue.

But it was not as if Liu was caught completely by surprise. Thanks to his ki sense, he managed to position his blade between his stomach and the plasmic punch.

It was as if a comet had hit steel, and the two collided with great force until neither emerged victorious.

It was quite an even match at first. It was obvious from the looks of it. Liu began to lose strength. The guy used poison. It was not enough to kill him.

High-level poisons that actually work on martial artists are rare to come by. But in a battle where every second counts, this poison was fatal. There never was any actual use against poison anyway.

A once very even match suddenly turned one-sided. Ai Zu was not even using techniques anymore. He was just throwing grunt punches, and Liu was just one-sidedly taking them. He was barely conscious. Not because he had taken too much damage, but because the poison made him dizzy.

"Ah, stupid An! Think you could challenge the Ai?" Ai Zu laughed as he reveled in all the blood he had gotten on himself after punching Liu.

Liu could not surrender, and I doubt he would even if he could. While Liu took the beating, Lin Hua suffered.

"I would cringe at this sight, but fuck!" the seer murmured. Making glances at Lin Hua's struggling expressions.

Lin Hua obviously could not take much more of this, and she rose up from her seat, only to be shoved back into it by the seer. He grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back down onto the seat.

"What the fuck were you trying to do?" the seer threatened. "Surely you aren't going to go beg them to stop and announce to everyone what the two of you have been up to, yes?"

Cao Tang, however, had already caught onto the situation. He was no longer the oblivious immortal he once was. He now had what very few had in this bad, almost simulation-like world. He had free thought. He now had a fucking personality. He was no longer just another very predictable object.

Cao Tang tapped the seer's shoulder to get his attention. And as soon as the seer did. thwack He sucker-punched the seer in his face, concussing him.

Neon fell onto the ground. It was a matter of a second or two before he snapped back, but he snapped back only to find Lin Hua gone. The seer's face turned white, for only he knew what was to come.

Lin Hua, who is not a proper cultivator, was beside the referee within two seconds, begging him to call the match and trying to throw in the white towel.

"What the fuck did you do, you dumb shit?" the seer scolded Cao Tang, who was completely unfazed and looking down at the arena.

"What you did was uncool... I don't know, seemed like the right thing to do," Cao Tang sounded confused himself.

The Ai family obviously took notice, and so did Ai Zu. Ai Zu immediately stopped punching Liu, not that it mattered. Liu's face was already a bloody mess. It was no color but red.

"Why are you begging for this bastard?" Ai Zu spoke with shock.

Lin Hua did not reply. What would she say? But nothing needed to be said. Her teary eyes told all.

"Do not tell me..."

"Please," Lin Hua interrupted.

Ai Zu's skin turned red.

"Our family has always tolerated you. We didn't even tie you down for any political marriages out of respect for your father. And it was not just so you could screw around and not with an An family bastard at that!" Ai Zu scolded.

Ai Zu activated his claw and drove his palm straight through Liu, who had just recovered from the poison and was fully conscious. But Lin Hua stopped him before his entire palm went through.

"Please, I'm carrying his child, okay?" She pulled on one of Ai Zu's shoulders.

He stopped before his palm went halfway through her stomach.

All of the arena was quiet except the An and the Ai groups.

"You dare to shame our family with this guy's filthy blood?" he spoke with exasperation.

Cao Tang immediately stepped up and jumped down into the arena while all were flabbergasted.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck," Neon punched the ground as he got up to follow after Cao Tang. "I just want to live out in some isolated corner, fuck people."

Ai Zu, in the meanwhile, as Tang and Neon rushed, snatched Liu's sword and, in one blow, drove it through Lin Hua.

The seer and Cao Tang could not make it in time, and Liu watched helplessly as Ai Zu pulled the sword back out.

"Better get rid of the filth in advance. Don't want it growing inside one of ours, even if worthless, An Ai is still an Ai."