Chapter 154: Just A Little Bit of Murder

Dark clouds gathered ominously above the hallway, their swirling mass casting a shadow over everything. A deafening boom of thunder followed, and electricity crackled in the air, illuminating the scene with bursting flashes of light.

Song Song circulated her Qi in a strange rhythm as her hair stood up. I created a simple barrier around myself to stop the lightning array from tracking me.

Ye An, on the other hand, looked confused, her hair standing on end and her eyes wide.

Then, lightning rained down with unbent fury. Ye An quickly covered herself in ice, knowing she had no chance to dodge.

As lightning struck her, the ice held strong. Despite what some might think, ice was a poor conductor of electricity.

Song Song also took her lightning bolt and let it harmlessly pass through her.

Ye An, however, was in for a rough time as lightning rained down on her continuously. There was no use in trying close-quarters combat with her, so I removed the lag between each lightning bolt. Every second, she was hit by two lightning bolts.

While ice was somewhat resistant to electricity, it was not resistant to the heat generated by the electricity. Slowly, the ice cocoon around Ye An began melting. She tried adding a new layer of ice atop her cocoon, but it was useless; before her Qi could turn into ice, lightning blasted and destabilized it.

But Ye An was undoubtedly a genius, as she figured out how to deal with this problem. Instead of adding a layer of ice outside the ice cocoon, she expanded the ice cocoon, leaving an internal part of it hollow, which she could move freely in and fill with ice.

However, I wasn''t idle either and formed a simple barrier around Song Song, protecting her from lightning bombarding her.

Song Song didn''t hesitate. She created two daggers out of blood and swung them at Ye An. A large, bright crimson-red slash spawned, releasing an odor of blood as it shot toward Ye An.

A loud screeching sound rang out as soon as the attack landed on the ice cocoon. Song Song''s attack cut through the ice like butter and reached Ye An. Her eyes widened as something under her shirt shone a bright golden, revealing a necklace. The artifact activated a golden barrier around Ye An, protecting her from the lightning and Song Song''s incoming slash.

A loud gong-like sound rang out, and Ye An''s golden barrier cracked.

Ye An was strong and very talented. She could sometimes punch above her weight and battle against people at a higher cultivation level than hers, even if that level was the beginning of Foundation Establishment. However, there was a reason Ye An had attacked Song Song only when she was injured.

Song Song''s arms blurred as she shot out countless red claw-shaped crimson projectiles. The golden barrier shattered when the crimson projectiles hit it, and parts of the shattered barrier were about to shred into Ye An together with Song Song''s attacks.

This was it... All the attacks were lethal, and there was a good chance that Ye An was going to die. I knew there would be an implosion of her extreme physique after her death. Still, I was ready to erect the barrier and buy the split-second Song Song needed to grab me and escape.

If anyone asked in the future and figured out who killed Ye An, I was going to plead self-defense.

Song Song''s attacks whistled through the air as they dug into Ye An''s flesh. However, a sudden influx of Qi burst out in that instant, and an ankle bracelet shined. Usually, artifacts were not placed there, but it seemed Ye An was hiding this one out of sight.

Suddenly, a ghostly mist surrounded her, and Song Song''s attacks came crashing instantly; they turned brittle like glass, and the crimson slashes broke down. The ghostly mist sent a chill through the area and took the form of a tall man with a straightened back and a frown.

My heart dropped as every instinct told me to run away!

"Who dares harm my descendants of the Ye Clan?" he declared, swiping his hand as if wiping away a bug.

The walls cracked as an invisible telekinetic wave emerged, heading toward us. We were in a slim hallway with no room to dodge.

"Wait, don''t kill him!" Ye An''s voice rang out.

I hurriedly turned my gaze toward the fight, where Song San was dodging the attacks of Liang Shoushan. The latter was using a large blade, swinging it around in a strange posture like a baseball bat. But each swing had a devastating heaviness behind it that would take out Song San with one hit if it landed.

Just then, Song San''s throat swelled, and recalling the previous fight, the guy from the Titanic Blade Sect immediately backed off.

But instead of a vomit of exploding pills, only a single green pill the size of his thumb came out, glistening in his gross, slick saliva. Song San crushed the pill between his fingers, and a green mist burst and expanded outward.

"Another trick," Liu Bo frowned.

Well, Song San already had a bad reputation from his previous fight, so now there was no reason to hold back the underhanded tactics.

The Titanic Blade Sect disciple backed away too much and accidentally touched the grass outside the arena.

"Song San from the Blazing Sun Sect advances with another victory by forcing his opponent out of bounds," the announcer tried to spin this tale well. Still, there was nothing he could work with.

If this had been a real fight, the Titanic Blade Sect guy would have been right to back off as much as possible from the unknown mist. All of Song San''s victories so far had been due to technicality. In a real fight, these things wouldn''t count.

Liang Shoushan frowned as the green mist cleared, revealing Song San. Anger blazed in the eyes of the Titanic Blade Sect disciple, and he threw his large sword at Song San. The latter smiled, seemingly unprepared for the surprise attack.

However, before the sword could reach him, a Core Elder appeared and grabbed the sword with his bare hands. The same tall, pale Core Elder who had stopped Song Song from killing her opponent.

"I will not let another disciple attack the back of an opponent they had already lost against," declared the Core Elder in a calm, almost bored-sounding voice but with an edge that sent the lesson home.

After both contestants left the arena, the announcer declared, "Now we move on to the next phase of the tournament, the semi-finals!"

He took a paper and read, "The first fight will be Ye An from the Blazing Sun Sect against Peng Zixin from the Void Piercing Sect! The second fight will be between Song San from the Blazing Sun Sect and Song Song from the Blazing Sun Sect!"

There was a sudden popping sound, and Song Song muttered, "Finally, now I can hear something again."

I turned toward her, and our gazes met. She nodded and said, "Thank you."

"There is no need for thanks between us," I smiled, glad she regained her hearing.

I turned my gaze back toward the arena, only to be met with Fu Yating staring straight at me like a jumpscare.

"Thanks to you too," I smiled at my fiance?e. Without her help, illogical thoughts would have prevailed. "By the way, what kind of food do you like?"

"Hm?" She looked confused by the question.

"Well, I have to put some effort into this date," I explained.

Then, her expression morphed into a happy yet ugly smile.

What the hell was that supposed to mean? Was she angry or happy?