As Wong Qiang fainted, his eyes still held a look of utter disbelief. I clearly took the medicine, so why does it feel like nothing changed? Could it be a fake?

Seeing Wong Qiang crash down at the edge of the platform and hearing Xu Ke's words, Jin Hankang glared at him. "You, you..." He stammered for a long moment, unable to form a complete sentence.

He desperately wanted to accuse Xu Ke of being too ruthless, but shameless as he was, he couldn't bring himself to say it. This awkward dilemma not only intensified his resentment toward Xu Ke, but it also made him resent Wong Qiang. In his mind, if it weren't for Wong Qiang foolishly taking the drug, he could have accused Xu Ke of brazenly defying the rules. But now, he was left speechless.

Just moments ago, when Wong Qiang was lying there motionless, he could have argued that his fighter had lost the ability to battle and that Xu Ke had violated the rules. He had just praised Wong Qiang as a genius unleashing his potential. For Xu Ke to then kick him into this state left Jin Hankang utterly speechless. He couldn't possibly tell such an outrageous lie with a straight face.

Xu Ke watched Jin Hankang's face flush purple with rage as he sputtered uselessly, then smiled. "Elder Jin is truly fair and impartial! Then please, Elder Jin, announce the winner."

The entire stadium echoed with Xu Ke's words, laden with thick sarcasm and mockery.

Jin Hankang gnashed his teeth and huffed in anger, "You've won!"

With that, he furiously turned and stormed back to the judges' seats.

His single sentence broke the fifteen-second silence that had fallen over the stadium. The next moment, the entire venue erupted.

"WOW..."

"F*ck, am I watching a replay? His flying posture is exactly the same as the first time!"

"One kick? It really doesn't matter if you're at the Innate Middle Stage or Innate Great Perfection—he'll knock you out regardless!"

"The threat Xu Ke made earlier was no joke."

"Hahaha, look at Jin Hankang's and Qian Jun's faces! They're as black as the bottom of a pot!"

"Having your subordinate lose isn't a disgrace. What's disgraceful is cheating with a drug and still losing. Talk about ultimate humiliation!"

"Heh, they got what they deserved!"

In the audience, there were not only people who had been ridiculing Xu Ke but also families supporting him as fellow members of Tianhai. They were already angered by Jin Hankang and Qian Jun's flagrant cheating. Now, Xu Ke's kick was a cathartic release for them.

Seeing the stadium filled with laughter at his expense, Qian Jun sat in the stands, his face completely devoid of expression. Xu Ke's two kicks had brought him to the brink of an emotional breakdown.

As the audience said, losing wasn't the scary part.

What was terrifying was losing even after taking a drug.

And what's more, Wong Qiang had lost in the exact same way, with the exact same posture, a second time. This was a slap across Qian Jun's face—the kind that left a burning sting.

Huang Zhendong felt like he'd been slapped, too.

He turned to Kang Chenghua, his expression grim. "Are you sure the Ghost Poison Elders actually poisoned him?"

Kang Chenghua's face turned a sickly green, as if he'd just eaten shit. "They told me so themselves!" he squeezed out through his teeth.

"Themselves?" Huang Zhendong's voice rose several octaves in anger. He pointed toward the platform, nearly roaring, "Take a look for me! Take a good look! Does this look like he's poisoned to you? You call getting crippled by a single kick at the Innate Great Perfection stage being poisoned?"

Shi Hongda had just informed him. With his sharp eyes, Shi Hongda could see it clearly: Xu Ke's kick had permanently crippled Wong Qiang! Wong Qiang could never cultivate again! Was this the kind of strength a poisoned person should have?

Being yelled at, Kang Chenghua's face grew taut. Anger surged within him, but he suppressed it. "Don't panic. The Ghost Poison Elders have no reason to lie to me."

"Then explain what this is!" Huang Zhendong roared.

Kang Chenghua hemmed and hawed, unable to utter a single word.

Huang Zhendong's face was ashen. With a cold snort, he sat back down.

He had every reason to be angry, and it wasn't because Wong Qiang lost and Xu Ke won. As a Tianhai native, he would have preferred Xu Ke to win. He was angry because of the explosive combat power Xu Ke had just displayed.

Yesterday, to clear his name, he had told Wong Ting that he and Kang Chenghua had successfully plotted against Xu Ke. He did this to prevent Wong Ting from suspecting he was the mole responsible for rigging the previous day's draw. Yet today, not only did Xu Ke seem completely fine, but he also erupted with inconceivable power, sending an Innate Great Perfection master like Wong Qiang flying with one kick and crippling Qian Jun's prized genius. Xu Ke had accomplished something that even some Innate Martial Artists couldn't.

Under these circumstances, of course he was angry.

If he hadn't claimed Xu Ke was poisoned, a whole chain of events would have been avoided. The Ye Family wouldn't have brought the medicine just to add icing on the cake. Wong Qiang wouldn't have been so careless and underestimated his opponent from the start. He certainly would have never ended up in this crippled state. Wong Qiang's initial strategy, after all, was to test the waters and concede decisively if he couldn't win. He never had any hope of defeating an opponent that even Qian Jun took so seriously.

But because Huang Zhendong had mentioned the poison, it triggered a cascade of consequences: the Ye Family delivered the drug, Wong Qiang grew arrogant, and in a final fit of outrage, he swallowed the capsule, destroying most of his potential, only to be taken out in an instant. It could be said that his actions caused Wong Ting to lose a talented subordinate and suffer a loss of face. All of this could have been avoided.

In this situation, if Huang Zhendong didn't act furious, Wong Ting and Qian Jun would soon suspect him of colluding with Xu Ke, of deliberately planting false information to set them up.

That was it. His bellowing and roaring, his demands to hold Kang Chenghua responsible—it was all a performance for Qian Jun and the others to see. That way, even if it turned out Xu Ke was never poisoned, he could shift all the blame to Kang Chenghua.

...

Qian Jun noticed the commotion from Huang Zhendong's side but said nothing. He just stared quietly at Xu Ke. He couldn't be bothered with suspecting Huang Zhendong right now; he was focused on observing Xu Ke.

He knew very well who the Ghost Poison Elders were. It was impossible for Xu Ke to be unharmed. If he was poisoned, then those two ferocious kicks must have completely exhausted his strength. Qian Jun was waiting—waiting for Xu Ke to show a sign of weakness.

He was desperately trying to get a read on Xu Ke, but Xu Ke gave him nothing.

"What are you all still standing over there for? Aren't you coming over?" Xu Ke smiled at Qian Jun, his smile tinged with mockery.

Hearing this, Qian Jun looked up at Xu Ke.

The rest of the crowd looked on, anticipating a good show. After instantly defeating Wong Qiang, was Xu Ke now going to taunt his opponents?

Nearby, Su Ximing couldn't restrain himself and shot to his feet. "None of your damn business!" he roared. "Why should we go over there?" He, too, assumed Xu Ke was about to gloat, and he wanted to shut him down before he could start.

"Are you sure you're not coming?" Xu Ke asked again.

Zhao Xiangping sneered, "If you're looking for trouble, come over here yourself!" He added, "Like hell I will!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Ke simply spread his hands. "Alright, you said it, not me."

Zhao Xiangping and Su Ximing sneered back. But Qian Jun felt a sudden, ominous premonition.

Just then, Xu Ke turned to Chen Xiong. "Alliance Leader Chen, since they're not going to deal with Wong Qiang, please take him away." He added, "I'll find a doctor to have a look at him later."

At these words, the faces of Qian Jun and his followers turned green.