As expected of the candidate Wong Ting chose specifically to snipe Xu Ke! the spectators sighed to themselves.

At the same time, Su Ximing charged toward Qian Jun. Seeing this, the crowd instantly grew excited. Su Ximing moved like a tiger descending a mountain, clearly giving it his all!

"Hah!"

With a low roar, Su Ximing's Postnatal Late Stage True Qi boiled like water. He lashed out with his leg like a whip, aiming for Qian Jun's waist, looking to snap him in half.

Just then, the motionless Qian Jun suddenly shot out a hand, which appeared like a phantom in front of Su Ximing's leg.

CRACK!

He caught it with ease. The next moment, Qian Jun's hand squeezed hard.

Su Ximing's expression changed. He gritted his teeth, trying to break free, but to his alarm, he couldn't pull his leg away at all.

What's going on with the boss? This has never happened before! he panicked.

Because he couldn't free his leg, Su Ximing lost his balance. To avoid falling, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and forcibly twist his body, swinging his other leg toward Qian Jun's shoulder.

The crowd gasped. Is he serious?

But Su Ximing's maneuver was useless. Qian Jun's hand shot out again like a bolt of lightning, intercepting the kick.

CRACK!

Qian Jun had caught him. The next moment, he simply tossed Su Ximing away.

THUD!

Su Ximing was thrown completely off the arena platform.

Scrambling to his feet, a crestfallen and dust-covered Su Ximing was utterly astounded. Qian Jun had sparred with them before, but he had never been like this. He knew that if he weren't one of the boss's own men, he wouldn't have just been thrown out. He would have been kicked out!

At that moment, everyone else also understood… The outcome was decided.

Seeing this, the crowd was dumbfounded.

What was that? Is that it? We thought the match had just begun, but it's already over?

But Xu Ke merely narrowed his eyes. Qian Jun is provoking me…

Like Xu Ke, Qian Jun had stood still and waited for his opponent to attack. The difference was that Xu Ke had needed to use a kick. Qian Jun, on the other hand, had dealt with Su Ximing with nonchalant ease, without moving his feet from start to finish!

Sure enough, after Jin Hankang stepped forward and declared Qian Jun the winner, Qian Jun turned his head toward Xu Ke and said flatly, "The championship is mine."

As soon as he spoke, the crowd's gazes grew fiery. No one here was a fool. Seeing that Qian Jun's stance was identical to Xu Ke's and noting how cleanly he had defeated Su Ximing, how could they not see it? This was a declaration of war against Xu Ke!

My opponent was stronger than yours. The way I dealt with my opponent was even more decisive. I am stronger than you!

That was the subtext Qian Jun wanted to convey to Xu Ke.

Xu Ke looked up, his expression unchanged, and simply mouthed, "Dream on."

Qian Jun scoffed, then turned and walked off the arena.

He's poisoned. Even if he makes it to the finals, there's no way he can take the championship from me. I've already won!

The morning's matches thus came to a close, but the crowd's anticipation for the later fights only burned brighter. The reason was simple: there was still the impending clash between Qian Jun and Xu Ke, and the question of when exactly Xu Ke's poison would flare up.

By now, anyone with eyes could see that Xu Ke must have used some method to suppress the poison, allowing him to unleash his full strength. But after seeing him use those two kicks, they knew his combat power would surely be diminished compared to this morning. As such, it was only a matter of time before the poison took hold. How long Xu Ke could last had become, apart from his battle with Qian Jun, the thing everyone was most eager to find out!

As the crowd left the gymnasium, Qian Jun and his men gathered to talk.

"Boss, it's Koo Zuo's turn to fight Xu Ke this afternoon. Should he forfeit?"

Hearing this, Qian Jun glanced at the man beside him, whose face was etched with fear. It was Koo Zuo. With Wong Qiang out of the picture, it was his turn to face Xu Ke.

Right now, Koo Zuo was terrified. It would be a lie to say he wasn't. Even though some insisted he should fight Xu Ke with all his might, claiming Xu Ke could be gravely injured by the Ghost Poison Elders' poison at any minute, he was still petrified. He had seen that Wong Qiang had regained consciousness. Since waking up, Wong Qiang had been lying there like a vegetable, not uttering a single word.

He was completely crippled. His Dantian was destroyed, his cultivation gone. Forget breaking through to the Innate realm; whether he could ever cultivate back to being a Postnatal Martial Artist was now a question for the ages.

Seeing that Wong Qiang had fought with all his might, taken medicine, and still ended up like this, how could Koo Zuo possibly dare to go all out against Xu Ke? If Qian Jun weren't standing right there, he would have already hopped on a plane and fled.

Fight my ass!

But while Koo Zuo didn't want to fight, the others wouldn't let him off the hook. The image of Xu Ke's pale face as he clutched his chest was still vivid in their minds. It was obvious that something disastrous could happen to him at any moment! In their eyes, if Koo Zuo fought now, Xu Ke might just drop dead. How could they pass up such a golden opportunity?

They wanted revenge! They had to wash away the shame of this morning!

After understanding everyone's thoughts, Qian Jun looked at Koo Zuo and asked indifferently, "What do you think?"

Koo Zuo forced a strained smile. "Boss, I… I want to forfeit."

Hearing this, the others erupted in fury. "You worthless coward!"

"What's the harm in pushing yourself for a little while?"

"Do you really think he can still cripple you?"

"He's poisoned!"

Among the group, Su Ximing and Zhao Xiangping were the loudest. To be honest, they desperately wished they could take Koo Zuo's place and fight Xu Ke to seize this advantage. Unfortunately, the former had just been eliminated by being thrown out of the ring, and the latter had to face Qian Jun that afternoon.

This was the real reason they bore such a grudge against Xu Ke. They knew that their boss, having been provoked, would definitely vent his anger on them. Su Ximing's humiliating elimination was the perfect example. So, all Zhao Xiangping could do now was pray that Qian Jun wouldn't embarrass him too badly this afternoon!

"Quiet!" Qian Jun barked as everyone continued to mock Koo Zuo.

Immediately, they fell deathly silent.

Then, Qian Jun looked at Koo Zuo and said calmly, "I won't force you. Forfeiting is fine."

"...Yes!" Koo Zuo finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The others looked on with contempt, but Qian Jun said nothing more. He had his own calculations. In his mind, he didn't need anyone else to snipe Xu Ke; he was confident he could take down a full-strength Xu Ke in an instant. Furthermore, Xu Ke's ruthless methods against Wong Qiang made his intentions perfectly clear: he was aiming to cripple whoever he could. Under these circumstances, if he forced the already reluctant Koo Zuo to fight, he would get chewed out by Wong Ting upon returning overseas.

「Meanwhile...」

As Huang Zhendong and Huang Sheng were leaving the gymnasium, Huang Sheng asked, "Dad, are we coming back this afternoon?"

The humiliation from this morning was painful enough, and frankly, Huang Sheng had no desire to return.

Huang Zhendong considered this for a moment. "No, we're not."

"However," he continued, "I want you to have someone look into something."

Huang Sheng perked up. "Tell me!"

"Find out everything you can about the Medical Saint…"