"It's not a risk."

Xu Ke felt helpless. Why was Yuan Shang so hard to fool now? In truth, telling Yuan Shang wasn't out of the question, but the problem was that his acting skills were clearly lacking. If Yuan Shang wasn't so obviously worried sick about Xu Ke's condition, Qian Jun's side would easily notice that something was amiss.

"That still won't do..." Yuan Shang continued to insist, determined to make Xu Ke withdraw from the competition.

Just then, Jin Hankang approached from a distance, his voice cold as he demanded, "What are you doing? Why haven't you come for the opening ceremony?"

Yuan Shang's face immediately darkened. "What does the opening ceremony have to do with me?"

"You're the Vice Leader of the Tianhai Martial Alliance. You have to be on the stage," Jin Hankang sneered, intending to pull Yuan Shang away.

He hadn't come looking for trouble without reason; he was here specifically to lead Yuan Shang off. He knew Yuan Shang was trying to persuade Xu Ke to withdraw for the sake of his future. If Yuan Shang hadn't come to do so, Jin Hankang and his group might have suspected Xu Ke wasn't truly poisoned and would have remained on guard. But seeing Yuan Shang on the verge of tears, how could they not be certain?

Xu Ke must be poisoned! His incredible performance yesterday was just some special trick to delay the poison's onset, and now he can't hold on any longer!

Now that they knew this, they couldn't let Xu Ke withdraw. They figured Yuan Shang was trying to persuade him, but Xu Ke, out of pride, would surely refuse to drop out. In that case, they had to stop Yuan Shang from continuing. What if he actually managed to convince Xu Ke? That would be a problem. Everyone knew to kick a man when he was down and go for the kill. They wanted to seize this opportunity to beat the dog in the water, leaving Xu Ke with no chance of a comeback—or even killing him right there on the stage.

"You..." Yuan Shang's face grew grim. How was he supposed to persuade Xu Ke to withdraw now?

Xu Ke, however, breathed a sigh of relief. If that old beast Jin Hankang hadn't dragged Yuan Shang away, he might not have been able to keep up the ruse for much longer. Little did Jin Hankang know, he had just unwittingly helped Xu Ke.

Just then, Xu Ke stood, patted Yuan Shang on the shoulder, and whispered in his ear, "Vice Alliance Leader Yuan, you should go. No matter what happens, I can protect my strength and my life. Trust me. A man has lines he won't cross and battles he must fight. I cannot withdraw from this competition. If I back out now, I'll be a laughingstock for the rest of my life."

Hearing Xu Ke's solemn words, Yuan Shang sighed. "All right, then..." With that, he shot a fierce glare at Jin Hankang and headed straight for the ring.

After Yuan Shang left, Jin Hankang smirked triumphantly at Xu Ke and said with dripping sarcasm, "Do enjoy today's matches, Xu Ke."

Thinking of withdrawing? Dream on!

Xu Ke smiled. "You too, Elder Jin. Enjoy yourself."

"Oh, I will," Jin Hankang snorted before turning to leave.

After they both left, Wang Qiya leaned in close. "That Vice Alliance Leader Yuan is a good man."

"He is."

Wang Qiya was silent for a moment before suddenly blurting out, "I think you two have a real 'CP' vibe..."

"'CP' vibe?" Xu Ke looked completely bewildered. "What kind of nonsense are you talking about?!"

"It's true!" Wang Qiya insisted, looking very serious.

Xu Ke fought the urge to slap the girl, simply getting up and heading to the contestant area instead.

Of course he knew what a 'CP vibe' meant. She was basically saying they looked like a couple. What was wrong with this girl, spouting such nonsense?!

"The second day of the selection competition for the Tianhai Martial Alliance Leader officially begins! This morning, we will hold the semifinals. This afternoon will be the third-place match and the championship final."

Jin Hankang announced the schedule briefly. Then, his gaze swept almost imperceptibly over to Xu Ke in the contestant area, a sinister smile touching his lips. "Next up, we have contestant number six from the upper bracket, Li Ming, versus contestant number one, Xu Ke!"

As soon as he finished speaking, applause once again filled the venue, but it was accompanied by gazes of undisguised schadenfreude.

Everyone knows you're poisoned, Xu Ke! Let's see how you win this time!

In the contestant area, Li Ming and Xu Ke stood up at the same time. Li Ming was a bald giant, well over two meters tall and clad in tight-fitting clothes. He towered over Xu Ke from a distance, exuding an overwhelming presence. After rising, he turned and bowed to Qian Jun. "Boss, my apologies in advance!"

"What?"

Everyone was stunned.

What does he mean by that? His opponent is Xu Ke, why is he apologizing to Qian Jun?

But Qian Jun only laughed. Li Ming's eyes, filled with undisguised contempt, locked onto Xu Ke as he spoke to Qian Jun, "Your opponent is as good as dead. That means you'll be fighting me this afternoon!"

The crowd was taken aback for a moment, then erupted into laughter.

"Li Ming, so that's what you meant!"

"Nice! Much more useful than that Koo Zuo!"

"Yeah, go kill him!"

Koo Zuo's face burned with embarrassment, and he forced a smile, but inwardly he was seething with rage.

If I'd known Xu Ke was so weak that Yuan Shang was trying to get him to withdraw, I would have fought him yesterday! I could have been in the top four by now!

He glared resentfully at Xu Ke.

It's all this gigolo's fault...

Anyone who could have read his mind would have been baffled by such a bizarre train of thought.

In the stands above the contestant area, many spectators were laughing uncontrollably.

"This big guy really knows how to put on a show."

"He's already acting like he's won."

"Damn, you're right. This complete dismissal of Xu Ke has to be a huge blow to his morale."

"Xu Ke must be absolutely furious..."

Qian Jun's underlings roared with laughter, but Xu Ke seemed deaf to it all as he walked straight toward the ring. Seeing this, Li Ming scoffed. "Playing deaf and dumb? Do you think that makes you look calm and composed? I'll still crush you all the same!" After saying his piece, he moved to get into the ring.

At that moment, however, Qian Jun pulled him back and whispered something in his ear. Li Ming nodded before finally walking into the ring.

As Xu Ke made his way to the ring, he passed the rest areas for the Ye, Huang, and Kang Families. One by one, they watched him with folded arms and expressions of pure schadenfreude. Shi Hongda and Kang Chenghua's glares were the most venomous of all; they wanted Xu Ke dead. Shi Hongda hadn't even planned on coming today but had shown up specifically to watch Xu Ke die. Xu Ke, however, remained completely unfazed by their stares and walked right past them.

Just as he reached the ring, he found himself facing the Qin Family's rest area. Qin Jinghuan was looking at him as if he were already a dead man. "Try not to die too quickly," he said with a smarmy grin. "If you die, I won't get the chance to play with you..."

His words dripped with mockery. Xu Ke ignored him and stepped into the ring.

Seeing this, the onlookers raised their eyebrows and laughed smugly.

Xu Ke would normally fire back at every taunt, but today he's acting like a mute... Is he afraid of talking big, only to have his words thrown back in his face when he loses?

After Xu Ke was in the ring, Li Ming made his entrance. He didn't walk up the steps; he jumped.

BOOM!

The sound of his massive frame landing on the platform was like an explosion, amplified by the speakers throughout the entire gymnasium. As he landed, he shot Xu Ke a murderous sneer. "Ready to die, Xu Ke?"

Xu Ke barely lifted an eyelid, a faint smile on his lips. "You people really do talk a lot of nonsense..."