In the West Courtyard’s rest area, the atmosphere grew a little tense after Tana’s defeat.

Tana’s petite figure reformed. Her small face was tight, her blue eyes filled with frustration. She stomped her foot hard. "Damn it! I was so close!"

She hadn’t lost due to a lack of power, but in that momentary clash of spirit.

Zhao Qingwei’s soul-stealing sword strike was simply too bizarre and swift. 𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

Qin Rui patted her shoulder, his voice steady. "Don’t worry about it. Her sword is indeed fast. You did a great job forcing out her trump card, and she paid the price for it."

His gaze shifted toward the North Courtyard. In the rest area, Zhao Qingwei looked fine, but as soon as she returned to the arena, the Battle Network System would automatically revert her to her previous heavily injured state.

Xu Zhi leaned close to Qin Rui and whispered, "Old Qin, what’s the plan for the next match? Zhao Qingwei looks like she’s at the end of her rope, but what if she can still..."

Qin Rui’s eyes were sharp as he cut him off. "There are no ’what ifs.’ I’m going."

His tone was decisive and left no room for doubt.

"You’re going?" Xu Zhi was slightly stunned.

Logically, he should be the one to go up first to wear Zhao Qingwei down further, or to test if she had any strength left. Then, Qin Rui would act as the final anchor to secure their victory.

Qin Rui saw through Xu Zhi’s thoughts and shook his head. "That sword technique of Zhao Qingwei’s is, in essence, an eruption of Spiritual Will. In her current state, she either can’t use it again, or... she can muster one last shred of will for one final strike. No matter which it is, I have to be the one to face it."

He paused, then analyzed calmly, "I’ll go up myself and immediately attack with my full strength, forcing her into a direct confrontation. If she can still use that move, I’ll do what Tana did and trade injury for injury, or even life for life, to make sure I take her down."

"When that happens, you’ll handle the North Courtyard’s last person. It’ll be a sure win."

His plan was simple and direct. The core idea was to use his superior overall strength to tank Zhao Qingwei’s potential final blow, clearing the biggest obstacle for his team.

Xu Zhi instantly understood Qin Rui’s intentions, a helpless look appearing on his face.

It was the safest plan, the one most certain to guarantee victory. It was just... a little demeaning.

To put it bluntly, Qin Rui believed that if Xu Zhi went up, he might get dealt with by Zhao Qingwei’s conventional methods without even forcing out that final sword strike.

If it really came to that, and he had to brace himself and go up only to be traded out by Zhao Qingwei’s one strike, they would have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.

But if you asked Xu Zhi if he was completely confident he could force out Zhao Qingwei’s final strike, he had to admit he wasn’t, even with her heavily injured.

After becoming Martial Artists, many students’ strengths had undergone a transformation. You could no longer judge them by old standards.

Zhao Qingwei’s sword strike was clearly an example of this.

"I understand." Xu Zhi had no choice but to nod heavily. "Go on, don’t worry. Even if something goes wrong, I’ll be here to back you up. I’ll have no problem handling the North Courtyard’s last person."

If even the North Courtyard’s last person was a wolf in sheep’s clothing, then the West Courtyard would just have to accept the loss. The probability of that was too small.

Tana also looked up. Though still a bit indignant, she said in a subdued voice, "Qin Rui, good luck."

Qin Rui gave them a slight nod. His gaze returned to the arena, his eyes like a drawn sword, his will to fight surging.

...

The short break ended, and the light screen displayed the roster for the second match.

West Courtyard: Qin Rui.

North Courtyard: Zhao Qingwei.

When these two names appeared on the screen, the entire audience erupted once more.

"Qin Rui’s going up directly!"

"This is an ace versus ace showdown! It’s going to end all suspense!"

"A wise choice. Zhao Qingwei’s sword strike is too terrifying. The strongest has to be the one to face it."

"Can Zhao Qingwei even fight? She could barely stand just now."

Under the gazes of countless eyes, Qin Rui’s figure appeared on the arena.

He held a longsword, his posture upright and his aura sharp, a stark contrast to the pale-faced Zhao Qingwei, who was barely standing across from him.

Zhao Qingwei’s sword hand was even trembling slightly—a sign of being drained of her stamina, Qi and Blood, and Spirit.

She looked at Qin Rui, a trace of helplessness flashing through her cold eyes.

Qin Rui’s choice had extinguished her last sliver of hope for a comeback.

"Begin match!"

Without any probing attacks, Qin Rui moved the instant the referee’s voice fell.

He knew he couldn’t give Zhao Qingwei a single moment to catch her breath. He unleashed the Light-Splitting Shadow-Stealing Sword, his body moving like lightning. His longsword instantly transformed into three distinct sword-shadows, attacking Zhao Qingwei’s high, middle, and low sections. The wind from his sword howled, his presence overwhelming.

He was forcing Zhao Qingwei into a head-on clash!

Zhao Qingwei clenched her jaw, forcing up the last dregs of Qi and Blood in her body.

Others might not know, but she was perfectly aware that she couldn’t use that one strike—which condensed her entire Heart and Spirit—a second time. Right now, she could only rely on conventional swordsmanship.

If Xu Zhi had come up, she could have tried to stall for time to recover her Spirit, but that was impossible against Qin Rui.

With a flick of her wrist, Zhao Qingwei executed her Flowing Shadow Sword Technique. The tip of her sword vibrated, creating six illusory sword-shadows in an instant in an attempt to block and confuse him.

"CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!"

A series of rapid clashes of metal on metal rang out.

At her peak, Zhao Qingwei’s six-shadow sword technique would have been a headache to deal with. But now, the power behind her sword was weak, and her speed was far from its prime.

Qin Rui’s eyes were sharp, precisely locking onto the one real sword among the six shadows.

He put force into his wrist, his Sword Momentum unchanging, and crashed directly into Zhao Qingwei’s net of swords with superior power and speed!

"Break!"

With a low shout, Qin Rui’s three sword-shadows merged into one, striking precisely on the spine of Zhao Qingwei’s blade!

"VMMMM!"

Zhao Qingwei felt a massive force transmit through her sword. Her already unsteady footing gave way, and she staggered backward, nearly losing her grip on her longsword.

Qin Rui pressed his advantage, relentless. His sword’s light followed her like a shadow, instantly piercing through Zhao Qingwei’s throat.

Without any suspense, Zhao Qingwei’s figure dissolved into white light and vanished.

"West Courtyard, Qin Rui is victorious!"

The referee’s announcement rang out.

The victor was decided.

Qin Rui sheathed his sword. Seeing Zhao Qingwei’s form coalesce below the stage, he gave a slight nod as a gesture of respect.

He didn’t say another word and turned to walk off the arena.

Zhao Qingwei watched his retreating back and sighed softly.

The disparity in their strength and condition left no room for suspense in this duel.

She had already reached her limit by taking down the West Courtyard’s Tana.

...

The North Courtyard’s final team member took the stage. He was a Martial Artist with a Life Energy Level of 20.2, named Sun Ming.

He looked at Qin Rui, whose aura was still at its peak, and a hint of nervousness couldn’t help but show on his face. The gap in their strength was obvious.

Qin Rui showed no sign of looking down on his opponent just because he was weaker.

He drew his sword again, his expression focused.

"Please, give me your guidance."