A long silence followed.

Yu Fei forced himself to endure the cloying sweetness and chugged the rest of the bottle of honey, then got up and tossed the bottle into the trash.

"Time to go!"

Qi Blood was different from Inner Qi. Supplements to restore Qi Blood were mainly made from high-energy food ingredients and could be consumed in large quantities over a short period. Restoring Inner Qi, however, required medicinal herbs and was limited by the resilience of one’s meridians; taking too much would cause internal injuries.

Leaving the lounge, Yu Fei let out a long sigh of relief.

When the prodigies on the tournament grounds got worked up, they often made some cringey, over-the-top statements. Once they returned to their normal lives, however, it could feel a little awkward.

From this perspective, these prodigies were indeed still immature.

He memorized the name Zhang Xunyi had mentioned—the Void Wind Shadow Sword—and planned to redeem it to cultivate after the tournament.

Yu Fei felt that its phantom-like characteristics would pair well with the illusory nature of his own technique.

His development of his Illusory Sword Intent was still in a very elementary stage, only allowing him to conceal his body and Sword Qi. Perhaps by studying a phantom-based Sword Intent, he could advance his Illusory Sword Intent even further.

An hour passed without him realizing it, and Yu Fei’s name appeared on the list of available opponents again.

After four consecutive wins, Yu Fei’s points broke 20,000, and his rank rose to 29th.

Based on the current standings, he would only drop out of S-rank after losing two matches.

The current number one was that guy, Ren Feng, with over 40,000 points. It was hard to imagine why any A-rank would challenge him.

Yu Fei had thought he was in the clear for the day, but to his surprise, he was challenged again.

A-Rank #18 Yin Xingping vs. S-Rank #29 Yu Fei (Challenged: 1 time) | Arena 7.

Seeing the announcement and the images on the big screen, Yu Fei hurried toward Arena 7.

"Man, are you sure about this? That Yu Fei guy is freaky. His realm is low, but his combat power is way too high."

Yin Xingping gave a mysterious smile. "I’m telling you, those guys before were all idiots. They ignored their biggest advantage and insisted on fighting a Sword Cultivator in close quarters. It’s like their brains short-circuited. What’s the greatest advantage for us Inner Qi Martial Artists? Our realm! Just watch!"

In Arena 7, the referee stood masked in mid-air, while two vice-referees from the Gang Qi Realm presided over the match.

Yin Xingping was a tall man with a slight potbelly and a square, roundish face. He looked much older than his eighteen years.

"You’re Yu Fei, right? I’m going to beat you and snatch over four thousand points in one go. Scared yet? To be honest, I’ve already figured out your fatal weakness!"

Yu Fei was a bit confused.

"A fatal weakness? Do tell."

"Heh, I’m not telling. You’ll find out soon enough."

Seeing no intense verbal sparring between the two, the referees were a little disappointed but promptly announced the start of the match.

Starting today, the pre-match trash talk had practically become another major highlight. Words had a charm of their own.

Yu Fei watched Yin Xingping stand perfectly still. Instead of rushing forward to attack, his opponent remained motionless, continuously gathering his Inner Qi.

’Looks like this guy has a plan.’

Yu Fei slowly approached Yin Xingping, sword in hand. When he closed to within thirty meters, the guy suddenly blasted out two massive, pale-green handprints. Their range was so vast they were nearly impossible to dodge.

A wide range meant lower attack power, but it was still an attack at the Inner Qi level, making it a significant threat to Yu Fei.

Forced to act, he flooded his body with Qi Blood and unleashed five consecutive slashes, barely managing to shatter the Qi handprint.

Immediately after, he saw one handprint after another being launched in a continuous barrage.

An attack of this level would pose no threat to other Inner Qi prodigies, but Yu Fei was only in the second realm, making it quite difficult for him to handle.

This was due to the huge disparity in their realms—a simple lack of raw power.

Yu Fei struggled forward about ten meters under the assault when he suddenly felt the pressure lessen. He looked up to see that Yin Xingping had already retreated over a hundred meters away, watching him with a smug grin.

Then he heard his opponent’s taunting voice.

"Yu Fei, according to the rules, if we don’t have a winner within half an hour, you’ll lose 10% of your points to me, you know~"

"I’m not greedy enough to hope for four thousand, but two thousand isn’t bad either!"

Yu Fei’s heart tightened.

’This is trouble. This is the exact situation I was afraid of. If an Inner Qi Martial Artist is dead set on a battle of attrition, I can’t outlast them.’

His opponent’s continuous bombardment had already cost him at least ten percent of his Qi Blood.

’I have to nip this in the bud.’ Yu Fei’s mind raced.

Formless Sword Qi! Out!

A blood lotus bloomed. Countless crimson Sword Qi, dense as a school of swimming fish, swirled around him. Qi Blood erupted from under Yu Fei’s feet. Unifying the Three Powers, he shot toward his opponent like a bolt of red lightning.

Yin Xingping was startled. He launched five Qi handprints in a row, but they couldn’t stop Yu Fei in the slightest.

The crimson Sword Qi surged forward relentlessly, piercing through the obstacles with a steady rhythm.

Yu Fei’s matches were quite popular, and there were many spectators.

A man named Wu Yi carefully identified the crimson Sword Qi. He finally confirmed it was Formless Sword Qi, but why was it so powerful? As he recalled, the number of strands of Formless Sword Qi one could mobilize at a time was limited, and their trajectories couldn’t be controlled as freely as Yu Fei was doing.

Zhang Xunyi had long since recovered. Now, watching Yin Xingping’s strategy, he had an epiphany: he shouldn’t have fought Yu Fei in close combat.

He had been thinking about it just now, running through every possible tactic, but he couldn’t find any way to defend against that bizarre crimson Sword Qi at close range.

But if he created some distance...

"Damn it!"

Yin Xingping hadn’t yet learned an Inner Qi-level Body Technique. He could only rely on his own raw speed to turn and flee, but Yu Fei caught up to him in an instant. Before he could even resist, the tip of a sword was already touching his forehead.

He had lost!

Yu Fei spoke slowly, "So, can you tell me what my fatal weakness is now?"

Yin Xingping’s expression was one of bitter unwillingness.

"Don’t get cocky. I may have lost, but the difference in your realm can’t be covered up. You’re in for trouble now."

"Then I won’t trouble you to worry about it!"

He understood that Yin Xingping was right. Among so many Inner Qi Martial Artists, some were bound to be skilled in speed. However, it wasn’t as if Yu Fei had no way to deal with them. He’d just have to wait and see.

After the match, he returned to the lounge again, grabbed a bottle of Vermilion Flower Honey, found a corner spot, and started drinking it slowly. The taste was much worse than Spring Dew or Green Sprout; he mainly disliked overly sweet things.

’I have a feeling he wouldn’t be able to hide his Illusory Sword Intent for much longer. It was very likely he’d be forced to use it in the next match. These guys were incredibly cunning. Yin Xingping had exposed his greatest weakness, and challengers would now come swarming in.’

Currently in the S-rank bracket, nearly half the spots were being fiercely contested. The top experts of the third realm and the resentful cultivators from the Inner Qi Realm were constantly clashing with one another.

Every single prodigy in S-rank had been challenged. The moment they revealed the slightest weakness, A-rank challengers would immediately pounce. Likewise, the bottom 50 spots in A-rank were also a hotbed of competition.

Sure enough, just as the hour was up, his name appeared on the massive overhead screen again.

In the arena, Yu Fei felt a wave of irritation as he looked at the girl with the whip across from him.

The girl wore smoky makeup and a string of earrings as large as bracelets. The various ornaments on her body JANGLED as she moved. In her hand, she tightly gripped a leather whip nearly fifteen feet long.

"You’re Yu Fei, right? I hear you’re really ’fast’? Let me tell you, little guy, you should take care of your body at such a young age. If you’re this ’fast’ now, what are you going to do in the future? I know plenty of techniques to help you last longer... I could even teach you with my whip..."

’This... must be that sharp-tongued girl Ren Feng mentioned. Ren Feng said she’s incredibly fast, which means it’ll be hard for me to catch her.’

After all, his Three Powers Step was only a second-realm footwork technique. Even if he cultivated it to the Perfection Realm, the Cultivation Technique itself had inherent limitations.

"Why so quiet, little guy? Did I hit a sore spot? Are you mad? If you’re mad, then come and chase me. You can use your ’big precious sword’ on me. I don’t mind if you’re fast!"

Yu Fei didn’t say a word. He felt as if he’d just been run over by a truck.

"Ahem..."

"Contestants, please control yourselves. Now, the match begins!"

The moment the words fell, the girl spun and lunged forward instantly. The distance between them closed to less than ten meters, and then a sky full of whip shadows descended. Her movements were erratic, and in a flash, she had retreated far away again.