A suffocating silence crashed over the central arena. The thousands of citizens and merchants packing the grandstands stopped cheering and stopped whispering. They could only stare in disbelief at the headless body bleeding onto the crushed white stones. The fight had ended before anyone could even process that it had begun.

Everyone was stunned by how easily the unknown youth had killed a Paragon expert and how creepy that sword he used was. There was no grand fluctuation in his Qi and no lengthy incantation shouted to the heavens. He did not summon a towering avatar or unleash a wave of elemental destruction. It looked as though he simply willed the sword forward and erased his enemy from existence.

Yet the seasoned cultivators sitting in the upper tiers saw exactly what happened. It looked simple on the surface but there were clearly many different mechanics involved. The speed of the strike combined with the terrifying sharpness as well as weight behind the blade revealed abilities that were extremely well trained and defied common sense.

Sera Astor gripped the stone railing of her elevated balcony and felt her heart hammer against her ribs. She had just spent the previous evening eating roasted meat and sharing casual conversation with this young man. He had smiled and poured her tea. Seeing the lethal efficiency he just displayed made her realize he could have easily killed her the entire time she stood inside that courtyard and the realization sent a cold shiver down her spine.

Behind her the Astor Patriarch and the Head Elder remained perfectly still. They expected a result similar to this. The boy showed his true strength last night by casually launching bowls of soup through their defensive arrays without any issues and was completely carefree even with their presence. That simple gesture with the food showed them everything they needed to know about his martial prowess. He wasn’t scared because he possessed the power to back up his confidence.

The Thorne Clan leadership scrambled to reevaluate their entire strategy. They never expected such a brutally one sided battle for the opening match. Vanya Thorne gripped the arms of her grand chair while her grey eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. Her husband Ronan set his jaw and gripped the hilt of his broadsword until his knuckles turned white. Their calculated fighter had been slaughtered like a common beast.

Li Yu stood motionless in the center of the ring. Pale Extinction floated lazily in the air right beside his shoulder and hummed with a soft light. He looked up toward the purple banners of the Thorne viewing platform and waited.

"I am asking for my next opponent," Li Yu declared while letting his voice carry across the silent stadium.

The official judge wearing grey robes stepped cautiously toward the edge of the boundary line. He held his signaling flag tightly and looked at the black robed youth.

"Do you wish to step down and let another fighter take your place?" The judge asked according to the formal rules of the trial but could already guess the response back.

The answer was obvious to everyone sitting in the stands. Li Yu had not even broken a sweat or taken a single step during the first exchange. What was there to step down for when he had expended zero visible effort?

"Send the next one," Li Yu replied without looking at the official.

Vanya Thorne gestured sharply to a man standing near the back of her guards. The second fighter wore heavy chainmail beneath his purple tunic and carried a long halberd tipped with jagged steel. He possessed a dense aura resting firmly at the Karma Severing realm. This man stood on the exact same cultivation level as Ronan Thorne though his foundation was slightly weaker than the noble husband.

The heavy armored expert leapt from the balcony and landed in the ring with a thunderous crash that cracked the white stones. He did not waste any time offering insults or showing off his dexterity. He had just watched Li Yu effortlessly execute a Paragon so he knew delaying would mean certain death.

"Begin," the judge shouted before quickly retreating from the ring.

The Karma Severing expert exploded his aura outward the instant the command left the official's mouth. A towering avatar of a ferocious striped tiger materialized around his body. The martial spirit roared and infused his muscles with explosive physical strength. The man charged forward and swung his heavy halberd down in a crushing overhead arc designed to cleave Li Yu in half.

Li Yu did not retreat from the incoming strike as he launched Pale Extinction forward once again. The bone sword met the descending halberd head on and a deafening clang of shattering metal echoed across the arena as the sword neutralized the force of the halberd and stopped the heavy blade dead in its tracks.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

At the exact same time that he had sent Pale Extinction to block the primary attack, Li Yu tapped into his Nexus Mind and split his consciousness further. He launched another two swords from his Koi Sanctuary in a seamless coordinated strike.

Whispering Frost and Tian's Cataclysm materialized in the air and shot forward from different angles.

Whispering Frost traced a brilliant blue arc through the sky. The icy blade struck the side of the glowing tiger avatar and shattered the spiritual manifestation like fragile glass before continuing its deadly trajectory to slice cleanly through the man's right arm as he was controlling the recoil from his blocked strike. Blood sprayed across the white stones as the severed limb hit the ground still gripping the halberd.

A fraction of a second later, Tian's Cataclysm flashed with harsh silver light. The jagged blade flew directly through the face of the screaming expert and tore through his skull to end his life yet again. The heavy armored body collapsed backward onto the ruined arena floor, becoming the second person to have their entire head destroyed today.

The three swords instantly reversed their flight paths and flew back to Li Yu. Pale Extinction, Whispering Frost and Tian's Cataclysm now slowly circled around his black robes like loyal mechanical guardians.

The city was even more dead quiet somehow. You could actually hear the panicked breathing of the merchants sitting in the front rows. He had effortlessly killed two high tier experts in a row with ease. He achieved this impossible feat just by standing in place and sending out flying swords.

The Thorne Clan members all wore incredibly sour looks on their faces. The initial Paragon they sent was a replaceable vanguard meant to test the waters. However, an expert at the Karma Severing realm was not so easily replaced. Nurturing a cultivator to that level required centuries of intense resources and deep clan loyalty. They had lost big this time and they were visibly losing the political war in front of the entire city.

They now faced a terrible dilemma. They had to either sacrifice another fighter and lose all face completely if Li Yu killed them just as easily or they had to send out the clan leader. The only other viable option was her husband Ronan. He rested on the same realm as the man who just died but his martial foundation and combat arts were significantly stronger.

The thousands of spectators held their breath and wondered what the clan leader would do next to salvage this humiliating disaster.

Instead of sending out her husband or another elite guard, Vanya Thorne stood up from her grand chair and walked to the edge of the viewing platform. She looked down at the youth surrounded by orbiting swords and spoke with a booming voice that rattled the arena walls.

"Why is someone with your strength fighting so hard for the Astor family?" Vanya demanded. She wanted to frame him as a hired mercenary to lessen the sting of her own losses. "What did they pay you to slaughter my people?"

Li Yu threw his head back and laughed loudly. The sound echoed across the silent stadium and mocked her direct question.

"I am not fighting for the Astor family," Li Yu answered while pointing a finger up at her balcony. "Did you somehow forget that you forced this fight upon me? I was simply a bystander eating street food and offering a true account of what had happened regarding a broken carriage wheel. Now here I am standing in your death match."

He shook his head and let his three swords spin a bit faster around his body.

"I am not some loyal fighter for the Astor clan," Li Yu clarified for the entire city to hear. "But at the same time I am not someone who is going to lay down and die simply because a noble family got a little hurt and demanded blood to soothe their ego."

He shifted his gaze toward the back of the Thorne platform where Jarek stood trembling behind a line of guards.

"That stupid fool who caused this entire mess should come out here and die right now," Li Yu commanded with a cold tone. "Perhaps if you purge the weak and arrogant from your ranks, your family can actually be successful in the future. What a terrible shame that some pampered fool caused this slaughter to happen to your elite forces. I guess you truly reap what you sow in this world."

Li Yu crossed his arms over his chest and looked back at Vanya.

"Stop wasting my time and send out your last person to die," Li Yu provoked. "And maybe after I kill him, I will feel good enough to leave things as they are and walk away."

As he spoke those harsh words, Li Yu could feel his karmic instincts working overtime. His connection to those laws allowed him to sense the true nature of the people standing on that platform. Each one of those Thorne elders and guards carried a thick stench of rot and disease.

They had committed heinous deeds willingly and on purpose to build their wealth and power. Just looking at their twisted auras made him feel physically disgusted. He was not a righteous savior meant to cleanse the realm but it did not mean he liked to tolerate such vile existence either. Since he was caught in such a situation, he should do his part to restore a bit of karma to the cosmos.

The clan leader's face soured into a mask of hatred upon listening to Li Yu’s words which spat on them and trampled all over their face. He was totally taking off the political veil and dragging their proud name through the mud for the entire city to witness.

Vanya Thorne knew she could not send Ronan down to face this monster. The risk was far too great and losing her husband would shatter their clan dynamics.

Sure enough, she stepped off the balcony and let her dense Qi carry her down into the arena. She landed gently on the crushed stones and drew her longsword. As a Tribulation expert, she was the only person strong enough to maybe stand a chance against the Calamity standing before her. Even if she had to lose the face of the clan for fighting in such a battle, she had to kill this man who had stepped all over their prestige.