Infinite Slaughter System: I Kill, Therefore I Ascend!-Chapter 206: The Round of 16! 2

Shi Gaolin walked out with that same warrior’s gait that made him look less like a Hungry Ghost disciple and more like a mortal Martial Grandmaster who had wandered into a demonic sect by mistake. The halberd in his hand dragged a faint line across the tiles, and his shoulders rolled as if loosening for a hunt.

Mei Lin arrived with the opposite energy, as hers was clean and measured. The sect’s white-and-gold robes fit perfectly on her slender figure, hair tied high in a matronly bun along with firm eyes like cold water.

Even when the crowd cheered for her, she did not change her expression or demeanor, fully locked into the battle.

When Shi Gaolin released his aura, the temperature around him dropped rapidly, his Hungry Ghost Yin Power condensing close to his body rather than flaring wildly.

That was his style after all, compact and efficient in utility. He was not the type to consume heavy Yin Power with flashy Daoist arts.

Mei Lin’s hand slid toward her own butterfly sword that was coated with a white light from her Divine Deva Light Power, not rushing nor hesitating, akin to an impartial judge lifting a brush to write a verdict.

WHOOSH! CLING! CLANG! BOOM!

The first clash came fast.

Shi Gaolin unleashed a halberd thrust that could split an entire mountain in half, but it met its match in a sword light so clean it looked like it had cut the air itself into two neat halves.

KRAKOOM!

The collision boomed and caused the formation to flicker slightly as it resisted the aftershock, while the spectating crowd howled at the intense matchup.

"Good! That’s good!"

"Finally, a normal fight between actually qualified opponents!"

The two warriors exchanged blows again and again, their clash causing the image of the silvery and sinister Yin Power and the cold-hearted light of the Divine Deva to flash in the retinas of all viewers.

Eventually, Mei Lin was knocked back, unable to match Shi Gaolin’s martial skill and brute force, her face pale as blood leaked down the side of her lips. However, no matter how unwilling she was, she could only cup her fists and step down with a downcast expression, knowing she had lost her chance to advance.

The Divine Deva Overseer nodded his head and called the end of the match, then shifted to another arena for the next one.

"Second match: Shen Jian versus Luo Luo!"

The moment their names were called, both parties went up the stage with differing levels of confidence on their faces.

Shen Jian stepped forward like a spoiled prince walking into a banquet that had been prepared for him. His expression always held arrogance by habit, but his eyes carried something sharper now, a coldness that had been carved into him by this tournament’s atmosphere.

The lass called Luo Luo appeared more quietly, but the crowd immediately buzzed because of what they did know.

"Isn’t that Luo Luo? The one from the True Human Hall?"

"The formation freak?"

Even without announcing anything, the way Luo Luo stood already hinted at preparation, as if she liked to make the battlefield obey rules before the enemy even took a breath.

Naturally, Shen Jian didn’t allow that comfort.

Divine Deva Light Power flared behind him, angelic wings of light forming as he moved forward in a sudden, cutting dash that looked like it was trying to end the match before it became complicated.

The crowd erupted at the speed alone, shocked and terrified, because even the Asuras couldn’t manage this level of acceleration and velocity!

Damn, this kid had been holding back all this time!

Luo Luo retreated a step, eyes widening with horror, her posture shifting as if adjusting a plan on the fly as she began to rapidly throw out formation plates.

SWISH!

She managed to barely block that casual strike, but the pressure rose immediately as Shen Jian’s killing intent was not hidden, and his smile was the kind that made people remember he came from a demonic sect even if he stood in holy light, a bit too similar to his so-called ’patriarch’.

Eventually, her formations could not match up with the senseless speed and offensive power that Shen Jian could muster, leading to her being almost bisected at the waist. Shen Jian would have completed the kill had the Divine Deva Overseer not protected Luo Luo, glaring at his Path junior with reproach.

It was one thing for that Asura War Demon to kill without scruples, but you didn’t nearly have the same level of talent and backing he did to be so wanton!

He hurriedly called the match and shooed Shen Jian back to the stands, who was a bit miffed and unhappy, but anyone could see that it was a senior shielding a junior.

"Third match: Hu Lili versus Lang Jue!" the Divine Deva Overseer called after securing Luo Luo with her hall’s people.

The crowd immediately fell in love with this one before it even began!

Hu Lili bounced onto the stage with wild confidence, like a tigress that had smelled blood. She was beautiful in a dangerous way, with power in her hips, strength in her shoulders, and eyes bright with the simple joy of fighting.

Across from her, Lang Jue’s presence was almost no different. The fellow hopped onto the stage with a rather slim yet compact muscular build, his wild black hair forming a minor mane behind him.

The fellow grinned at Hu Lili in a friendly yet combative manner, then howled like a wolf.

"Lili, come, let’s fight, baby girl!"

Hu Lili smiled as well but seemed amused. "Jue Jue, I have beaten you since we were kids. What makes you think you can beat me now?"

"Tsk, Lili, I have some new tricks up my sleeve! Watch this, Wolf Fang Fist!"

Lang Jue launched forward with a flurry of blows that formed the spiritual phenomenon of howling wolves about to pounce and bite their foe, making those weaker in the stands feel like their souls and minds were about to be chewed to death by a rabid pack!

"Hahaha! Jue Jue, finally something good! Here, let me show you my Lion’s Barrage!" Hu Lili was not discouraged by the new Daoist art with great power as she too charged forward, the image of a pack of lions forming behind her as her claws and feet struck out.

THUD! BAM! WHUMP!

The clash of beast auras made the air feel thick with animalistic intent, and the crowd couldn’t help but feel that they were crouched in a bush within a jungle, watching a pack of wolves and tigers fight to the death in a clearing.

"YOOOWW!!"

Eventually, Lang Jue could only scream as he was beaten off the stage by a panting Hu Lili, who gave him a thumbs up.

"Jue Jue, not bad!! A little bit more and we can become evenly matched! Keep it up, little brother!"

The Divine Deva Overseer and the entire crowd rolled their eyes as he called the match, realizing it was typical Wild Beast Hall shenanigans.

The next match was immediately called. "Fourth match: Wang Feng versus Song Man!"

Wang Feng walked out with his aura already flaring, causing his hair and eyes to glow a blood-red color, his rather malevolent Blood Power already surging across the stage.

The crowd raised their eyebrows, surprised by this.

"Is he going to lose control?"

"He’s been waiting to kill someone."

Song Man stepped out far more composed. He was a True Human Hall disciple, a well-known schemer by reputation. This fellow was the kind of man who didn’t look like a killer until you realized the bodies were always arranged neatly around him.

Even the Hall Masters’ earlier comments held that same contrast, that Wang Feng killed like a berserk brute, whereas Song Man killed like someone who wanted the blood off the floor afterward.

Wang Feng didn’t bother with ceremony as his Blood Power surged forth. He stepped in like he wanted the match to become a brawl instantly and charged toward his foe with a bellow full of killing intent.

Song Man didn’t flinch despite knowing he was facing a crazed murderer with power to back it up. Instead, he watched, measured, and moved with the patience of someone who believed the battlefield could be turned into a trap.

Unfortunately for him, the best he could do was preserve his life after Wang Feng continually and unrelentingly wailed upon him, even making the calm young man show fear and incomprehension for the first time.

The Divine Deva Overseer did not make a move, but his eyes narrowed coldly at Wang Feng, who tried to pursue the kill off the stage, flicking a finger and pushing the fellow back.

The Deva Overseer’s gaze became even colder when Wang Feng dared to growl at him with anger.

"Fifth match: Bai Yegui versus Nong Rong!"

When Bai Yegui walked out, the crowd changed, and it wasn’t the same excited roar as Hu Lili’s fight, or the same gleeful violence as Wang Feng’s.

It was the sound people made when they were watching a phenomenon!

After all, he was one of the Twin Monsters of the lower Six Paths, and everyone remembered the story that made him famous, even those who hadn’t witnessed it.

That was not even factoring in his exploits in this tournament, proving himself to be tied with Bei Dongshi for the second best overall.

Nong Rong stepped up opposite him, and the crowd murmured almost sympathetically.

"That poor girl..."

"She drew Bai Yegui."

Bai Yegui’s face didn’t change much. His eyes were too calm, too deep, like he had already lived once and was now spending his second life with a colder purpose.

He raised his hand, and that familiar pressure appeared again. It was the same strange manifestation of the Hungry Ghost Avatar he’d shown before, where unlike the others who manifested it from their bodies, it was like his existed at all times and was simply called out from the void around him.

Nong Rong’s breath hitched as she tried to unleash her best attacks to be able to muster somewhat of a fight, and the crowd leaned forward to see what she could do.

It wasn’t much in the end.

BANG!

Nong Rong was knocked out of the stage while bleeding from all seven orifices, her body mangled badly, her life and death unknown. Clearly, Bai Yegui was not the type to go soft on women nor ’innocent’-looking people.

The Divine Deva Overseer sent her back to her hall and then called the next match.

"Sixth match: Bei Dongshi versus Yun Meng!"

Bei Dongshi’s entrance always felt wrong to people’s instincts. It wasn’t because of the blindfold, nor his utterly quiet demeanor that was a bit too still.

Rather, it was a certain presence he had that didn’t scream ’power’ but still made cultivators uneasy because they couldn’t predict how he would fight.

Yun Meng was the complete opposite, as she was an Asura Blood warrior with the Blood Mist Body, rumored to be able to slip between tangible and intangible states, making straightforward killing methods unreliable.

Li Ling noted that it was a weaker version of his own recently acquired Asura Blood Body, which allowed him to transform his whole body into blood and use it to fight, whereas this lass could only transform parts into blood mist for repositioning and evasion.

However, the matchup itself was bad from the start, like a hydrogen bomb versus a coughing baby.

Bei Dongshi lifted his hand slightly, and the arena remembered what he had already shown, his abnormal ability to manifest a black counterpart that fought like an extension of his own will.

Yun Meng’s aura stirred like mist rising from blood-warm water in response to this, knowing she wasn’t fast enough to stop it, but rather waiting for the opponent to make the first move.

When the karma clone attacked, she also struck forward, but the clash wasn’t brutal, but rather felt unsettling. It was like watching two twins speaking with the same voice, tone, cadence, and words, not sure which one you should listen to.

However, it asked a lot from a person to defeat themselves, and Yun Meng was not up to the challenge as she was beaten off stage by her own tireless clone.

"Seventh match: Cao Xian versus Meng Hao!"

Cao Xian stepped forward with the confidence of someone who had backing, high talent, and a mind that made money from war itself.

Surprisingly, she didn’t look nervous but rather mildly annoyed, like the match was a task to finish so she could return to her own agenda.

Meng Hao’s details hadn’t been properly introduced yet, so the crowd’s commentary here leaned more into speculation than certainty, which was exactly what happened whenever a lesser-known name survived into a major round.

"Who even is Meng Hao?"

"If he’s here, he’s not trash."

"I heard he plans to seal the heavens."

"What’s next, is he going to call himself Lord Nine?"

Cao Xian’s eyes scanned the fellow in quick assessment, then she smiled politely.

The match began with a sharp rise in pressure, as if both were trying to establish dominance early.

And then...

Well, the outcome was obvious, wasn’t it?

The fellow who almost became a dark horse was knocked off the stage while unconscious, Cao Xian idly brushing her sleeve and taking back her remaining contraptions into her storage ring.

The crowd was left speechless by this, unable to believe how much money had been wasted just now.

Only Qin Taishou, the Inheritor of Greed of the Seven Sins Sect, nodded with satisfaction and appreciation.

Meanwhile, after calling the end of this match, the Divine Deva Overseer’s voice cut through, louder than before, because he knew what name he was about to say.

"Eighth match."

A hush rolled across the stadium like a wave, swallowing sound.

"Li Ling versus Lin Yan, step forward!"

Lin Yan, the Divine Deva Hall’s ’shadow dagger’, finally approached the arena with that kind of quiet danger. He was clearly the type of cultivator people only noticed when the blade was already inside their ribs.

Across from him, Li Ling rose lazily from where he had been sitting, stretching as if this were an inconvenience.

The same Li Ling who had publicly promised to kill anyone he faced.

The same Li Ling who had just proven he meant it.

The crowd’s voices rose into a fever pitch, half chanting, half pleading, half celebrating:

"Li Ling!"

"Lin Yan!"

"Kill him!"

"Don’t die!"

"Show us!"

Even the high platforms leaned forward now, because whatever happened next was going to be remembered far beyond this tournament.

And in the center of it all, Li Ling smiled with a calm, cruel, and almost cheerful expression.

The fight everyone had been waiting for... was finally about to begin.