Liu Yao had always been a man who cared deeply about his reputation—he even had a bit of a histrionic personality at times.

Growing up in poverty, he had always felt insecure among the second-generation cultivators, which led to a weak state of mind, easily influenced by external factors.

Now that Song Wanning had utterly humiliated him, how could someone so psychologically fragile bear it?

Liu Yao thrust out his palm, and as he moved, the spectral image of a tiger appeared behind him.

The beast roared, and the very color of the sky and earth seemed to change.

A fierce wind howled across the Martial Arts Arena, and the protective Array wavered.

Song Wanning felt a terrifying pressure bearing down on her as the massive palm strike closed in on her face.

If that palm landed true, she would be sent flying in the next instant.

But she remained unhurried, unleashing another sword strike.

The Sword Dao True Realm manifested once more, enveloping both Liu Yao and the spectral beast.

The massive palm strike vanished without a trace under her sword’s power.

Such a powerful-looking attack had simply dissipated into nothing.

This time, Liu Yao didn’t fall to his knees, but he looked even more ridiculous.

In full view of the crowd, he just stood there, struggling desperately...

Veins bulged on his neck, his face was contorted, and his eyes were bloodshot.

His forehead was drenched in sweat, and his expression was savage.

But Song Wanning had simply countered his attack and then stopped, making no further moves.

Liu Yao was...

What was he even doing?

Everyone was baffled, completely unable to figure out what he was up to.

Someone suggested, "Could it be that Song Dao You used some kind of trick?"

"But none of us felt any Spiritual Power fluctuations..."

"Exactly. Song Dao You stopped her attack long ago. With so many Nascent Soul Cultivators present, if she were really doing something, would not a single one of us have noticed?"

No matter how powerful Song Wanning was, there should have been a fluctuation of Spiritual Power when she attacked, right?

But right now, everything was calm and peaceful, with nothing out of the ordinary.

On the high platform, all the Nascent Soul Cultivators fell silent.

Watching Liu Yao put on his one-man show, they were torn between laughter and bewilderment. The variety of expressions on their faces was a sight to behold.

The members of the Mountain Gazing Sect could no longer bear to watch.

Being in the same Sect as Liu Yao was the most humiliating thing they had ever experienced.

’Does he even know what he’s doing?’

The Sect Master of the Mountain Gazing Sect wished he could just drop dead on the spot...

In his two hundred years as Sect Master, this was the first time he had ever felt so disgraced!!!!!

In the crowd, Liu Yiyi was so angry her expression had gone numb. She was surrounded by the sounds of mockery...

’Big Brother must be insane. To go this far for a woman... I underestimated Song Wanning’s charm!’

On the Martial Arts Arena, Song Wanning wore an expression of innocence and confusion, a cunning glint in her eyes as she asked, "Liu Yao, you... you really don’t need to go this far..."

"If you keep this up, I’m going to get angry!"

Liu Yao: "..."

’Damn it, this woman is still putting on an act!’

’How did I never see this side of her before?’

’I was truly blind.’

’To think I was deceived for so many years!’

He struggled to break free from the force pressing down on him, unable to comprehend how Song Wanning possessed such strength.

However, just as Liu Yao managed to straighten his body, he heard Song Wanning say angrily, "Liu Yao, you’ve gone too far!"

"This behavior of yours is a complete insult to me!"

Liu Yao: "????"

He looked up, still trying to understand why Song Wanning’s mood had shifted so quickly, when a sword strike came right at him.

His expression changed in an instant, and he hastily dodged to the side.

The biting sword light grazed past his body but didn’t injure him.

Liu Yao let out a breath of relief. His gaze, sharp as lightning, shot toward Song Wanning, only to see her smile and wink at him.

’This is bad,’ he thought. Just as he expected, a chill crept up his back the next moment.

He spun around to counterattack, but that strange power reappeared. His knees went weak, and he almost fell to them again.

In that moment of distraction, a Golden Small Sword plunged straight into his body.

"PFFT—"

The Golden Small Sword pierced his shoulder and shot out his back, spraying blood everywhere.

The Spiritual Energy in his body stagnated, and Liu Yao’s face turned deathly pale.

Then, he heard Song Wanning’s cold shout, "How dare you! I don’t need you to go easy on me!!"

"You’ve gone too far! Since you refuse to see reason, don’t blame me for being merciless!"

With that, Song Wanning attacked with her full power. Flashing sword shadows left Liu Yao with no time to react.

Normally, it would be easy for him to counterattack, but he felt suppressed by a strange force that made it difficult to even lift his hands.

He could only take the beating passively!

That was frustrating enough, but Song Wanning was also slandering him. The things she was saying were infuriating!

Liu Yao was in so much pain and so furious he felt like he could cough up blood from sheer frustration.

Soon, his body was covered in wounds.

Below the stage, the disciples were discussing heatedly.

"Look, Grandmaster Song is furious! I’ve never seen her so angry!"

"You’re right! She wasn’t even this angry when she broke off her engagement with Grandmaster Gu. Liu Yao has really gone too far!"

"Is he that confident Grandmaster Song can’t beat him? That’s ridiculous!"

"Exactly! Even if he wasn’t holding back, Grandmaster Song definitely wouldn’t lose. Now he’s making it look like he’s letting her win!"

"If I were Grandmaster Song, I’d be frustrated to death!"

"Sigh, what Liu Yao is doing is clearly looking down on Grandmaster Song. Anyone would be angry!"

Everyone could understand why Song Wanning was angry. They were all Nascent Soul Cultivators, and what Liu Yao was doing was just too outrageous.

’Losing’ in such a foolish way—wasn’t that the same as saying he thought Song Wanning wasn’t strong enough?

Who could possibly be happy about that?

No wonder Grandmaster Song was now counterattacking like a madwoman.

Her "frenzied" appearance was truly terrifying to watch.

In just a few breaths’ time, Liu Yao had become a bloody mess, with hardly a patch of unscathed flesh on his body.

Already frustrated, Liu Yao felt even more like dying when he heard these discussions.

’Like hell I’m trying to let her win!’

’I can’t beat her at all!’

’Song Wanning is too scheming! I’m no match for her games!’

Liu Yao stubbornly kept counterattacking, but his blows were pathetically weak. Meanwhile, his injuries were only getting worse.

He had become her personal punching bag, utterly tormented by her...

Only when Song Wanning had vented all her resentment did she swing her sword forward once more, unleashing the Sword Dao Realm.

In a daze, the crowd seemed to see her figure grow infinitely tall, swinging the sword like a giant.

The dense killing intent made everyone on the high platform shudder, and they even rose to their feet in unison.

"Junior Sister Song—"

The Sect Master of the Heavenly Inquiry Sect cried out, flying toward the Martial Arts Arena in a panic.

This was just a friendly match, but Song Wanning seemed to have lost herself to bloodlust.

’She can’t kill him!’

The Sect Master of the Mountain Gazing Sect also wore a grim expression as he shot toward the Martial Arts Arena, attempting to block the strike.

But they were a breath too slow.

"BOOM—"

Liu Yao was struck squarely by the Sword Dao Realm. His body was instantly sent flying backward, blood spraying wantonly in a parabola that splattered across almost the entire Martial Arts Arena.

THUD—