Chapter 45: What a truly exhilarating battle!

Suddenly, Li Wudao thought of something, and his gaze shifted toward Qi Xingyu without leaving a trace.

At this moment, the latter was looking at him with an ambiguous gaze, his expression gloomy and dark.

"Oh no, could this guy have seen through something?"

Li Wudao's heart skipped a beat.

The power of that punch just now probably made Qi Xingyu doubt his true strength.

No, this won't do.

If this continues and that fellow gets scared off, not daring to enter the secret realm, how is he supposed to trap and kill him?

Thinking of this, Li Wudao deliberately suppressed his aura, his chest heaving and gently panting as if he were struggling.

From a distance, it gave a vague impression of weakness.

Although subtle, everyone present was a martial artist, highly sensitive to the fluctuations of vital energy, and would naturally notice something was amiss.

Even Li Wudao almost believed his own act.

"Damn it, I really am a genius, born to be an actor."

He felt a bit smug inwardly, admiring the beauty of his impromptu performance.

With such subtle and lifelike acting, who wouldn't be fooled?

To be honest, the Oscars owe him a little golden man...

Sure enough, many people noticed the abnormality.

"Qianqian, look, he seems to be panting heavily. It seems that punch just now wasn't as effortless as it looked on the surface."

Ruan Fei's eyes narrowed slightly, overjoyed.

"I get it now. All of this is that brat's trick. He plans to use his full strength to instantly kill his opponent right at the start, just to deter other challengers so no one dares to step onto the stage. How truly malicious his intentions are!"

Wisdom flashed in his eyes as he wore an expression of having completely seen through Li Wudao.

"So that's how it is. Brother Fei is truly wise; I almost got fooled by that good-for-nothing. I thought he had some real capability, but he's just a petty trickster!"

After listening to this analysis, Sun Qian felt it made a lot of sense, and a cold sneer returned to the corners of her lips.

Her heart had been pounding wildly, fearing that Li Wudao had staged a comeback and truly transformed into a genius, which would have left her filled with everlasting regret.

Fortunately, her judgment hadn't failed her; Li Wudao was still a good-for-nothing.

"This brat is planning quite shrewdly, but such petty tricks can't fool everyone. Qianqian, you can rest assured and watch the show; I guarantee this brat's true colors will be exposed in no time."

Ruan Fei spoke eloquently, his confidence growing stronger and stronger.

Since he could capture the abnormality, others could naturally realize the problem as well.

Li Wudao's move seemed to deter all the disciples with a single punch, but in reality, it indirectly exposed the insufficiency of his own strength, making him an easy target for everyone.

Clearly, compared to the other direct disciples, the chances of defeating Li Wudao were much higher.

If Li Wudao found it this exhausting just to defeat a disciple at the late stage of the Blood-Consolidation Realm, what would happen if a few more came along?

Even if others didn't challenge Li Wudao, there were still others he had planted.

Anyway, the number of challengers was not limited, and each person had two opportunities.

Even through a war of attrition, Li Wudao could be worn down to death.

Qi Xingyu shared a similar thought.

His cautious and unsightly expression gradually relaxed, and the heavy stone in his heart silently fell.

That punch just now had led him to mistakenly believe that it was merely a casual strike from Li Wudao.

If that were the case,

what kind of terrifying level would this brat's true strength be, and wouldn't his recent plans go down the drain?

Fortunately, he too had realized something was wrong.

"Damn it, I almost got misled by this brat. This fellow really cares about face at the cost of suffering; just to become famous in a single battle, he didn't hesitate to puff himself up to look imposing."

Qi Xingyu's face was dark as he cursed Li Wudao repeatedly in his heart.

"Damned thing, I'll let you jump around for a few more days. Once we're inside the secret realm, let's see how this prince deals with you!"

He defeated a challenger with a single punch, while a murderous intent and jealousy toward Li Wudao ignited in his heart.

"Jiang Chuoran is a woman this prince has set his sights on, and no one is allowed to touch her. Since you're standing in the way, you have no choice but to die!"

...

At the same time,

regarding the matter of Li Wudao severely injuring a disciple, the sect's higher-ups reached a decision.

Considering that this was Li Wudao's first time entering the arena and he lacked combat experience, it was inevitable that he wouldn't know his own strength.

Moreover, Fang Chang's arm could still be repaired after recuperation, so the matter was not pursued further.

"This fellow is truly a handful..."

Hearing that Li Wudao could continue the competition, the worry in Jiang Chuoran's eyes faded.

If the former were banned from competing, he naturally wouldn't be able to enter the secret realm, and what had been promised earlier could not be fulfilled.

Unawares, even she didn't realize how much she had come to care about Li Wudao.

"Ring six, the challenges continue!"

An elder proclaimed in a loud voice.

As the words fell, another disciple immediately stepped onto the stage to issue a challenge.

"Yan Quan, please bestow your guidance, Direct Disciple Li!"

The newcomer was also about twenty years old, at the peak of the Blood-Consolidation Realm.

"Why do these peers look so precocious..."

Li Wudao hadn't realized the issue yet, only feeling that the last two disciples looked rather mature.

Having learned a lesson from the previous match,

he behaved himself this time, planning to cook on a slow fire and proceed step by step.

"Junior Brother Yan, take my move!"

As the battle began, Li Wudao started testing Yan Quan. You attack and I defend, I defend and you attack, stopping just short of going too far.

Thus, the two of them "fought fiercely" for a hundred moves, trading blows back and forth, until Li Wudao finally achieved a hard-fought victory.

"Another match! This time I will definitely defeat you!"

After reviewing the match, Yan Quan spoke with firm determination, filled with absolute confidence in winning.

However,

in the second match, Li Wudao won again, though it was by a narrow margin.

Yan Quan's face turned ashen, and he stepped down feeling extremely unwilling.

He couldn't figure out for the life of him why their strengths were comparable, yet he inexplicably lost at the end of both trials.

On the side viewing platform.

Yan Quan quietly approached Ruan Fei and said with a frustrated, low voice, "I'm sorry, Senior Brother Ruan, I failed."

"It's fine, you did very well."

Ruan Fei wasn't angry at all; instead, he smiled and offered comfort.

He had witnessed the entire battle between Yan Quan and Li Wudao. The two had traded blows evenly, and the gap in their strength wasn't large.

Although they failed to defeat Li Wudao, it had greatly depleted the opponent's stamina.

This precisely proved that during the first match, Li Wudao had indeed used his full strength with that punch.

If the challenges continued, it wouldn't be long before Li Wudao was exhausted, drained of all resources, and ultimately defeated by someone.

At this moment, on ring six.
Li Wudao had just defeated Yan Quan, putting on an act of panting heavily and wiping the deliberately squeezed-out sweat from his forehead.

Yet, within a few breaths, another challenger immediately stepped up.

"Damn it, they don't even give me time to catch my breath. They've really locked onto me like I'm a soft persimmon to squeeze."

Li Wudao muttered inwardly.

He raised his head to glance at the opponent, his brows furrowing slightly.

Hell, this guy is *another* mature-looking youth; this is already the third one.

Something is fishy.

This time, Li Wudao felt that something was amiss.

He remembered that the age limit for the entrance examination was under eighteen.

And this person's age looked noticeably older than the previous two, estimating him to be at least twenty-two or twenty-three.

Li Wudao secretly activated the Haotian Eye to observe.

[Name: Yin Guang]
[Age: 23]
[Talent: Yellow-tier Upper Grade]
[Realm: Blood-Consolidation Realm Perfection]
[Qi and Fortune: Mysterious-tier Lower Grade]
[Recent Event: Acting under someone else's instigation, intending to make the host embarrass himself]

After reading the last line of information, Li Wudao understood completely.

No wonder he felt things were strange; none of these disciples were newcomers.

Someone was meddling behind the scenes, deliberately causing trouble for him!

Who could it be?

Li Wudao pondered secretly.

He subconsciously thought of Qi Xingyu. That bastard even dared to try to kill him, so what else wouldn't he do?

But then he rejected this thought.

Because if this Seventh Prince wanted to ambush and kill him in the secret realm, he would inevitably need Li Wudao to enter the secret realm and make it into the top ten of the grand competition.

In other words, there was no reason for him to make a fuss at this juncture.

The mastermind must be someone else.

Li Wudao's eyes flickered, and he quickly thought of Ruan Fei, Sun Qian, and Young Sect Master Wu Shaotian.

Both parties had a rift with him, but the animosity from Ruan Fei and Sun Qian was clearly greater, giving them a motive.

Furthermore, although he and Wu Shaotian did not get along, their interactions were minimal, and they hadn't torn off their masks on the surface yet.

Therefore, all things considered, he was more inclined to believe it was the work of Ruan Fei and Sun Qian.

"After the grand competition ends, I must thoroughly investigate that scumbag and bitch, Sun Qian and Ruan Fei. It's time to settle things once and for all."

Li Wudao made his decision, a cold look appearing in the depths of his eyes.

After the competition, regardless of whether this matter was related to Sun Qian, he would make the two of them pay a heavy price.

These thoughts flashed through his mind in a fraction of a second, no more than a breath's time.

Soon, Li Wudao recovered his focus and began fighting the third person.

With the experience gained from before, his tactical approach became completely stable: defend while waiting to attack, remaining unchanged to cope with all changes.

If the enemy was strong, he would be even stronger; if the enemy was weak, he would be even weaker.

The main strategy was a tie, being able to trade blows evenly with anyone.

"Take this monkey steals the peaches!"

"Fish in troubled waters!"

"Black tiger plucks the heart!"

Li Wudao talked nonsense with a straight face, swinging his fists and feet with a solemn expression.

Although the names of the moves weren't particularly impressive, his opponent didn't dare to underestimate them and treated him as a formidable enemy.

Because he found that the youth in front of him actually had quite good strength, capable of matching him evenly and creating no small amount of pressure.

Finally, after a quarter of an hour of fierce battle, Li Wudao won once again.

"Ah, what a thoroughly exhilarating battle!"

Li Wudao stretched lazily, filled with emotion.

He almost got lost in the role.

Alas, it's all because his acting skills are too exquisite, nothing he could do about it.