Chapter 51: Meeting Again as Enemies

"I think it's time for me to take the stage," Du Bin said, rolling up his sleeves and preparing to enter the arena. Suddenly, Ye Lan stopped him. "With your strength, you’d better sit this one out! If I win this match, you'll advance to the next round whether you fight or not."

Du Bin understood what she meant. Even Hu Guozheng, a rookie, had managed to win a round by sheer luck. He couldn't help but feel like everyone considered him useless. With a bitter smile, he said, "I understand, but..."

"If you go up there and get yourself killed, how am I supposed to explain that to your parents?"

Du Bin was stunned. She was right—if his parents found out he had died, they would be heartbroken. They had always lived in the countryside, and he had kept nearly everything that had happened this past year from them.

Ye Lan smiled faintly and swiftly stepped into the ring. Yamaki Dahe looked at the middle-aged woman before him, mocking her with a sneer. "So, is it that the loser doesn't dare to enter the ring and sends an old lady instead?"

"Ah, what can I do? When the young are reckless, it falls to us old folks to hold the line."

After Xiaoxue introduced both sides and announced the start of the match, Dahe clenched his fists. Under the puzzled gazes of the audience, he struck the ground with a single punch, and the platform instantly cracked into countless pieces of stone.

The shattered stones seemed to move as if alive, adhering to his body and quickly forming an impenetrable suit of armor. Ye Lan admired him, praising, "Not bad, not bad. Young people should be like this. You have a future."

"This is my battle armor—the Earth Dragon Armor."

Right at the outset, Dahe gathered his strength in his hand and lifted it skyward. Instantly, balls of earth from around the platform shot into the air, merging into a gigantic boulder.

Following Dahe's gestures, the massive rock, pulled by gravity, crashed down toward Ye Lan's head. She stood motionless where she was.

Ye Lan quietly chanted, and in an instant a ball of lightning formed in her hand. As the boulder came crashing down, she punched it.

With a resounding boom, the giant rock shattered into fragments, scattering across the floor. Dahe realized this formidable "auntie" was no ordinary opponent and became more serious. From his armor, he drew a katana made of hardened earth.

Dahe's eyes narrowed, and he dashed in a blur of lightning speed. As he closed in, he unleashed an Iai Slash. Despite her plump body, Ye Lan remained agile; she lightly leapt back, keeping a safe distance.

Still, Dahe relentlessly pursued her, moving so fast he left only afterimages. Ye Lan turned just in time to see Dahe appear in front of her, unleashing another slash.

Repeatedly evaded, Dahe pressed his speed advantage, but no matter how fiercely he attacked, he couldn't land a blow on Ye Lan.

"This old lady is toying with me," he thought. He clearly had the upper hand in speed, yet he couldn't even touch her. Worse, she only dodged, never bothering to counterattack, which stung his pride.

Dahe halted his assault, gripping his sword with both hands. Suddenly, a powerful force gathered in the blade, and a whirlwind spun around it.

He leaped high into the air, and with the force of gravity, brought the sword down hard toward Ye Lan's head. With a deafening crash, smoke billowed everywhere. When the dust cleared, only a large crater remained before Dahe.

"Aunt Lan is gone! Did she get obliterated?" Du Bin worried aloud.

"If I'd been hit, I'd really be nothing but ashes," Ye Lan's voice came from above. She landed some distance behind Dahe, who was shocked—he had clearly struck her, so how had she managed to escape in such a short time?

"I was careless just now. Next time, you won't be so lucky."

"Ah, getting old really is a disadvantage. If you hadn't reminded me, I would have forgotten that move your sword school holds in highest regard."

"Heh, then I'm looking forward to it," Dahe replied coldly, angered by her dismissive tone. Once more, he gathered a force in his blade, even stronger than before, and leaped high.

As he brought his sword down toward the ground, Ye Lan didn't dodge. She clenched her fists, and the crowd erupted, shouting for blood.

With a bang, Ye Lan caught his wrists in her hands. Dahe was stunned by this unexpected move. With a twist, Ye Lan forced him to drop his sword, then struck his chest with her palm.

A surge of lightning blasted him away. By the time he recovered, his sword was already in Ye Lan's hands. He clutched his chest, gritting his teeth and muttering, "Disarming Strike."

"Correct," she replied.

"I can create weapons anytime, anywhere," Dahe declared, making another sword from earth and charging again.

Ye Lan, too, gathered her power. She knew he was truly angry now. Dahe rushed forward at lightning speed, drawing his sword, and Ye Lan met him blade to blade.

The clash of their swords sent electric arcs crackling at the point of contact, and the ground trembled slightly—several spectators lost their balance and fell.

With a sharp snap, Dahe's sword broke. He stared in disbelief at the deep sword wound on his chest, then slowly collapsed to the ground.

Xiaoxue stood stunned for a moment before announcing the winner: "The Hunting Group wins three matches in a row and advances to the round of sixteen."

With three straight victories, Du Bin didn't have to fight. He was elated. "Wonderful, we've finally passed the first stage!"

"Don't get too excited. Hu Guozheng and Xiao Tang are both injured. The next round will only get harder for us."

Meanwhile, Lu Jiada, the investor for Dahe's team, was livid after a string of losses. Now, he was left with nothing.

Zeng Yilong carried Qin Ling out, and after a few steps, he turned to say, "You really provided an excellent show. Oh, and before the tournament ends, make sure to settle up our bet. I hear you’re filing for bankruptcy!"

Lu Jiada slumped on the sofa, ashen-faced, his cigar falling from his hand as he stared at the chessboard, realizing he had been checkmated.

After sending Qin Ling back to her VIP room, Zeng Yilong went to Wu Qiwei's suite and sat on the sofa. "After watching this round, what do you think of the Hunting Group?"

"No matter what, they'll be the final opponent for our Heavenly Dragon Group. Otherwise, their heir's position isn't secure."

"Is that so? With so many experts, it's hard to say if they'll even make it to the finals." Zeng Yilong uncorked the red wine on the glass table, pouring it into a goblet. The aroma of wine filled the room.

In the days that followed, more teams advanced. Ye Tang, having recovered, realized her necklace—something she'd had since birth and never thought much of—had started to feel strangely connected to her since the recent odd occurrences in the arena. She'd tried several times to ask Aunt Lan about it, but Lan dodged the question every time. Since she didn't want to answer, Ye Tang didn't press her.

Now that the necklace was cracked and strange things had begun to happen to her, she thought she should find an opportunity to investigate, but the pain those phenomena brought made her hesitate.

She saw Hu Guozheng, bandaged like a mummy, hobbling out of his room. Finding the lobby deserted, she asked, "Fatty, where's Du Bin?"

"Missing him, are you? He's been out watching the live matches these days, gathering data on the other teams."

"Oh," Ye Tang replied, turning to leave and leaving the injured Hu Guozheng alone in the hotel, muttering to himself, "Ah, that blockhead Du, when will he ever understand a woman's heart?"

Feeling hungry, Hu Guozheng ordered a meal in the hotel and opened his laptop to check the latest match results. The Hunting Group's support rate was still abysmally low. "It's enough to drive me mad. If I could bet, I'd already be a billionaire."

The battles in the arena continued to rage, and soon it was time for the final round of thirty-six. The display showed a match between the Heavenly Dragon Group and the Psychic Group.

Both team captains came out to discuss the match format. The Heavenly Dragon Group's captain was YOYO, while the Psychic Group was led by a muscle-bound man.

"My teammates have no interest in you, so they won't compete. To speed things up, let's do a one-on-four."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing much. Just giving you all a chance to win."

"So, it's a one-on-four," the muscle man said, more than happy to accept her arrogance.

Once decided, the four of them surrounded her. One unleashed a blast of ice power, and YOYO didn't dodge—she was instantly frozen into a statue.

The other psychics seized the chance to move in for a finishing blow. Suddenly, a powerful force erupted as countless ice swords shot out from the statue, skewering the three men in a deadly barrage.

The audience screamed in shock. Qin Ling, unable to bear the bloodshed, hid in Zeng Yilong’s arms, while he only smiled calmly.

With three members lost in an instant, the Psychic Group was struck hard, but their captain fought on, gathering immense freezing power. A giant ice ball formed in his hands and hurtled toward YOYO at blinding speed.

As it neared, YOYO raised her fist and smashed it aside. The ice ball veered off course toward the stands. Although there were protective barriers, the ball's immense force broke through them, sending the spectators into chaos as the ball crashed into the upper structure, causing steel beams to rain down.

One steel pipe hurtled toward Du Bin. In a panic, he rolled out of the way just as the pipe crashed into his seat. The arena was in utter turmoil.

Climbing to his feet, Du Bin gazed at YOYO. He had once admired her at first sight, but ever since she stood opposed to Ye Tang, his feelings had vanished. He hadn't expected that when they met again, they would be on opposite sides.

After her attack threw the arena into chaos, YOYO swiftly dispatched the last psychic and secured advancement, completing the line-up for the round of sixteen.

That night, everyone gathered to discuss the relative strengths of each group. They all knew that with every round, the competition would only get tougher and tomorrow's battles would not be easy.

"Fatty, is your injury alright?"

"I'll survive. No matter what happens, we'll give it our all."