Chapter 172
Liyu stood at the side as he listened to Xueyi’s words, not knowing what she was trying to accomplish, but he could say without a shred of doubt that it wouldn’t work... not even if every inch of that guy’s body was made of steel would he still be able to stand after all those attacks Liyu had used on him.
Liyu could be said to have been far more brutal than necessary, the main reason for that being none other than the fact that his mind was half-clouded by his bloodlust, which begged for only one thing: to cause his prey pain and agony before finally killing them.
He had tortured and broken Haoran, but killing him was out of the picture because he wouldn’t kill the guy, since after all, Haoran was not really his enemy in a sense, being only an opponent and nothing more.
Although his mind being clouded by bloodlust was part of the reason for his ruthlessness, there was another reason for it as well, which was that... just as he had said before... he wanted to end things fast.
The tournament was taking far longer than necessary, and he also needed to get to his clones since he could feel that they were in danger, or at the very least, that they must have run into something troublesome, meaning that losing them was not something Liyu was willing to allow.
So he needed to make sure Haoran stayed down, and because of that, he had attacked with far more brutality than he rarely used... all because of one simple reason: to make sure the large guy didn’t stand up anymore.
And that was exactly what was happening, because no matter what Xueyi said, the big guy didn’t move, and if anything, he seemed to have completely passed out.
The referee finally ended the countdown.
"Thirty."
Liyu turned, ready to rest for a while, thinking that at the very least, he should recuperate for a little before his final match, which would be against Shi Tian.
And that match... well, it was bound to be his toughest match yet. Yet before he could move for long, he heard the sound of something standing up, followed by the faint sound of dripping. Liyu’s nose twitched, and he had a bad feeling.
He slowly turned his body to look, his eyes twitching even more when he saw the figure that was back on his feet: Guan Haoran was standing, his back slightly hunched, while blood dripped over and over again from the numerous claw-marked injuries Liyu had dealt to the big guy.
Liyu’s hand twitched as he looked at the big guy whom he had been more than convinced was finished, only to see him standing back up as if he were some kind of undead that simply refused to stay down.
"You are right... I promised that I would win."
Guan Haoran’s voice came out quieter than usual, and perhaps that was understandable, since after all, Liyu hadn’t gone easy on the poor guy... far from it.
Guan Xueyi, seeing that he was back on his feet, beamed with excitement and nodded.
"I’m counting on you, Brother Hao. You have never lost a match before. Show everyone why your title as the Iron Behemoth has remained unchallenged. Win your match!"
Guan Haoran listened, but he didn’t reply anymore, his hands twitching at his sides as if he were contemplating something, as if he still didn’t know whether he should truly let loose or not.
While he could afford to waste time, Liyu couldn’t afford the same thing.
"If you’re not going to stay down after all that, I might as well crush every bone in your metallic body and see if you can still rise after that," Liyu said with a small scowl, feeling that this Haoran was messing with his plans.
Liyu launched forward at his top speed, his figure disappearing in a flash, and in what seemed like the blink of an eye, he had already appeared directly in front of Haoran. His two clawed hands shot forward with terrifying speed, the sharp claws aimed directly at Haoran’s chest.
Based on their trajectory and the overwhelming speed behind the attack, his claws were going to plunge deep into Haoran’s chest, as Liyu intended to use the force behind the attack to render him even weaker and more wounded, and once Haoran was immobilized, he would finally attempt to break those metallic bones of his that seemed almost indestructible.
If he managed to break them, Liyu was more than certain that Haoran wouldn’t be able to stand up anymore, and finally, this exhausting match would come to an end.
His clawed hands continued forward with full force, heading straight for Haoran’s chest. Then...
CLANG!
Liyu’s claws were stopped, stopped dead, and were completely unable to puncture Haoran’s chest. Liyu raised an eyebrow, staring at the place where his attack had been stopped, and couldn’t help but feel slightly taken aback, because Haoran’s metallic skin had changed.
The change was only around his chest at first, but it was impossible to miss, since the dark grey metallic colour from before was gone, and now, his chest was completely black.
Liyu suddenly sensed a blaring warning from his instincts when he tried to push his claws forward, but what he received in return was completely unexpected, as a powerful rebounding force erupted from Haoran’s chest and slammed directly into him, forcing Liyu several steps backward before he managed to stabilize himself.
His gaze changed immediately, and he looked from his own hand in shock toward Guan Haoran, who was still standing calmly in front of him with his back slightly hunched. The guy seemed to be saying something, so Liyu narrowed his eyes and listened.
With his extraordinary hearing, which had been further sharpened by the form he was currently in, he was able to hear Haoran’s words despite how muffled they sounded through his damaged and pained throat, yet the content of those words sent a chill through Liyu, because the guy was saying two simple words:
"Give up..."
Liyu’s eyes narrowed.
"Give up..."
Again.
"Give up... Give up..."
Over and over again, sounding almost as if Haoran was possessed, almost as if he was begging Liyu to give up before he hurt him, as if he was slowly losing control.
Liyu didn’t understand what the guy meant, but there was something else he could understand, something he could see clearly: the obsidian colour covering Haoran’s chest was spreading.
It slowly travelled across his body, engulfing his entire chest before spreading outward toward the rest of him as it crawled across his back, his shoulders, his arms, his hands, his neck, his head, and finally covering his entire body.
The transformation was astonishing, because the metallic warrior from before was no longer standing before Liyu, and instead, what stood there was an entirely different existence:
An obsidian warrior whose entire body was covered in an extremely dark, almost pitch-black metallic surface that seemed to possess a sharp cutting edge, while an overwhelming and oppressive aura radiated from his body, spreading through the arena like an invisible storm.
Liyu’s gaze furrowed into a deep frown as he tried to make sense of what was happening. How did this guy still have something like this after everything?
It was almost as if there was no limit to how much Haoran could surprise him, and no matter how far Liyu pushed him, the guy somehow kept revealing something even more troublesome... almost as if Haoran had no limit whatsoever.
Liyu’s hand twitched at his side, ready to act the instant he sensed any further danger, but he didn’t act rashly because he didn’t dare to, knowing that would be foolish.
For now, he wanted to understand what this black form Guan Haoran had stepped into actually was, and more importantly, he wanted to know exactly how powerful Haoran had become in this form, which were things he could only discover by paying close attention, since charging in blindly against an unknown opponent was beyond foolish.
And so Liyu watched, his gaze remaining calm and steady as he buried away every hint of apprehension that might have surfaced on his face, keeping his attention completely focused on Guan Haoran, whose back was still slightly hunched.
"Give up..."
Haoran continued repeating those words.
"Give up..."
But Liyu didn’t, and if anything, he still looked more prepared to fight than ever.
Why wouldn’t you give up?
Haoran’s thoughts were in complete chaos as he clenched his fists at his sides. If he didn’t give up... then I would just make him give up by force.
Haoran’s eyes suddenly turned pure white, and at first it looked as if he had completely lost his vision, but no, it wasn’t that, because his gaze had transformed into something else entirely, becoming pure, blinding white, as if two miniature suns had suddenly ignited within his eye sockets.
"I would just make him give up..." Haoran repeated under his breath.
And finally... he lost control. No matter how hard he tried to suppress it, the form he had entered was still far too powerful for him to control completely, which was precisely why it had always been his final card... the technique he would only use when everything else had failed.
And now... everything else had failed. The blinding white light suddenly spread throughout Guan Haoran’s body, moving like veins as bright white veins appeared across his obsidian body, pulsing vibrantly with terrifying energy.
And right before Liyu’s stunned gaze, something even more shocking happened, because all the gruesome wounds Liyu had inflicted upon Guan Haoran began to disappear, one after another... every claw mark, every bloody wound, every injury... vanishing as if they had never existed in the first place, erased completely by the strange white light spreading throughout his body.
The white veins appeared all across Guan Haoran’s body, pulsing vibrantly with terrifying light, and they pumped him with immense strength and power.
Power surged through him in wave after wave, flooding through his skin, blood, and bones, making every inch of his body seem to be filled with intoxicating power, a force so overwhelming that Haoran couldn’t help but let out a deep roar. It wasn’t beast-like, and if anything, it sounded even more powerful than the roar of a beast.
ROOOAR!
The very air shook, the world itself seemed to stiffen as colossal waves of tornado Qi suddenly began swirling vigorously around Haoran, and he stood right at the center of the raging vortex as the Qi tornado grew larger and larger, spiraling wildly around him while dense World Qi poured into his body.
Liyu found himself taken aback by what was happening right in front of him, unable to even understand what was happening, but whatever it was... he could sense that it was not good... not good for him at all.
The entire arena went silent, everyone watching in complete silence, utterly entranced by the scene unfolding before them. Just when they had all believed that Haoran was finished, he went and brought out this... whatever this was.
None of them had any idea what was happening, and no one knew exactly what Guan Haoran was doing, but one thing was certain: he was powering up.
The trembling of the world, the terrifying pressure filling the arena, and the raging Qi tornado surrounding him... all of it was more than enough confirmation of that fact.
While the majority of the audience had no idea what was happening, there were a few people who understood perfectly. Guan Xueyi smiled slightly, her gaze filled with hope, with a hint of excitement shining deep within her beautiful purple eyes.
"So you have finally decided to let loose."
Her lips curved upward.
"Go on. Win this."
With Haoran finally stepping into that state, there was no shred of doubt in Xueyi’s heart that Liyu was about to become the one on the receiving end of the beating, and if Liyu knew what he was about to face, then he would understand that giving up before the next round started was the smartest thing he could possibly do.
Xueyi’s gaze shone with excitement, but there was also a slight hint of nervousness within it, since it had only been a few times that she had ever seen Haoran enter his Battle Obsidian State, and every single time she witnessed it, she felt both chills and excitement bubbling within her chest.
In that state... she truly didn’t believe that anyone below the Core Stage had the right to stand against Haoran, and the fact that even a Foundation Realm expert would be weak before him in that state said more than enough about just what kind of monster Haoran was becoming right now.
She turned her gaze toward Liyu, and a flash of pity appeared within her beautiful purple eyes as she shook her head slightly, thinking that for his own sake, if he gave up, he might still be saved, but if he didn’t...
Xueyi shook her head again, not even wanting to think about it, knowing for certain that this battle was already won, and that the only person they needed to worry about now was the Devil of the Shi Clan: Shi Tian.
Meanwhile, at the leader’s seat, Guan Ju’s gaze, which had seemed startled and helpless a while ago, suddenly shifted, his eyes becoming focused while his expression calmed as if the surface of a previously turbulent lake had suddenly become completely still.
The contrast to how he had been moments ago was incredibly sharp, and anyone watching him might have wondered what had suddenly changed him, but the answer was right before everyone’s eyes... the answer being none other than the raging Qi tornado with Haoran standing at its center.
The only reason Guan Ju had feared that the Guan Clan could lose, that Haoran could lose this tournament, was because there was a possibility that he would be unable to tap into and step into that state, but if he managed to enter that state... then their victory was all but secured.
The very fact that Guan Ju was now one hundred percent certain that, in the state Haoran was stepping into right now, defeating the Shi Devil would be more than possible... it would become a certainty, which alone was enough to tell anyone just what kind of monster Guan Haoran had been keeping in check all this time.
And now... he had finally decided to unleash it. Without a trace of emotion on his face, Guan Ju looked toward Liyu and spoke in a calm tone:
"Not even the heavens themselves can help that kid win this tournament anymore."
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