Chapter 56: Thrown Out of the Arena Pavilion

Just as Qin Liang stepped into the fourth floor, Li Hongcai, Jiang Yutong, and the other cultivators who had undergone spirit-refining eight times were emerging from the third-floor arena rooms, all bearing no minor injuries.

They staggered, their faces as pale as paper, looking as though they might collapse at any second.

Some of the seven-times spirit-refined cultivators, unwilling to accept their fate, had ultimately been defeated by the battle puppets on this floor and had withdrawn from the Arena Pavilion.

Li Hongcai and the others did not rush up to the fourth floor. Instead, they sat cross-legged on the spot to channel their energy and heal their wounds.

They, too, were reluctant to quit and wished to press on to the next tier, but they had to ensure they were in top condition. The battle puppets on the fourth floor possessed strength comparable to those who had undergone spirit-refining nine times; the slightest carelessness meant courting death.

"Hmph, he still hasn't come out after all this time. Could it be that he died inside?"

Li Hongcai remembered the arena room Qin Liang had entered, glancing over from time to time, yet he had not seen Qin Liang emerge.

"He must have withdrawn early."

Jiang Yutong also gazed in that direction, shaking her head with a sigh, as she did not believe Qin Liang could possibly clear the third floor.

"What a pity. I didn't get to see him in such a pathetic state," Li Hongcai sneered.

After a brief recuperation, they pressed onward, heading toward the entrance of the fourth floor.

Upon reaching the fourth floor and seeing the young man sitting cross-legged in the corridor, they were all slightly taken aback. Li Hongcai and Jiang Yutong, in particular, furrowed their brows in utter disbelief. Qin Liang had actually cleared the third floor?

"This brat..."

Li Hongcai gritted his teeth in secret. The fellow was actually waiting here for him; it was an obvious humiliation.

In truth, Qin Liang was not waiting for anyone here; rather, he was adjusting his own state. After swallowing a medicinal pill, he circulated his energy to recover some of his stamina.

Although he could no longer unleash the Four-Fold Fist, he had to retain enough strength to execute the Three-Fold Fist. Otherwise, facing a battle puppet comparable to a nine-times spirit-refined entity, he would have little confidence, and it would be no different from throwing his life away.

Jiang Yutong tightened her grip on her long sword. Unwilling to lose to Qin Liang, she said not another word and walked straight into an arena room.

Li Hongcai let out a cold snort and followed suit into another.

Qin Liang opened his eyes, glanced at one of the arena rooms, and his expression turned somewhat solemn.

Before he had ascended to the fourth floor, someone was already fighting inside that particular room. Without a doubt, it must have been Jiang Yulong, who had undergone spirit-refining nine times. While Jiang Yulong was still engaged in battle, he had to seize the moment.

He turned and stepped into an arena room. The moment the door closed behind him, a powerful battle puppet lunged toward him with murderous intent.

The puppet's speed was terrifying. Fortunately, Qin Liang's perception was razor-sharp, and he instantly captured its trajectory, hastily side-stepping to narrowly evade the horrific blade slashed by the puppet.

Simultaneously, a long sword materialized in his grip.

This was none other than the Fallen Glow Sword bestowed upon him by Chen Da, a genuine premium-grade primordial weapon. In terms of sharpness and durability, it was far superior to half-finished primordial weapon sword blanks, and to Qin Liang, it felt extremely well-suited to his hand.

Swish!

Seeing the battle puppet sweep its blade toward him once more, he hastily raised his sword to parry. Following a metallic clang, the enemy's saber snapped directly into two pieces.

Even so, the residual sword momentum still forced Qin Liang back several steps.

The battle puppet paused momentarily, cast the broken saber aside, and raised its fists to attack Qin Liang. It employed none other than the Jiang family's foundational martial art, the Seven-Star Fist, and moreover, a Seven-Star Fist imbued with seven layers of hidden force.

Qin Liang had anticipated this. Spiritual radiance erupted across his body as he danced the Fallen Glow Sword in a continuous flurry.

Swish, swish, swish...

Sword qi rippled outward, successively neutralizing the hidden forces within the fist momentum before slashing diagonally across the puppet's shoulder.

Though the puppet's armor was forged from refined iron, it still could not withstand the assault of a premium-grade primordial weapon.

A heap of components clattered to the ground, twitching a few times before falling completely still.

In the other arena rooms, lacking primordial weapon sword blanks and facing immense pressure from the battle puppets, Li Hongcai and Jiang Yutong were defeated shortly after entering and were forced to cry out the word "withdraw."

Jiang Yutong stumbled out, leaning against the wall, her face completely drained of color.

Li Hongcai crawled out along the floor, miserably dragging himself across the threshold, lingering terror still visible in his eyes. The moment when the battle puppet had nearly shaved off the top of his head had made him truly experience the breath of death.

"That was a hair's breadth away. I almost died."

The other eight-times spirit-refined cultivators also retreated in a sorry state, their hearts filling with even greater apprehension toward those who had undergone spirit-refining nine times.

Upon reaching the corridor, they hurriedly channeled their energy to heal their injuries, not daring to delay for fear of leaving behind chronic ailments.

Creak!

Qin Liang opened the door and walked out. Casting merely a glance at the group, he headed toward the stairwell, his expression completely tranquil.

"After all, he's only at six times spirit-refining. He probably yelled 'withdraw' the moment he stepped inside and just lingered in there a bit longer. He's no different from us—he has no qualifications to compete for that tier-two spiritual herb."

Watching Qin Liang's retreating figure, Li Hongcai could not help but mock and jeer.

Every time he laid eyes on Qin Liang, it felt as though an old scar was being torn open; he would only feel satisfied if he saw the other person suffer a setback.

However, the smile on his face quickly stiffened.

Upon reaching the stairwell, Qin Liang did not head downward, but instead proceeded toward the fifth floor.

"Has this brat lost his mind? Why is he heading to the fifth floor?" Li Hongcai's lips trembled.

"He cleared it."

Jiang Yutong's voice drifted out lightly, a look of complicated emotions flooding her eyes as she stood there in a daze.

She realized that from the very moment Qin Liang stepped onto the staircase leading to the fifth floor, their destinies had diverged. Even though she was a favored genius doted upon by an elder of the Star-Moon Sect, she put away her pride.

"He won? How is that possible? He's only at six times spirit-refining... He cheated, he must have cheated!"

Li Hongcai roared, completely unable to accept reality, his shouts echoing through the stairwell.

"Silence!"

The clan elder supervising the trials at the corridor entrance spoke up immediately: "He did not cheat. He has indeed passed the fourth floor."

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Li Hongcai yelled at the top of his lungs, refusing to listen.

The clan elder furrowed his brow, displeasure flashing across his face.

He had been supervising here for a long time without even a cup of tea, and his mood was already foul. Now, there was someone brazen enough to disobey rules?

In the end, having no other choice, he simply picked Li Hongcai up and tossed him right out of the window, restoring peace to the corridor.

"Young Master Hongcai is the sole hope of our Li family. As long as he rises to prominence, our Li family will surely experience a resurgence sooner or later."

"Indeed, last time he was careless and lost to Qin Liang, but this time he will definitely learn his lesson and soar to even greater heights."

"..."

The disciples of the Li family's branch lineage chattered amongst themselves, their faces filled with longing, as if they could already envision the grand spectacle of the Li family's revival.

Listening to these remarks, Li Qiumei felt immensely gratified, a joyful smile blooming across her face.

Naturally, she did not believe Li Hongcai could clear the fifth floor, but as long as he managed to surpass Qin Liang, or emerge from the Arena Pavilion even slightly later than him, it would be equivalent to winning back the face she had previously lost.

"My lord, do not worry. Although Xiaoliang is only at six times spirit-refining, he acts with caution and will certainly withdraw in time. He will not face any mortal peril."

Li Qiumei said to Jiang Hai, who stood beside her, her tone carrying a clear undertone of disdain.

However, the moment her voice trailed off, she saw a figure plummeting straight down from a fourth-floor window of the Arena Pavilion.

Thud!

Everyone fell into a dead silence, the dull impact echoing across the courtyard. A moment later, someone broke the quiet.

"It's Li Hongcai!"

Hearing this, all the supporters of the Li faction turned ashen.

Li Qiumei clenched her fists so tightly her knuckles white, feeling as though her face were burning with intense pain. Just a second ago, she had claimed Qin Liang would be the one to retreat, yet her nephew had been tossed out the very next moment. The slap to her face had come far too quickly.

Jiang Hai glanced at her, let out a helpless, sighing shake of his head, and remained silent.

Upon entering the fifth floor, Qin Liang did not see any more arena rooms, but rather a single, remarkably spacious chamber.

There were no battle puppets here; only an elder with grizzled hair and a beard sat cross-legged upon a straw mat.

"Great Elder?"

Qin Liang was struck dumb, staring at the elder as he asked, "The fifth floor... surely you don't mean to make me defeat you?"