Chapter Ninety-Seven: The Semifinals Begin

It was unbearable. The pain did not climb in stages; it surged to its absolute peak in a single instant, unleashing every possible agony onto him at once. If pain could be ranked on a scale of ten, then what Qin Xiaochuan was feeling now was a twelve. No one could truly comprehend such searing torment. People said childbirth ranked a ten, but what Qin Xiaochuan felt was as if every vein in his body, every pore, every part of him, even every opening in his skin, were being violently hammered by the hot force raging within. It was as though an endless power wanted to blast apart every inch of his flesh and tear every hole in his body wide open.

Yet the pain, by stimulating his mind and awareness through his entire body, made him frighteningly lucid instead. At every moment he felt that intolerable, razor-sharp agony. If there had ever been a phrase that fit this feeling, “worse than death” would have been an insult to the phrase itself. Even the wish to faint immediately had become a luxury beyond reach.

Driven by instinct, Qin Xiaochuan forced himself up from the ground. At once, more blood burst from his body and splattered onto the floor. The intense shock drove him back down to his knees. He slammed his hands violently against the ground, as though the sensation of pain in his arms were somehow more bearable. Then he began pounding the floor with all his strength, ramming any part of his body he could against the surrounding rock walls. Perhaps only in this way could he briefly ease the agony and convince himself that he was still alive.

The pain continued, but the semifinal of the tournament had already begun. Since these were the final three matches, the organizers moved the competition to a larger venue with room for far more spectators. It was arranged like a grand banquet: demons of every kind and powerful figures from the human world arrived by yacht or private helicopter and landed on the island. The crowd now numbered nearly one hundred thousand.

At nine in the morning, the semifinals officially began. If one spoke of seductive beauty, the cat demons were among the top three most enchanting races in the demon world. So many demons had paid dearly for the chance to obtain a beautiful cat slave, and some had even sacrificed their lives fighting for a single mesmerizing cat demon. Truly, beauty was a calamity, and the cat demon race was the very embodiment of that saying.

The cat demon standing on the stage belonged to the rarest and most alluring branch of that race: the Blue-Lipped lineage. Azure eyes, blue lips, rabbit ears, and a snake-like waist represented the purest bloodline of their kind. She only needed to stand there to drive the audience wild. If not for the guards strictly posted on every level, some of the more frenzied spectators, unable to control their lust, would already have rushed the arena to carry her away.

She swept her gaze across the uproarious crowd, microphone in hand, and paced across the arena stage. Every curve of her graceful body, every wave of her hand, every turn, every lifted leg exuded irresistible charm. Her seductive figure had surely stolen the spirits of countless spectators.

After circling the arena once, the heat in the stadium had been pushed to its highest point by this enchanting spirit. Returning to the center of the stage, she, who was also the referee for this match, addressed the crowd:

“Honored guests, ladies and gentlemen, good day! I am your referee and commentator for this match, Xingmeng, and I will be hosting this year’s semifinals of the martial arts tournament live on site! Please take care of me! To avoid delaying everyone’s enjoyment of this wonderful contest, please welcome the two teams advancing to this semifinal. First, the Xiaochuan Team led by the human-world prodigy Qin Xiaochuan, and the New World Team led by Boss Ba. Now, please welcome the members of both teams to the arena!”

Once Xingmeng finished speaking, the gate to the entrants’ passage slowly opened. White Shadow, Fiery Flame, and Zhang Yang walked out from the corridor and made their way toward the center of the arena.

“Huh? Why are there only three people from the Xiaochuan Team?”
“Yeah, did the other two run away?”
“Three against five? That’s suicide!”
“Get back in there, you idiots!”
“Kill the people from the Xiaochuan Team! And they still have the nerve to show up!”
“Go die! Trash!”
“Why are they so shameless? They still dare to come out here!”
“Go reincarnate already!”
“You three big fools!”
“Get lost and go back to your hometown!”
“Traitor White Shadow, why doesn’t Fiery Flame die too!”
“I greet your whole family!”
“Drop dead!”
...

Seeing that only three members of the Xiaochuan Team had stepped onto the stage, the audience began voicing loud complaints. Some excited spectators even hurled their cheering sticks and streamers, openly showing their dissatisfaction.

Ignoring the crowd’s outrage, White Shadow, Fiery Flame, and Zhang Yang stepped onto the arena platform. Ever since Qin Xiaochuan and the masked contestant had gone into the woods for a private talk yesterday, those two had not returned all night. But this was only a semifinal, and even if they were short-handed, they could still proceed. They were simply at a slight disadvantage in numbers. Looking at the five members of the New World Team approaching from the opposite side, the three of them said nothing.

“Now please have both sides decide the order of battle!”

At the referee Xingmeng’s words, the members of both teams stepped forward and stared at one another. Monkey Bro, as always, was chewing gum, glaring contemptuously at the three opposite him.

“What, did the other two get too scared to come? What a bunch of cowards, heh heh heh!”

“Shut your filthy mouth, you hairy-faced baboon!” Zhang Yang shot back without backing down, glaring fiercely. That arrogant monkey had been wearing that insolent look since the moment he appeared, and Zhang Yang hated that type the most. “I could wipe you all out by myself. Look at you, acting like that!”

“Enough nonsense. Let’s begin already!”

“Shorty, you sound pretty lively. Are you the first one up?” Seeing Fiery Flame across from him, Monkey Bro blew a bubble of gum, then chewed twice and continued, “I know you. You’re Fiery Flame from the Xiaochuan Team. You’ve always had that smug look on your face. When we face off later, I’ll take good care of you. Remember that! My name is Monkey Bro. So at least you’ll know who killed you when you die!”

“Is that so? I’ll remember it. Today I’m first, and I’ll also be the last one standing.” Fiery Flame fixed his eyes on Monkey Bro, and a wicked light flashed in his gaze. “I’ve been in a terrible mood lately, and I was just looking for someone to take it out on.”

With another loud pop, Monkey Bro burst a bubble. As if remembering something, he licked the gum sticking to his nose. The arrogant fellow fell silent. If there was anyone on the Xiaochuan Team he feared most, it was this short Fiery Flame. He had once watched a match between Fiery Flame and Yan, and the sight of Yan being burned into a shadow by Fiery Flame’s Black Dragon Wave had haunted him ever since. To him, the name Fiery Flame was practically synonymous with death.

He really was afraid Fiery Flame might unleash that kind of fatal finishing move on him. But Boss Ba had said that the boy could no longer use such a terrifying combat technique. Even so, staring into Fiery Flame’s savage eyes made Monkey Bro feel uneasy, and he shut his mouth.

“Heh heh heh! Why get so worked up?” Death Spirit Sword stepped forward when he saw that Monkey Bro no longer dared speak. “How about we play a little game instead?” As he spoke, he raised two dice in his hand. On their faces were the names of White Shadow’s team and Death Spirit Sword’s team.

Holding the dice, Death Spirit Sword went on, “These are dice with every team member’s name written on them. Each die also has one face marked free, which means you can choose whichever teammate you want to send out. Whoever comes up must fight. No matter how many times that person is rolled, he must keep fighting until he dies. How about it?”

“You really have too much free time on your hands to come up with something like this. If Qin Xiaochuan or the masked fighter is rolled, I’ll fight in their place. If free comes up, I’ll go too.”

“No problem.” Looking at Fiery Flame, Death Spirit Sword threw the dice in his hand. “I’m also rather curious about your strength. So, who will be the first fighter?”

The two dice rolled twice on the ground before stopping. Fiery Flame’s name and Black Demon’s name came up. The first battle was thus decided.

“After consultation between both teams, the fighters will be chosen by dice roll. Following the roll by contestant Death Spirit Sword, the result is confirmed. The first match will be Fiery Flame from the Xiaochuan Team versus Black Demon from the New World Team! All other contestants, please leave the arena!”

After the other members of both teams had stepped off the arena, Xingmeng raised a hand between Fiery Flame and Black Demon and announced that the match had officially begun.

Once everyone else had cleared the platform, Black Demon looked at the short Fiery Flame opposite him and split his huge mouth into a grin. The man had a body covered in hard black skin, and the exposed flesh was covered in rough, ugly bumps. Whether born that way or trained into it, he looked absurdly tough. His pineapple-sized head sat on broad shoulders, and he spoke to Fiery Flame with a mouth full of thick lips.

“You’re awfully small. Come on, then. I’ll just stand right here. Attack from wherever you like! Come on!”

Fiery Flame said nothing. He simply flicked his black robe aside and revealed the sharp sword in his hand.

“It’s a sword! How interesting!”

“The outcome is already decided.” Watching the blood drip from beneath Fiery Flame’s feet, White Shadow had already seen the result. Not knowing what he meant, Zhang Yang looked at him in surprise.

What was this guy talking about? They hadn’t even fought yet, so how could the result already be decided? Even if Fiery Flame was strong, the match hadn’t even started yet.