Chapter 418

He Ping descended from the arena and sat cross-legged in his seat.

He closed his eyes and spoke to no one.

The air around him was dead silent.

Yet both Zhen Yu Lao Zu and Liang Huaqiu exhaled a sigh of relief.

Both also wore expressions of delight on their faces.

They had originally thought He Ping was making a deal with Qi State, but today He Ping had truly been ruthless—his every move aimed to kill.

As for why he had done this, Zhen Yu and Liang Huaqiu did not understand.

But Wang Dun beside them understood.

"He Xiaozi, do you know He Wen Lao Zu?" Zhen Yu suddenly asked.

At once, everyone turned their gazes toward him, curious.

Just now, He Ping and He Wen Lao Zu had exchanged only a few words, yet even those few were enough for all to sense they knew each other.

Yes, He Ping indeed knew him.

But it wasn't so much knowing as having met.

Years ago, at the Skull Mountain Jiaoyi Society, he had gone to purchase materials for refining the 【Soul-Nourishing Pill】 to restore Qiao Hui Zhu's linggen and meridians, when he encountered an old man selling jade slips.

The old man's stall displayed thousands of jade slips.

All sold various cultivation techniques.

When others asked where he got so many techniques, the old man replied, "My sect collapsed."

He Ping squatted before the stall to browse, but found nothing he liked—until the old man casually tossed him a jade slip titled 【Divine Mind Wind】.

This technique, once cultivated, could condense an invisible Divine Mind Wind to disrupt an opponent's mind sea.

Later, He Ping strengthened this jade slip technique in the 【Treasure Basin】, transforming it into the 【Formless North Star Nail】 and 【Purple Mansion Nine Shield Art】.

So the question arises.

The old man's seemingly meaningless act was in fact highly intentional.

He must have sensed He Ping's powerful spiritual sense, a cultivator of 【Divine Mind Cultivation】, otherwise he would never have given him that Divine Mind technique.

Thus, it is fair to say He Ping owes him a favor.

"Yes, Elder!" He Ping said. "Long ago, I met He Wen Zu Shi while he wandered the mortal world; he gifted me a cultivation technique, so…"

Zhen Yu Lao Zu nodded. "Such a fate?"

"Truly your destiny, hehehe…"

Half a stick of incense later, He Ping stepped back onto the arena.

The second-ranked Qi State cultivator followed him up.

He was a tall man who bowed politely to He Ping. "Please show mercy!"

"You may begin!"

"Begin…"

No sooner had the Qi State cultivator spoken than he fully raised his defenses.

This time, He Ping merely waved his hand, and countless wood spiritual energies surged forth.

In an instant, a thirty-zhang-wide thorn-ball cage of poison formed.

Yet it did not attack.

It merely accumulated toxicity.

When countless flowers bloomed across the thirty-zhang thorn-ball cage, tens of thousands of poison needles, guided by He Ping's spiritual sense, blasted toward the Qi State cultivator.

Puff… puff… puff…

The poison needles shattered all his barriers, then the remainder pierced his body with a wet *pshhh*.

When He Ping retracted the 【Sacred Wood Poison Dragon Art】, the Qi State cultivator lay unconscious on the ground.

"Liang State, He Ping wins!"

The announcer raised his hand and shouted.

Then several Qi State disciples rushed over, one exclaiming in horror: "Elder, it's bad—he's dead!"

"What?"

"Dead?"

"This…"

Long Yuan stared at He Ping, face ashen.

He felt rage boiling.

He had thought threatening the boy yesterday would cow him—instead, it had stoked his killing intent.

This…

It's ruined.

"Continue!" On the other side, He Ping raised his continue token again.

He rested briefly, meditating.

Then the third match began.

Qi State's third contestant was a woman.

She was tall, with formidable cultivation and considerable beauty.

Upon entering, she nervously bowed to He Ping. "I am no match for you, Master—please show mercy…"

He Ping regarded her coolly. "Good. If you fear death, surrender now."

"If you don't, you'll regret it."

The woman's face turned pale with anger. "We have no grudge—must you kill?"

He Ping said: "I told you—you can surrender."

"Begin…"

She would not surrender. Both hands flicked, and two soft whips shot out, instantly stretching to over ten zhang, writhing like twin slender serpents through the air.

These were not real whips—only spiritual energy condensed into technique.

This technique was no simple matter: it balanced offense and defense, and could shift form and position by borrowing force at critical moments.

Strike first!

Facing her assault, He Ping did not dodge.

A yellow earth shield flared around him, then he waved his hand.

Five Elements Unified Force.

As the Five Elements Unified Force activated, seven black ice arrows formed.

Technique: Ice Arrow Chain.

"Go…"

He Ping murmured, and the seven ice arrows flew toward the woman.

Simultaneously, *snap*—her whips struck He Ping.

The shield cracked under the blow, absorbing half the force.

The remaining half struck him—but it did nothing.

After all, he was a body cultivator; though his 【Nine Poison Golden Body】 technique had only reached Level Two of the Golden Core stage, this whip's force, already weakened by his Earth Armor, was easily endured.

On the other side, the woman fared far worse.

*Puff…*

The first black ice arrow shattered all her attacks and defenses, then kept going, piercing straight through her abdomen.

Blood sprayed.

She could not even cry "surrender" before she was slain.

The remaining six black ice arrows vanished instantly, reverting to ice spiritual energy and returning to He Ping's body.

In this strike, He Ping had used only one of the seven ice arrows to kill the woman.

One could say this blow, infused with Five Elements Unified Force, was his strongest since stepping onto the arena.

Outside!

Zhen Yu wore a smile.

But in the Qi State camp, Long Yuan's face had turned utterly black.

What now?

Keep fighting?

He had already killed two of them.

If they continued and he killed more, even with two substitutes, they wouldn't have ten left.

If they surrendered…

Hmm…

There was still hope.

After all, Xiao Xuan was still alive.

With Xiao Xuan, the later matches should be winnable.