Chapter 225: I Won

Chapter 224

"I won." Liyu said it calmly, his voice traveling through the entire battle arena. There was no mockery in his voice, no arrogance, and no deliberate attempt to humiliate his opponent. It was simply a statement declaring an undeniable fact. Shi Tian had indeed lost, and there was no way for him to salvage the scene anymore.

That much was clear...more than clear. The outcome had already been decided, and everyone present knew it.

The next second after Liyu’s words fell, the entire crowd erupted. Cheers exploded through the battle arena like a storm breaking loose. "Honored One!" "Honored One!" "Honored One!" The chants echoed over and over again, rolling through the arena and shaking the atmosphere itself.

The crowd was happy, and anyone who looked around could see it clearly. From their expressions alone, it was obvious that the Shi Devil did not have much support. Why would he? His reputation as the devil who would kill anyone unfortunate enough to anger him was already a legend.

It was a legend that had spread fear and terror throughout the hearts of everyone in Ray City. No, not only Ray City. His name had spread throughout the entire Night Region. Shi Tian was a walking calamity, someone many people revered because of his strength, most feared because of his cruelty, and, more than anything else, desperately avoided.

No one wanted to cross him. After all, crossing the Shi Devil was no different from writing one’s own letter to death.

But in opposition to him stood the heir of the Li Clan. Although Liyu had once been regarded as a failure...the supposedly useless heir of the Li Clan, someone unable to cultivate...that was the only truly bad thing people could say about him. His kindness and other good qualities had already traveled far and wide.

People had heard of the Li Clan heir who treated others with sincerity. They had heard of his character, they had heard of his kindness, and now, atop all those qualities, he was powerful. Not merely powerful, but powerful enough to end the Shi Devil. That alone was enough for countless people to willingly stand on his side.

"Honored One!" "Honored One!" "He won!" Someone from the crowd cried out in joy. His face was flushed, and tears streamed freely down his cheeks. He immediately turned toward his friend and hugged him tightly. His friend was crying too, and both of them were shedding tears of joy.

They had watched Liyu fight, they had watched him endure, and they had watched the battle reach that terrifying point where it seemed as though Liyu had been completely erased. Yet now he was standing...standing strong. And, in the end, he had won the match.

They weren’t the only ones. The entire arena was teeming with laughter, cheers, and cries of celebration. If not for the barrier separating the battle arena from the large stage, many people would probably have already rushed toward Liyu’s side.

"Yes! He won!" "I told you he wouldn’t die!" "Don’t you see it now? My prediction was right! He survived!" "Shut your mouth! You’re crying like a baby while saying you didn’t know whether he would die!" "Ahem..." The person immediately cleared his throat, trying to recover his dignity.

"That is exactly what I wanted you to think. After all, I knew all along that he was coming back. Those tears were only to confuse you." "Hahaha!" "Shut your lying mouth, you shameless cock!" Laughter erupted around them. The joy was infectious, and everywhere one looked, people were celebrating Liyu’s victory.

At another corner of the arena, a young girl...one of Liyu’s loyal fans who had been cheering for him from the very beginning of his match against Shi Lan all the way to the final battle...finally felt the strength return to her body. She had cried her eyes out earlier when she saw what appeared to be Liyu being completely erased.

At that moment, she had genuinely believed that he was gone, and she had been unable to stop the tears. But now... now Liyu was the one standing strong, and the Shi Devil was the one lying in a pool of his own blood. The conclusion was obvious, and the battle was over.

"I’m glad he survived," she whispered, her voice trembling with happiness. She wiped the tears from her eyes, but more tears of joy immediately followed. She wasn’t the only one, as most of the crowd felt the same way. They were genuinely happy that Liyu had survived.

But the people whose joy was perhaps the greatest of all were those who had bet their earnings on him. They were among the brave few who had dared to place their hard-earned money on Liyu in the final match...a match that everyone had considered to be filled with uncertainty.

Before this moment, they had felt as though their precious money had already disappeared. When it seemed that Liyu had been erased, many of them had already felt their hearts sink. Some had even accepted that they had lost everything.

But now... now Liyu was standing tall, and Shi Tian was lying there in a pool of his own blood. There was no doubt about it anymore. They had won. They had actually won. The realization struck them one after another.

Cheers immediately burst from their mouths. Some jumped into the air, others hugged their companions, some laughed wildly, and others simply stood there with their fists clenched, staring at the battlefield as though they still couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Their money had not vanished, their gamble had paid off, and Liyu had won.

But the audience wasn’t the only group jumping for joy because Liyu had won and survived. No, not at all. In fact, there were a few people who were far more happy and grateful than the ordinary spectators.

Because for them, Liyu’s victory was not simply a victory. Whether Liyu won or lost determined whether they lived or died. At the Shi camp, the trio stood together. All three of them had tears flowing down their faces.

They weren’t crying because Shi Tian was doomed. Nor were they crying because their clan had lost. No, far from it. They were happy. They were incredibly happy that Shi Tian had lost and that Liyu had won, because Shi Tian’s final words to them kept ringing through their minds over and over again.

If they lost... they should count themselves as dead. He had made it clear...more than clear. If they failed, he was going to kill all three of them for being failures. There had been no hesitation in his words, no room for excuses, and no possibility of mercy.

They had believed that their lives were already hanging by a thread. But now Shi Tian had lost as well, and because of that, he could be considered a failure himself. He no longer had the right to kill them.

The realization washed over the trio like a wave. They were alive. They had survived. Something that, only moments ago, had seemed completely and utterly impossible had actually happened.

The three of them suddenly hugged each other, their bodies trembled as tears continued to flow down their faces. They were overwhelmed, overjoyed, and more grateful to Liyu than words could possibly express.

"We are going to live," Shi Yuan said, his voice trembling as happy tears filled his eyes. The other two nodded vigorously. They couldn’t even find the words to speak, and simply held onto one another, their hearts filled with an overwhelming sense of relief.

They were going to live, they had survived, and at that moment, nothing else mattered. For the first time in what felt like an eternity, the three of them could finally breathe freely.

They were all overjoyed, but they were not the only ones. The same could be said about the Li Clan. At the Li Clan’s camp, the atmosphere was filled with excitement and relief. The two brothers were hugging each other in joy, their earlier tension finally breaking apart under the overwhelming happiness of seeing Liyu survive.

Yuexin, meanwhile, was looking at Liyu with a smile on her face and tears shimmering in her eyes. She had been worried...terribly worried. But now that the battle seemed to have ended, the relief in her heart was almost impossible to describe.

Li Feng also had a small tear dripping from the side of his eye. As much as he hated the feeling, as much as he wanted to deny it, he was feeling something he had rarely allowed himself to feel toward his younger brother: pride.

He was proud of Liyu. Liyu had done what he himself had never been able to do. He had faced the Shi Devil, he had survived, and he had even defeated him. More importantly, Liyu had survived that terrifying final exchange.

Li Feng slowly sighed. "It seems I am never going to catch up to him... ever." A bitter smile appeared on his face. "It is totally impossible, isn’t it?" He asked himself the question, but deep down, he already knew the answer.

His eyes returned to Liyu. Liyu’s body was covered in blood, his clothes torn and battered from the fierce battle. Green lightning continued to crackle violently around his figure, illuminating his bloodstained body with flashes of dazzling light.

Li Feng stared at that sight for a moment before shaking his head once more. "Just how did you do it?" His voice was barely a whisper. "How were you able to grow so fast... and at such an incredible rate as well?"

A small, pained smile appeared on his face. The thought that came next was one he couldn’t deny, no matter how much he disliked admitting it. "I’m really jealous of you, aren’t I, Liyu...?" He gave another quiet sigh.

Meanwhile, at the Guan camp, the Guan candidates weren’t really celebrating or mourning what had happened on the battle stage. They were still trying to process something far more overwhelming. Shi Tian had attacked.

That alone was something so terrifying that even though they had been shielded from the full force of the attack, they were still completely shaken by it. The terrifying pressure, the destructive power, the sheer intensity of that final exchange...everything had been overwhelming.

And now another question had tangled their thoughts into complete confusion. How had Liyu survived that? How had he not only survived such an attack but also managed to secure a victory against Shi Tian?

It was all too shocking to process, and way too much had happened in far too short a time. "It is just not possible..." One of the Guan candidates muttered in disbelief. Yet it had happened. They had all witnessed it.

At the leaders’ seats, however, the expressions of Shi Gubing and Guan Ju were as dark as the abyss. Both of them were furious, though their reasons were completely different.

Guan Ju was angry because Liyu had survived. He didn’t want that bastard called Liyu to live, yet once again, Liyu had survived. Once again, the heavens seemed to have refused to let that bastard die.

Shi Gubing’s anger, on the other hand, came from several different reasons. First, Shi Tian’s sure-kill move had failed. Second, that bastard Liyu had survived. And third, the Shi Clan was about to lose.

That was something Shi Gubing hated more than almost anything else: losing. He hated it. He hated the feeling of being defeated, hated the humiliation that came with it, and hated even more that the one defeating them was Liyu.

His gaze darkened as he passed his words toward his son, who was lying in his own pool of blood. "Do it." His voice was cold. "Do it now."

At the same time, Li San had a warm and gentle smile on his face. For the moment, he simply wanted to take in the achievement of this kid. "Liyu has done well." His smile deepened. "More than well, even."

There was genuine pride in his voice. "I’m certain Shiyuan would be proud." Li San smiled. Meanwhile, Elder Ting’s face remained calm. His expression was composed, almost completely unchanged from before.

But internally, he was experiencing a mixture of emotions. He was thrilled, happy, and at the same time, weary. "How the hell was Liyu able to survive that?" The question continued to linger in his mind.

It wasn’t supposed to be possible...not at all. He had seen the terrifying power of Shi Tian’s attack. He had understood just how overwhelming that final strike had been. Liyu should not have been able to survive it.

Yet he had. He had done the impossible once again. And that achievement did not simply make Elder Ting happy; it made him wary. Very wary.

Just what exactly was this Liyu kid hiding? What kind of secrets did he possess? Elder Ting’s gaze remained fixed on Liyu, his calm eyes quietly observing every detail.

The cheers of the crowd were deafening, loud, and almost ear-splitting. The entire arena was still drowning in celebration, and the chant of "Honored One" continued to echo through the surroundings.

The cheers grew louder, louder... and louder... until suddenly...silence. The entire arena went quiet. It was so sudden that the transition itself was terrifying.

Every eye widened in alarm. The crowd froze, the Shi candidates froze, the Li Clan froze, and the Guan Clan froze. At the leaders’ seats, Guan Ju’s eyes blinked in surprise, and Li San’s expression changed.

Shi Gubing, however... a dark smile slowly appeared on his face. Elder Ting’s gaze remained the same: calm, composed. But the referee’s gaze twitched. And Liyu...when he turned around to see what had caused the sudden silence, his gaze twitched as well.

His mind nearly shut down from disbelief. Because the reason for the sudden silence was none other than...Shi Tian.

He was standing once more. His body was drenched in blood, which flowed down his frame and dripped onto the ground beneath him. His injuries were severe, and his entire body looked as though it had already been pushed far beyond its limits.

Yet despite all of that... the gaze that had radiated shock earlier had disappeared. It had returned to that emotionless gaze...that terrifying, cold, indifferent gaze that could scare even the strongest of men shitless.

There was no fear in his eyes, no hesitation, no sign that he had just survived an attack that should have killed him. Instead, there was only that familiar, chilling indifference.

Shi Tian slowly raised his hand, his fingers wrapped around the Void Piercer. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he pulled it straight from his chest.

The sight caused countless people’s hearts to seize. Blood immediately gushed from the wound, but Shi Tian didn’t even flinch. The moment the Void Piercer left his body, wind qi surged violently through him.

The wind qi moved like a raging current, rushing toward the damaged area before violently compressing the injured tissue. The flesh tightened, the bleeding was forcibly suppressed, and the damaged tissues were sealed from within through the brutal manipulation of wind qi.

It was not a true recovery; it was merely sealing the wound, forcing his body to continue functioning despite the damage. His body shook, and pain coursed through every inch of him. Yet his gaze remained unchanged: expressionless, cold, terrifying.

Shi Tian slowly raised his head, his eyes locked directly onto Liyu. For several seconds, neither of them spoke, and the entire arena held its breath.

Then Shi Tian’s emotionless voice finally rang out. "You are wrong." His voice wasn’t loud. Yet somehow, every single person heard it.

"You haven’t won yet." His gaze remained fixed on Liyu. "And you will be dying soon."

As he said that, Shi Tian brought out a pill. He held it between his fingers, his eyes looking at it with disgust and rage, as though even the pill itself had offended him.

Then his gaze shifted back toward Liyu. The killing intent hidden beneath his emotionless expression became even more chilling. Without hesitation, Shi Tian placed the pill into his mouth and swallowed it.