Chapter 31: A Spear Defying All Directions

The challenger stepped onto the stage and immediately produced a life-and-death contract from his storage ring. After signing it, pressing his thumbprint, and imprinting his magic seal, he tossed it to Wan Yi.

Wan Yi caught the contract and glanced at the opponent's name. As he applied his own seal, he mocked, "Your name is Zhao Hu? You kept harping on about coming to my Vast Expanse Sect for a friendly exchange, yet everyone arrives with a life-and-death contract in hand. Still going to deny that you had this premeditated?"

With a flick of his wrist, the contract shot out like a throwing knife, nailing into the floor right next to the previous one with a sharp "thwack."

Having learned from Wang Peng’s fate, Zhao Hu was not about to fall into Wan Yi’s trap. He brushed the comment aside and roared, "You brat, pay for my senior brother's life!"

With that, he whipped out a ghost-headed broadsword and swung it viciously toward Wan Yi’s head.

With Wan Yi’s perfect Foundation Establishment strength, killing Zhao Hu, who was at the end of the Foundation Establishment stage, would have been a trivial matter. However, seeing the other disciples from the Dan Ding Sect waiting nearby, he immediately abandoned the thought of a quick kill. While it would be satisfying, it would only scare the others away. If he finished off everyone instantly, the rest of the Dan Ding Sect would be too terrified to step onto the stage. He hadn’t had his fill of fun yet and didn't want to end it so soon. Furthermore, after absorbing the spiritual energy from Wang Peng, he felt his cultivation base surging. Looking at the remaining disciples, he found himself craving their power.

"Damn it, I'm actually lusting after their bodies!" He shuddered, cursed under his breath, and hurriedly dodged the incoming blade.

Changing his footwork, he leveled his spear and unleashed a move called "Gluttony Explores the Sea," thrusting upward toward Zhao Hu’s ribs. The "Gluttony Spear Technique" consisted of thirteen forms; having received the inheritance only last night, he hadn't had time to practice them. Now was the perfect time to use his opponent as a sparring partner. With Zhao Hu’s cultivation level, he was just barely qualified to feed him moves.

Wan Yi wasn't in a rush to kill him; he intended to play along until the right moment, then feign exhaustion to finish the opponent off. Only then would the other disciples dare to step onto the ring.

As Wan Yi pondered, Zhao Hu realized his ribs were wide open. Sensing danger, he leaped into the air, stepping onto the tip of the spear to avoid the lethal strike. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, Wan Yi shifted his stance. Pushing off with his feet and twisting his waist, he leaped into the air, dragging the spear behind him in a sweeping upward arc.

A surge of energy erupted from the spear tip, the pearlescent spiritual energy trailing like a silver dragon, leaving a crescent-shaped afterimage in the air. "Gluttony Leaves the Sea!"

The spear speed was blinding. Caught in mid-air, Zhao Hu had no room to dodge and could only swing his broadsword downward to block!

A deafening "clang" echoed as the blade met the spear, and a shockwave of energy exploded outward. Zhao Hu’s face turned ashen; there was a notch in his ghost-headed sword! This was a top-grade treasure tool—not quite a spiritual weapon, but nearly as good. Yet, it had suffered a major loss against the mundane spear in his opponent's hands!

While mourning his weapon, Zhao Hu abandoned all arrogance. Channeling his protective aura, he unleashed a flurry of sword moves from the "Hundred Ghosts Slash" technique.

Watching the sky full of blade shadows, Wan Yi was overjoyed. He used the opportunity to hone his spear techniques. As they exchanged blows, his command of the "Gluttony Spear Technique" grew more refined.

In the distance, Li Guang’s expression shifted. He whispered to his two younger brothers, "This kid is not only strange in his movement, but the iron spear in his hand is also bizarre."

Li Liang nodded. "Big Brother is right. From what I observe, he must have just broken through to the Foundation Establishment stage. Not only is his flow of magic power jerky, but his spear technique is quite raw. He is using Zhao Hu to train; it won't be long before Zhao Hu is in danger."

Li Ming looked worried. "Big Brother, Second Brother, Zhao Hu is in trouble! Should we intervene?"

Li Guang looked around the stage. Aside from the Vast Expanse Sect, disciples from all of the top ten righteous sects had been drawn to the scene. If it were only the Vast Expanse Sect present, he might have stepped in to save Zhao Hu by breaking the rules. But with so many other sects watching, he couldn't afford the loss of face.

He coldly snorted, "He signed the contract and stepped onto the stage; even if he dies, he dies there!"

Li Ming urged, "Big Brother, are you just going to watch him slaughter our Dan Ding Sect disciples?!"

Li Guang glared at his third brother. "Womanish heart! He's a piece of trash; if he dies, he dies. Why are you panicking?"

Ignoring him, he turned to his second brother and transmitted his voice, "Go tell the Five Immortals of Xianzhi that if Zhao Hu loses, they should all go up together!"

Li Liang was shocked and replied, "All five at once? Will the opponent agree?"

Li Guang sneered, "A little provocation will make him agree."

Li Liang hesitated. "Big Brother, the Five Immortals are Old Monster Ge’s precious treasures. If something happens to them, I fear it won't be easy to explain!"

To his surprise, Li Guang smiled, his tone chilling. "That is exactly what I want!"

Li Liang shuddered, immediately understanding his brother's intention. Old Monster Ge had always been at odds with their master, often using his own early Imperial-level cultivation to suppress him within the sect. If his disciples met with disaster today, the consequences would be quite interesting.

No longer hesitating, Li Liang teleported to the side of the Five Immortals of Xianzhi and whispered to them.

Li Ming, watching everything, moved his lips as if to speak, but swallowed his words.

On the stage, the duel had reached a boiling point. Zhao Hu’s steps were unsteady, his lips deathly pale; he was clearly at the end of his rope. Wan Yi, meanwhile, feigned an even worse state, his hands trembling as if he were too exhausted to hold the spear.

Seeing this, Zhao Hu gritted his teeth, channeling his last bit of potential to knock away Wan Yi’s spear and strike him down.

The Vast Expanse Sect disciples gasped. Zhou Tong’s eyes reddened. "Little Yi! Don't..."

Zhou Zihao couldn't bear to watch and turned away.

But then, the unexpected happened. Wan Yi’s footwork shifted, his body side-stepping the falling broadsword, and his spear shot out like a phantom, piercing Zhao Hu’s throat from an impossible angle!

"Pfft!"

"Clang!"

The ghost-headed sword fell to the ground. Zhao Hu clutched the spear shaft with one hand and his throat with the other, blood gushing through his fingers. After a choked, resentful moan, the light faded from his eyes.

A stream of pure spiritual energy flowed through the spear into Wan Yi’s body, replenishing his depleted sea of energy.

"How refreshing!" Wan Yi thought to himself. He pulled the spear from Zhao Hu’s throat with a forceful jerk and spun it in a flourish.

"Snap, snap, snap!" The tip of the Gluttony Gilded Spear turned into several flashes of cold light, shredding Zhao Hu’s corpse into pieces!

"Friend, don't blame me for being ruthless! If I didn't mince you into bits, my secret wouldn't be safe!" Just as Wan Yi thought this, angry roars erupted from below the stage.

"Boy, you are far too cruel! Killing someone is one thing, but to not even leave a whole corpse—you've gone too far!"

"You are truly overbearing!"

"If we don't grind your bones to dust today, we will never be rid of this hatred!"

To be continued...