Chapter 335 - 322: Forced to Take Action

Going from being part of the audience to being the fool on stage was a difficult pill to swallow.

Besides, if they really went up there, the unlucky ones would likely die on the spot. The lucky ones might only end up with snapped tendons and broken bones, completely crippled!

Even if they didn’t die, getting seriously injured would mean they likely had no chance of passing the fifth trial.

"Damn it, Xiao Tong and Liu Hai, you bastards! I curse you to be crippled by an even stronger expert! I curse your future sons to be born without dicks!"

While secretly cursing the two, many of the more timid individuals scrambled over one another to retreat to the fourth trial.

No one wanted to become Xiao Tong and Liu Hai’s test subjects.

Only the few Martial Artists at the Spirit Martial Realm watched Xiao Tong and Liu Hai coldly, showing no intention of leaving.

Although they were a step weaker than Xiao Tong and Liu Hai, each of them had an ace up their sleeve. If a real fight broke out, they could make their opponents pay a heavy price even in defeat. If Xiao Tong and Liu Hai had any sense, they wouldn’t pick a fight with them.

Besides, if pushed too far, these strangers might be forced to unite, and then Xiao Tong and Liu Hai would be in for more than they could handle!

"Go, quickly!"

Shang Xiaoran subtly moved to stand in front of Shen Lang.

However, Xiao Tong and Liu Hai clearly recognized Shen Lang. They showed not the slightest interest in him, turning their attention to the others instead.

It seemed the two of them were too proud and arrogant to pick on a piece of "trash."

After all, crippling such trash with a single punch was nothing to brag about.

"Alright, these six it is. We’ll each take three." A smile touched Xiao Tong’s lips, but his eyes turned cold.

He lifted the sole of his right foot slightly, then gently set it down. As Spirit Light flashed, six lances of ice shot out from his foot, striking toward the crowd like cobras!

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE...

The darting lances of ice instantly formed huge blocks of ice around their feet, completely freezing the legs of Xiao Tong’s six chosen targets from the knees down!

"Ah!"

A few miserable screams erupted from the clamoring crowd, with the voices of Zheng Donghong and the member of the Demon Race who called himself "Grandpa Niu" being the loudest.

Shen Lang turned his head and saw that the legs of Zheng Donghong and the five others were frozen solid by ice sprouting from the ground. All of their faces were contorted in pain.

’This is a little troublesome.’ Shen Lang frowned slightly.

It wasn’t that he feared Xiao Tong and Liu Hai. But with the Thunder Guard lurking above, trying to defeat two Martial Artists of the Spirit Martial Realm Second Heaven would be genuinely difficult.

Seeing that the six victims had been chosen, the surrounding crowd was no longer as panicked. They all backed away, creating a wide berth around Zheng Donghong and the other five.

"Xiao Tong’s Ice Technique is incredible! The chilling air seeped over from so far away, silent and with perfect precision, to freeze those six Martial Artists! And one of them is even an expert at the Qi Martial Realm Eighth Heaven. He’s truly amazing!"

"That’s right. Even an expert at the Qi Martial Realm Eighth Heaven can’t break free from his ice. The man is just too powerful!"

Fear flickered in the eyes of many.

Suddenly, in a flash, Shen Lang spun and landed in front of Zheng Donghong.

Then, he stomped his right foot fiercely onto the ground!

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

With Shen Lang’s stomp, a tide of fire surged out, sweeping across the ground and circling the ice that bound the six men’s feet.

With a series of cracks, the ice imprisoning the six men immediately shattered, allowing all of them to break free.

"Oh? I didn’t expect this piece of trash to cultivate a Fire Element Technique. You’ve got a trick or two up your sleeve, I see. What, are you trying to play the hero? You think you, of all people, can save them?"

When Xiao Tong saw that it was Shen Lang who had shattered his Ice Technique, a look of astonishment flashed in his eyes.

However, the surprise vanished in the blink of an eye, replaced by a vicious glare.

He was clearly infuriated that his Ice Technique had been broken by a piece of trash!

As Shang Xiaoran pulled Zheng Donghong to safety, Shen Lang slowly turned around. "More than a trick or two," he said calmly. "I’ve got three, four, maybe even five."

"If you want to fight for first place, that’s your business. I couldn’t care less. But if you think you can use my friends as test subjects... Sorry, but that’s not happening."

Liu Hai sneered. "Well, I’ll be damned. To think a piece of trash would dare stand up for someone else. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it. Tell me, where in the world does this trash get such confidence?"

Then, killing intent flashed in Liu Hai’s eyes. "Whether it’s happening or not isn’t for a piece of trash like you to decide! Now die!"

Liu Hai roared, slamming his right palm toward the ground from a distance.

With a flash of light, a terrifying torrent of fire, like a giant python, shot forward. It tore a foot-wide fissure in the ground as it surged toward Shen Lang, the explosive roar causing the onlookers’ faces to drain of color!

From the crowd, Su Shi took two steps forward and slapped his palm on the ground. A Crystal Wall instantly materialized in front of him and Shen Lang.

BOOM!

The rapidly advancing flames slammed violently into the Crystal Wall, creating a tremendous roar.

The Crystal Wall shattered into countless fragments and vanished, but the flames also completely dissipated into the air.

"Su Shi, get out of the way if you don’t want to die! Otherwise, I’ll kill you along with him!" Liu Hai bellowed.

Shen Lang held out a hand to stop Su Shi. "Two pieces of trash, and you’re this arrogant," he said, his voice cold. "Did you come all the way to the Profound Dao Sect just to make fools of yourselves? It’s all ’kill this person, kill that person.’ I’d really like to know, with those few tricks of yours, who could you possibly kill?"

The surrounding crowd was stunned...

’Did this kid just steal their lines?’

’They’re at the Spirit Martial Realm Second Heaven! They’re the two strongest people here!’

’To put it bluntly, aside from Su Shi and a few others, the sixty or seventy people here wouldn’t be able to withstand a single blow from them. They could kill whomever they pleased.’

Xiao Tong also seemed to be enraged by Shen Lang. The corner of his mouth twitched uncontrollably as he snarled, "A piece of trash like you isn’t even qualified to speak to us! This Young Master has claimed these six. Scram! Otherwise, I’ll make sure there’s not enough of you left for a proper burial!"

"Not enough left for a proper burial?" Shen Lang tilted his head, eyeing him askance. "Then I’m really curious to see it. How exactly will you manage that?"

"Shen Lang, that’s enough!" Shang Xiaoran said, her heart seizing with anxiety. She grabbed his arm to pull him back, only to find to her astonishment that he didn’t budge, even after two strong tugs!

’How is that possible...’

Shang Xiaoran was dumbfounded. With her Spirit Martial Realm Cultivation, the force from those two pulls could have moved a boulder weighing thousands of pounds, yet Shen Lang was as if his feet were rooted to the ground.

"If he’s confident, then let him be," Su Shi said, shaking his head slightly at Shang Xiaoran. If there was anyone in this entire crowd that Su Shi couldn’t figure out, it had to be Shen Lang.

Even now, he had never seen Shen Lang make a real move, but Su Shi had a gut feeling that there was much more to him than met the eye.

’If I hadn’t grown up in the imperial court and learned to be a keen observer of people, it would’ve been difficult to even notice Shen Lang...’ Su Shi sighed, turning a worried gaze toward Xiao Tong and Liu Hai.

At that moment, Xiao Tong, who was standing near the entrance, seemed to have been provoked into a true rage by Shen Lang. His aura began to climb, killing intent flared, and it looked as if he might strike at any second!

Just then, Liu Hai, who was to the side, suddenly said, "Wait, I just had a great idea."

"Hm?" Xiao Tong paused, slightly taken aback.

Liu Hai continued, "You just made a suggestion, didn’t you? Well, I have one too. Why don’t we make this game a bit more exciting? How about we make an example of this piece of trash first?"

Xiao Tong didn’t speak. He didn’t agree with Liu Hai’s method.

’Make an example of this trash?’

’What’s so exciting about that?’

’Two experts could kill this trash effortlessly. How is that exciting?’

’Even if one of us killed him in a single move, there would be nothing to brag about or be praised for, right?’

But Liu Hai continued, "How about this? We can use this trash to compete. If we just kill him outright, it’s a waste of time and there’s nothing to see. Since this trash wants to play the hero, let’s oblige him! We’ll seal our Cultivation, use no Spiritual Power, and just play with him using our physical strength. We’ll kill him with our bodies alone. How about it?"

"Hmph!" Xiao Tong snorted. "It sounds interesting, but there’s a problem: who goes first? If one of us strikes and kills him in a single blow, the other won’t even get a chance. What kind of competition is that?"

"Simple. Rock-paper-scissors." Liu Hai laughed. "Heh, don’t give me that look. In my view, luck is a form of strength. Whoever wins gets to go first. If the first person to strike really does kill him in one punch, well, that’s just their good fortune. If you can’t kill him in three punches, you forfeit your turn and leave him for the other. Since you want to compete against me, don’t tell me you don’t even have the guts to make a little wager?"

"Bastard! What kind of man do you take me for? You think I, Xiao Tong, am afraid to take that bet? Fine! We’ll do it your way!" Xiao Tong said, his face full of malice.

As if they already saw Shen Lang as a dead man, the two of them tapped several points on their own bodies in front of everyone, temporarily sealing their Spiritual Power.

The surrounding crowd looked at each other, not expecting to witness such a scene.

Even the many Profound Dao Sect disciples watching from above Wooden Man Alley began to discuss among themselves.

"This is getting interesting! Xiao Tong and Liu Hai are actually going to seal their Spiritual Power to fight Shen Lang? Even though Shen Lang’s a bit of a waste, he’s still at the Qi Martial Realm Fifth Heaven. His physical strength might be a cut below theirs, but if he uses his Spiritual Power, he won’t be a total pushover, will he?"

"Hard to say. Those two are the strongest among the nine Spirit Martial Realm Martial Artists here. Their physical bodies are incredibly tough. Even if they only rely on physical strength, killing Shen Lang should still be a simple matter."

"That Shen Lang is just asking to die. Daring to play the hero with that level of Cultivation... He should go take a piss and look at his own reflection. What does he have besides his Talismans?"

On the other side of Wooden Man Alley, standing unnoticed on a tree trunk, Zhang Tianyue stood with his hands behind his back, a peculiar expression on his face.

He muttered in puzzlement, ’How strange... From what I’ve seen in the previous trials, this Shen Lang isn’t just smart; he’s cunning. So why would he do something so suicidal? With his Cultivation, facing either one of these two is a death sentence. Where on earth does he get this confidence?’

’Is he planning to rely on Talismans? The problem is, the space here is confined, making it difficult to use them effectively. One slip-up and he could get caught in the blast himself. In that case... could it be that he has some other powerful Magical Treasure...?’