The atmosphere around Bloed's group was tense.
Bloed did not need to be a genius to realize that the newcomer lionkin was here to stir up trouble.
"His name is Gimbal." Javelin whispered in Bloed's ear. "He is the second prince of The Great Savannah."
Bloed clicked his tongue in displeasure.
"Power struggles?"
Javelin smiled wryly. "The beastmen countries are a place where might makes right. Thus, when a prince is born, he automatically becomes a competitor for the throne. When it's time for the king to retire or when he dies, the most outstanding prince becomes the next king.
"Due to that reason, the princes always search for opportunities to give a blow to their opponents' reputations... But Prince Calisto is very down in the hierarchy, and to be honest, he has never shown much interest in the royal struggle. That is the reason he escaped the country last time."
"But his brothers do not think the same," Bloed added while observing the smirking Prince Gimbal and the anxious Prince Calisto.
Javelin nodded helplessly. "In the end, Prince Calisto is also a competitor. I think that Prince Gimbal probably mistook us as part of Prince Calisto's faction, so he also sent a man to the arena when he learned Miss Liu Ying was going to participate."
Bloed heaved a tired sigh. He did not want to involve himself in this kind of situation.
In fact, Regina, Javelin, and Illina had similar expressions. They were not the kind to like this kind of senseless competition.
In the end, though, Bloed did not stop it. This was a good opportunity for Liu Ying to train, and Bloed was not worried about Liu Ying's safety.
Even if Liu Ying was not the strongest person in the B-Rank, she was surely near the top.
"The fight is about to start." One of the followers of Prince Gimbal said.
The lionkin prince nodded. Looking at the timid-looking Calisto, he smirked.
"Little brother, why don't you have a bet with me?"
"… It's not necessary, right?"
"Why not? Hear me first. If you win, my follower in the arena will become your follower from today onwards. But if I win, I want the demon. Although usually, I don't like that cold-blooded race, a good specimen like her will be good to warm my bed."
Calisto's expression turned ugly.
But before he could say something, the expression of all the people present changed.
Two intimidating sources of killing intent appeared simultaneously. The killing intent filled the place, creating a nauseating bloody smell that assaulted the group's noses!
Prince Gimbal staggered several steps back, and Prince Calisto paled. As for Javelin and Illina, they were looking at Bloed and Regina in fear.
"Mister, you know you are speaking about my companion, right?" Bloed's leisurely voice sounded. His gaze was in the arena instead of Prince Gimbal, but for some reason, the lionkin prince felt he was being stared by a very dangerous predator.
"W-Who are you?" The lionkin prince stammered. Bloed glanced at him briefly before shaking his head in disappointment and moving his gaze away.
"The battle started."
These words seemed to return everything to normal. The killing intent disappeared from the stands as though it never existed.
The people around Bloed and Regina looked at each other in terror. Even Javelin, who could be considered as Bloed's friend, was slightly afraid after being exposed to such thick killing intent.
Fortunately, the battle started at that moment, shifting the group's attention towards it.
"Master, should I…?" Regina whispered in Bloed's ear and a ruthless glint flashed through her eyes. But Bloed shook his head. "Let's watch first. Even if that idiot tries something funny later, we can act then."
This time's battle was the same as the ones before. Twenty B-Rank practitioners stood in the arena facing each other.
Each practitioner seemed relatively strong. In fact, just in terms of cultivation alone, Liu Ying's initial B-Rank was the weakest.
Therefore, when the battle started, Bloed was not surprised that several beastmen attacked Liu Ying.
The demon smiled. Clenching her fist, she took a step forward, weaving among the beastmen attacking her and unleashing a punch in the direction of a tigerkin!
But the tigerkin evaded the attack. He twisted his body slightly, avoiding Liu Ying's attack by a paper-thin margin difference and using that opportunity to attack Liu Ying's chest.
Suddenly, though, the tigerkin's expression changed.
A powerful impact hit his right flank, sending him flying away.
That was the place where he had avoided Liu Ying's attack!
"That is…" Bloed's eyes opened wide. That technique was surely that.
[Silent Touch]!
And as expected, the same situation repeated several times. Liu Ying unleashed punch after punch, hitting their enemies. But even when her enemies avoided her attacks, somehow the impact still managed to reach them!
At a distance of ten centimeters, she could send the entire strength of her attacks directly to her opponents' bodies.
It was as though they were attacked by an invisible hit.
"Amazing." Bloed could not help but say. "To think she is already this proficient in that technique."
Regina nodded. "To be honest, even I'm in awe of Liu Ying's talent. It's as though [Silent Touch] was tailor-made for her. She only needed a few days to master the basics of it and she even managed to control the direction of the kinetic force. At this rate, she will need less than ten years to learn [Silent Touch] completely."
Bloed nodded.
"Wait a moment, do you know what is happening?" Javelin asked confused. He, Illina, and the rest were staring at Liu Ying's battle while trying to understand what was happening.
Bloed nodded, but he did not explain and just smiled mysteriously.
In fact, Javelin and the rest were not the only ones confused. In the arena, several beastmen were looking at Liu Ying warily. Some of them had opted to keep a distance from her.
That, however, was far from enough to stop the demon. With a smile, she kicked the ground and flew towards a catkin rapier user, unleashing a kick.
The catkin seemed to have understood a little about Liu Ying's technique, so he tried to keep his distance.
But when Liu Ying saw that, she grinned and punched the ground, causing the ground to tremble!
Then, while the catkin tried to regain his balance, Liu Ying appeared in front of him and hit his stomach.
"Ugh!" The catkin coughed a mouthful of blood and collapsed in the ground.
Liu Ying smiled and looked around. At this point, almost all the participants had been eliminated.
Only three people were still standing. Liu Ying, the cow beastman, and a cloaked man wielding a sword.
"Girl, you are pretty good." The cow beastmen said. "Do you want to serve my master."
Liu Ying grinned. "Sorry, I already have an owner."
Then, she rushed towards him.
The other two moved at the same time. On one side, the cow beastman swung his hammer, creating a powerful current of wind that pushed Liu Ying away!
At the same time, the cloaked man swung his sword. Instantly, a cold current filled the arena, trying to engulf Liu Ying and the cow beastmen!
Liu Ying's eyes flashed. When the cold current reached her, she took a deep breath. Immediately after that, her body vibrated slightly, creating a field of energy that pushed the cold current away!
Bloed and Regina's expressions changed. They looked at each other saw the disbelief in the other's eyes.
Just now, Liu Ying had used kinetic force as a barrier to shrug off the enemy's attack!
That was definitively not something a novice in [Silent Touch] should be able to do!
But that was not the end. After pushing the cold current away, Liu Ying kicked the ground and her body rushed forward at great speed in a leaning-down posture.
Then, she unleashed an uppercut in the direction of the cow beastmAn!
The cow beastman was still busy dealing with the cold current. In that situation, he could only cross his arms to try to receive Liu Ying's punch.
However, trying to compete against Liu Ying in brute force was suicide.
Before touching the cow beastman, Liu Ying's punch turned into a palm. Then, a powerful shockwave spread through the arena.
The next instant, the cow beastman collapsed.
Liu Ying did not stop. She used the cow beastman's body as cover and evaded an attack coming from the cloaked man.
Next, her body moved like a pendulum. One of her feet pressed the ground, and all the muscles of her body tightened, finishing with a powerful high kick that went towards the cloaked man's head!
But before the kick could reach him, a wall of ice appeared between Liu Ying and the cloaked man.
*Boom!* The wall of ice was turned into bits by the strength of Liu Ying's kick. Using that opportunity, the cloaked man hid in the ice and appeared behind Liu Ying, aiming to her back.
His sword moved like a snake, leaving behind a cond wild that seemed to freeze Liu Ying's skin!
But at that moment, Liu Ying's back trembled slightly, creating a repulsive force that managed to stop the cloaked man's sword for an instant.
And in that instant, Liu Ying twisted her body, ducking intuitively and unleashing an upwards kick!
This time, the cloaked man was unable to evade it!
He hurriedly tried to form another barrier of ice, but the hurriedly-formed barrier was not enough to stop the kick completely. A powerful boom sounded, and the cloaked man was sent flying away.
When he landed, he coughed a mouthful of blood and stared at Liu Ying with a serious expression.
"Good!" Liu Ying exclaimed. Her eyes narrowed into slits, and her body got ready to pounce forward.
But suddenly, the cloaked person lifted his hand.
"I surrender."
With these words, the battle came to an end.
...
P4TRE0N: patr-eon.com/aidnovels