Though the darkness appeared eerie and menacing as it engulfed Hai Tuo's whole figure, it was all illusory and only the twerp was able to witness it in its full glory.
Unfortunately, that's all it could do using Shi Long's meager spiritual qi. Even if he comprehended the restored part of the Supreme Formless Art, it needed a large amount of spiritual qi to unleash its true prowess. In essence, what he used was an extremely watered-down version that could only affect his target.
Nonetheless, that was enough to swiftly end their duel. The duel should be a show of how Hai Tuo trampled over Shi Long.
From the audience's perspective, all they saw was Shi Long unleashing his spiritual qi and blowing it in Hai Tuo's direction. It looked like a gust of wind, fighting against a storm.
However, as if it's a miracle, the simple gust of wind made the twerp lose his momentum.
The Rock Shattering Fist missed Shi Long's head which allowed his knuckle to squarely plant on Hai Tuo's ugly mug.
Not knowing what hit him because of the illusory darkness that engulfed him, the twerp flung away and crashed at the other side of the Dueling Stage. With the darkness consuming his sense of sight, the pain on his face and body eventually made him lose consciousness.
When that happened, silence instantly reigned at the unbelievable sight. No one dared to breathe as they tried to comprehend the situation.
Isn't Hai Tuo going to win?
Why is he lying down on the ground?
Those kinds of questions filled their minds.
Even the Elder who was tasked to preside over the Duel found it intriguing. He acted nonchalantly at Shi Long's continued rudeness because he expected the man to be trampled and humiliated on the stage.
But what was this result?
A moment later, the Elder shivered as though a cold breeze ran along his back.
Someone sent him a telepathic message. "Hurry up and announce the result."
Following the voice, he quickly gathered his wits and announced even before the disciples watching below could recover from the shock. "Disciple Shi wins! For defeating the Rank 88 Hai Tuo, he will now take his place in the Human Roll!"
[Host has defeated Hai Tuo, taking his rank in the Outer Court's Human Roll and successfully removing the label of trash on your name]
[You completed the mission]
[Host has received 500 Leech Points]
[As a bonus, Host has been awarded a Random Mystical Ability Box (Basic)]
Right as soon as the Elder announced it, the system also recognized his win against Hai Tuo.
However, the crowd, who was silenced by what happened, started recovering from the shock and expressed disagreement at the result of the duel.
"T-that's absurd! How can Shi Long win? He cheated!" One of them shouted. And it was echoed by many more.
How could Hai Tuo lose when he's the stronger between the two? They could accept that Shi Long could exchange fists with him despite the gap in their cultivation realm but never the reality that he could win.
In their minds, that's impossible unless he cheated!
"I guess I got lucky?" Shi Long faced them and scratched his head while putting on a cynical smile.
That infuriated the crowd but he couldn't care less.
To complete his other objective for coming up on stage, Shi Long closed his right eye and focused on activating his Eye of Destiny Peeker.
The pain was already negligible when his body was being racked by it.
Even with his body cultivation offsetting the damage, Hai Tuo's blows were definitely heavy and deserving of a 4th Stage Spirit Gathering Realm disciple.
As he scanned their halos, Shi Long's eyes focused on one corner. There, he found two figures bearing pink and dark blue-colored halos.
However, although they looked like they reached the minimum size to be considered a Minor Protagonist, they lacked a few centimeters.
Shi Long tried waiting for the system's explanation but nothing came.
With that, he disappointedly deactivated the eye.
-
-
"Shi Long wins! Heavens! We're rich!"
While Shi Long was busy with his scouting, Zhan Jun was the only one who rejoiced.
"Hurry. Pay up!" He growled at the disciple that managed the betting place while ignoring the dark expressions of the other disciples around him.
Obviously, they're the ones who betted their hard-earned or saved-up spirit stones to Hai Tuo, thinking they could at least win a bit.
But reality crushed them. Shi Long won.
"Here, take it. Congratulations!"
Although a little reluctant, the betting manager handed a Bag of Holding containing their winnings to Zhan Jun before quickly escaping from the scene.
Shi Long and Zhan Jun might've won big but… the excess spirit stones after subtracting their winnings was pure profit for his part.
Zhan Jun quickly tucked the Bag of Holding inside his robes before shouting as Shi Long instructed. He was confused at first when his buddy told him to do it but now, he understood.
"You idiots! I know that Shi Long will win! And so are the ones who set up betting places. They scammed all of you out of your spirit stones!"
"Motherf*ckers! We were scammed! Find them!" With Zhan Jun's voice aided by his spiritual qi, it traveled just as quickly and spread among them.
They all turned around and swarmed to find the disciples behind the betting place.
What Zhan Jun shouted isn't true, of course. However, Shi Long predicted that the two of them would be the focus of the losing disciples.
That's why… he gave Zhan Jun that instruction to divert their attention away from them. Although it's highly possible that they would later realize that Zhan Jun lied, it would be all too late.
Shi Long indeed capitalized on their unstable mental condition but it's still a fact that they lost their spirit stones from the bet. Even if they caught and pressed those betting managers, the Elders would step in to quell the chaos.
Anyway, as soon as the attention left him, Zhan Jun slipped out of the chaos.
-
-
"Senior Brother She is looking at us!" Yang Mei excitedly exclaimed upon seeing Shi Long's gaze focused on her, returning the old way she called him; senior brother.
Little did she know that Shi Long failed to recognize her. He's looking straight at their halo and not the person themselves.
"It's unbelievable. How did he win?" On the other hand, Luo Bai's mind was still drawn to the battle. Shi Long's win was also a mystery to him.
He's a 5th Stage Spirit Gathering Realm disciple and even he couldn't comprehend what exactly happened. Unlike the disciples below the stage, he carefully watched the battle when Shi Long managed to kick Hai Tuo away.
"It's simple. Why don't we ask him? Something interesting must've happened to him. It feels like he regained his enthusiasm and more."
Giggling at the thought of being able to talk to Shi Long again, Yang Mei strode off from their corner even before Luo Bai could say anything else.
As he's also curious, Luo Bai could only shake his head before following the woman.
Meanwhile, on some other corner, another robed figure whose eyes were trained on the dueling stage had a meaningful smirk on his lips.
"Interesting. A 3rd Stage Spirit Gathering Realm disciple unleashing a mystical ability. Did he stumble upon a treasure?"