Bai Jingshen felt his anger towards the referee rising, as he found himself in an awkward situation. He clearly held his opponent's life in his hands, but the referee wouldn't end the fight.
Suddenly Raz Vulcan let out a shout. His hair danced wildly as he smashed his weapon down. Disregarding Bai Jingshen's knife he roared wildly:
"I have not lost yet!"
The former emperor felt his opponent's intention the moment he moved. An icy killing intent erupted, strong enough to stifle the kindling flames still present in the arena. Boiling Destruction felt as if his heart had stopped, but it was already too late to stop his actions. The ground shook under the great sword's might, as for the first time a low wave of flames spread. Using up almost all of the young elite's Qi these waves were countless times hotter than burning wood. A weaker Qi Gathering Realm cultivator would simply be burned into ashes by this attack.
Bai Jingshen instantly felt the heat hit him as his body suddenly functioned on instinct. His knife slid his opponent's throat in one fluid motion as he erupted with all his strength, pushing his body away as far as possible.
This time the audience screamed in panic. The fight had already ended, and everyone was only waiting for the referee. A moment later both fighters suddenly erupted. Some weak-hearted girls screamed as they held their hands in front of their eyes. Although everyone here was a young elite and had a lot of fighting experience, not all of them were used to seeing death.
However, the person receiving the biggest shock was still the referee. He had always been one of Manager Naarus' subordinates. When he presided over a fight involving the Yellow Alliance he had always been slightly impartial. Things like buying time for a comeback were normal happenings. No one would investigate these small fights. But now his body was stiff from the shock. With wide eyes he looked at the scene happening in front of him.
A burnt smell mixed with the metallic smell of blood. Everyone watched in horror as Raz held his bleeding throat with an unbelieving impression while Bai Jingshen sailed through the air with burning legs. Both fighters received injuries that would prove lethal to Qi Gathering Realm cultivators. Many young elites realized that something was wrong with this match. Had the competition between alliances gone too far? Was the company really so divided internally, that young elites had to fear for their lives?!
Suddenly a loud snort brought everyone out of their stupor. At one point in time a tall, well-dressed man had appeared in the air above the arena. Everyone instantly recognized Johann Tal's characteristic blond hair. His aura enveloped the whole arena, shocking all the young elite with its might. His Qi gently spread to the surroundings. Under the disbelieving eyes of those young elites the spreading flames gruadally died out, Raz Vulcan's bleeding throat quickly healed, and Bai Jingshen's legs looked just like before.
Johann Tal took in the worshipful gazes with his typical stoic face before turning towards the referee. The man already knew he had massively f*cked up this time, but he never thought he would alert Johann Tal. If there was anyone he never wanted to antagonize, it was this man, who always acted by the book. The referee suddenly dropped to his knees, hitting his head on the ground. Load, tearful shouts escaped his mouth:
"Please accept my apologize. I know… I know what I did wrong. Please, I… I deserve another chance."
The onlooking youngsters couldn't even ridicule this man for his shameful behavior. Anyone shut their mouths, as the Yellow Alliance even deliberately turned their heads away.
Johann Tal was observing the man groveling before him. He was only contemplating if he should kill this man on the spot or investigate who instigated him to act this way. In truth, he knew exactly who was making trouble in the company. However, he himself wouldn't act against them without any prove. It was only recently that Elena hinted that they could soon get rid of the parasites among their employees. Maybe it was finally time to act. Therefore to everyone's surprise the stoic man grabbed the referee and flew away with him. The latter was thanking Secretary Tal a thousand times, but only because he didn't know what awaited him yet.
The tension slowly disappeared after the blond man left. Bai Jingshen calmly got to his feet before checking his body. For many of the young elites Johann Tal might as well be able to evoke miracles, but Bai Jingshen was certain he felt the subtle usage of laws. However, even he himself couldn't tell where exactly the blond man's prowess laid. He was certain this was not the usage of time, but it didn't seem like a normal healing either. Bai Jingshen grew curious as he realized how deep the waters among Elena's loyal followers ran.
A few silent seconds past before tension erupted. The members of both alliances jumped up and confronted each other. The neutral viewers hastily left the stand, not daring to get in anyone's way. Bai Jingshen sighed as he watched the young elites throwing all kinds of insults at each other. He was sure this situation alone would lead to more challenges soon. Suddenly he received a notification. Stormspear sent him a massage congratulating him as the match counted as his win. At the same time Bai Jingshen got the points that the dark-skinned man placed as a bet for him.
The former emperor sought Stormspear in the crowd and noticed that he was only just standing up. Bai Jingshen nodded in his direction, receiving a smile and a thumbs up in return. A moment later Stormspear's face turned angry as he joined the shouting match on the Black Alliance's side. The former emperor shook his head, making his way towards the tunnel.
After only taking two steps, Bai Jingshen noticed Boiling Destruction to the side. The young elite tried to make himself invisible, pressing his body against the audience stand's wall. Although he was already fine thanks to Secretary Tal's help, he still held his throat, his face colored unhealthily pale. Sensing a gaze on himself, the young man awkwardly turned his head. As soon as he met Bai Jingshen's eyes, Raz felt his body involuntary trembling. He couldn't muster any courage, hurriedly averting his eyes.
Bai Jingshen didn't have any sympathy for his opponent. Although he proved himself a decent fighter, his character was simply trash. At this moment the former emperor even felt stifled as he had to abide by too many rules here. Under different circumstance's he would have killed that idiot many times over. Although Bai Jingshen didn't like to wantonly kill, he also wouldn't forgive others who tried to harm him. He hadn't forgotten Lehno and both Spike's either, even though no one knew what happened to the latter.
Slowly turning his attention away from the cowardly trash, Bai Jingshen left the arena. Boiling Destruction felt the disdain his opponent had for him as he balled his fists. This fight had been the worst experience in his smooth sailing life. If he couldn't get rid of this humiliation, his progress might stop before ever reaching the Nascent Soul Realm. Only than would he be able to have the right to talk in his family. Without the required strength he would forever life a miserable life, being a guard for Thobar Bionics or his family at most. A new fire burned in the young man's heart as he had those thoughts. He picked up his great sword and left the arena with a dark gaze.
After this fight Bai Jingshen could finally follow his plans. He thanked Stormspear in his heart as he now had a thousand contribution points to his name. With those he would be able to buy some martial arts to learn different weapons before finally going on a mission. He also decided to quickly break through in his cultivation, as his previous training delayed him a lot. Afterwards he would advance even faster as he planned to hunt some beasts.
Although the former emperor was eager to grow stronger again, he still made a short stop at the medical division. He planned to catch up with Torren and Sam, who decided to stay with the teen previously. However, the young man hadn't expected to meet Torren's parents as well. They thanked him under tears for standing up for their son. From those two, Bai Jingshen understood more about their situation.
They told him that they were both normal shop managers in the city. They had a simple but happy live. Never would they have dreamt that their son would turn out to be a monstrous genius. Torren showed supreme talent as he already reached the 3rd stage of the Body Refinement Realm at the age of fourteen. It was enough for Thobar Bionics to make an exception and take him into the elite program as the first Body Refinement Realm cultivator. Everyone in their family couldn't believe their luck. However, for poor Torren this soon turned out to be his misfortune. The bullying started during the first week and only grew worse. His parents already contemplated to bring him back home, but the young teen insisted on staying. He knew this was a big chance for his family, so he withstood the pressure.
Listening to this story, even Bai Jingshen had nothing but respect for this courageous teen. In his opinion this boy was a thousand times stronger than anyone from the Yellow Alliance. During his visit, Bai Jingshen could only see genuine happiness on the teen's face. He promised Torren's parents to take good care of his roommate before leaving for the training grounds. With his newly acquired points it was time to rent a high-quality training chamber before taking on missions.