Chapter 163 – Florida Man's Student Accidentally Gunned Martial Artist to Death during MMA Match
"DIE!!"
Situ Dong was certain of his victory. In terms of strength, nascent soul cultivators were the same as infants learning how to walk while soul transformation cultivators already mastered the dao avatar techniques. Crushing Gao Yan would be a walk in the park.
Gao Yan gritted his teeth and activated his lightsaber. Meanwhile, Thora extended her arm forward, and a yellowish dome of lightning barrier appeared.
BOOM
The fists collided with the barrier. After ten punches, it shattered.
The eleventh fist came for Gao Yan!
Gao Yan no longer hesitated or thought of anything. His muscle memory took over as he swung the lightsaber like how Esen had taught him.
The sci-fi sword, empowered by Leo's essence stone, sliced through the dao avatar's fist like butter.
Situ Dong widened his eyes in shock as the damage to his dao avatar transferred to his real body. The cut from the gap between his left hand's middle finger and ring finger extended to the bottom of his palm.
His hand was almost cut in half!
Because of the cut, 500 fists of the dao avatar vanished. Moreover, Situ Dong lost the feeling in his left hand, and the meridians in his left arm were blocked by an unknown force. His entire left arm withered and thinned, reverting back to its original appearance.
After losing half of his power, Situ pulled back his 500 fists. He took a step back and looked at this dao avatar in shock.
"T-This cannot be! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
Gao Yan was still in the zone. As he successfully counterattacked with that cut, he took the initiative by pulling the pistol that Leo had given him.
In the chamber was a sacred wood bullet. However, Gao Yan injected all his wood Qi into it, betting on everything in this attack.
BANG
Pulling the trigger, the pistol spat a brown laser beam. At the tip of the beam, the sacred wood bullet pierced through Situ Dong's chest.
The bullet entered Situ Dong's chest and crushed the center ribcage. It dug further, grazing his heart and lungs. It crushed the spinal cord because the bullet lost its momentum, getting stuck in Situ Dong's flesh and bones.
The attack didn't stop there. As the sacred wood was empowered by Gao Yan's wood Qi, the bullet transformed into a plant seed. It absorbed blood and Qi of Situ Dong to rapidly grow. Instantly, it emptied the host's Qi and depleted his lifespan.
Situ Dong vomited blood and bent slightly forward. Then, he collapsed to the ground face-first.
Gao Yan lowered his gun and deactivated the lightsaber. He slowly came back to his senses. When he realized that Situ Dong stopped breathing, he panicked.
"I-I-I didn't mean to!! I'm so sorry, senior!"
Gao Yan rushed to Situ Dong and fed him an elixir grain pill that he got from Leo. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to resurrect the guy.
The referee and Situ Bai leaped on the stage and checked Situ Dong's pulse. They then looked at his soul for a moment. Then, they glared at Gao Yan.
The referee announced, "Situ Dong has been critically injured. He can no longer fight. The winner of this match is Gao Yan-"
"HALT!"
Situ Bai glared at Gao Yan while he thrust his fingers into Situ Dong's back. He pulled out the sprouted seed and bellowed.
"Your Majesty! Please arrest this man in an instant. He's using a hidden weapon in the tournament!"
Yan Xiang frowned as he also wanted to use this opportunity to disqualify Leo's team. However, there were too many eyes from the neutral factions and rogue cultivators among the spectators. He couldn't blatantly cheat or show favoritism at the moment.
The emperor declared, "Weapons and artifacts are considered skills. Gao Yan didn't break the rules."
"But Your Majesty! Gao Yan killed his opponent!"
"…"
Yan Xiang narrowed his eyes as if he could use this against Leo and Gao Yan. However, before the emperor could speak, Tang Xuan, who had been lurking in the crowd, suddenly used his Qi to amplify his voice.
Tang Xuan's voice vibrated through the arena and Cauliflower City.
"If Gao Yan and his opponent have a similar strength, we can judge that Gao Yan has violated the rules, and his team will automatically be disqualified. However, Gao Yan's opponent is two realms stronger than him. In this case, I think it's an accident."
"Accident?! You call this an accident?!" Situ Bai yelled back.
"Fists and kicks have no eyes. Accidents are bound to happen in sparring. In this case, Gao Yan can't afford to hold back his strength because of his inferior cultivation base. Situ Dong should be at fault here for failing to react to that last attack. Obviously, he looked down on his opponent, and he died because of his lack of judgment. I repeat, Gao Yan is not at fault for accidentally killing his opponent!"
Tang Xuan glanced at Leo, hoping that the latter could support his claim, "Don't you think so too? Immortal Florida Man?"
Leo stroked his beard and looked at Situ Bai, "As he said, bozo. Your guy is indeed stronger than my boy, but he got squashed because of his stupidity. You can't blame my boy for giving it his all while your people purposely throw the match, do you?"
"…"
The neutral faction's people murmured as they agreed to this argument. From their point of view, Gao Yan barely reacted to the first attacks while Situ Dong miscalculated. Had Situ Dong not retreated, Gao Yan would never have had enough time to use his secret weapon.
In short, it was Situ Dong's fault for dying to the secret weapon.
Yan Xiang looked around for a moment before he gave Gao Yan a meaningful look. He thought of the weapon that Yan Zhu had. Although Yan Xiang had enough reasons to disqualify Gao Yan, he had no choice but to pardon him in this case. After all, he needed to know how and where Gao Yan managed to get those artifacts.
The emperor sent a voice transmission to Situ Bai.
'Leave him be. Instead, I want you to investigate that boy's background. I want to know where he came from and how he got those artifacts and secret weapons.'
Situ Bai nodded. He coughed and retreated from the stage.
"Fine. That was an accident. Continue the tournament!"
"…"
.
.
After the commotion, rogue cultivators among the spectators got excited. They whispered among themselves.
"That Florida Domain is quite something. They're backed by immortals for sure. Look at that lineup."
"Obviously, those immortals are elders in disguise. Emperor Yan conspires against Immortal Florida Man first. And now, Immortal Florida Man uses the same trick as them. It's karma, I say."
"Well-deserved karma, actually. This event is supposed to be exclusive for the youngsters and rising stars. But look at those people from the Jianghu Alliance. They are trying to bully a newly found sect backed by immortals. Now, they're paying the price."
"I wonder if I can join the Florida Domain. Do they accept new disciples?"
"Those weapons, though. Did you see the last attack? That energy sword seems deadly, too!"
After Gao Yan showed everybody his secret weapons, many rogue cultivators were interested in Leo's domain. His reputation slowly rose.
On the other hand, the imperial court faction was not happy. They gossiped, wondering what Yan Xiang was doing.
"Why hasn't the emperor arrested Gao Yan and disqualified Florida Man bastard? He could have done so, right?"
"He could have, but that might give a reason for other cultivators to rebel. Some of the orthodox sects are not happy with His Majesty's decision to embrace the unorthodox cultivators to the Jianghu Alliance."
"Naturally, fiendish cultivators and orthodox cultivators will always be enemies. It's because of those princes. Without those nasty princes and their cults, His Majesty would have been worshiped by all."
"Stop gossiping your lord! If you have the energy, go and suppress those rumors about Florida Man!"
Distrust and doubts filled the air as they started questioning Yan Xiang's actions. Still, they waited to see the tournament unfold as the winner of this tournament would write a new history.
Meanwhile, Tang Xuan and Tang Tian conversed.
"Father, why are you openly supporting Florida Man? Are we rebelling now?"
Tang Xuan stroked his beard. He gazed at Florida Man and confessed.
"We will do everything in our power to support Florida Domain and Immortal Florida Man. Time for our clan to recognize a new lord."
"But why? Haven't we served the Yan Empire for centuries? Why now?"
"If Yan Xiang were a decisive emperor, we would have continued serving him. But since he's been manipulated by his reputation and seeking revenge for the vain revenge, his sand castle empire will soon collapse. We have to jump ships now if we want to survive the turbulence."
"…"
Tang Tian still hesitated. He thought of his old friends, disciples, and mentors. However, only the faces of Hua Jiashan and Dongfang Mei showed up as they were the last people to remain with him when he needed their help.
Thinking of the Life Sword Sect and the Amazonian Sanctuary, Tang Tian gazed at Tiger Swordsman and Xu Nuan behind Leo. He then understood why his father chose Leo.
"It's their moral integrity, right?"
"…"
Tang Xuan bitterly smiled as the answer was off the mark. It was the strength and influence of Leo that Tang Xuan respected.
.
.
After Gao Yan's match ended, the second round of the tournament started.
Ivy got called to the stage first. Again, her opponent was a soul transformation cultivator from a major clan.
As soon as Ivy got on the stage, Yan Xiang activated his secret array underneath the platform.
Ivy flinched as she could sense her skin and bones getting older. She glanced at the referee to signal the match.
However, the referee suddenly paused and turned around to look at the emperor. He purposely delayed the match!
"Not good," Leo deeply frowned at Yan Xiang as he noticed Ivy's dark expression. He rushed toward the stage and got closer.
As soon as Leo got too close to the arena stage, his cancer cells screamed. His entire body got itchy as the rejuvenated cells and bones slowly lost their vigor.
"START THE MATCH, REF!!"
Leo slapped the floor, yelling at the referee.
However, the referee turned around and scolded Leo, "Noncontestant, please get away from the arena and stay in the permitted area! If you interfere with the match again, we will disqualify your team!"
"…"
Leo glared at Yan Xiang and the referee. He then checked Ivy's condition with his eyes.
Although Ivy's skin and face still looked young, signs of aging were apparent. Soon, she might look like an old woman.
'Damn cheaters.'
Leo grumbled and looked at the bottom of the platform. He then sniffed like a dog, hoping to find an irregular scent.
A few seconds later, Leo noticed a weird scent. It smelled like the tea of rejuvenation.
Leo had an idea what it was. However, as he couldn't openly interfere with the arenas, he turned around and returned to his spectator area.
He walked toward Cat, who was bored to death.
"Cat. There are weird things underneath the arenas. Can you dig the ground in secret and fetch them for me? When we return, I'll give you extra nom-nom."
"NOM-NOM MEOW?!"
Cat stopped being drowsy. She transformed into a humanoid dryad and stood in front of Leo with sparkling eyes.
"Yes. Nom-Nom Buffet."
"Meow <3"
Cat widely grinned. While standing still, her roots penetrated into the ground. Silently, she curled her roots and made her way to the foundation of all five arenas.
