“Ling Han!” There was a dark expression on Nie Tiancheng’s face. He had been “ambushed” by Ling Han in the Sunken Abyss Valley, causing him to fall to the floor of the valley. That had been utterly humiliating!

He didn’t feel that he was weaker than Ling Han. Rather, he felt that he had only been defeated because his cultivation level had been suppressed too much. If they had battled against each other at full power, he was confident that he could have suppressed Ling Han with a single hand! However, in the end, Ling Han had ascended the golden boulder and obtained the bulk of the benefits. Meanwhile, he had fallen to the floor of the valley again. This caused him to detest Ling Han even more.

Right now, his cultivation level wasn’t being suppressed anymore. Moreover, he also had a Pseudo-Saint Tool in his hands. Thus, suppressing Ling Han would be mere child’s play!

So what if Ling Han was the second disciple to be recruited? Humph!

“Today… I’m going to exact my revenge!” he said balefully.

Ling Han shook his head. This person was truly a self-centered being. What had he done wrong?

They had been teammates at that time, yet Nie Tiancheng and Shan Jingyi had actually tried to steal Empress Luan Xing from him. Afterward, they had committed all kinds of reprehensible acts, trying to ambush and attack Ling Han. Thus, Ling Han had no choice but to act first.

How could they blame him?

“You’re asking for a beating!” Ling Han had never been a good-tempered person, and his expression instantly became cold. He reached toward Nie Tiancheng.

Nie Tiancheng still thought that Ling Han was only at the medium extreme of the Heavenly Body Tier. However, after the competition in the Sunken Abyss Valley, Ling Han had already advanced to the pinnacle level of the Heavenly Body Tier. He had advanced even further now, and he had already broken through to the Eternal River Tier.

Even if Ling Han hadn’t engraved 10 killing formations inside his body, he would have still possessed the ability to battle against an Eternal River Tier cultivator, even if they possessed a Pseudo-Saint Tool. Right now? Heh, the result was already set in stone.

A cold smile stretched across Nie Tiancheng’s face. Ling Han was actively charging over to attack him? Just how audacious was he?

However, a stunned expression instantly appeared on his face.

What? Why was Ling Han’s attack so overwhelming? It was as if even heaven and earth were about to collapse!

‘Holy f*ck! This isn’t the medium extreme of the Heavenly Body Tier!’

He hurriedly activated his Pseudo-Saint Tool. The peach branch lit up, releasing a fragrance that spread five kilometers into the surroundings.

Peng!

He was instantly sent flying back. However, his Pseudo-Saint Tool finally managed to unleash its might and block Ling Han’s attack. After all, Ling Han was afraid of accidentally killing this ant, so he hadn’t attacked with his full strength.

“Pu!” Nie Tiancheng coughed up a mouthful of blood. He had only been struck by the remnant shock waves, but just how powerful was Ling Han at this moment? He had only been scraped by the shock waves, yet he was still wounded.

“How is this possible?!” he shouted. There was a dumbfounded look on his face.

How could he not be stunned?

Around 11 or 12 years ago, Ling Han had still only been at the medium extreme of the Heavenly Body Tier. Now, however, he had actually advanced to the Eternal River Tier? How could this be? It was simply unfathomable!

He had definitely received huge benefits from the gigantic golden boulder!

Nie Tiancheng gritted his teeth in anger. At that time, he had fallen to the floor of the valley, and failed to receive any benefits. Thus, he had left in disappointment and despondence. He hadn’t returned after that, and thus he wasn’t aware that Ling Han had engaged in an intense battle with Gu Daoyi.

Upon seeing Ling Han being recruited second, he had thought that this was because he had ascended the gigantic golden boulder. In other words, he had never taken Ling Han’s strength seriously.

Only now did he finally realize that Ling Han’s cultivation level had already surpassed his!

“Detestable brat!” he spat through gritted teeth. In his eyes, if it weren’t for Ling Han, he could have definitely obtained huge benefits in the Sunken Abyss Valley and reached the Eternal River Tier by now.

He didn’t reflect on his own actions at all, instead shifting all of the blame onto Ling Han. The more he looked, the more detestable Ling Han appeared. He waved his right arm and activated his Pseudo-Saint Tool with all of his might.

If he could activate the full power of the Pseudo-Saint Tool, the might that he unleashed could be on par with the pinnacle level of the Eternal River Tier. It would be equivalent to forming 2,000,000 heavenly bodies. However, it was a shame that his cultivation level was still far too low. After using his full strength, he could only unleash a might that was on par with the early stage of the medium extreme of the Eternal River Tier.

However, this was already very impressive. This was enough to kill elites at the low extreme of the Eternal River Tier and rival elites at the medium extreme of the Eternal River Tier.

“Die!” He raised the peach branch and swept it toward Ling Han. A pink halo burst into the surroundings, bringing with it a devastating might.

Of course, he was only shouting this in anger. Even if he were 100 times more courageous, he still wouldn’t dare to kill someone in the academy—unless it was by accident. However, he detested Ling Han far too much, so he wouldn’t feel comfortable unless he shouted for him to die.

Pa!

Ling Han’s palm lashed out, and he slapped him across the face. There was a loud and crisp crack.

Nie Tiancheng was instantly sent flying. His mouth hung wide open, and he couldn’t help but spit out several broken teeth. There was a shocked expression on his face.

He had activated his Pseudo-Saint Tool with his full power, yet he had still been struck by Ling Han?

He genuinely couldn’t defeat him!

There was a bitter feeling in his mind. However, he could continue to bide his time and exact his revenge in the future!

The Star Sand Martial Arts Academy was a place of boundless miracles. Perhaps he was no match for Ling Han now, but this didn’t represent that he would be no match for him forever. He was a rank two king tier, and he had the potential to become a rank three king tier. Once he broke through to the Eternal River Tier, his strength would be no weaker than that of Ling Han.

As such, was there any need to be stubborn now? Since Ling Han could surpass him, why couldn’t he also surpass Ling Han?

“I admit—”

Pa!

He was just about to admit defeat, yet a large shadow instantly appeared before his eyes. This was a large hand, and it aggressively forced him to swallow the words on the tip of his tongue.

‘This… Are you trying to f*cking torture me? I was just about to admit defeat!’

Nie Tiancheng was infuriated. He hadn’t imagined that Ling Han would be so sinister!

Peng!

With this thought in mind, he suffered another blow to his face. He was almost about to be knocked silly.

According to the rules, there were three ways that a battle could end. The first was if someone was pushed off the arena, the second was if one lost the ability to battle, and the third was if someone actively admitted defeat. However, Ling Han had forcefully stopped him from admitting defeat, and he didn’t push him off the arena, either. Instead, he focused on smacking his face around. However, he didn’t use too much power, and nothing he did would cause the battle to end.

Thus, even though there were many Eternal River Tier elites observing the battle, there was nothing more they could do to help.

Ling Han and Nie Tiancheng were still battling, so how could they conclude the battle?

“Impressive! I respect that you’re a true man. You’re unwilling to yield even in the face of death!” Ling Han said as he continued to slap Nie Tiancheng.

‘Respect your mom! Unwilling to yield my a*ss!’

Nie Tiancheng was already on the verge of tears. This was far too vexing. Ling Han had already won, so why was he still intent on torturing him?

Pa, pa, pa!

Ling Han continued to slap his face.

“I… I… I…” Each time Nie Tiancheng opened his mouth, Ling Han would immediately shut him up with a slap.

“I… I… I…”

Pa, pa, pa!

There was a strong sense of rhythm to this, and it was as if they were singing a duet. This amused many of the spectators.

Trying to say three words was far too difficult.

Nie Tiancheng changed his tactic, saying, “I… I… I…” However, he was still cut off after saying just the first word.

In any case, his net word should have been “surrender”.

A smile spread across Ling Han’s face. Would he allow Nie Tiancheng to surrender?

Nie Tiancheng opened his mouth.

Pa!

He opened his mouth again.

Pa!

Upon seeing this, the spectators couldn’t help but explode with laughter. Although Nie Tiancheng couldn’t say “I surrender” regardless of how hard he tried, everyone could tell that he was trying to admit defeat.

What an unfortunate soul.

“Enough!” an elite shouted. He couldn’t watch on any longer, so he forcefully ended their battle.

Ling Han only stopped because he didn’t want to cause too much trouble. Otherwise, the elite mightn’t have been able to stop him from attacking.

There was rage in Nie Tiancheng’s eyes as he glared at Ling Han, yet there was an even stronger sense of fear. Although he hadn’t been pummeled for long, he had already started to wonder whether he would be forcefully beaten to death. This left him with severe psychological trauma.

‘Perhaps… I won’t exact revenge,’ he thought to himself.

The battles on the other arenas were still ongoing. Some were wrapped up extremely quickly, while others were intense and drawn-out.

Only after eight days were the final 16 all decided.