Bang! In the brief moment Luo Shasheng spent playing his little games, Ying Ziyu hammered him flat with a flurry of blows—and even then she did not stop, relentlessly pounding the fallen man without the slightest hint of mercy.

"Uh... that's brutal..." The crowd watched with twitching eyelids. It was true that the duel was not over until Luo Shasheng conceded aloud or fell unconscious outright, and that a downed opponent could still be pursued; but in a trial tournament like this, most people stopped once they had the upper hand. A pursuit as savage as Ying Ziyu's was a rare sight.

It was not only the spectators—even Wei Zhao and the others felt a chill run down their spines. Sure enough, in her bones Ying Ziyu was a ruthless one.

A moment later, watching Luo Shasheng lie there helpless, about to be beaten to death, Xin Yi'an finally could not stomach it any longer and stepped forward to intervene. "Enough. This duel ends here. I declare Ying Ziyu the winner. Luo Shasheng, one win and three losses—eliminated."

"Huh? It's over already?" Ying Ziyu withdrew her hands reluctantly, still wearing a look of wanting more.

"That's about enough. Save some strength for the next round." Wei Zhao could not help but sweat. He glanced at Luo Shasheng, a pitiful wreck on the ground, and thought that to run into an opponent like Ying Ziyu was truly the worst luck of eight lifetimes.

"All right. But Brother Wei Zhao, the close-quarters instant striking you taught me is really wonderful! The more I fight, the more I feel like my whole body is on fire—I just can't get enough!" Ying Ziyu said excitedly, clinging to Wei Zhao's arm.

Everyone smiled at that. This was probably not the effect of close-quarters instant striking at all, but purely a gift of her own peculiar constitution.

Ying Ziyu's victory set everyone off on the right foot. Yu Bing, Kang Xiaofeng and the rest took the stage next and, as expected, all passed, each securing a place in the Taigu Trial with a record of three wins and one loss.

That left only two of Wei Zhao's group to fight the final fifth round: Ying Ziyu and Leng Leng.

Still, judging by Ying Ziyu's current form, there was little to worry about in the next round. At least at the early Foundation Establishment level, close-quarters instant striking was an exceedingly troublesome way to fight; the vast majority of opponents would be caught flat-footed, and without expert guidance, no one should be able to withstand her onslaught.

What was somewhat worrying now, rather, was Leng Leng. Though she was strong—possessing both the Shattered Ice constitution and having developed a formidable move like Drawing a Circle as a Prison—she had only just advanced to Foundation Establishment Perfection and was at the same time beset by a shortage of physical strength and true qi. If she could not recover in time, she might well repeat the disaster of the fourth round, and that would be trouble.

"Brother Wei Zhao, why don't you give Sister Leng Leng a private training session too? Then everything would be just fine," Ying Ziyu suggested. She herself was living proof; given Wei Zhao's level and insight, the results of private training were beyond doubt.

"That works too." Wei Zhao nodded, then turned to Leng Leng. "As things stand, there is still enormous room for improvement in Drawing a Circle as a Prison and in other areas alike. A bit of targeted training should yield something. What do you think?"

"This..." Leng Leng hesitated, then shook her head firmly. "Bite off more than you can chew and you choke. Right now I haven't even properly consolidated my Foundation Establishment Perfection, and I haven't mastered Drawing a Circle as a Prison yet. So I think training can wait for later. This time, I want to overcome it through my own efforts."

"All right then. I believe in you. Keep at it." Wei Zhao patted her shoulder lightly. There was a certain risk in this, but he felt gratified nonetheless. Just as Leng Leng herself had said, one should not bite off more than one can chew, and to recognize that was truly commendable.

In the fifth round of the trial tournament, no one chose to challenge a higher level. After all, those who remained at this stage were disciples who had fought through four rounds to reach two wins and two losses, and by now no mishap could be afforded. Rather than challenge a higher level, it was better to take part honestly in the fifth round—at least the difficulty was somewhat lower, and the odds of securing a place in the Taigu Trial correspondingly greater.

Only four Foundation Establishment Perfection experts remained, and when Xin Yi'an drew the first pairing, everyone was startled, all eyes fixing at once on the two in the arena: Leng Leng versus Duanmu Yu!

"Oh? Looks like I've caught a good show!" Xue Jianming laughed with keen interest. After these days of recuperation, the frostbite left by Leng Leng's extreme version of Drawing a Circle as a Prison had fully healed. Because of it, however, he had been unable to supervise the matches these past days, and so had been unable to target Wei Zhao's group specifically; otherwise, they might not have passed so smoothly.

Fortunately, this draw did not disappoint him. Though he had to admit that Leng Leng's strength was truly formidable—that move, Drawing a Circle as a Prison, was especially astonishing, and ordinary experts of the same level could hardly contend with it—Duanmu Yu was no ordinary character. Moreover, judging from the previous match, Leng Leng's condition was far from good, and her chances against Duanmu Yu were not high.

If Duanmu Yu could eliminate Leng Leng here, then although it would only be barely satisfactory for Xue Jianming, it would at least be some consolation.

At this moment it was not only Xue Jianming; everyone else wore the look of spectators settling in for a good show. After all, this was a rare focal duel, with both sides figures of endless talk, and this being the final match besides, one side was bound to be eliminated on the spot no matter the outcome. Who would it be?

"Please." Leng Leng was the first to give Duanmu Yu a slight bow.

"Please." Duanmu Yu made an elegant gesture of invitation, appearing perfectly composed on the surface, while inwardly she was quietly on her guard, warning herself that under no circumstances could she let her opponent use Drawing a Circle as a Prison. Even Xue Jianming, an early Golden Core expert, had nearly come to grief; if she were the one trapped, it would all be over.

With the formalities done, the atmosphere in the arena turned incomparably tense at once. Those nearby hardly dared to breathe, waiting quietly for the two to begin in earnest.