Therefore, while throwing his flying knives, Li Ming didn't forget to back away and increase the distance. That way, even if Xu Ke suddenly attacked, he would have enough time to dodge.

Under these circumstances, a bizarre scene unfolded across the entire arena.

The poisoned Xu Ke was actually chasing Li Ming!

Upon seeing this, many in the audience were dumbfounded.

What's going on?

"Hey, what are they doing?"

"Why are you backing away?"

"You're such a big guy, and you're still retreating? Are you a coward?"

The crowd was immediately dissatisfied. They were just a bunch of spectators looking for a show. Since Li Ming failed to give them the spectacle of him bullying Xu Ke, they turned on him with ridicule.

Seeing this, Jin Hankang slammed the table. "No disrupting the competitors!"

Discussing the match was allowed, and ridiculing Xu Ke was fine too. But mocking someone from the Wong Ting was not.

The crowd, seeing Jin Hankang speak up, immediately shut their mouths but still felt disgruntled.

What kind of lousy match is this?

Over with the Wang Family, Wang Qiya saw this and fumed, "What the hell is that dog Jin Hankang playing at?"

"Please calm down, Second Miss."

Tang Yingchang could only offer a wry smile. He had often encountered men like Jin Hankang in Long Capital, so he was already used to it. On the other hand, someone like Wang Qiya, with her higher education and being new to the wider world, hadn't seen much of this sort of thing. It was only natural for her to be angry.

...

On the stage, Li Ming was completely unaffected by the jeering from the spectators, still calmly fighting Xu Ke. However, his flying knives were soon used up, and he started using one dart after another.

The Martial Alliance rules stipulated that Hidden Weapons could not be poisoned in non-lethal matches. Despite this, the darts still displayed astonishing lethality, piercing deep into the ground whenever Xu Ke dodged them. It was horrifying to behold. If one had hit flesh, it would have pierced right through the heart, wouldn't it?

As Xu Ke looked at the Hidden Weapons scattered across the stage, he couldn't help but feel tempted. My own darts are nowhere near the quality of Li Ming's! The Wong Ting paid a premium for these; their quality is definitely much higher than the ones I bought casually.

With this in mind, Xu Ke called out to Li Ming while dodging, "These darts of yours are good quality. Are they for sale?"

"Heh, what do you think?" Li Ming sneered, then threw several more darts straight at Xu Ke's face.

Seeing this, Xu Ke wanted to reach out and simply catch them. With the force and technique Li Ming was using, he could easily snatch the weapons right out of the air. What a pity. Because I'm still 'poisoned,' I have to dodge again.

However, because Xu Ke hesitated this time, wondering whether to snatch the darts, his movements were a beat too slow, making his evasion look even more clumsy as he dodged the Hidden Weapons by a hair's breadth.

Seeing this, Li Ming was ecstatic. Xu Ke can't hold on any longer!

At that moment, even the blindest members of the audience could see that Xu Ke was running out of strength.

They exclaimed, "Damn, is Xu Ke at his limit?"

"Wasn't he just relentlessly pursuing Li Ming? How can he be failing now?"

"The poison must be taking its full effect!"

Just then, Li Ming reached into his pockets and pulled out six darts with each hand, twelve in total.

"Xu Ke, time to die!"

WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH...

The sound of the darts slicing through the air was as dense as a volley of a thousand arrows. Amplified by the loudspeakers, the twelve darts even carried the sound and fury of a sky-blotting arrow storm.

THUD THUD THUD...

All the darts missed their target. But Li Ming didn't get angry. Instead, he laughed heartily, extremely pleased with himself. Because at that moment, Xu Ke had stopped moving and was just standing there, looking grimly at him.

Xu Ke's face was pale, sweat pouring down like rain. The perfect picture of exhaustion!

The same thought flashed through everyone's mind. The time to end the match has come...

Li Ming put away his remaining Hidden Weapons and slowly approached Xu Ke, smirking. "Tsk, tsk, tsk."

"Weren't you Tianhai's number one talent? Didn't you want to represent Tianhai and defeat our leader, Qian Jun?"

"Xu Ke, I think you're just daydreaming!"

"Making grand statements... it's going to hurt a lot when you have to eat your words. Who could I possibly be talking about? Hahahaha!"

Li Ming was incredibly smug, as if he were already the victor.

「In the competitors' area.」

Koo Zuo immediately furrowed his brows. "Isn't he being a little too smug? Xu Ke hasn't lost yet. What if there's a last-minute reversal?"

He sounded as if he were worried about Li Ming, but his words were actually meant for Qian Jun. He wanted Qian Jun to see that Li Ming was also blindly arrogant. In fact, he couldn't wait for Li Ming to fall flat on his face and lose the match. After all, Li Ming had just mocked him.

But when Qian Jun heard this, he just smiled faintly and said nothing.

Su Ximing, who was beside him, snorted with disdain. "Do you think everyone is as brainless as you? Shut your mouth and just watch!"

The others immediately broke into mocking smiles. Li Ming's actions were all part of Qian Jun's plan. Only Koo Zuo remained clueless.

Hearing this, Koo Zuo's face flushed red. But under the mocking gazes of his comrades, he didn't dare say a word and could only hold his tongue.

「Meanwhile, back on the stage.」

Li Ming gradually closed the distance to Xu Ke, his demeanor as arrogant as ever. "Well? I'm giving you a chance. Come on and kill me, Xu Ke. Otherwise, you lose!"

Xu Ke looked up and sneered, "You think I don't have the ability to defeat you?"

As he spoke, Xu Ke seemed to take a step forward, feigning an attack.

But the next moment, Li Ming shot backward as if electrocuted, simultaneously unleashing a spray of Silver Needles at Xu Ke. He wasn't smug at all! He was only pretending to be smug to get close enough to probe Xu Ke's true condition from a safe distance. If Xu Ke counterattacked, he would instantly retreat and strike back.

As expected, the moment Xu Ke moved, the Silver Needles scattered as if they cost nothing.

At the sight, Xu Ke immediately shot back several steps, stumbling a few times before retreating out of the Silver Needles' range.

And this time, Li Ming roared with laughter. "So you really are out of strength! Then you're dead for sure, Xu Ke!"

He had already seen that Xu Ke truly had no ability to counterattack!

Seeing this scene, everyone in the crowd was shocked. This Li Ming had truly come to the stage with a strategy. He was cautiously advancing, pressuring Xu Ke at every turn. His goal was to drain the last of Xu Ke's True Qi without a real fight and then finish him off in one fell swoop.

"Are you sure?" But Xu Ke suddenly broke into an eerie smile. "If you really think I'm out of strength, then come and get me."

"Heh. Do you think that little act will make me believe you still have strength left?" I've seen right through him. He's just bluffing, trying to pull an empty fortress stratagem. Does he take me for an idiot?

Thinking this, Li Ming picked up a flying knife from the ground and said indifferently, "I'll give you one chance to surrender! Otherwise, be careful. A knife has no eyes, and this one might just take your life."

He seemed to be concerned for Xu Ke's well-being. In reality, he was just goading Xu Ke, making him refuse to surrender!

As expected, Xu Ke didn't surrender. "I will not surrender!"

A crafty glint flashed in Li Ming's eyes, his plan having succeeded. "Since you insist, then go die!"

As he spoke, Li Ming threw the flying knife and charged forward, positioning himself to block any path Xu Ke might take to dodge.

In other words, Xu Ke had to either take the knife or face Li Ming's attack.

Either way, Xu Ke was doomed!

Seeing this, Yuan Shang's expression changed dramatically. "Xu Ke, surrender!"