Chapter 121 Outside the Chessboard

At the same moment, in the wilderness, two figures were suspended in the air.

The players naturally couldn't see those high-dimensional beings in the sky, and the system's lens couldn't capture them either.

"Can you explain the current situation, Mr. Referee?" War stared down at the two below, his voice deep.

Simon, floating beside him, didn't answer, only shifted his gaze to War.

"What... that look... don't tell me you want to fight me?" War's expression changed slightly.

"What do you want me to explain?" Simon spoke, which relieved War.

War said, "Of course, the changes happening to Wang Tanzhi right now."

Simon's voice was still like a cold wind, "Who knows... perhaps some kind of 'restriction' has been broken through..."

"Casually throwing me a useless sentence... Hmph... Fine, I don't care what happened to him, let's stick to the facts..." War continued, "According to the rules of the game, direct descendants of the Wang and Gu families cannot be used as betting objects, that is—'outsiders.' But Qi Sha, he is..."

"Seeing that your chess piece is about to be killed by an outsider, so you come to the referee to complain?" Simon interrupted.

"If you don't want to handle it..." War said, "I can take care of it myself."

"Heh..." Simon laughed, he rarely laughed, so... this wasn't a good sign, "Since the start of this game, I've already slaughtered a lot of trash in the name of the referee, from Power Angels to demons at the crossroads." He paused for a second, "Do you want to become the first sacrifice under the 'Council'?"

War was silent for a few seconds, seemingly weighing something, and then said, "Watch your words, devil, I'm not your subordinate." His voice suddenly took on a strange rhythm, as if there was something else speaking in that humanoid shell, "I am the source of your warmongering nature... no matter how strong you are, you cannot kill a 'Knight.'"

"Do you know how many self-proclaimed 'immortal' beings I've killed so far?" Simon replied calmly.

"Of course, I know... You are the end of 'eternity', the pulverizer of 'life'." War said, "But I insist on my point."

"You can keep your point." Simon said, "As long as you don't cross the line..."

War said in a deep voice, "You mean... you want me to watch this 'outsider' eliminate Qi Sha?"

Simon breathed out and refocused his gaze on the ground: "A loss may turn out to be a blessing in disguise."

"Oh?" War was slightly startled, "Could it be that there's something in the finals..."

"The benefits and risks are proportional." Simon interrupted the other party again, "The Peak Tournament... isn't as simple as you think."

…………

"Strange... what's with that arrogant and combative expression?" Qi Sha looked at Xiao Tan a few meters away, thinking to himself, "Wang Xiong doesn't seem like this kind of person..."

"Internal bleeding..." Xiao Tan muttered to himself, "My Survival Value dropped to 29% in the blink of an eye..." He straightened up, picked up the military knife, and said coldly, "I'll finish you off in a minute."

"Oh? Ha..." Qi Sha laughed upon hearing this and replied, "I really don't know where your confidence comes from... if you can really do it, then try it."

Xiao Tan didn't say anything more. He took a step and suddenly leaped up, drawing a parabola in the air as he attacked his opponent.

"My speed is only slightly slower than his, but my strength is much greater." Qi Sha secretly analyzed the situation before him, "With the Soul Intent, I can increase my punching speed and power to more than three times the usual... Besides these hard conditions, I also have much richer combat experience and fighting skills than him..." He steadied his mind, "There can't be any variables... he's bluffing!"

Qi Sha looked at Xiao Tan leaping toward him and shouted, "Hmph... this kind of ordinary forward charge is no different from a swinging sandbag!" He raised his fist and struck, without any mercy.

At this moment, Xiao Tan's descending body suddenly changed direction and darted diagonally upward.

Qi Sha snorted coldly, "Do you think I can't hit you like this?" His fist path changed suddenly, turning the straight punch into an uppercut. With one strike, although his fist couldn't touch Xiao Tan, the fist energy rushed upward like an invisible cannonball.

However, the fist energy hit... another illusion.

In that second, the figure in the air split into two. The illusion went upward, and the real body reversed again, attacking downward. Xiao Tan used three skills in two seconds, using a combination of clone and Shen Jue (Divine Skill), creating an extremely threatening killing opportunity.

A cold light flashed, and the military knife came out horizontally.

Qi Sha's reaction was astonishingly fast. He directly used his already raised right forearm to block, meeting the military knife that was slashing toward his neck.

Clang... sparks flew.

Then, the sound of bones breaking came...

"How... is this possible..." Qi Sha's Steel Lock Gauntlet wasn't broken, but the great force carried by the slash actually broke his forearm.

"What is this power..." Qi Sha was shocked and suspicious, and thought to himself, "His ribs must have broken several, the power of ordinary attacks can never be stronger than before... this... must be a skill! If it's a skill, there is consumption and cooldown time, this kind of heavy hit can't be continuous... Uh!"

Clang clang clang...

Xiao Tan's hands moved, and the attack started again. Two sharp blades moved in a staggered and continuous motion, dancing with layers of phantoms and layers of light. His technique at this moment was incredibly strange. Between the sharp edges, it was as if there were two assassins, one holding a military knife and the other wearing claw blades on their wrists, attacking from both sides respectively.

Qi Sha paled in horror. He couldn't care about his broken right arm, so he could only endure the pain and put both fists forward, blocking and retreating...

Between the clash of weapons, there were faint bursts of Dou Qi (battle energy) scattering.

After only ten seconds of fighting, Qi Sha was already in a dangerous situation. He was shocked: "What is this! This is no longer a fighting technique... could it be the legendary Dual Hand Ambidexterity Technique? And this sudden surge of power actually continues unabated?"

Xiao Tan, on the other hand, had a blank expression, as if he was doing something very easy and ordinary... Seeing that the other party was gradually unable to support himself, he leaned forward and took half a step forward. His left hand concentrated energy with the spinning blade, and his right hand swept away the dust with a horizontal cut, merging the moves together into a fatal strike.

At this point, Qi Sha also mustered a fierce energy. He simply gave up his defense, twisted his body, and jumped up, his spinning figure stirring up a muddy and rapid wind. His fists unleashed their moves, exhausting all his physical energy, and used the ultimate move [Bao Ying Jing Tao Po (Violent Shadow Shocking Wave)] with both hands at the same time.

Xiao Tan, on the other hand, used a rather strange movement... leaning his upper body backward, touching the rock surface with his feet, catching the shadow against the wind, and using a somersault-like motion, he simultaneously released the [Ni Ren Hui Xuan Zhan (Reverse Blade Returning Whirlwind Slash)] and [Bu Ying Zhui Hun (Terrifying Shadow Soul Chase)].

The ultimate moves collided, and suddenly the wind and clouds were startled, and the scattered invisible force was vast and booming, like a frenzied storm, leaving cracks on the surrounding rocks.

A few seconds later, the smoke and dust settled, and the sound of fighting gradually subsided... only the sound of dripping, scattering blood trembling on the rock wall.

Qi Sha was seen kneeling on one knee, covered in blood. He gritted his teeth, intending to stand up, but unexpectedly... at the moment he exerted force, multiple wounds on his body instantly burst, spewing out a sky full of blood mist. Seen from above, it was as if a blood-colored flower had bloomed on the wasteland.

The surge of intense pain rushed to Qi Sha's heart, and soon he lost his last bit of strength.

His essence, energy, and spirit had all dissipated... The victory was decided.

At this moment, Xiao Tan stood in front of the other party. When Qi Sha's blood splattered on his face, his expression didn't change at all. From the time he awakened until now, apart from the loss of Survival Value caused by internal bleeding, he had not suffered any damage from his opponent.

When he exchanged blows with Qi Sha, each of his attacks was faster, stronger, and more accurate. The remaining power of the twin blades in his hands had already severed Qi Sha's tendons and shaved his bones, while Qi Sha's attacks... were either deflected or dissipated.

"See, less than a minute." Xiao Tan put away his twin blades and said the last line of the battle.

Qi Sha also turned into white light and dissipated at the very moment his voice fell.

At this moment, every audience member who was watching the live broadcast was dumbfounded.

Only one person was still staring with dead fish eyes, muttering, "It seems... something very tricky has happened..."