The South China Tiger was troubled, while Tong Wu stood frozen on the spot.
The crowd below the擂台 erupted into a frenzy of议论. Though no one explicitly mentioned his earlier words, that didn’t mean they’d forgotten.
How could they? It hadn’t even been that long!
Sure enough, in the next second, the crowd’s议论 shifted squarely onto him.
“Now this is going to be interesting. I don’t know who this big shot is, but the host’s career is definitely over.”
“This just goes to show—always stay humble. You never know when you’ll run into a monster like that!”
“But isn’t this guy a bit too strong? He took down a gold-tier bodyguard with just one punch? How come we’ve never heard of him before?”
Half the crowd below the擂台 stared at Li Zhonglou with shock and bewilderment, while the other half shot mocking glances at Tong Wu.
Tong Wu felt as if a sledgehammer had slammed into his skull. His head buzzed, his vision blurred, and the blood drained from his face. He swayed unsteadily before collapsing against the iron net surrounding the擂台.
“It’s over… completely over…”
As the face of the competition organizers, this loss meant the end of his career. At the very least, there was no way the event would keep a host who had kneeled and apologized to someone else.
Up on the high platform, the South China Tiger—one of the event’s organizers—watched Tong Wu’s breakdown with a cold expression.
“You have five minutes to clean up this mess!”
There were other staff members stationed below the platform, including bodyguards arranged by the organizers. Though the South China Tiger’s strength made them unnecessary for his personal safety, their presence was a matter of prestige.
As soon as he spoke, two bodyguards and a staff member quickly made their way to the擂台.
The two burly bodyguards dragged Tong Wu away. From start to finish, he remained in a daze—whether he had accepted his fate or simply couldn’t process it was unclear. In the end, he was hauled off like a dead dog.
The staff member took over his duties.
Fortunately, the organizers had prepared for contingencies. Perhaps because this was the first edition of the event and they wanted to ensure everything went smoothly, they had arranged for backup hosts.
What the organizers feared was precisely this kind of unexpected incident. As a result, the South China Tiger’s demanded five-minute cleanup took less than half that time before the event was back on track.
The new host was a young man in his twenties named Wang Fei. Whether due to lack of experience or because he’d witnessed what had just transpired, he was exceedingly polite to Li Zhonglou.
“Senior, hello. My name is Wang Fei—just call me Xiao Fei.”
Li Zhonglou nodded courteously and introduced himself.
Wang Fei differed from Tong Wu in one obvious way: he held a list in his hands, which contained the names of all the registered participants.
According to the rules, anyone stepping onto the擂台 had to be verified against the list. If a name wasn’t on it, they couldn’t participate in the擂台 battles. Tong Wu hadn’t bothered with the list earlier, partly because his professional pride had led him to memorize most of the names, and partly because it made him appear more competent.
Wang Fei clearly wasn’t as professional as Tong Wu, but his humble and respectful attitude made Li Zhonglou feel much more at ease.
“So it’s Senior Li. Will Senior Li be continuing to hold the擂台, or…?”
“I’ll keep holding it.”
Before Wang Fei could finish, Li Zhonglou gave his answer. He’d only fought two matches so far, and his plan was to complete four. Besides, the real target hadn’t even stepped up yet—why would he quit now?
With the stone’s enhancement still active, Li Zhonglou cut straight to the point: “For the next match, will you pick someone, or should I?”
“Senior, you choose.”
Wang Fei hurriedly deferred. Though he wasn’t as professional as Tong Wu, he also lacked Tong Wu’s scheming nature. In his view, as long as the competition kept running smoothly, that was a success in itself.
Seeing this, Li Zhonglou didn’t hesitate. His gaze immediately settled on Liu Qiang.
“Then let’s do it now.”
The crowd below the擂台 instantly understood Li Zhonglou’s meaning. After all, Liu Qiang had explicitly mentioned this earlier—the reason both of them were here was for this very moment.
Liu Qiang, as the person involved, naturally grasped it immediately. A cold smirk curled his lips.
“Shen Er, confident?”
“Of course.”
Yan Bao chuckled faintly and began walking toward the擂台.
His aura surged with each step he took. By the time he was halfway there, it had already reached the same level as Li Li’s earlier. The crowd erupted in惊呼.
“Another gold-tier bodyguard!”
“There are so many big shots here today.”
For most of the participants, someone of Li Li’s strength was already considered elite—surpassing 70% of those present.
But the惊呼 soon turned to stunned disbelief.
“Holy crap, wait—this guy’s aura is still rising!”
The crowd quickly realized Yan Bao’s aura wasn’t stopping. Instead, it continued to climb with every step he took!
Yet when he reached the edge of the擂台, his aura vanished without a trace in an instant.
Return to Simplicity!
“This guy isn’t ordinary!”
Up on the high platform, the South China Tiger’s eyes narrowed sharply. No matter how high someone’s aura soared, he wouldn’t have cared. But the ability to control its release and retraction at will? That was a different story entirely!
This was the foundational hallmark of true mastery.
In their circle, only those who achieved this could be considered真正的入门.
Outsiders could be easily read at a glance, but those within the门槛 could only be accurately gauged through direct confrontation.
Moreover, this level of control wasn’t something a novice could achieve. Yan Bao’s display just now clearly wasn’t the work of a beginner.
The South China Tiger’s expression turned grave. Even the blue light Li Zhonglou had emitted earlier hadn’t provoked such a reaction from him!
Beside him, Long Shi’s eyes also narrowed slightly. He, too, sensed a dangerous aura emanating from Yan Bao.
“Just who is this guy? Will Eleven be okay?”
The sudden appearance of such a formidable opponent made Long Shi—who had initially been utterly confident in Li Zhonglou—feel a flicker of unease.
Though he knew Li Zhonglou was strong—strong enough to achieve remarkable results even in the Iron Forest competition—he had never actually seen him fight. In other words, his impression of Li Zhonglou’s strength was purely conceptual, lacking any concrete benchmarks.
But this unease quickly faded when he noticed Li Zhonglou’s expression on the擂台. From start to finish, he remained utterly composed, his demeanor as calm as ever.