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However, he didn\'t have the luxury of time to think more about it, as the start of the tournament was imminent with the referee taking to the stage.

The first round, Dingbei Army versus Pingxi Army; the second round, Zhendong Army versus Annan Army.

The reason for this arrangement was, of course, because the higher-ups were more interested in Liu Longtao\'s performance. With the Dingbei Army playing on their home ground, they naturally wanted to use this advantage to leave a deep impression on the VIPs from the first round.

Liu Longtao and Zhou Hongyu stepped onto the stage and exchanged bows. Yan Yu was watching from below. The arena was a platform slightly raised above the ground, flat and open, without any simulation of a real combat environment—probably designed this way to facilitate the VIPs\' viewing.

"Does Zhou Hongyu stand a chance to win?" Chen Lingyun asked from the side.

"Of course, there\'s a chance," Yan Yu said leisurely, "it just depends on whether Liu Longtao will give her one."

"Oh?" Chen Lingyun\'s interest was piqued.

"Overall, Liu Longtao is stronger than Zhou Hongyu," Yan Yu calmly replied, "If they were to fight ten rounds, Liu Longtao would definitely win more than he loses."

"But Zhou Hongyu is aware of this, and her only chance of victory lies in launching a desperate and strong attack, forcing Liu Longtao to defend with all his might and then unleashing her trump card, catching him off guard and blowing him away."

"Trump card?" Chen Lingyun\'s eyes lit up.

"You\'ll know when you see it," Yan Yu declined to elaborate further.

"...If she really has a trump card, she might not use it at this moment," Chen Lingyun pondered, "because it\'s still not a guaranteed win against Liu Longtao, right?"

"Facing an opponent who is stronger in all respects, who would dare to claim a sure win?" Yan Yu replied.

"That settles it," Chen Lingyun said with a beaming smile, "You\'re familiar with the story of Tian Ji\'s horse racing, aren\'t you?"

Yan Yu paused for a moment upon hearing this, then immediately understood her implication.

The most powerful moment for a trump card is naturally when nobody knows about it.

Once it\'s known, everyone will be on guard, and its subsequent effect won\'t be as good.

Considering that Zhou Hongyu, in the first round, faced off with Liu Longtao, who was touted as the strongest, even if she played her trump card, it wouldn\'t guarantee a win—thus, it would be a waste of a great opportunity.

So the safest plan was, of course, to temporarily give up this most difficult matchup and save the surprise of the trump card for her opponents in the next two rounds, for a better chance at victory.

Chen Lingyun\'s reference to Tian Ji\'s horse racing was a hint that the Pingxi Army might be planning for her to conserve her strength in the first round and lose to Liu Longtao, "use the good chariots to match the opponent\'s better ones, lose first then win later."

"You\'re wrong," Yan Yu suddenly said.

"Where am I wrong?" Chen Lingyun asked with a smile.

"Even if the Pingxi Army has a Sun Bin, it still depends on whether Zhou Hongyu is willing to play that Tian Ji," Yan Yu said indifferently.

Chen Lingyun was stunned for a moment, then looked back at the competition in the arena.

Liu Longtao was nimbly moving around using the Cloud Ascension Technique, continuously attacking with the Metal-Element Impact Curse to pressure his opponent, clearly intending to kite his way to victory and avoid letting Zhou Hongyu get close.

Zhou Hongyu, hailing from a martial arts school, was most skilled at close combat, so she went all-in with her Barrier Charm to block the attacks while charging at Liu Longtao to close the distance between them.

Chen Lingyun watched intently, thinking that Liu Longtao seemed to have the upper hand in this situation. His Cloud Ascension Technique and Impact Curse were alternated in use, fighting while on the move; Zhou Hongyu constantly kept up her Barrier Charm to avoid being restrained by the attacks, which no doubt put more strain on her True Yuan consumption compared to Liu Longtao.

Unless Zhou Hongyu could seize a chance to get close, she would only end up being worn down by her opponent, but would Liu Longtao give her that chance?

"Liu Longtao is in trouble," Yan Yu suddenly commented, focused on the match.

"Oh?" Chen Lingyun immediately showed interest.

On the stage, Zhou Hongyu suddenly cut off her Barrier Charm and activated her Shifting Technique, drastically increasing her speed, and rushed towards Liu Longtao like a shooting star.

The speed of the Cloud Ascension Technique was no match for the Shifting Technique, and to continue avoiding close contact, Liu Longtao had to activate and maintain his own Shifting Technique.

With the two chasing and fleeing, considering the remaining True Yuan of both sides, in the end, Zhou Hongyu would undoubtedly be worn to death. However, such a match would definitely lack any form of spectator appeal.

Would the Dingbei Army allow Liu Longtao to win by making the dignitaries in the box watch minutes of a "hawk chasing a chick"? Of course not.

Clearly impossible.

Chen Lingyun quickly realized the tactic within this scenario and saw that Liu Longtao indeed didn\'t dodge or avoid but boldly activated the Wood Bending Charm, his right arm\'s muscles swelling rapidly.

The Wood Bending Charm grants immense strength, tearing tigers and leopards apart easily. Because in the five elements "wood overcomes earth," even the impenetrable Earth-Element Sturdiness Curse would break if hit by the Bending Charm, also blocking True Yuan in the meridians. Hence, the best way to respond isn\'t to defend, but to counterattack.

Zhou Hongyu swiftly closed in, her Shifting Technique rapidly halted, and she too activated the Wood Bending Charm, ready to exchange blows with her fists and feet.

In a moment of swift motion, Liu Longtao threw a punch, and Zhou Hongyu dodged to the side, grabbing his wrist in return. Liu Longtao twisted his wrist trying to break free, but his heart suddenly leapt in shock.

Not because he couldn\'t break free, but because he had broken free too easily — the other side didn\'t actually have the Bending Charm activated at that moment, having only initiated it to mislead him and then discreetly stopped it.

So what curse technique was she using now?

In any case, continuing to fight at close range clearly wasn\'t a good idea. Liu Longtao tried to pull away swiftly, but would Zhou Hongyu let him do as he wished?

She lifted her arm for a Great Stele-Felling Hand, smashing it towards Liu Longtao\'s chest.

Liu Longtao didn\'t dodge; the Bending Charm activated again, his right fist shooting out like a cannonball, hitting Zhou Hongyu\'s lower abdomen.

If not for the True Yuan restraint bracelets, the punch, fully powered by the Bending Charm, could blow Zhou Hongyu\'s spleen apart, killing her instantly.

Even so, she instantly hunched over like a shrimp, vomiting a large mouthful of stomach fluid, her face contorting with severe pain.

As for her Great Stele-Felling Hand, it had already lost most of its force, only barely managing to latch onto his clothes.

Almost simultaneously, a sudden surge of flames engulfed both of them, who were fighting at close quarters.

The referee immediately blew the whistle to stop the match, and the cultivators from the Pingxi and Dingbei Armies rushed onto the stage, casting the Water-Element Runescript to extinguish the flames.

The medical team followed closely, quickly assessing the condition of the two injured.

Liu Longtao was hit directly by the Flame Curse, with the flames bursting from under his feet. Thanks to the True Yuan restraint bracelet, he suffered only varying degrees of burns across different body parts.

If this were a real combat situation, he would have been burned to a severe degree.

Zhou Hongyu was in a worse state, having taken a heavy blow to her abdomen and then affected by the Flame Curse. She couldn\'t stand up at all but was still gripping Liu Longtao\'s chest cloth tightly. It took the army\'s cultivators a while to pry her fingers open.

Anyone unaware of the circumstances might think these two harbored some deep hatred! One must say that this girl\'s ferocity was to an extreme.

"This is really interesting," Chen Lingyun said, clapping her hands with satisfaction, chuckling merrily, "Clearly at a disadvantage in every aspect, yet relying on a burst of courage and risk to one\'s life to take down the opponent. A girl with such a brutal personality would die quickly on the battlefield, wouldn\'t she?

But it\'s fine, at least she gave Lord Master a serious burn, and I bet he won\'t be able to sleep tonight~."

The outcome, of course, was clear: Zhou Hongyu had secretly cast the Flame Curse and then, in order not to let Liu Longtao escape the range of the curse, took the risk of grabbing his clothes with the Great Stele-Felling Hand, bravely taking a punch from him to keep him in place.

In a real combat situation, Zhou Hongyu would likely die from internal organ rupture, but Liu Longtao would also be burned to death by the Flame Curse, resulting in a mutual downfall. Therefore, this battle should be considered a draw.

A few minutes later, as expected, the referee panel announced the first round as a draw.

The Dingbei Army contested this, claiming that Zhou Hongyu was hit in the abdomen first and would have inevitably lost the ability to move if it were a real fight, possibly preventing her from continuing to hold Liu Longtao — he might have had the chance to escape the range of the Flame Curse.

After reviewing, the referee panel rejected the objection and maintained the original decision.

"What do you think?" Chen Lingyun asked again.

"He wouldn\'t have escaped," Yan Yu replied, "The True Yuan restraint bracelet simultaneously suppresses the temperature and range of the Flame Curse."

"That means, in real combat, her Flame Curse would cover a larger area than it did here," Chen Lingyun nodded in agreement, then smiled sweetly, "If I were in the arena, I wouldn\'t be so foolish. I would definitely activate Shifting Technique and fight Xiao Zhou in a guerrilla battle."

"Of course, because you have no shame," Yan Yu said with a sidelong glance.

"Only the victor has the right to dignity," Chen Lingyun argued unfazed, her smile bright, "Don\'t lose carelessly in the next round against Li Zhaojiang, my face-saving little brother~"

"I can\'t think of any possibility that I\'ll lose," Yan Yu said calmly, standing up, ready to enter the arena.