"I cannot," said Chu Yunshan indifferently.
"Since you cannot, then why, Sect Master, did you watch Pan Teng break the rules with indifference?" Zhao Letian questioned.
The crowd gasped in unison, remarking internally that Zhao Letian was indeed daring to the extreme, audaciously questioning the Sect Master in an accusatory tone.
"Not stopping Pan Teng in time was my mistake. As the leader of the Galaxy Sect, I apologize to you," Chu Yunshan said earnestly.
The crowd was shocked once more; they never expected that someone of the Sect Master's high status would actually apologize to Zhao Letian, a mere second level true martial artist, which was exceedingly rare.
"I dare not accept," Zhao Letian stammered, surprised that the Sect Master did not make any excuse and simply apologized to him directly. It truly took courage, no wonder he was able to become the leader of a sect.
"As compensation, you may make a request, and I will do my best to fulfill it," Chu Yunshan said.
Everyone showed looks of envy; making a request to the Sect Master was a chance many would not even dare dream of.
"I have no requests; I only wish to continue the fight from just now," Zhao Letian shook his head.
The people below the stage sighed and commiserated, secretly thinking that Zhao Letian was really foolish to waste such a good opportunity.
"Granted. I assure you, no one will interfere with your next fight. Whoever dares to disrupt the order of the grand competition again will be killed without mercy!" Chu Yunshan declared in a stern voice.
Pan Teng was suddenly alarmed, his face turning pale; he knew that the Sect Master's words were directed at him and were meant to establish his authority. If Pan Teng did not know his place, the Sect Master would indeed kill him.
Zhao Letian also felt a surge in his heart, secretly thinking that the Sect Master was indeed formidable. If he hadn't brought up the earlier incident, the Sect Master would have pretended not to see it and given Pan Teng enough face. But since he did bring it up, the Sect Master naturally couldn't ignore it, thus he admitted his mistake forthrightly, displaying magnanimity. Then, with a stern warning to Pan Teng, he reinforced his prestige, handling the situation flawlessly and terrifyingly well.
"Master, you can go back first. I will deal with the rest on my own," Zhao Letian said to Sword Obsession.
"Alright, disciple, you go ahead and fight without reserve. If there's any trouble, your master will take care of it," Sword Obsession said with a smile, then transformed into a sword light and returned to the Golden Warship.
"Weiwei, you all can go back too. I am fine now," Zhao Letian then said to Liu Wei and the Five Tigers of Galaxy Sect.
"Okay," Liu Wei and the Five Tigers nodded, then piloted their spiritual artifacts back into the sky.
"Lin Yun, get up here and fight again!"
Zhao Letian looked at Lin Yun, whose face was ashen, and coldly commanded. This man had attempted to kill him back on Treasure Island; he would not let him off easily. Visit My Virtual Library Empire (*) for more.
"Uncle!" Lin Yun knew he was no match for Zhao Letian and dared not take the stage lightly, with a bitter look, he turned his gaze to Pan Teng aloft.
"You deal with the trouble you caused yourself," Pan Teng said expressionlessly. With the Sect Master having spoken, he naturally dared not intervene further, but this matter was far from over. To dare to take his daughter hostage and to cause him to be warned by the Sect Master, Zhao Letian had already incited his killing intent. Given the chance, he would certainly not spare him.
"I..." Lin Yun looked at Zhao Letian on the Life and Death Platform holding a longsword, waiting to execute him, and a struggling expression appeared on his face.
After a painful struggle in his thoughts, Lin Yun suddenly transformed into a flash of sword light, quickly escaping towards the outskirts of Huangquan Island.
Although such an action made it impossible for him to gain a foothold within the sect in the future, continuing to fight on the stage meant certain death for him. When compared, he preferred to flee from the Galaxy Sect.
Upon seeing this, the crowd began to jeer. After this battle, Lin Yun had completely lost face, and even if the sect did not expel him, he would not be able to hold his head high in front of others. Of course, whether he had a future at all depended on Zhao Letian's decision.
"Escape? Do you think you can escape?" Zhao Letian said indifferently, ready to use the Carefree Wander Body Technique to pursue him.
"Zhao Letian! One should show mercy when possible; leaving some leeway for others means we can meet again without hard feelings. There's no need to drive someone to a dead-end over a trivial matter," said Pan Teng from above, who, although he didn't dare to interfere, couldn't help but speak out.
Zhao Letian coldly glanced at Pan Teng, completely disregarding him, and turned into a streak of sword light, quickly catching up to Lin Yun.
Then, with a flash of the sword light, Lin Yun let out a tragic scream, as Zhao Letian pierced his throat with a sword. His Spiritual Artifact and storage ring were casually picked up by Zhao Letian, and his corpse was tossed into the lake to feed the fish.
Seeing Lin Yun killed, Pan Qingqing couldn't help but show a look of horror in her eyes. She hadn't expected Zhao Letian's strength to be so formidable, such that even the powerful Lin Yun had been slain. If she took his place, wouldn't she have even less chance to resist?
"It's nothing. My father is a strong practitioner of the Sect Martial Realm and has become one of the sect's Guardian Elders. Be it in terms of cultivation strength or stature, he is far beyond Zhao Letian, who wouldn't dare to kill me!" Pan Qingqing consoled herself.
At the same time, Liu Fei quietly glanced at Shentu Yu, feeling a trace of worry. At the beginning of the competition, she was sure that Shentu Yu could defeat Zhao Letian, but now, she was no longer so confident.
"Hmph! Lin Yun, this waste, fleeing in the face of battle, has completely lost his honor as a martial artist and isn't worth living. It's good that he died by Zhao Letian's hand. Most importantly, he should have revealed all of Zhao Letian's hidden abilities. Although Zhao Letian's strength is unexpectedly strong, if that is all he has, he is still no match for me," Shentu Yu snorted coldly.
He was not worried; in fact, he was relieved because he believed that Zhao Letian had already given his all in the fight with Lin Yun. Otherwise, Zhao Letian would not have used the powerful body technique that he had originally reserved for him only after getting into a mutually debilitating fight with Lin Yun. And if that was the entirety of Zhao Letian's strength, then he was still confident of defeating Zhao Letian.
"This is becoming more interesting. I thought this battle would be boring, but now it seems, Zhao Letian, you might actually deserve my seriousness," Yan Peng for the first time regarded Zhao Letian as an opponent worthy of battle, not just someone for him to torment.
After the battle, Zhao Letian found a spot on Huangquan Island, took a few elixirs to restore his True Yuan, and began to meditate and regulate his breath. The Sword Obsession's elixirs, although they had healed his injuries, still left him with a great depletion of energy in the fight with Lin Yun, which he needed to quickly replenish.
Lin Yun's death did not cause much of a disturbance, and the competition continued.
After Zhao Letian, it was Shentu Yu's turn, but he gave up his chance to challenge. The top three in the rankings were beyond his reach, and he did not aspire for a higher ranking. He just needed to wait for a decisive battle to the death with Zhao Letian.