novelraw Chapter 343: Coexisting with It for the Time Being
Chapter 343: Coexisting with It for the Time Being
Su Zhan's attack had only just begun.
His right knee slammed viciously into Shi Lie's abdomen.
"Thump!"
Shi Lie's massive frame was bent double by the blow, his eyes bulging wildly.
The scaled left fist smashed into his cheek.
The sound of shattering cheekbone was crisp and clear.
The scaled tail lashed out savagely at the back of Shi Lie's knee.
"Crack!"
The leg bone snapped in response.
Shi Lie could no longer stand, crashing heavily to his knees."Bang! Bang! Crack! Squelch—!"
A dense barrage of impact sounds and the noise of shattering bones echoed through the deathly silent martial arena.
At first, Shi Lie could still barely block with his arms.
But soon, both his arms were brutally smashed apart.
He was like a dismantled doll, under the storm of relentless attacks.
Blood soaked through his tattered clothing.
The entire process was cruel, savage.
Su Zhan was declaring to everyone in the most direct, most bloody way possible.
To be his enemy meant that even begging for mercy or admitting defeat became an impossible luxury.
Finally.
Shi Lie collapsed in a pool of blood, even his twitching having ceased.
Only then did Su Zhan halt his assault.
He stood amidst the blood, his black-scaled body dotted with flecks of crimson.
His golden vertical pupils swept coldly over the faces in the Giant Sun Gang's direction below the stage, faces twisted with fury.
Then he slowly turned.
Amidst an absolute, profound silence, he walked down from the platform.
The referee announced in a grave voice, "Chen Qing, wins!"
Su Zhan returned to the corner of the contestant preparation area, slowly closing his eyes, his exterior regaining its calm.
But only he himself knew that the cruel torture and slaughter just now wasn't merely to fulfill his promise to Long Shouzhuo, or to intimidate his enemies.
It was a kind of... release.
A release of a madness that had been pent up for far too long.
Deep within his consciousness, it was as if two versions of himself were conversing.
A rational voice said: You lost control. With your strength, you could have ended it with a single, clean, lethal strike. Yet you chose the most attention-grabbing, most hate-inducing method.
But another voice roared with satisfaction: Not enough! How could a single lethal strike be enough? That's letting them off too easily! All these people blocking the way, hunting me, forcing me... everyone wants me dead, everyone wants to push me back into that hell! Why should I send them off cleanly and neatly?
Those images uncontrollably surfaced in his mind:
The struggle for survival in the Mist World, over a year without seeing the light of day, constantly walking the razor's edge of death, accompanied only by endless loneliness.
After escaping that hell, being hunted like a rat in the streets by the Aberrant Purge Division, forced to disguise himself as a disheveled, filthy beggar.
Scrounging for food in garbage piles, hiding in sewers, living like a maggot in the gutter, relying on feigning madness and idiocy to barely survive, fleeing south in panic.
Watching his former companion right before his eyes, yet having to suppress the urge to recognize them, parting with feigned indifference, personally snuffing out that warmth that had finally been rekindled.
Stepping alone into this lawless capital, a place of safety yet also a vast prison.
These memories tightened around him, tighter and tighter, almost suffocating him.
He needed an outlet, a way to completely vent all these negative emotions.
Shi Lie, unfortunately, became that outlet.
His identity as a member of the Giant Sun Gang, his stance as an enemy...
It all fit perfectly.
So, he didn't choose a single, fatal strike.
He chose the cruelest method.
He wanted to watch his opponent struggle in despair.
He wanted the feedback from smashing bones, tearing flesh.
He wanted the scent of blood to fill his senses.
To make a savage declaration to this world that constantly oppressed him: "I'm back. I crawled back from hell."
This pathological release brought a sense of pleasure.
But after the pleasure, what remained was an even deeper emptiness.
Su Zhan knew there might really be something wrong with his psyche.
He slowly opened his eyes, the savagery deep within them gradually settling.
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the churning emotions.
Problems might exist, but now wasn't the time to dwell on them.
The darkness within... if it helped achieve his goals.
Then, temporarily coexisting with it might not be entirely unacceptable.
"You little bastard! Give me your life!!"
A roar like thunderclap exploded.
It made many people's eardrums ache.
Giant Sun Gang leader Hong Zhen abruptly stood up.
His physique was already mountainously burly, and now, in his towering rage, the vast spiritual energy of the late Abyss Realm erupted without restraint, the air around him distorting from the intense heat.
His eyes were blood-red, fixed dead on Su Zhan.
His beloved subordinate Shi Lie had been publicly tortured and slaughtered in such a cruel manner. This was not only a huge loss but also trampling the face of the Giant Sun Gang into the dirt, grinding it underfoot.
Hong Zhen had rampaged through Black City for years;
when had he ever suffered such a monstrous humiliation?
Blinded by fury, he no longer cared about any Grand Competition rules.
There was only one thought in his mind... to tear that brat called Chen Qing into ten thousand pieces to vent the hatred in his heart!
His right foot stamped down violently, the refined iron seat beneath him instantly turning to powder. His entire body shot down from the spectator stands, pouncing toward Su Zhan in the contestant area.
How terrifying was the power of a furious strike from a late Abyss Realm expert?
Just the aura leaking from it made a section of the audience near the Giant Sun Gang's seats feel their breath stifled, their faces paling.
The entire arena erupted in uproar!
No one had expected.
That Hong Zhen would so disregard his status, break the Grand Competition rules, and attempt to kill a junior contestant.
Su Zhan had sensed it the moment Hong Zhen's aura erupted. He whirled around, all the scales on his body instinctively standing on end, the Flame of Destruction swirling madly within him, entering a state of highest alert.
Facing a furious strike from a late Abyss Realm expert, he had absolute confidence he could block it.
After all, he had fought Qin Bai before. Though he had been beaten to a pulp back then, at the very least he had a clear understanding of the strength at that level.
Fighting? Definitely couldn't win;
the gap in realm was too large.
But blocking a single attack? Absolutely no problem at all.
A gray shadow appeared without warning on the path of Hong Zhen's charge.
It was that referee.
Calmly raising his right hand, pressing it gently forward.
Hong Zhen's violent fist force let out a muffled, thunderous boom.
"BOOM—!"
A ring-shaped shockwave exploded outward, blowing people nearby off their feet.
Hong Zhen's entire body was forcibly halted in mid-air, his face filled with disbelief.
He felt as if his concentrated, full-power strike had sunk into a sea of mud, easily dissipated by that seemingly ordinary palm.
Even the counter-force was controlled with pinpoint precision, not harming the surroundings in the slightest.
"Gang Leader Hong."
The referee's voice was flat. "Grand Competition rules. On the platform, life and death are fated, success or failure lies with heaven. No one may interfere with the match, much less attack a contestant. You have overstepped."
Hong Zhen's face flushed then paled, veins bulging on his forehead as he roared angrily, "He tortured and slaughtered my gang's elite, with such cruel methods! Didn't you see it?!"
"I saw it."
The referee's tone remained unchanged. "The rules only prohibit continued attacks after surrender. They do not restrict combat methods. Shi Lie never surrendered;
the fight was not over. What Chen Qing did did not violate the rules."