Chapter 152: Bai Zhan’s Collapse
After Long Ziyan nodded, she stepped onto the arena.
Seeing this unfamiliar face, Bai Zhan was taken aback. Who was she? Another face he had never seen before.
At this moment, he no longer thought that unknown figures were weak. He had already sensed that something was amiss.
"Something's off! Why are all the geniuses from the Long Clan that are appearing unfamiliar? This isn't normal. Look at the geniuses standing behind Long Yuanshan; half of them are people we don't recognize," said the elder of the Bai Clan gravely.
Upon hearing this, Bai Zhan also looked towards the geniuses behind Long Yuanshan. When he saw that half of them were unfamiliar faces, his heart skipped a beat. He had a vague guess of what was going on.
Just at that moment, the City Lord shouted "Begin!" and in the next instant, Long Ziyan charged at her opponent at lightning speed. A flash of sword light appeared in her hand, and the sword in Bai Jian's hand was instantly cut in half. His entire body was sent flying off the stage, landing heavily on the ground below.
Looking at his abdomen, a patch of blood had already started seeping through, as if something had been gouged out. Bai Jian clutched his wound, writhing on the ground in agony, screaming in pain.
The upper ranks of the Bai Clan stood up once more, their faces extremely grim. Another genius had been destroyed, and this one was even defeated in an instant. A genius ranked third in the Bai Clan had no power to resist in front of this woman. They were utterly shocked.
"Who! Who are these people? Where did they come from?"
"Damn it! Long Yuanshan dares to play dirty with me!" Bai Zhan roared in fury, crushing the teacup in his hand and slamming the table hard, nearly driven mad with anger.He could no longer sit still. He stood up swiftly, his eyes practically blazing with fire.
If he couldn't figure out that the Long Clan had brought in external aid, then he would truly be a fool. These geniuses, who had appeared from nowhere, were definitely not from the Western Earth Long Clan.
He was about to explode with anger. He never expected the Long Clan would resort to such despicable tactics. It was utterly shameless.
Bai Jian was the third-ranked genius of the Bai Clan, and now he had been crippled. The pain, the overwhelming pain, pierced his heart. Two peerless geniuses lost in quick succession—it was as if his heart was bleeding.
"Damn it! The Long Clan has no martial ethics, bringing in external geniuses to deal with us. It's truly despicable! I'll go seek justice from the City Lord right now," the clan elder said with a darkened face as he prepared to march towards the City Lord.
Bai Zhan's face was gloomy as he replied, "It's useless. The names of those strangers are in the City Lord's hands. Do you really think he can't see that those geniuses aren’t from the Long Clan?"
"Just like us, the Long Clan dares to pull this off because they aren't afraid of us complaining. They must have some explanation to brush it off."
"And even if the City Lord knows the truth, as long as the Long Clan has a plausible explanation, he'll turn a blind eye."
"Because this will deplete the strength of both our clans, why wouldn’t he want that?"
Hearing this, the elder felt a sudden urge to cough up blood.
The Bai Clan had relied on the City Lord's psychology to use forbidden methods during the tournament. However, they had never expected that the Bai Clan would end up suffering for the same reason.
"Damn it! If it weren't for Bai Changfeng stirring things up, we wouldn't be in this mess. Now we're in big trouble! He's the sinner of our clan. The Bai Clan has been completely ruined by him!"
The elder collapsed into his chair, looking suddenly much older.
In contrast to the despair on the Bai Clan's side, the Long Clan was filled with joyous laughter.
"Well done! That strike was just beautiful, absolutely beautiful!" Long Qian clapped wildly, his laughter piercing the ears of the Bai Clan’s Gu cultivators, who glared at him furiously.
At that moment, the City Lord's voice rang out again: "The third match, victory to the Long Clan!"
"Now, the fourth match will begin. Long Dan versus Bai Youran. Both geniuses, please enter the arena quickly."
As soon as the words were spoken, Long Dan eagerly jumped onto the stage, casting a provocative glance in the direction of the Bai Clan. His expression was full of confidence, clearly showing he was more than ready for this match.
The geniuses from the Western Earth Long Clan had cleanly and decisively won the last two battles, drawing much attention, which had ignited his competitive spirit. He intended to deliver an impressive victory himself, determined not to fall short of the Long Clan's reputation.
Hearing the names of the two contestants, Bai Zhan's heart tightened. He clenched his fists, and his face darkened.
Bai Youran was the Bai Clan's top genius, a talent not seen in a hundred years, and the chosen successor for the position of Clan Head. He was also the last genius who hadn't consumed the Berserk Pill.
The City Lord had called out three geniuses who hadn’t taken the Berserk Pill in a row. Could you still say it wasn't intentional?
The first two had been destroyed by him, and now Bai Youran was facing Long Dan, the toughest opponent possible. Random assignment, they called it? Nonsense! He wasn’t going to stop until every genius of the Bai Clan was destroyed.
Bai Zhan's breathing grew heavier, his expression twisted with fury.
"Patriarch! I have no certainty of winning against him."
Bai Youran did not immediately step onto the stage. Standing next to Bai Zhan, he hesitated, his expression full of doubt.
He had to admit, he was genuinely afraid at this moment. Judging by the current situation, it seemed that no matter who went up to the arena from either clan, one would end up crippled.
He had enough self-awareness to know that his chances of victory against that monster, who possessed an innate Spirit Gu, were exceedingly slim. Who wouldn't be afraid when faced with a life-or-death decision?
Bai Youran's fear of battle was understandable—it was only human.
Bai Zhan let out a heavy sigh and said helplessly, "You are the last genius of this generation in the family. If you are crippled, our clan's line of geniuses will be completely cut off, and the consequences would be unimaginable."
"Our clan must preserve at least one seed from this generation. You don't need to go up."
"This is my fault. I was too impulsive and didn't think things through. As the patriarch, I can't escape responsibility for the consequences."
At that moment, Bai Zhan appeared much older. The Bai Clan had suffered too great a loss this time. The difference between this generation of geniuses and having none at all was now almost nonexistent.
And despite such a huge sacrifice, they hadn’t achieved the expected return. Looking at the situation now, the Long Clan had played dirty, inviting a group of absurdly powerful external geniuses. Even with their own geniuses using berserk pills, there was no hope of claiming all the mines. As it stood, the sacrifices of the Bai Clan's geniuses were meaningless.
"We concede this match!"
Bai Zhan, ultimately lacking the courage to continue this round, chose to surrender to prevent the complete extinction of this generation of geniuses.
His surrender left Long Dan frustrated. The fighting spirit he had just built up dissipated instantly. After cursing "Coward!" in anger, he walked off the stage reluctantly.
The other clan leaders showed expressions of regret. They were so close—if Long Dan had crippled this last genius, the Bai Clan’s entire generation of geniuses would have been wiped out. What a pity.
At last, Bai Zhan breathed a sigh of relief, feeling as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. His expression suddenly darkened, and he turned to the remaining Bai Clan geniuses, speaking viciously, "In the next matches, fight with everything you’ve got! Even if you drag them down with you, cripple all of the Long Clan's geniuses!"
At this point, all three geniuses who hadn’t taken berserk pills had finished their fights. The remaining contestants were all those who had consumed berserk pills and had already been crippled.
Bai Zhan had no reservations left. Losing any of their already crippled geniuses in exchange for one of the Long Clan's geniuses would be a win. From now on, he had only one goal: kill! His eyes were filled with unbridled killing intent.
The City Lord, seeing that Bai Zhan dared not bet the last genius of his clan, briefly showed a flash of disappointment, then announced solemnly, "For the fourth match, the Bai Clan concedes. Victory to the Long Clan."
"The fifth match: Bai Xue versus Long Bao."
With those words, Bai Xue and Long Bao walked toward the stage.
Below, the Long Clan's team cheered for Long Bao, making him feel the pressure.
As soon as the City Lord shouted "Begin," Bai Xue charged at Long Bao with crazed eyes. From her posture, it was clear she intended to fight to the death.
When a person decides to risk their life, their combat strength increases by a third. Long Bao was now in trouble.
After exchanging a few blows, Long Bao realized he wasn't a match for this berserk-pill-empowered woman. He quickly dropped to the ground and rolled off the stage with ease.
This was no joke—he had been brought in as external support. Why would he risk his life for this fight? As soon as he realized the situation was bad, he chose to surrender without hesitation, not giving his opponent a chance to strike hard. He was very slippery.
Bai Xue glared at him viciously but reluctantly walked off the stage. Her opponent had fled too quickly, not giving her a chance to do anything, leaving her feeling extremely frustrated.
Even though she had won the match, there was no trace of joy on her face. The Gu cultivators of the Bai Clan were all equally sullen, with no joy in their victory. Bai Zhan's expression was as if he had swallowed a fly, thoroughly uncomfortable.
The following matches had mixed results. However, it was clear that Long Yuanshan wasn't a reckless person. If his own genius had the advantage, it was all well and good.
But if his genius was no match for a Bai Clan genius, he would immediately raise his hand and concede, not giving the Bai Clan any opportunity to strike hard.
Surrendering was something only he could personally declare, as he feared that his geniuses might be too prideful to admit defeat and would endure until they were beaten to death, leading to a tragedy like what happened with Long Yun. Thus, as the clan leader, he had no choice but to pull them out forcefully.
As for the geniuses from the Far West Long Clan, he didn’t need to worry about them. They all valued their lives highly and cared more about their survival than anyone else.
Following Long Bao, Long Yan also surrendered eagerly after just one exchange with his opponent, jumping off the stage faster than a rabbit.
As for Long Qilin, he was far stronger than both Long Bao and Long Yan in the same realm. Even when faced with a Bai Clan genius on berserk pills, he managed to hold his own.
In the end, he used the Ascending Dragon Gu, suddenly elevating his cultivation from the late stage of the Marrow Cleansing realm to the peak stage, catching his opponent off guard. With this advantage, Long Qilin easily overpowered his opponent and calmly walked off the stage.
The Bai Clan’s Gu cultivators were frustrated to the point of vomiting blood. They had crippled a large number of their own geniuses, but the Long Clan had lost only one. The unfairness gnawed at their hearts.
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