The mighty eagles circled and swooped low above the heads of the Gu clan’s five unremarkable disciples, their piercing cries mournful, their talons razor-sharp, their assault ferociously relentless.
The entire arena fell into dead silence, hardly anyone daring to make a sound, terrified that even the slightest noise might draw the eagles’ attention and bring disaster down upon themselves.
The Yu clan’s eagle formation, combining the strength of five men and five eagles together, could well exceed the power of the Yu clan’s young master acting alone!
The eagle formation was renowned for its speed, precision, and ruthlessness. Each eagle, controlled by one of the five illegitimate Yu sons, circled above their enemies, watching for the perfect opening — and once they struck, all five would move as one, guaranteed to leave their target bloodied and broken!
This was only the very first match, and already the Yu clan had unleashed the eagle formation — clear proof that they were absolutely determined to win this round.
But if they’d revealed the eagle formation right from the start, what would they have left to use against Jun Beiyue later on?
Unless the Yu clan head was completely certain of victory in this second round — confident enough to ensure Jun Beiyue never even got the chance to fight — then sending Yu Xiao out against Jun Beiyue would spell his ruin.
As the eagles swooped lower and lower, everyone’s breathing grew tighter and tighter with tension. Slaughter could strike in an instant; victory or defeat could be decided in the blink of an eye!
Even on the other side of the platform, where the Bai and Hai clans were locked in a fierce, life-or-death struggle, no one was paying any attention at all.
The Yu clan head’s weathered old face was full of smug satisfaction, his brow arched, chin raised high, coldly looking down at the Gu clan’s five disciples on the platform, glancing occasionally toward Jun Beiyue and Ziqing. Every time his eyes fell on the two of them, he couldn’t help but smile, seemingly just as eager as everyone else in the crowd to watch the Gu clan’s humiliation unfold.
Over on the Gu clan’s side, the Gu clan head and his subordinates all looked visibly anxious, their nerves stretched taut — while Jun Beiyue and Ziqing, that expressionless couple, gave nothing away, leaving everyone to simply assume they must be nervous too.
Suddenly!
“Screech—” A single cry from the lead eagle, and all five hawks froze mid-air at once — before diving down in perfect unison!
The force, the speed, the sheer momentum of it left the breath of the thousand-odd spectators caught in their throats!
Every eye followed the eagles’ plunge downward, no one willing to miss a single moment of it!
This was the moment — the first step in the collapse of a century-old clan, the first step in Liuxian Island changing hands.
The five Gu disciples stood utterly motionless as the eagles drew closer, closer still, their razor-sharp beaks and merciless talons now plainly visible to all.
In the next instant, they would be caught — just a hair’s breadth away now.
They were about to be seized!
Watch! They’re about to—
“Screech!”
Suddenly, a piercing cry split the sky — and though the eagles’ talons had all but touched the heads of the five disciples, something unexplainable happened: all five eagles suddenly let out a single shrill, unified cry, and dropped straight out of the air, hitting the ground with five simultaneous thuds!
This… how could…
No one had anticipated anything like this. Everyone had braced themselves for the coming carnage, the shocking, brutal violence — but instead, nothing happened at all. All five mighty eagles had simply dropped dead on the spot!
For a long moment, no one could quite process what had just happened.
The Yu clan head went completely blank, frozen in place, his mouth hanging wide open, unable to speak a word, unable even to close it.
The corner of Jun Beiyue’s lips curled into a cold smile, still perfectly composed as he watched. Ziqing sipped her tea with unhurried ease, gently blowing on it to cool it down.
At that moment, the entire vast arena fell utterly silent, as though the whole world had gone mute — so quiet that even the ongoing melee between the Bai and Hai clans on the other side of the platform faltered and came to a stop.
Every eye in the arena was now fixed on the five disciples and their five fallen eagles.
Only then did Jun Beiyue finally speak, saying flatly, “Remember to bring the spoils back with you when you win.”
At these words, all five disciples answered as one, “Yes, young master!”
With that, each of them grabbed hold of a dead eagle, bowed respectfully to their still-stunned opponents in a gesture of courtesy, then bowed to the two Elders of Qinse as well, exceedingly well-mannered, before turning to leave the platform.
“Stop right there!” the Yu clan head suddenly bellowed, finally snapping out of his daze.
The five disciples paid him no mind whatsoever, calmly continuing on their way. The Yu clan head immediately vaulted forward, blocking their path. “Anyone who dares take one more step, don’t blame this old man for showing no mercy!”
The Gu clan head gave a cold smile — moments earlier he’d been terrified, but now he’d finally pieced together what had happened.
He never would have imagined Jun Beiyue would resort to such a method — a bit of a gamble, admittedly, but there was no denying it: Beiyue really was brilliant!
Not a single person in the entire arena, he suspected, could have predicted this!
“What’s the matter — can’t accept losing?” the Gu clan head taunted, finally carrying himself with something resembling the dignity of the head of the foremost clan.
The Yu clan head exploded with rage, whipping around and roaring furiously, “You cheated! You must have cheated! Despicable, shameless — how dare you poison my Yu clan’s mighty eagles! I’ll make you pay for this!”
“Slap!” The Gu clan head slammed his palm down and rose to his feet, his eyes turning venomous. “And if we didn’t?”
“Didn’t? Impossible! How could five wet-behind-the-ears brats possibly defeat my Yu clan’s five mighty eagles!” the Yu clan head snapped coldly, though he seemed to harbor some wariness toward Jun Beiyue, retreating several steps back toward the two Elders of Qinse. “Both elders, please investigate! Not one of those five Gu disciples made a single move — how could they possibly have killed my eagles? And besides, there’s not a mark of injury on them — how did they simply drop dead? There must be something suspicious going on here!”
To everyone’s surprise, the two Elders of Qinse’s reaction was entirely unexpected. Elder Se shot the Yu clan head a cold glance, completely ignoring him, and turned instead toward the Bai and Hai clans, saying coldly, “Why have you two stopped? Is someone conceding defeat?”
Only then did the Hai and Bai disciples snap back to attention and resume their match.
Elder Qin, meanwhile, stroked his long beard, regarding the Yu clan head with clear displeasure, and said coldly, “Yu clan head, as head of your own clan and an elder among us, you above all people should understand the rules of this tournament better than the younger generation. Disrupting the order of the match, spouting wild accusations, slandering your opponent — do you understand the penalty for this?”
Elder Qin had made himself perfectly clear, and yet the Yu clan head still failed to grasp it, his entire mind fixed on his five dead eagles. “Elder Qin, the Gu clan clearly cheated — everyone here saw it with their own eyes! I beg you to investigate, I beg you to give the Yu clan justice!”
“Cheated? Which eye of yours saw the Gu clan cheat!” the Gu clan head snapped furiously.
Elder Qin, now genuinely angry, slammed his palm down and rose to his feet. “Yu clan — the Gu clan did not cheat. It is simply that your own eyesight failed you. This old man clearly saw those five young men employ the Gu clan’s internal-energy Wind Blade technique — and if this old man’s eyes did not deceive him, that was an extraordinarily advanced form of the Wind Blade, one that strikes without any visible trace and kills without drawing a single drop of blood! The Gu clan, it seems, has been hiding its true depths all along!”
At these words, not only was the Yu clan shocked — the entire surrounding crowd erupted into astonished murmurs!
How could this be possible? Everyone had indeed heard tales of the Gu clan’s supreme internal-energy Wind Blade technique — one particular variant was said to possess exactly this effect: striking without any visible trace, so subtle that even the motion of unleashing it couldn’t be detected by ordinary eyesight; and killing without drawing blood, meaning the technique left only a wound, with no bleeding at all — a lethal force that inflicted no visible injury, something that could only be controlled by someone with truly profound internal energy!
And these five people standing before them — how could they possibly…