Chapter 83: The Hunter Becomes the Prey

　　To the people from the three major families, the only ones they had to be wary of on the hunting grounds were the two Spirit Martial Stage warriors. As for other people, they could just kill anyone they encountered, unless they had special identities.

　　The less potential enemies around, the better!

　　Many of the spectators stared at the images being broadcasted on the screens with furrowed brows.

　　The friends and relatives of the young warriors who had perished were hurling torrents of abuse through gritted teeth. However, there was nothing they could do. There were no rules forbidding killing in the tournament, and even if they wanted to take vengeance, the major families would stop them from doing so.

　　The only relatively quiet prominent power was the An family.

　　They had very few participants in the tournament; less than half the number of the Duan family’s, and all of them were hiding in the mountains. They played it very safe by engaging in guerrilla warfare, slowly accumulating badges by ambushing stray warriors.

　　Meanwhile, some of the county army soldiers had also grouped together, and were opposing the juggernauts formed by the three major families.

　　Many of the participants were comrades who could trust each other with their lives in battle. However, all of that friendship and camaraderie had become farts in the wind.

　　There were only ten spots, and everyone else was either a helper or an enemy!

　　…

　　There weren’t many lone wolves like Qi Ying. He actually didn’t want to recruit a group of people to help him collect badges, but he was only related to the Celestial River Academy disciples, and unfortunately, most of them would rather kill him than help him!

　　As such, he couldn’t rely on anyone other than himself!

　　Qi Ying advanced like a stealthy prowling beast on the grasslands. He only attacked lone warriors or groups of two, and he was usually able to take care of business in a short time.

　　Peerless Staff Strike!

　　Bam!

　　He swept his staff through the air, sending his opponent flying into the distance. He was facing an Eighth Energy Martial Stage warrior from the county army, and he rushed over to him before grabbing his collar, pressing the blade of his Ink Scale Dagger against his neck. “Hand over the badges!”

　　“I… I don’t have any! All of my badges were taken by the Wang family!”

　　“…”

　　Qi Ying quickly searched him to find that he was telling the truth.

　　“Why didn’t you f*cking say so earlier? Do you like getting bashed by me?”

　　Qi Ying was furious.

　　“I, I wanted to take your badges…” The man replied with an indignant expression.

　　“…”

　　Qi Ying left him behind to search for other prey.

　　An hour had already passed!

　　He only had five badges.

　　Most of the people he encountered had already had their badges taken away from them.

　　The three major families were like badge-harvesting steamrollers, and the rate at which they collected badges was simply astounding.

　　Qi Ying turned his attention to that small mountain in the distance, which was only about one thousand to two thousand feet tall.

　　There were very few warriors left on the grasslands.

　　Most of them had traveled to that small mountain.

　　The warriors who had secured badges chose to hide there, while those who wanted more badges went there to search for warriors who had badges.

　　Whoosh!

　　Qi Ying wasn’t interested in scouring the grasslands any longer, and he immediately set off for that small mountain.

　　Compared to the gargantuan Nameless Mountain that spanned a radius of several dozens of kilometers, and was tens of thousands of feet tall, that small mountain was downright tiny. However, there was certainly no lack of beasts prowling there, and Qi Ying was immediately attacked by a few of them as soon as he arrived.

　　“Piss off!”

　　Bam! Bam!

　　He lashed out with his Dragon Tiger Demon-Slaying Staff and sent all of the beasts flying.

　　Qi Ying went to one potential hiding spot after another, searching for warriors that he could take badges from. At the same time, he was on high alert in anticipation of surprise attacks.

　　Whoosh!

　　The sound of something whistling through the air flashed past Qi Ying.

　　Crack!

　　A flying knife pinned itself to a tree.

　　Immediately afterward, more of those flying knives began to appear.

　　Qi Ying raised his Dragon Tiger Demon-Slaying Staff and spun it like a windmill, swatting aside all of the knives that were hurtling toward him.

　　At that moment.

　　Whoosh!

　　A net suddenly fell from the sky and ensnared Qi Ying!

　　Dark Falcon Illusionary Claw!

　　Qi Ying knew that he had walked into an ambush, and he immediately unleashed his battle technique. Purple claw projections flashed through the air, but were unable to slice through the net, thereby indicating that it was a Yellow Tier Intermediate-Rank treasured tool!

　　Bam!

　　A puff of dust suddenly erupted.

　　“Haha!”

　　A burst of laughter rang out.

　　Immediately afterward, a man wielding a steel spear emerged from the dust and debris.

　　Qi Ying focused his gaze to find that his assailant had hidden himself underground, and had set up the trap in anticipation for warriors passing by!

　　He appeared to be a county army soldier.

　　They sure were resourceful.

　　“Hand over your badges!”

　　The soldier turned his attention to Qi Ying’s wrist and threatened, “Otherwise, my spear will not show you mercy!”

　　“Heh.”

　　Qi Ying narrowed his eyes and immediately stowed his Dragon Tiger Demon-Slaying Staff away. He then pulled out his Blood Drop Zhan Lu Sword from his spatial ring.

　　True Energy was instantly injected into the sword!

　　Slash!

　　Qi Ying could sense that a large amount of True Energy had been drawn from his body, but it was not in vain. The sword suddenly became extremely sharp-even without blood essence being dripped onto it—and he was able to slice through the Yellow Intermediate-Rank net. He then raised his sword, and lashed out at the spear-wielding soldier.

　　Clang!

　　Crack!

　　The soldier’s expression cooled as he raised his spear in retaliation.

　　The silver spear and the red sword clashed, sending sparks flying through the air.

　　The two of them quickly exchanged several strikes.

　　Qi Ying could sense that he was going to be a difficult opponent. He was very well-trained, and extremely well-versed in the way of the spear. Furthermore, his reactions were extremely fast, and he far stronger than the Tiger Heavenly Monarch, Liu Meng, that he had defeated. If he had to draw a comparison, he then estimated that the soldier was comparable in power to Lu Zuo.

　　It was exactly due to that observation, that led Qi Ying to believe that his opponent had to have many badges!

　　It was a good opportunity for him, so he decided to fight!

　　After a few experimental exchanges, Qi Ying took advantage of a brief lull in the battle to stow away his Blood Drop Zhan Lu Sword, in exchange for his Dragon Tiger Demon-Slaying Staff. Following a few more exchanges, he had gained a slight upper hand over his opponent.

　　Flowing Shadow Strike!

　　Qi Ying’s body instantly split into five black shadows.

　　The five shadows were constantly changing formations in a very disorienting manner, before attacking the soldier from different directions.

　　However, his opponent tightened his grip on his spear, and swept his spear horizontally, lashing out at all five shadows at once!

　　Thump!

　　Four of the shadows were instantly destroyed before the spear clashed with the Dragon Tiger Demon-Slaying Staff again.

　　Thump! Thump! Thump!

　　The soldier went on the offensive, thrusting out with his spear relentlessly toward Qi Ying’s vital regions, placing him in a very perilous situation.

　　He was trying to finish Qi Ying off as quickly as possible, as allowing the battle to drag on for too long could attract attention from others.

　　All of a sudden.

　　Bam!

　　The soldier’s spear was suddenly caught by something and refused to budge.

　　His eyes widened in shock.

　　Qi Ying had caught his spear with his bare hand!

　　Bam!

　　After locking the spear in a vice-like grip, Qi Ying swung his Dragon Tiger Demon-Slaying Staff viciously into his opponent’s shoulder. The fearsome staff strike shattered his barrier of True Energy, and forced him to lose grip of his spear.