Shi Yu couldn't land a direct hit on Xu Sanshi, but the reverse was also true—Xu Sanshi couldn't touch him either. In a battle of endurance, Xu Sanshi was bound to lose.
Xu Sanshi was going wild, attacking without restraint, relentlessly launching one assault after another. If he had even the slightest chance of knocking Shi Yu down with brute force, he wouldn't hesitate for a second.
Unfortunately, no matter how recklessly he burned through his strength, he still couldn't hit Shi Yu.
Gradually, signs of fatigue began to emerge. Even the explosive bursts of his Black Tortoise power were ineffective against Shi Yu.
The core problem was simple—Shi Yu was floating several hundred meters in the air. Xu Sanshi was a soul master whose main combat style was close-range. He couldn't fly. That left him completely helpless.
"Still not enough?" Beibei muttered with a frown. Shi Yu was proving far more difficult than he expected.
Meanwhile, Elder Xuan, Yan Shaozhe, and the others watching from the sidelines found their opinion of Shi Yu improving.
The power Shi Yu was demonstrating stunned them. It was hard to believe a young man in his early twenties, a mere Great Soul Master, could fight on such even ground with a true Soul Master.
Xu Sanshi's attacks continued to lose power. His body wobbled with exhaustion and rage. The backlash of unleashing his Black Tortoise power drained him quickly, and it amplified the effects of the poison from the Eight Spider Lances.
Under both pressures, his head spun, and his movements faltered.
Suddenly, his assault stopped altogether.
He dropped to one knee, unable to hold himself up any longer. His surging energy faded into nothingness.
"Sanshi!" Beibei called out, clearly alarmed.
Shi Yu began to descend slowly, staying alert. He didn't rule out the possibility that Xu Sanshi was faking weakness.
Only after waiting one or two minutes did he finally land, confirming that Xu Sanshi had genuinely lost the strength to continue.
Shi Yu approached slowly, cautiously.
Xu Sanshi looked drained and pale. As Shi Yu neared him, he lifted his head with difficulty and muttered weakly:
"I won't admit defeat."
Stubborn to the end. The pride in his heart wouldn't let him bow to someone he loathed.
"Admit it or not, that's your choice," Shi Yu said calmly. "When we made this challenge, we agreed—one of us has to admit he's a coward before the fight ends.""If you're not going to say it, then keep going. But you better have the guts to hold out until the bitter end.""In that case, I'll respect you—as a man."
Xu Sanshi, still kneeling, lifted his eyes to Shi Yu. He gripped his shield and tried to attack again.
But his condition was too poor. The shield felt heavy and useless in his hands, lacking even the strength to pose a threat.
Shi Yu calmly kicked the shield aside, sending the weakened Xu Sanshi tumbling to the ground. The shield clattered as it hit the dirt.
"Cough… cough…" Xu Sanshi coughed violently. His eyes were bloodshot with humiliation and rage. No one had ever treated him like this before.
Shi Yu walked over and kicked him square in the stomach.
"What right do you have to insult me over and over again?" he demanded, before kicking him again in fury.
Xu Sanshi had repeatedly threatened him, warned Jiang Nannan, and shown open hostility. Shi Yu had tolerated it long enough.
He wasn't someone to just take abuse quietly. He had long been angry.
If Jiang Nannan had truly been Xu Sanshi's girlfriend, Shi Yu could have understood the jealousy, the hostility, even the warnings. He would have kept his distance.
But Jiang Nannan didn't even like Xu Sanshi that much.
So what right did he have to interfere?
What position gave him the authority to issue threats?
It was all just his one-sided delusion—he thought he was close to Jiang Nannan, so he believed he could accuse Shi Yu as if it were justified.
In truth, Shi Yu's relationship with Jiang Nannan was closer than Xu Sanshi's ever was.
Shi Yu kicked him again.
Xu Sanshi's body curled inward from the blow, his stomach cramping in pain. His already flushed face turned even redder, veins bulging from his temples.
"Because I'm Nannan's boyfriend…" Xu Sanshi muttered through clenched teeth, struggling to speak.
"He's not my boyfriend!"Jiang Nannan, watching from the sidelines, immediately shouted to clarify, afraid of being misunderstood.
"She said it herself. Do you think I'd believe your claim now?" Shi Yu scoffed. Then he kicked Xu Sanshi again.
"If all you felt was jealousy, I wouldn't hate you this much.But when I was obtaining my spirit ring, you deliberately tried to destroy it."
"Do you have any idea how serious that was? How much it could've ruined me?Of course I'm angry. You're lucky I didn't kill you back then."
Shi Yu's next few kicks were even harder.
Xu Sanshi, a powerful defensive-type soul master, was kicked brutally to the ground.
But his pain was more than just physical. It was psychological. Emotional.
He was being publicly humiliated in front of so many people—his peers, classmates, fellow inner court members.
The shame was unbearable.
Among the onlookers, some were sympathetic, some were furious… but others were silently gleeful at the spectacle.
Xuan Lao, Yan Shaozhe, and the others still didn't intervene.
They had anticipated this outcome from the start.
They had known this battle was going to be dirty, brutal, and humiliating. It had been agreed beforehand: one of them would fall, and the victor could humiliate the loser however he pleased.
As long as things didn't go too far, they would simply turn a blind eye.
Xu Sanshi didn't argue back. He just seethed in silent hatred.
He had failed—failed to ruin Shi Yu's spirit ring.
And now Shi Yu was venting all of his frustration.
Kick after kick.
No mercy.
"That's enough!" Beibei suddenly yelled, no longer able to stand it. His spiritual power flared in response to his emotions, sparks of lightning flickering across his body.
Others who were close to Xu Sanshi joined in, calling out to Shi Yu to stop.
Shi Yu paused and looked back at Beibei, who seemed ready to explode.
"Instead of yelling at me, why don't you talk to your good brother Xu Sanshi?" Shi Yu said coldly."The moment he says one word, this fight ends."
He turned back to Xu Sanshi, who was already battered and bleeding.
"But if he stays silent, I won't stop. Even if I beat him to death, I won't be responsible."
"You want someone to blame? Blame him—for starting this fight, for losing, and for refusing to admit defeat."
"Don't try to shame me with your morals.You're not qualified. None of you are."
And with that, Shi Yu turned back—
—and kicked Xu Sanshi again.
Stopping wasn't his responsibility. It was Xu Sanshi's.