Ye Liang glanced at the crowd, chuckled, and jumped onto the arena.
"Gentlemen," he said calmly while bowing toward Heiluyi, "since you're all just a bunch of drunkards, I'll take this honorable brother here as my opponent."
The crowd roared with curses!
"Where did this brat come from? We may not dare mess with Kumo Village, but we can still handle you just fine!" shouted several nameless thugs as they tried to climb up and beat Ye Liang.
Hmph!
You actually think you're a match for me?
The reason Ye Liang wanted to mock these people was to elevate his own image. He had already deduced that performing well would earn him high evaluations, so naturally he intended to keep showing off.
"Outrageous!"
Just as Ye Liang prepared to respond, suddenly several ninja from Kasumi Country jumped onto the platform from beside the arena.
They were people wearing pink headscarves. After glancing at Ye Liang and then looking at the troublemakers below, they drew their shuriken.
These were the guards for today's competition.
"Today is an important event for our Princess of Kasumi Country! You may act arrogantly on regular days, but if anyone dares to cause trouble today, we'll take your heads as a warning for the occasion!"
Instantly, the entire crowd fell silent.
Ye Liang furrowed his brow. All the cool lines he'd planned had to be swallowed down.
At this moment, Heiluyi, who had landed on the platform earlier, bowed toward Ye Liang.
"Brother, I didn't expect that in the end it would come down to just the two of us. It seems today only we have the courage."
"Right. I originally planned to be humble. Who knew I had to wait so long without anyone daring to step onto the stage! If I had known all these participating ninjas were cowards, I wouldn't have been humble at all!"
Ye Liang replied casually, making an excuse for being the second one to step forward.
His eyebrows twitched slightly, but he now held Heiluyi in higher regard.
This guy must've figured out the competition rules beforehand, yet deliberately kept silent, and now was increasing his evaluation by belittling opponents.
He's a sly one!
"Brother Heiluyi, please proceed," Ye Liang made a courteous gesture.
Heiluyi frowned and twisted his arm slightly, confirming Ye Liang's suspicion.
At this point, the female referee, who had been waiting aside, shouted loudly: "Since both of you are ready, let's begin!"
As soon as her words ended, Heiluyi rushed forward first!
His pace was fast, almost synchronizing with the end of her sentence.
"Tries to sneak attack and get the first move! Dream on!" Ye Liang was momentarily startled, then immediately countered with [Fuma Shuriken]!
This was one of his weaker techniques.
As the Fuma Shuriken flew out, it split into three images. They launched attacks from top, middle, and bottom—one aimed at Heiluyi's legs, one targeted his body, and the last one went straight for his head.
These three shuriken weren't only extremely fast; their tremendous force completely eliminated any chance of blocking!
"Wow! Starting with a deadly move right away! I really underestimated you just now!" Heiluyi muttered inwardly while quickly jumping backward.
All upper, middle, and lower positions were blocked by the shuriken. Retreating was currently his only option.
Using the momentum from his jump backward, Heiluyi swiftly threw several kunai!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kunai clashed with shuriken, slightly slowing the incoming momentum, but Heiluyi had already drawn his signature Lightning Sword and charged forward.
"Bang!"
The middle shuriken exploded on impact with Heiluyi's Lightning Sword. He twisted sideways and squeezed through the gap, narrowly avoiding both the upper and lower shuriken.
Even so, Heiluyi was nearly knocked off the arena by that single shuriken!
He lay sprawled face-down at the very edge of the platform.
"Goodness! Right from the start he used such a deadly move; this fair-skinned young man is indeed ruthless!"
"That's right! This arrogant young man clearly doesn't care about his opponent's safety at all. Despicable!"
"Yeah, I just hope someone strong will stop him soon enough!"
The audience members began voicing complaints about Ye Liang. It's acceptable to fight hard during a martial arts contest, but attacking with lethal intent from the beginning violates martial ethics—especially since today's event is for marital competition, not a life-or-death battle.
Ye Liang's expression darkened instantly.
Deadly move?
Ruthless?
This is it...?
He truly hadn't expected that a basic Fuma Shuriken would be labeled as an ultimate deathblow by these Kasumi Country ninja!
How weak could they possibly be!
Ye Liang rubbed his forehead.
Because he feared revealing his identity, he deliberately used his weakest skill—Shuriken Art. Never expected things to blow out like this…
In front of him, Heiluyi struggled back to his feet.
He touched his abdomen gingerly—his internal organs had shifted position, even sustaining some damage.
"You old sneaky bastard! How dare you even call me 'brother'?! Pfft!"
Spitting angrily, he stomped off the arena.
At his current physical condition, continuing the fight was simply impossible—he'd need at least ten days or half a month's recovery.
What the hell…
Ye Liang couldn't help but sigh helplessly.
Soon after, many contestants rushed onto the stage.
Except injured Heiluyi!
With a gloomy face, he left the arena vicinity.
Entering a concealed alleyway, he silently turned inside where someone in Red-Cloak (Red Cloud Robe) awaited him.
"How did it go?"
Heiluyi's expression immediately soured. Trembling slightly, he dropped to one knee, not daring to lift his head.
"Lady Heavenly Angel, the plan almost succeeded when suddenly this pale-faced vendor showed up. His ninjutsu is terrible, but he excels at ambushing! That's how I ended up being…"
"Pale-faced vendor?" The Red-Cloak figure spoke again, her face hidden beneath the hood, completely unrecognizable.
"Exactly! That guy calls himself Ye Liang and has an extremely venomous character!"
Red-Cloak muttered something softly, slightly raising her gaze momentarily, though nothing changed visibly.
After a while—
"So he's Ye Liang… Understood."
Without further words, she proceeded toward the distance.
"As long as you forgive my failure this time, I promise to assist you in seizing control of the entire Kasumi Country!" Heiluyi shouted behind her desperately.
Only after the Red-Cloak vanished completely did he dare stand up nervously.
Touching his back,
His hands came away soaked with cold sweat.
"Fucking hell! Once I really take over Kasumi Country, watch me stomp every last one of you into the dirt too! Fucking morons!"
His face darkened with malice, glaring angrily at the Red-Cloak.
Then he left the alley.
After a while.
Ye Liang's side.
None of the challengers could last a round against Ye Liang. Even while trying his hardest to hold back, Ye Liang still caused casualties!
Several elderly men past fifty who still harbored youthful passions.
Ye Liang did everything he could to hold back, but still ended up killing someone.
Sighing, he said, "Is my reputation as a villain officially ruined for good?"
He felt utterly disheartened.
Originally, he had guessed that to win the Princess's favor, he needed to perform well in the arena. Yet despite being so careful and cautious, all he gained was the title of [Shuriken Murderer]!
This lousy title!
Marrying the princess?
It's probably a lost cause.
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