"He won! Senior Brother Chu won!"
"Hahaha! So what if he's a descendant of a Supreme? Didn't he still become Senior Brother Chu's defeated opponent?!"
Some Taihuang disciples waved their fists and shouted in wild excitement.
In sharp contrast, the Luo family disciples looked like frost-bitten eggplants—each one utterly dejected, heads hanging low.
"How is this possible?! He's only at the Third Heaven—how could he possess such power and defeat Brother Lingtian…"
Someone muttered in a daze.
"I don't believe it! This Chu Ge must have cheated!"
"At mere Third Heaven, how could he match Brother Lingtian? He definitely used some despicable, underhanded trick!"
Some of the Luo family disciples shouted in fierce refusal.
Their words immediately ignited public fury.
The Taihuang disciples had already been holding back their anger—now it finally erupted.
"Damn your mother! Still yapping? How dare you slander Senior Brother Chu! I've long found you disgusting—take this!"
With that, a hot-tempered disciple swung his fist and smashed it straight into the Luo disciple's face.
The blow landed solidly, collapsing the man's nose in one strike as blood sprayed everywhere.
In an instant, chaos broke out.
Seeing one of their clansmen beaten, the rest of the Luo family disciples naturally couldn't stand by and rushed in.
Unfortunately, they numbered only a dozen or so. Against the overwhelming crowd of Taihuang disciples, they were quickly beaten to the ground.
"Cough… enough! Stop this!"
At last, an elder stepped in to halt the fight.
But he was clearly too late.
The Luo family disciples were now all bruised and battered, their clothes in tatters, beaten half to death and wailing miserably.
The Taihuang disciples, shrewd as ever, dispersed the moment they'd taken advantage, vanishing back into the crowd.
In the blink of an eye, only the wailing Luo family disciples remained in that small area.
"Hmph. Fighting in such a setting—utterly disgraceful nonsense!"
The elder scolded with apparent anger.
Then that was that.
He swept the battered Luo disciples with a faintly disgusted gaze and left without another word.
The minor chaos below the stage did not affect the two people on the martial arena.
After shattering Luo Lingtian with a single strike, Chu Ge made no further move.
He had no intention of killing Luo Lingtian on the spot.
The arena was protected by restrictions, and the Luo family's old ancestor was watching.
Moreover, Luo Lingtian very likely carried life-saving measures on his body. Killing him here was not realistic.
However—
Glancing at the several system notifications that had appeared, a faint smile curved at the corner of Chu Ge's lips.
"The gains are truly abundant."
On the other side, Luo Lingtian stood frozen in a daze.
For the first time in his life, he had experienced the great terror between life and death.
He had even forgotten that this was the martial arena rather than a life-and-death platform—where protective restrictions were in place.
He had also forgotten that behind him stood the Luo family's old ancestor and two clan elders.
He had been so frightened that his nerve completely failed.
When clarity finally returned, shame surged first through his heart, followed immediately by uncontrollable fury.
To actually reveal such a wretched state before so many eyes—to disgrace himself so thoroughly—was simply unforgivable!
And all of it was thanks to Chu Ge!
He clenched his fists tightly, his heart overflowing with unwillingness.
"You lost."
The voice sounded.
At some point, Chu Ge had already arrived before Luo Lingtian, standing above him and looking down coldly at the fallen opponent.
Luo Lingtian lifted his head and met Chu Ge's frost-sharp, icy gaze.
Unwillingness, humiliation, hatred, rage, bitterness—countless emotions tangled within his heart.
His fists clenched… loosened… then clenched again.