Immortal Asura: Crushing the Heavenly Dao

Shocking the Arena

"Look who finally crawled out of the stinking garbage heaps to join the living," Wang Chen sneered, stepping onto the elevated stone platform with a golden sword gripped tightly in his right hand.

The entire outer sect arena was completely packed with thousands of shouting spectators. Bright colorful banners fluttered violently in the mountain breeze, and rows of disciples sat on long stone benches, laughing and pointing toward the center of the stage. In the middle of the platform stood Lin Feng, his simple gray cloth robes looking incredibly worn out and frayed compared to the bright, expensive silk clothing of his opponent.

"Is that really Lin Feng?" a loud voice called out from the very front row of the crowded audience. "The walking cripple with the shattered spiritual roots? Why on earth is he allowed to stand on the sacred combat stage today?"

"He must want to die early today," another disciple shouted back from across the rows, causing a massive wave of mocking laughter to echo through the stadium. "He is probably just here to beg for a single low grade spirit stone before he gets kicked out of our sect completely."

Lin Feng stood perfectly still on the cold rock, his arms crossed casually over his chest as he ignored the harsh, mocking voices of the massive audience. He looked directly at Wang Chen, his sharp eyes fixed completely on the boy who had used him as a literal human punching bag just a few days before.

"You talk far too much for someone who is about to face me in front of the entire inner and outer sect," Lin Feng said, his voice calm, steady, and loud enough to carry across the vast stone floor.

Wang Chen laughed out loud, his face twisting with arrogant amusement as he raised his glowing golden blade high toward the sun. "Face you? You are nothing but a walking joke, Lin Feng. You do not even have a proper weapon in your hands. Did you forget your little wooden practice stick in your broken shack, or are you hoping I will show mercy to a pathetic dog like you?"

"I do not need a weapon to handle someone of your low caliber, Wang Chen," Lin Feng replied, taking a slow, measured step forward on the smooth rock platform. "Your skills are entirely hollow. You only win your matches because your wealthy uncle buys all your cultivation pills."

"You dare insult my glorious bloodline in public?" Wang Chen hissed, his loud laughter instantly vanishing as his face flushed red with pure, unbridled rage. "I was originally going to just break your legs and toss you off this platform, but now I am going to personally slice your tongue out myself."

Up in the high VIP section of the arena, several high elders leaned far forward over the polished wooden railing, looking down at the stage with deep frowns on their wrinkled faces.

"Why is that trash boy fighting the sect master's nephew?" one elderly man asked, stroking his long gray beard in deep confusion. "This is supposed to be a serious trial for grand resource allocation, not an exhibition match for the amusement of the outer disciples."

"Let them play out their little grudge," Elder Mo whispered from the dark shadows behind the main seats, a dark, nervous sweat forming on his brow as he stared intensely down at Lin Feng. "The boy will be dealt with quickly and permanently. He will not survive the first exchange of blows."

Back on the stone platform, the head referee raised his hand high into the air, looking between the two boys with a look of slight annoyance. "The rules of the trial are simple. No lethal strikes to the head, and the match ends immediately when one person surrenders or is physically unable to continue. Begin!"

"Die, you useless cripple!" Wang Chen screamed, his entire body exploding into a bright blue spiritual aura as he lunged forward, his golden sword cutting a jagged, deadly path through the air.

The crowd erupted into loud, deafening cheers, already expecting to see Lin Feng's blood spray across the white stone. Wang Chen's movement technique was incredibly fast, a high grade skill that ordinary outer disciples could never hope to learn in their entire lifetimes. Within a small fraction of a second, the glowing blade was mere inches away from Lin Feng's completely unprotected throat.

"He is not even moving to defend himself," a disciple in the audience whispered in total disappointment. "The trash is far too scared to even attempt a dodge."

But Lin Feng was not scared at all. His new golden pathways throbbed with a heavy, ancient cosmic power that made Wang Chen's supreme movement technique look incredibly slow, like a tiny bug crawling slowly through thick, heavy mud. He could see every single flaw in the attack.

With one swift, invisible strike, Lin Feng shatters the boy's ribs, sending him flying into the elders' viewing box, coughing up blood.

The entire stadium went dead silent in a single instant. The loud cheering stopped completely as thousands of terrified eyes stared up at the high VIP section in absolute horror. Nobody could believe what they had just witnessed with their own eyes.

Wang Chen was slumped heavily over the ruined wooden railing of the elders' private box, his beautiful golden sword shattered into a hundred jagged pieces on the floorboards beside him. His expensive silk robes were completely torn open from the sheer force of the impact, and a deep, purple indentation shaped perfectly like a human fist was clearly stamped onto his bare chest. He gasped loudly for air, his chest collapsing awkwardly with every painful breath as he spit out a thick, heavy spray of dark crimson blood directly onto the high elders' polished leather boots.

"What in the world just happened on that stage?" a disciple in the very back row screamed out, his high pitched voice finally breaking the suffocating, heavy silence of the massive arena. "I did not even see that boy move his arm!"

"Did Wang Chen just lose to a single basic punch?" another voice gasped out from the middle rows, his hands shaking violently as he stood up from his stone bench. "That is completely impossible! Everyone knows Lin Feng has no spiritual energy left in his body!"

Lin Feng stood perfectly still in the exact center of the arena stage, slowly lowering his bare right hand back down to his side. The faint, beautiful gold glow beneath his skin vanished entirely before anyone in the suspicious audience could notice it. He looked up at the shocked, pale faces of the high elders, his expression completely calm and devoid of any fear.

"Who is the true trash now, Wang Chen?" Lin Feng asked, his clear voice echoing through every single corner of the stunned, silent stadium.

Wang Chen tried to speak, his lips moving soundlessly, but another heavy cough of dark blood escaped his lips. His eyes rolled back into his head as he completely lost consciousness, hanging limply over the broken wooden railing like a discarded ragdoll.

"Guards!" Elder Mo roared, standing up from his seat with a face pale with absolute panic and fury. "Arrest that boy immediately! He is clearly using forbidden demonic arts to cheat in our sacred trial!"

"I did not cheat, Elder Mo," Lin Feng shouted back, looking directly into the old man's treacherous eyes. "I simply used the strength that this sect refused to see. If you think I am a demon, why don't you come down here and test my strength yourself?"

The crowd gasped at Lin Feng's sheer boldness, murmurs spreading like wildfire through the stands. The high elders looked at each other in deep confusion, realizing that the dynamic of the entire outer sect had just shifted completely in a single second.

"Silence, boy!" the head referee yelled, though his own hand was shaking as he looked at the shattered stone where Wang Chen had been standing just moments before. "The match is officially over. The winner of this round is Lin Feng!"

Lin Feng turned his back on the elders and walked slowly off the platform, the eyes of thousands of disciples following his every single move. He could feel the power inside his golden pathways buzzing with excitement. This was just the first name on his long list of debts, and he was far from finished.