"Amaterasu Genetics..."

Ye Lingchen's brows wrinkled slightly and his first thought was that of Amaterasu Genetics, whom he had fought with before. They could alter human genes and combine animal genes with human ones.

"Isn't this cheating?" Lin Xi asked.

"Not entirely," Su Hongtao shook his head. "Although this method is horrifying, this can be considered a part of their strength."

"The Sun Nation are really a bunch of crazies," Jing Shan said sullenly.

"The strength that Aso showed at the last moment was scary!" Zheng Dali said solemnly.

"It's probably the gene of the Dark Cat," Tie Jun made a conjecture.

"Dark Cat?"

"It's a kind of creature from the Void Realm."

"The Sun Nation wins!"

With the referee's verdict, the rounds for that day had come to an end.

All of the matches played that day were dramatic.

The drama was reflected in the counterattack!

England vs Tintu, Sun Nation vs Hellas—the countries which ranked among the last during the previous year had actually defeated the countries that were higher up in the ranking!

Such was the ruthlessness!

Despite the matches coming to an end, there was no end to the International Martial Arts Tournament, the amazing genius, and the final words spoken by Hellas's peak-level King about martial artists.

Warriors braved and fought, but for what and for whom?

Ye Lingchen and the others were spectators of that day's matches.

They all gathered together once everything ended.

Sun Hongtao came over and said, "We'll fight the Stick Nation tomorrow, and if we win, we'll enter the top four. Our opponents will be England and the Sun Nation, and you've already seen their strength today.

"If we lose, we say goodbye to the top four and our opponents will be Hellas and Tintu.

"You've seen the brutality in the arena. Everyone is seriously injured and many are unable to even participate in the next match.

"Give it your all for tomorrow's round, but even though a warrior never shirks from a fight, he also shouldn't go crazy and fight to the death. It'd be better to suffer less injuries because there are still matches in the future!"

If everyone was crippled by their opponent, they could just bid farewell to the matches and their ranking would drop as of immediately.

In such a case, adapting to circumstances was also an important basis for determining the outcome of the battle.

Ye Lingchen asked faintly, "Why don't we fight the Stick Nation's team tomorrow and crush them directly?"

Sun Hongtao's breathing stopped for a bit and he nearly cursed out loud.

Ye Lingchen's question was ignored and Sun Hongtao continued, "Don't underestimate the Stick Nation in tomorrow's match. Today's lesson makes that abundantly clear. Hellas and Tintu's defeat is a lesson for us, but are they weak? Of course not!

"Never assume that you can underestimate those who ranked behind last year, or else you'll be made to suffer greatly!"

Everyone nodded silently.

"The Stick Nation isn't weak. Jae-Sik Kim's judo can be both firm and soft, and his spiritual strength is as thin as a silk thread. It is infinitely variable, invincible, and extremely lethal! Not to mention he was just testing things out last time. He definitely has more tricks up his sleeve."

Zheng Dali fought against Jae-Sik Kim before and made an objective observation.

"He definitely has some hidden tricks," Ye Lingchen said faintly. "Those silken threads can be clumped together and gathered into a ball. Its penetrative power is a force to be reckoned with!"

Ye Lingchen may be speaking in an insolent manner, but the truth was that he did not dare to be careless. As much as he despised the opponent, he most definitely had to look up to his opponent in terms of tactics!

He had not forgotten that Sung-Yoon Lee's move cracked Old Tortoise's shell despite being thousands of meters across the sea.

"The Stick Nation..."

That night, Ye Lingchen did not practice but instead lay on the bed to rest, as did the others. They closed their eyes and nurtured themselves even though they could not sleep.

Ye Lingchen continued to hold his spear even when sleeping, for the most basic aspect of weaponry was unity of man and weapon!

...

The next day.

The International Martial Arts Tournament arena.

Contestants from all countries were starting to get restless.

"The battle between China and the Stick Nation is coming soon!"

"Speaking of these two, there's too much enmity between them!"

"This will be an exciting match!"

The hostility between Sung-Yoon Lee and Ye Lingchen was raging and there was no way to defuse it. The signs of an impending fight to the death had been present since the early stages of the tournament.

"I believe many people will look forward to the next battle as much as I do. "

Wu Tianbao laughed and continued, "The outcome of this battle won't be easy to judge. China came third last year and over the years, it has never fallen out of the top four. They're generally recognized as strong individuals, but the Stick Nation is just as amply prepared this time around. The inner disciples of those three King Stage martial artists have taken great pains to nurture the two other mid-level Innate warriors, which just goes to show that they're fully prepared for this battle!

"We have no way to evaluate their strength, so let's have a look at their order of appearance!

"Stick Nation: Ji-Hyung Lee, Woo-Shik Choi, Eul-Yong Han, Jae-Sik Kim, Ji-Chang Joo.

"What an... interesting lineup!"

Wu Tianbao smiled and said, "Woo-Shik Choi, Jae-Sik Kim, and Ji-Chang Joo are the inner disciples of the three King Stage martial artists, while the two mid-level Innate contestants will be going up in the first and third match, respectively. Placing them before an inner disciple signifies one thing: exhaust their opponents first, then kill with one blow!

"The Stick Nation seems to be very confident of those three inner disciples' strengths. This tactical arrangement is very interesting too."

Ye Lingchen and the others frowned slightly. The lineup of Stick Nation was a little different from what they expected and the arrangement was rather tricky.

"Let's look at China's lineup next.

"Zheng Dali, Jing Shan, Ye Lingchen, Lin Xi, and Chen Xiaoxiao.

"Hahaha, looks like the Chinese team is also very confident. What are they trying to imply by putting the two girls last?"

"That they don't need to come forward, of course," Ye Lingchen replied, much to the surprise of everyone else.

Wu Tianbao was monetarily stunned and said, "If it's three against five, the pressure will be far greater on China. Is this self-confidence, or is China prepared to retain its strength as much as possible?"

Everyone in the audience heard that conversation and looked over slightly.

Ye Lingchen's expression remained unchanged and he stood majestically on the spot. Zheng Dali and the others could barely hold it and their complexion was reddish, as if a little shy.

"Don't be shy. Just smile and wave, guys. Smile and wave," Ye Lingchen urged.

"We're not f*cking shy. We're pissed!"

Even the five peak-level King Stage martial artists gazed over.

"Zhou Jian, are all your Chinese kids that crazy?" a man from Murica sneered.

"They're not crazy. I think this is self-confidence!" Zhou Jian smiled slightly.

"Ignorant and narrow-minded. What ludicrous self-confidence!"

"Hahaha, interesting boy," the one from England remarked with a smile.

...

"The contestants from both sides are invited to the arena!"

Following the referee's order, Zheng Dali took a deep breath and walked towards the ring with a big saber in his hand.

"Be careful, Dali."

Zheng Dali nodded and exhaled. "Don't worry. I won't bring shame on China, or everyone for that matter! "

"Be careful! Your own safety comes first!" Ye Lingchen reminded him. In a battle where life and death were the deciding factor, Zheng Dali's penchant for fighting like a madman was incredibly worrying.

"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."

Zheng Dali left them with that sentence and stepped toward the arena...