Chapter 315: Chapter 270: Shameless
"Cough, cough, cough—"
Bian Chenpei clutched his throat, coughing violently for a while. The moment the Crescent Moon Scimitar had struck his neck, he truly thought he was going to die.
Bian Chenpei wasn’t unfamiliar with death. As the son of a Judgement Deputy Envoy, he had witnessed the Judgement Court’s methods against those who defied Haotian on the Demon Path from a young age. He had even once strangled a fallen demon practitioner with Telekinesis through the bars of a dungeon.
But when death truly descended upon him, his mind went blank. His noble lineage, extraordinary talent, ambitions, aspirations, and desires—all seemed so pale and powerless.
Bian Chenpei’s peripheral vision caught sight of his trousers. The relief on his face from narrowly escaping death twisted into resentment and anger. So close... Damn the Blue Turkic, damn that savage murderous intent.
The Arena Restriction rendered Bian Chenpei unable to see or hear the outside world, leaving only one thought in the few rational corners of his mind.
This woman first joined forces with Li Ang to humiliate me and then disgraced me in the arena...
He stood upright, raising his right hand. The iron ball inlaid with golden patterns silently flew back, hovering above his palm, rapidly spinning.
Every piece of Starfall Secret Treasure from Taihao Mountain had its unique name.
This one, Starfall·Iron Heart, could utilize Telekinesis to its utmost limits, indestructible and unstoppable—like now.
Ashina Galuo, somewhat laboriously, stood up using her Crescent Moon Scimitar. The kite-shaped shield in her hand had a large crack, its heavy metal bent and twisted inward. Her shield-hand trembled, the webbing between her thumb and forefinger torn and seeping blood.
Before she had time to surrender or counterattack, the Mind Tool named Iron Heart sped toward her. Ashina Galuo hastily raised her shield to block and positioned the blade of her scimitar in front of the shield’s break, unleashing her Martial Artist’s Qi Blood to disrupt the opponent’s Telekinesis.
However, Iron Heart eerily changed its trajectory mid-air, easily bypassing the shield and scimitar without being affected by the Qi Blood, and directly struck her in the abdomen.
In a flash, Ashina Galuo held her breath and tensed her lower abdomen as muscle memory instinctively kicked in.
BANG!
Iron Heart struck its target. Ashina Galuo felt herself sent flying, the world spinning before her eyes.
"Again!"
Bian Chenpei grinned fiercely, disregarding the burning pain in his Qi Sea caused by forcibly manipulating Iron Heart.
His arm swept down like a blade, remotely controlling Iron Heart to plummet and continue smashing towards Ashina Galuo.
"We surrender!"
Galuo’s elder brother, Ashina Que Teqin, rushed to the edge of the arena, shouting loudly.
As Galuo’s designated guardian before the match, his words carried weight.
The Arena Restriction’s red light flared up, forcefully pushing the competitors apart. The Academic Palace Doctor managing the arena also walked down from the spectator stands with a grim expression. He waved his hand, remotely flinging the Iron Heart Mind Tool away, smashing it at Bian Chenpei’s feet.
Members of the Turkic Mission, including Ashina Que Teqin, hurriedly rushed onto the arena to check on Ashina Galuo.
The Turkic disciples from the Academic Palace, including Ashide Tumen, also left the spectator stands, gathering around her.
"HMPH."
Bian Chenpei snorted coldly, picking up the Iron Heart Mind Tool from the ground and reattaching it to the belt around his waist.
"Chenpei!"
Yu Feiyu, Shangguan Yangyao, and a few other senior disciples from Taihao Mountain stepped forward, their faces looking rather unpleasant.
"You’ve crossed the line this time!"
Yu Feiyu was in no mood to speak politely and directly questioned, "Was the Iron Heart Mind Tool given to you by your father? Why didn’t you report it to the mission? Did it ever receive approval from the Judicial Cardinal? Starfall is a sacred artifact of Taihao Mountain, how could you use it in an arena fight?!"
"My affairs at the Judgement Court don’t need Brother Yu’s approval, do they? Or has the Torch Language Institute’s reach extended into the Judgement Court now?"
The opponent’s attitude was unfriendly, and since Bian Chenpei saw no need to save face, he replied directly, "If Brother Yu thinks there is a problem, feel free to contact the Judgement Court of Taihao Mountain and ask if it complies with the rules."
"You!"
Yu Feiyu’s eye twitched. Bian Chenpei’s confident demeanor rather left him unable to say anything harsher.
The Judgement Court, unlike the other three institutes, maintained a strict internal order, full of numerous rules.
The Judicial Cardinal was getting on in years and had mostly stopped overseeing the institute’s affairs. In a few years, he might return to Haotian’s embrace.
According to some rumors, Bian Chenpei’s father was now in charge inside the Judgement Court, and it was most likely that he would succeed as the next Cardinal.
As the future Cardinal’s only son, Bian Chenpei certainly had the privilege to exploit some of the more flexible rules.
"Contestant Bian."
A few Academic Palace Doctors managing the Martial Arts Arena arrived together and said sternly, "Just now in the arena, Contestant Ashina had clearly lost the ability to counterattack. Why didn’t you allow her time to concede? Instead, why use a Starfall Secret Treasure as an external force to oppress the weak? If word of this gets out, aren’t you worried it will bring shame upon Taihao Mountain?"
The indignation of the Academic Palace was understandable. They never expected Taihao Mountain to entrust one of their highest-level sacred artifacts to a disciple who hadn’t yet reached the Cloud Patrol Realm. Hence, they hadn’t upgraded the Arena Restriction.
Bian Chenpei had also concealed it, not reporting it, and had encased the Iron Heart with an outer layer of iron to disguise it as an ordinary Telekinesis Control Device.
"Doctor, you are mistaken."
Facing the confrontation from the Academic Palace, however reluctant Yu Feiyu felt, he had to respond as the leader of the Taihao Mission. "Chen Pei was just facing a life-and-death battle for the first time, became mentally shaken, and in his panic, repeatedly attacked Ashina Galuo. As for the Starfall sacred artifact, the Arena Restriction failed to detect it beforehand. This should be seen as a deficiency of the Martial Arts Arena itself, not a problem on the part of our Taihao Mountain."
"Very well. If that’s the case, Contestant Bian, go ahead and celebrate your victory in this arena match. I hope you can make it to the end."
The Academic Palace Doctors left with a sweep of their sleeves. Yu Feiyu watched their angry backs and exchanged a glance with Shangguan Yangyao, sighing inwardly.
After all, this was the Academic Palace’s territory. Having seriously offended them, the upcoming competitions would likely not be easy for the Taihao Mountain contestants.
They would have to face challenges as they came, taking it one step at a time.
"She looks like she’s been seriously injured."
In the spectator stands, Yang Yu put down his telescope, stating uncertainly, "Didn’t the Arena Restriction protect her?"
"If it hadn’t worked, she’d be severed in half by now."
Li Ang furrowed his brows. "Starfall, as a Haotian Holy Object, is not well understood by the Academic Palace. The Arena Restriction can only provide most of the protection; a small amount of force still penetrated it to affect Ashina Galuo."
Li Wei snorted coldly. "Letting a Rain Listening Realm disciple use a Candle Cloud Realm-level weapon—Taihao Mountain really has some nerve."
"Let’s go."
Li Ang shook his head. Today’s competition had ended.