I am the Clone of a Death Row Inmate

Chapter 218: Chapter 190: An Early Final

After dealing with Tan Guang, Su Ze didn’t let any of the Great Desert Kingdom’s allies challenge him. He simply waited on the arena, preparing to challenge one of the Golden Arenas directly.

It was worth noting that the fight between Park Su-joo and the Great Desert Kingdom’s number-one seed successfully dragged on for ten minutes due to her constant stalling and evasion, at which point the referee called a stop to it.

The rules stipulated that a challenge could not exceed ten minutes. After the ten-minute mark, the referee had the authority to declare a winner based on who had the advantage.

The referee then announced that Park Su-joo had successfully defended her arena and that the Great Desert Kingdom’s challenger had failed.

The Great Desert Kingdom’s number-one seed was trembling with rage. He had clearly been chasing Park Su-joo around for the entire match, yet he was still declared the loser. ’How could the referee possibly think Park Su-joo had the advantage?’

He immediately protested, questioning the referee’s impartiality.

But the referee simply said, ”It’s been ten minutes, and you couldn’t even land a hit on Park Su-joo. You think *you* had the advantage?”

The contestant from the Great Desert Kingdom was speechless. There was no clear standard for who had the advantage, making it impossible to argue.

Besides, the people from the Peninsula Country were notoriously shameless, widely recognized as the nation with the least spirit of fair play.

Whenever any competition was held on the Peninsula Country’s home turf, you could be sure there would be fouls and biased refereeing.

The defeated challenger could only turn to compete for a Silver Arena.

By now, the seeded contestants from every other country clearly understood how fierce the competition for the top three spots was. Yarlin would take one, Su Ze would take another, and everyone else would have to fight over the single remaining position.

But it wasn’t time yet. If anyone challenged and defeated either Park Su-joo or Li Yongguan right now, they would just become Su Ze’s next target.

Everyone was waiting for Su Ze to make his move. Only after he claimed a spot on a Golden Arena would the others scramble for whichever one became available.

In the time that followed, even after the ten-minute protection period on Su Ze’s arena expired, no one dared to challenge him.

They had all witnessed his power—the ability to instantly defeat the top-seeded contestants from other nations. No one was suicidal enough to challenge him.

In the minds of the contestants, Yarlin was the strongest, in a league of his own. Su Ze was a close second, completely overwhelming all the other top seeds, who themselves made up the third tier.

Everyone felt they could already predict the outcome of the individual tournament.

”Yarlin will be first, and Su Ze will be second. There’s no suspense.”

”Exactly. But why hasn’t Su Ze challenged a Golden Arena yet?”

”Yeah, if he takes a Golden Arena now, no one would dare challenge him.”

”Don’t worry, he’s definitely going to challenge Park Su-joo.”

There were three Golden Arenas. Yarlin held one, and Li Yongguan held another. The former was the strongest competitor, and the latter was Su Ze’s teammate. It seemed the only one left for him to challenge was Park Su-joo of Island University.

Park Su-joo looked nervous. She knew Su Ze would challenge her, and she knew she stood no chance of winning.

Against opponents of similar strength, she could rely on the referee’s bias to gain an edge. But against someone who completely outclassed her, not even the referee could save her!

But Su Ze was in no hurry to issue his challenge. He calmly observed the situation as it unfolded.

More than forty minutes had passed since the first arenas opened. Everyone’s heart began to pound with nervous anticipation.

The time to determine the final rankings was fast approaching.

Meanwhile, the situation on the Silver Arenas had mostly stabilized.

Su Ze had eliminated the seeded contestants from Luofan Country and Mu Country, which, as it turned out, made Ancient An Country the biggest winner.

Of the seven Silver Arenas, Dongli held two spots (including Su Ze’s), the Great Desert Kingdom held one, Ancient An Country held three, and the Peninsula Country held one.

However, this was only temporary. Everyone knew that the moment Su Ze ascended to a Golden Arena, the board would be completely rearranged.

Finally, with only about fifteen minutes remaining, Su Ze made his move.

He leaped from his Silver Arena and issued a challenge for one of the Golden Arenas.

However, when the crowd saw who Su Ze was targeting, they were all stunned!

They had all been wrong!

Su Ze wasn’t challenging Park Su-joo. He was challenging Yarlin!

”You’ve got to be kidding me!”

”Are we getting a preview of the finals?”

”Oh my god, Su Ze really knows how to give the audience what they want!”

”That’s such a stupid move! He could lose his spot in the top three because of this!”

”There’s not much time left. Su Ze is bound to lose to Yarlin. If the other two Golden Arenas have had recent fights and are still in their ten-minute protection periods, he’ll have no choice but to go back to a Silver Arena.”

”What was he thinking?!”

The audience erupted.

Even in Dongli, thousands of miles away, the many people watching the livestream couldn’t understand Su Ze’s move.

His teammates at the venue were sweating bullets for him. Pei Wuhua was so anxious he was pacing back and forth below the stage.

Park Su-joo, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief, silently celebrating Su Ze’s foolish decision.

The arrogant pretty-boy, Li Yongguan, whose face was usually a stoic mask, now looked at Su Ze with deep respect. His eyes held an approval he had never shown anyone else.

’This man is as proud as I am... no, even prouder. I can’t believe I didn’t challenge Yarlin directly. How shameful. I’m not his equal...’ Li Yongguan was inwardly ashamed of his own ”cowardice.”

”You want to challenge me?” Yarlin asked, a hint of surprise in his voice as he watched Su Ze step onto the arena.

Su Ze nodded without saying a word.

’His reasoning was actually quite simple. His goal was first place in the individual tournament, which meant a fight with Yarlin was inevitable.’

’If not today, then tomorrow in the finals.’

’And would his strength increase at all between today and tomorrow?’

’Not a chance.’

Su Ze knew his power at the Cocoon Stage had already reached its peak; there was virtually no room for improvement. If he couldn’t beat Yarlin today, he certainly wouldn’t be able to beat him tomorrow.

So he might as well fight Yarlin today and see what he was made of.

Even if he lost, it wouldn’t be a major setback. The outcome of today’s match didn’t affect the rankings for tomorrow’s finals.

As long as he finished this fight within five minutes, he would still have time to go after another Golden Arena.

Yarlin shook his head. ”If you had completed your third evolution, you might have been a worthy opponent. As you are now, you’re not qualified.”

”If I’d completed my third evolution, would you even stand a chance?”

Su Ze wasn’t just boasting. Once he reached the Butterfly Stage, only someone at the Peak of Butterfly Transformation, like Mrs. Yun, would be a worthy opponent. Yarlin wouldn’t even be worth a second glance.

Yarlin wasted no more words, choosing to respond with action. The moment the referee announced the start of the match, he formed a sword-hand and slashed, sending a blade of light streaking toward Su Ze.

Su Ze fired his Laser Eye, and the powerful electric current collided with the blade of light, erupting in a deafening explosion on the arena.

Yarlin’s figure was as elusive as a phantom. In just a few steps, he was beside Su Ze, his palm chopping down like a blade.

It seemed every part of his body was a weapon; this palm strike descended on Su Ze like a cleaver.

Su Ze raised an arm to block, simultaneously activating his ”Ant Power” skill. With his other hand, he launched a counterattack using ”Needle Strike.”

CLANG!

Yarlin’s palm-chop landed on Su Ze’s forearm. Palm against arm, the impact produced the sound of striking metal.

Yarlin’s eyes narrowed, shocked that his hand-blade had been so easily blocked by Su Ze’s own body.

”Such hard bones!” he blurted out, astonished that Su Ze’s bones were far harder than his own, even though he was in the Butterfly Stage.

When faced with Su Ze’s ”Needle Strike,” Yarlin also moved to block it with his hand.

However, Su Ze’s finger easily pierced through his palm, and a blast of Qi Force shot straight into his abdomen.

BOOM! With a tremendous roar, the explosive effect of the ”Needle Strike” activated. Yarlin’s abdomen blew apart in a mess of mangled flesh and blood!

The explosive power of ”Needle Strike” was amplified by strength. With Su Ze’s ”Ant Power” active, the force of the blast skyrocketed, nearly blowing Yarlin’s body in two!

The crowd was in an uproar.

”How is this possible? It looks like Su Ze has the upper hand!”

”Is Yarlin a fake Butterfly Stage?”

”Why don’t you say Su Ze is a fake Cocoon Stage? Have you ever seen anyone in the Cocoon Stage this powerful?”

”Yarlin’s not going to die, is he?”

”Look at the people from Ancient University. They’re all still calm. That must mean Yarlin is fine.”

And indeed, despite Yarlin suffering such a grievous wound, the people from Ancient University weren’t the least bit worried.

Yarlin quickly put distance between himself and Su Ze. The flesh around his abdominal wound writhed, and then his entire body seemed to liquefy as flesh ”flowed” from other parts of his body to mend the injury.

He looked a size smaller, but the wound on his abdomen was completely healed.

’He can do that...’ Su Ze recognized it as a rather impressive healing skill.

”You are strong. I admit I underestimated you.” Yarlin’s expression turned serious as he slowly drew the Long Sword from his back. ”You are worthy of facing my blade.”

The sword showed no fluctuations of evolutionary power. Resting in its scabbard, it looked completely ordinary.

The use of any special artifacts was forbidden in the tournament, but non-Evolution Items used as weapons were permitted.

The fact that Yarlin could use this sword meant it was no special artifact, nor was it a powerful Evolution Item. It was just a sword forged from ordinary metal.

However, as the sword left its scabbard, revealing a short section of its dark-red blade, a chill shot through Su Ze. He felt a daze come over him, hearing countless screams and wails by his ear and smelling the pungent stench of blood.

His very spirit was under assault.

A thick, malevolent aura and killing intent enveloped Su Ze, causing an involuntary wave of fear to wash over him.

The Long Sword was fully drawn, and Su Ze finally saw it in its entirety. It was a rather ordinary-looking blade; aside from its fine craftsmanship, there was nothing special about it.

The crucial detail was that its silvery-white blade had been stained crimson with blood. One could only imagine how much of its enemies’ blood it had tasted.

This imbued the blade with an unmatched malevolent aura. When synchronized with Yarlin’s spiritual will, it could directly influence, and even shatter, an enemy’s will to fight.

The sword itself wasn’t what was terrifying. What was terrifying was Yarlin’s synergy with it.

For instance, Su Ze was already feeling its effects. His fighting spirit plummeted, his condition worsened, and his power was diminished.

Fighting in this state was a surefire way to lose.

Fortunately, however, Su Ze had the ”Unyielding Will” skill.