Chapter 19: The Fierce Princess Consort

This tall, thin man with muscles rippling across his body was none other than Pan Sha Eagle! Another wave of cheers erupted from the crowd, although their shouts were noticeably quieter than those for the Crown Princess.

“External strength, minor achievement, mid-level martial apprentice?” Lin Le discerned Pan Sha Eagle's power at a glance.

As previously mentioned, the realms of martial strength progressed from low to high: external force, internal force, and transcendence. Practitioners were similarly classified according to their abilities: novice, martial apprentice, martial master, grandmaster, and supreme grandmaster.

Novices were the lowest, lacking any cultivated force—not even at the entry level of external strength. Anyone who reached the stage of external strength could be called a martial apprentice. The internal force realm signified a martial master. Transcendence marked a grandmaster. In this world, those who achieved the level of grandmaster were exceedingly rare, counted on the fingers of one hand. As for supreme grandmasters, they were nearly mythical.

It was said that beyond external, internal, and transcendence, there was another realm known as the Profound Domain. Only those who reached the Profound Domain were worthy of being called supreme grandmasters. Rumor had it that those who achieved this level could use martial arts to touch the Dao, penetrate mysteries, perform feats unimaginable to ordinary people, and perceive worlds beyond the reach of most. But in the end, these remained legends—for even among the inner circle of martial arts, no one had ever seen a true supreme grandmaster of the Profound Domain.

Pan Sha Eagle, standing before them, had reached minor achievement in external strength. Though not outstanding within the hierarchy of martial cultivation, he was far stronger than ordinary people; even specially trained soldiers would struggle against him.

In terms of martial cultivation, Ji Xiaorui was on par with Pan Sha Eagle, both considered mid-level martial apprentices. Yet Pan Sha Eagle’s physical prowess far surpassed Ji Xiaorui’s. For Ji Xiaorui to win, she would need to use an unexpected tactic.

As the whistle sounded, the match officially began.

Pan Sha Eagle struck first, springing forward with open arms, resembling a great eagle swooping toward Ji Xiaorui.

As Ji Xiaorui dodged, Lin Le immediately noticed her advantage.

Her speed was formidable!

Though Ji Xiaorui’s frame was slender, she was not weak. She deftly leveraged her own physical attributes, maximizing her speed. In this, she utterly eclipsed Pan Sha Eagle.

In their exchanges, Ji Xiaorui handled herself well. But Pan Sha Eagle was no pushover; his attacks were fierce and relentless. While he lagged in speed, his frequent and powerful strikes left Ji Xiaorui struggling to keep up.

Suddenly, with a dull thud, Pan Sha Eagle’s claw slashed down, tearing a large gash in Ji Xiaorui’s snow-white arm, blood gushing forth.

“Pretty girl, with looks like yours, why bother fighting? If you serve me well in bed, I’ll make sure you live the good life!” Pan Sha Eagle crowed, proud of his successful strike.

“Sorry, I prefer sour flavors!” Ji Xiaorui retorted.

Seizing the moment, Ji Xiaorui landed a hook right to Pan Sha Eagle’s face.

“Damn, little girl’s got some fight! Watch how Eagle teaches you a lesson today!” Pan Sha Eagle snarled, kicking off and tilting his body, his crossed claws aiming for Ji Xiaorui’s chest.

Clearly, Pan Sha Eagle intended to use his lewd tactics to take advantage of Ji Xiaorui.

Even with her usual boldness, Ji Xiaorui was still a young woman; being targeted in such a sensitive way threw her into confusion. She faltered, and Pan Sha Eagle seized the opportunity, transforming his claw into a fist and striking Ji Xiaorui’s head.

Bang!

Ji Xiaorui’s world spun, and with a crash, she collapsed to the ground.

A wave of disappointment swept through the crowd. Clearly, Ji Xiaorui had fallen behind; it seemed she was destined to lose this time.

Ji Xiaorui herself felt her confidence ebb. Setting aside her opponent’s vulgar methods, his strength was greater as well; she could only accept defeat today.

Just then, Lin Le walked up to Ji Xiaorui, whispered a few words in her ear, and Ji Xiaorui’s eyes lit up instantly.

Before Pan Sha Eagle could attack again, Ji Xiaorui sprang to her feet with a nimble kip-up.

“You still dare to get up? Watch me tear you apart!” Pan Sha Eagle leered.

At that moment, Ji Xiaorui’s front was left undefended. Pan Sha Eagle seized the chance, reaching for her.

But before he could touch her, a heavy thud sounded as Ji Xiaorui’s foot landed squarely on his chest. Pain seared through Pan Sha Eagle; his spleen was ruptured!

“Remember, this move is called ‘luring the enemy deep!’” This was the tactic Lin Le had just taught Ji Xiaorui.

With that, Ji Xiaorui grabbed both of Pan Sha Eagle’s claws and wrenched them back with force.

Crunch!

With a crisp snap, Ji Xiaorui ruined both of Pan Sha Eagle’s hands.

“Aah!” Pan Sha Eagle screamed in agony, clutching his ruined hands, sprawled on the ground.

“Crown Princess! Crown Princess!” The crowd reached a fever pitch, wildly chanting Ji Xiaorui’s name.

Most had bet on Ji Xiaorui winning, and now they stood to make a handsome profit.

Lin Le smiled faintly, amazed at the girl’s ruthlessness. She truly lived up to her reputation as a fiery little spitfire.

He was also pleasantly surprised—though Ji Xiaorui was small, her intuition was keen. With just four words of guidance, she immediately understood how to leverage her physical advantages to set traps for her opponent.

This girl indeed had a talent for martial arts; with some guidance, she could improve greatly.

As excitement surged, a sudden voice rang out:

“Where did this brat come from, daring to stir up trouble here?”

The voice was calm but clear, and carried an aura of authority that silenced the crowd.

Everyone turned to the high platform at the front of the ring, seeking the speaker.

It was the Ten-Time Champion, Black Mountain!

Even Lin Le was momentarily stunned.

Black Mountain’s voice contained hidden force, explaining its heart-shaking power.

“Entry-level internal strength—an elementary martial master?” Lin Le immediately realized Black Mountain was the strongest in the room, his power already at the level of a martial master!

Martial masters were teachers among warriors, a qualitative leap beyond martial apprentices of external strength.

External strength was relatively easier to train, relying on bones and muscle. Internal strength, however, was the force of inner energy—a completely different matter.

Cultivating internal strength and becoming a martial master was not easy.

Across the whole nation, those who achieved internal strength numbered barely ten thousand. It sounds like a lot, but spread across provinces and cities, each place had only a handful.

Moreover, those who reached this level were already prestigious, either guests of the powerful or gathered in sects for further training.

Truly encountering an internal strength martial master in public was exceedingly rare.

Thus, seeing Black Mountain, a martial master, in a mere underground ring was remarkable.

Under the astonished gaze of the crowd, Black Mountain leaped from the three-meter-high platform into the center of the ring.

His tall figure landed with barely a whisper, as if a dragonfly touching water.

The crowd was astounded.

“A true expert! This is what a real master looks like!”

“No wonder he’s the Ten-Time Champion Black Mountain—there’s probably no one else in Haizhou who can match him!”

Recently, Black Mountain’s reputation had spread throughout the underground world of Haizhou; in their eyes, he was almost a legend.

Black Mountain’s gaze landed directly on Lin Le outside the ring.

“A true gentleman remains silent while watching. Boy, don’t you even know this basic rule?” Black Mountain looked down on Lin Le with arrogance.

The crowd erupted, all staring at Lin Le.

“Watching silently” did not mean one couldn’t shout or curse, but technical guidance was a different matter—that was a rule of the underground ring.

Being singled out by Black Mountain meant Lin Le was likely in for a lesson.

“It’s just an underground ring; who cares about all these useless rules…” Ji Xiaorui immediately spoke up in Lin Le’s defense.

“What?!” Black Mountain glared.

Lin Le motioned for Ji Xiaorui to be silent.

“Without rules, nothing can be accomplished. Even underground, there are rules. But if I recall correctly, the silent-watching rule applies only to outsiders to avoid distracting the fighters—it doesn’t include coaches or mentors.” Lin Le’s voice was calm.

“Hm?” Black Mountain frowned.

Truth be told, this rule was hardly enforced. In real underground matches, nobody cared; even official boxing matches were not strict on this, so long as it wasn’t excessive.

Black Mountain was picking faults today not just because Pan Sha Eagle was his man, but also because of money.

He knew the respective strengths of Pan Sha Eagle and Ji Xiaorui, and today he had wagered heavily on Pan Sha Eagle—not just himself, but the ring’s shadowy owner as well.

In fact, this was almost an orchestrated fix. They built up the reputation of the four-time champion Crown Princess Ji Xiaorui, then sent out an obscure expert like Pan Sha Eagle.

With Ji Xiaorui’s fame from previous matches, most would bet on her, while the house—Black Mountain and the shadowy bosses—would rake in profits.

This had become a common practice in many underground rings.

So today, Ji Xiaorui had to lose!