Infinite Slaughter System: I Kill, Therefore I Ascend!-Chapter 220: The Outcome Of The Match!

And appear he did, Bei Dongshi rising from the mass in the form of silhouette first, then shaping himself into a flesh and blood body that looked haggard and drained.

His blindfold was still in place, but the way his shoulders dropped made him look less like an unfathomable prodigy and more like a man who had just crawled out of a grave.

A faint tremor ran through his limbs as he steadied himself, almost falling over himself.

'So troublesome…' Bei Dongshi thought silently, lips barely parting as if he had almost spoken aloud.

'Karma is not easy to resolve.'

He could feel it, the sticky, invisible 'weight' still clinging to him, like wet cloth wrapped around the soul.

It had loosened, sure… but it hadn't vanished.

In the stands, the spectators were no longer simply shocked, they were now thoroughly and utterly confused.

"Path Ascender Bei is actually alive…?!"

"How the heck is he alive?!"

"That strike was real!"

"Did the Sect Master interfere?"

No one could accept it because no one could explain it. Even among the elders, faces were warped with disbelief, because the scene they had just watched didn't align with any 'common sense' of life and death, even for the cultivation world.

However, Bei Dongshi didn't offer them an answer, merely breathing in slowly, as if each inhale was a struggle.

Unfortunately for him, Li Ling, now freed from the crushing suppression of the Desolate Hell Path Grand Elder thanks to Ming Yue's interference, stretched his neck lazily and clicked his tongue, wearing that same smarmy amusement that seemed to enrage people more than any curse.

"Tsk! You people are so easily startled!" Li Ling commented with a chuckle, casually smoothing out his hair and dusting his robes like the earlier threat to his life was a joke.

With a point at the silent Bei Dongshi, Li Ling directly revealed one of his secrets. "This fellow was undergoing a karmic tribulation!"

The words spread throughout the crowd, causing a buzz to stir as they processed the implication of such a claim.

"A karmic tribulation? In this era?"

"So that's what this is?"

"But his… nature…?"

Li Ling lazily dug a finger into hsi ear and rummaged around in there. "That 'karma-less' nature of his is not something you get for free."

"Nor is it something you keep without price." Li Ling concluded as his smile widened, showing teeth.

Some disciples swallowed and many sect elders' brows shot up. A few even stared at Bei Dongshi with renewed understanding, because the idea that his 'talent' required special tribulations only made him feel more inhuman.

With the cat out of the bag, Bei Dongshi's lips twitched faintly and for a moment, it looked like he might deny it.

But in the end, he sighed in defeat.

"Indeed, long ago I sensed an intense life-and-death karmic tribulation would befall me… and that it would occur during this tournament." Bei Dongshi finally admitted.

A wave of murmurs rose again.

"So he knew? Wee, that puts things into perspective."

"And he walked into it knowingly?! That ballsy for sure!"

Bei Dongshi's head angled slightly, facing Li Ling silently.

"When I saw the pairings, I understood how it would manifest." He continued in a flat tone .

The fellow paused, as if deciding how much to give away, then added simply: "So… I took measures."

He didn't elaborate nor did he explain what measures he took, but the mere fact that he could have even 'prepared' for death and still stood here was enough to shock the entire sect anew.

The crowd was still absorbing that revelation when another presence finally moved.

Sha Ren rose to his feet, the Asura Blood Path Saint's movement unhurried, but the moment he stood, the atmosphere tightened like a rope being pulled to its limit.

His eyes—blood-colored and belligerent—swept the platforms before settling on Ming Yue.

"Sect Master, since he is not dead… then this is not merely a matter of 'breaking rules' in a tournament." Sha Ren said, voice calm in a way that felt louder than shouting.

The Desolate Hell elders' expressions changed instantly as they understood what was coming.

Sha Ren's gaze turned colder.

"My disciple candidate was oppressed, harassed by higher-level intent, nearly crushed into nothing, because certain people believed he had killed Bei Dongshi."

His voice carried across the entire stadium.

"He deserves immediately reparations for harm suffered and I ask for punitive action on those who attempted to harm him!" Sha Ren declared simply.

The stadium exploded again, this time not with cheers, but with arguments abound!

Naturally, more than a few elders immediately reacted as if their lives were threatened!

"That's absurd!"

"He acted first!"

"He publicly declared he would kill opponents!"

"We were protecting the sect's future pillar!"

But such retorts were weak and unable to withstand scrutiny, especially as the still charged Asura Blood section unleashed their killing intent!

"Likewise, we are protecting ours!" Asura Blood elders and disciples snapped back instantly, faces fierce as they were ready to unleash their power and tear apart their fellow sect mates!

Even disciples below in the lower halls joined in, the entire sect's divided nature spilling into the open!

The Desolate Hell Path disciples shouted back with fury, while Asura Blood Path disciples unleashed endless killing intent!

Hall Masters shifted in their seats as they made rapid calculations, with Tang Huo's eyes narrowing and Yan Moqing's face darkening, lips pressed into a hard line as if she was swallowing poison.

Path Saint Zhen Mingshen watched without expression, but the stillness around him felt like a blade held just above a throat, ready to fall if needed.

The Seven Sins True Inheritors watched with vivid interest now, as if the sect's internal fracture was more entertaining than the matches themselves.

Then, Ming Yue's voice sounded out across the entire sect. "Silence!"

That immediately shut every mouth in the stadium as if a law of heaven had been invoked as the arguments died instantly. Even Sha Ren's aura stilled, though his eyes remained cold.

Ming Yue looked out over everyone, calm and unreadable

"Li Ling will not be punished, nor will he be commended." Ming Yue announced majestically.

A ripple of confusion ran through the entire sect.

Not going to be punished or commended?

Then… what was going to happen now?

Ming Yue continued in a steady voice. "No apologies will be demanded, nor will compensation be forced."

That sentence hit harder than a slap, because it sounded - briefly - as if Ming Yue had… 'abandoned'… Li Ling.

Was this the same Ming Yue who had tolerated Li Ling's outrageousness all tournament long?

Was this the same Ming Yue whose earlier reactions had made factions reconsider everything about how to treat that young man?

So why now, at the moment Li Ling needed institutional protection the most, did the Sect Master refuse to take a side?

Ming Yue's gaze shifted to Bei Dongshi.

"It is simple. The reason is that Path Ascender Li Ling struck with full intent to kill!" Ming Yue revealed with a clear statement.

The outcome was that the stadium's temperature seemed to drop as the various elders' eyes widened and the disciples swallowed hard.

Ming Yue's words remained calm as he revealed more to placate the irate sect.

"Fortunately or unfortunately, that pure intent to kill is precisely why Bei Dongshi's tribulation could be passed."

Ming Yue's gaze sharpened by the smallest degree.

"It is only because of a special life-saving measure that Bei Dongshi survived at all to stand here."

The implication was clear, if Li Ling had held back, if his strike had been merely 'friendly', the karmic tribulation would not have resolved properly.

And if Bei Dongshi had not prepared ahead of time… he would have truly died.

"Hahahaha!" Li Ling laughed uproariously.

Then, as if to pour oil on the already trembling hearts of the crowd, he rose into the air with casual ease, floating at a height level with the platforms, hands behind his back like some arrogant immortal coming down to lecture mortals.

He faced Ming Yue directly, smiling.

"It's true, I meant to kill him!" Li Ling said cheerfully.

A wave of dread swept the lower stands as Li Ling's gaze turned toward Bei Dongshi, smile widening.

"I'll commend you, apprentice brother, you actually survived! That's impressive!" Li Ling praised with a raised chin, then his eyes narrowed slightly.

"But you won't survive another blow." Li Ling stated coldly as he took a step, aiming to kill Bei Dongshi with his full power.

But for the first time since he resurrected, Bei Dongshi moved his head, and with a single glance behind the blindfold, his gaze landed on Li Ling.

Bei Dongshi's shoulders loosened as he spoke in a calm and empty voice.

"I concede."

The words landed like a stone, causing the stadium to freeze over, with even the Desolate Hell disciples looking stunned, as if they could never have foreseen that.

Bei Dongshi didn't explain, simply turning and walking away, returning to wherever he came from in silence, his haggard body steady only by will alone.