"Compared to Fat Tiger, Li Ziyang is much weaker. He was already scared silly at the start. It's going to be tough for just his father to face the combined attack of Fat Tiger and his father!"
"I don't know how Li Ziyang and his father are going to withstand the next wave of attacks," Teacher Zhang speculated. In the upcoming part of the competition, Li Ran would likely be forced to dodge constantly, relying on his agility to avoid the attacks from Fat Tiger and his father. This would put him in a passive position where he would be repeatedly hit. Plus, Li Ziyang wouldn't be able to help him, and after a while, one mistake would mean the end.
This was exactly the outcome Teacher Zhang hoped for.
Once Li Ran and Li Ziyang were dead, Su Bingyao would be alone again, and that's when Teacher Zhang could seize the opportunity to return to Su Bingyao's side.
Indeed, on the field, Li Ran had been forced into a position of dodging passively. He narrowly escaped from the giant demon tiger’s claws a few times.
Just as Teacher Zhang thought that Li Ran and his son would continue dodging, Li Ran drew a dagger and stood his ground. He patted Li Ziyang's back gently and reassured him, "Son, watch how your dad deals with them."
As he spoke, a hint of blood-red appeared in Li Ran’s eyes, and his Thunder Dagger became imbued with a bloodthirsty aura.
Facing the charging giant demon tiger again, Li Ran gripped the dagger with one hand and slashed downward.
"Blood Scythe Flying Blade!"
A blood-red crescent slash collided directly with the giant demon tiger’s incoming claws.
"Boom!"
With a loud bang, the enormous body of the giant demon tiger slid backward for five meters, and a visible wound appeared on its claw. Blood began to drip from the injury, staining the ground.
Li Ran was quite satisfied with the pushback and bleeding effects triggered by the Blood Scythe Flying Blade.
"This is impossible?" Fat Tiger’s dad's pupils trembled as he reexamined Li Ziyang's father. He hadn’t expected him to be so strong.
"Dad, go!" Fat Tiger on the back of the giant demon tiger urged, his face showing signs of embarrassment.
"Roar!!"
The giant demon tiger roared, and an overwhelming dark aura emanated from its body.
It charged at Li Ran again, its claws swiping repeatedly, emitting black claw streaks, the terrifying tearing sounds making the air seem like it was being shredded. The ground was left scarred with deep claw marks.
The relentless attacks, combined with the bone spikes thrown by the Mad Boar, forced Li Ran and his son to retreat continuously.
The storm-like onslaught made those watching from the sidelines nearly out of breath.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!!"
Bone spikes, sharp like spears, pinned down the spots where Li Ran had dodged.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The giant demon tiger's dark claws left the arena unrecognizable. The continuous downpour-like attacks forced it to pause for a short rest.
The giant demon tiger looked at Li Ran, who had jumped to a distance. Li Ran was supporting the ghostly hand demon child with one hand and holding the dagger in the other, completely calm without even a drop of sweat.
On the sidelines, Teacher Zhang inwardly cursed, realizing that Li Ziyang’s father was much stronger than she had anticipated.
The voices of supporters for Fat Tiger and his father started to die down. Anyone could see that despite the violent onslaught from Fat Tiger and his father, Li Ziyang’s father had only used one hand and was carrying the terrified son on his back, dodging every attack.
"Could it be that Fat Tiger and his father are going to lose?"
An unsettling thought emerged in the minds of the onlookers.
Only Su Bingyao, who had switched to carrying her bag with both hands, no longer looked worried. Instead, she wore a face full of admiration, much like a little girl looking up to her older brother who could play basketball. Her eyes were filled with Li Ran’s image.
On the field, Li Ran slowly set Li Ziyang down, who was gradually calming down. Although this competition was called "Horseback Combat," there were no specific rules, and there was no such thing as dismounting leading to failure.
The real rule was that the person still standing at the end would be victorious.
This had ceased to be a normal father-son activity and had transformed into a duel in a deadly cage!
For the indigenous people of the strange world, however, this was still just another regular parent-child activity.
Li Ran coldly observed the giant demon tiger and the mad boar.
"You’ve been attacking for so long. Now it’s my turn."
"It’s time to end this!"
Li Ran stood in the shadows of the arena, his body slowly sinking into the shadow as if he was sinking into sand, and then his entire body merged with the ground.
In fact, Li Ran could have used his Shadowstep technique to do this earlier.
The strange world was almost always overcast, and the sun hardly ever appeared. The arena was always shrouded in clouds, with shadows everywhere.
However, his Shadowstep skill could not carry Li Ziyang along with him when he entered the shadows.
This was why, up until now, he had only been dodging under the storm-like attacks from Fat Tiger and his father.
"Where did he go? Where did he go?" The Mad Boar was instantly panicked when it saw Li Ran disappear.
The giant demon tiger's sharp gaze swept across the arena, searching for Li Ran’s figure. After a full circle, it still couldn’t find him.
"Dad, let’s deal with Li Ziyang first!" Fat Tiger said, unable to find Li Ran, and decided to attack the lone Li Ziyang instead.
However, before he finished speaking, a hidden silhouette, carrying a cold gleam, dashed toward the giant demon tiger’s back like a flash of lightning.
"Roar!!"
The giant demon tiger let out a painful scream. Its entire body was enveloped in electrical arcs, and the pain was so intense that it stood up straight. The Mad Boar was thrown off its back and tumbled to the ground.
However, that cold gleam didn’t leave. Instead, it circled around the giant demon tiger’s spine and appeared directly in front of the giant demon tiger, stabbing into its throat with an unbelievable speed!
"Roar... Roar... Roar..."
The Giant Demon Tiger panicked in an instant, wildly swiping in front of itself.
But where was Li Ran? There was no trace of him.
"Dad!" Fat Tiger looked in disbelief at the Giant Demon Tiger rolling on the ground.
At this moment, the blood from the Giant Demon Tiger's throat surged like a spring, as though a bucket of water had been punctured with a hole.
Li Ran's shadowy surprise attack dealt a heavy blow to the Giant Demon Tiger, and the throat slash was the ultimate finishing move of this match.
Even though the Giant Demon Tiger had a massive body and tough skin, before Li Ran's surprise attack and deadly throat slash, all its defenses were like paper.
When they turned their attention to Li Ziyang, Li Ran had already made up his mind to completely eliminate Fat Tiger and his father.
After all, in this strange world, mercy towards enemies was cruelty towards oneself.
Moreover, there were no rules in this world.
Theoretically, as long as you had enough strength, you could do whatever you wanted in this world.
"Roar... Roar..."
The voice of the Giant Demon Tiger grew weaker and weaker. The entire field was drenched in blood, the scene incredibly horrifying, until the Giant Demon Tiger’s breath became fainter and fainter, and it could no longer move.
Outside the arena, there was complete silence!
The children and parents were dumbfounded.
No one had expected that Li Ziyang’s father could easily defeat Fat Tiger’s father, and with just one counterattack, he easily defeated the seemingly invincible Fat Tiger’s father.
"Fat Tiger’s dad actually lost to Li Ziyang’s dad? Does that mean Li Ziyang’s dad is the strongest in the entire school?"
This thought suddenly popped into everyone’s mind.
Those who had looked down on Li Ziyang’s family now regretted it deeply, thinking they shouldn’t have offended such a powerful parent. How would their children ever get by at school now?
Meanwhile, some female parents had different thoughts. Fat Tiger’s father, it turned out, was all show with no substance, while Li Ziyang’s dad, who was easy on the eyes, was also strong and tough. In some ways, he must be even more formidable... perhaps...
Teacher Zhang’s face darkened, his teeth grinding together in frustration.
"Sue Bingyao, you’ve narrowly escaped again!"
At the same time, on the field, when Fat Tiger saw that his father was no longer moving, his face suddenly changed. He ran to his father’s corpse, frantically shaking him. "Dad, wake up."
"Have you forgotten? This match isn’t over yet!"
Li Ziyang’s voice came from behind Fat Tiger.
At this moment, Li Ziyang had transformed into the Ghost Hand Demon Child and stood behind Fat Tiger.
Fat Tiger, now transformed into the Mad Demon Porcupine, looked full of hatred. When he saw it was Li Ziyang, he sneered. "Hmph, without your dad protecting you, you're still a useless piece of trash!"
Fat Tiger clearly understood that his fate was sealed. If Li Ziyang’s dad made a move, he would undoubtedly die. So, he deliberately provoked him, hoping to stir Li Ziyang’s anger and force him into a duel, taking the adults out of the equation.
Li Ran saw everything, and how could he not see through Fat Tiger’s little scheme?
He wasn’t fooled by this trick. Now, all he had to do was kill the Mad Demon Porcupine in front of him, and this parent-child activity would result in his first place.
Li Ran gripped his dagger and stepped forward, just about to take action when—
"Dad, I want to solve it myself!"
Li Ziyang said calmly.
Li Ran looked at his son in shock. He saw a new change in his son's appearance.
At this moment, his son’s head began to heal automatically. The ghost hand that had grown from his neck had now reached his back. The huge ghost hand spread like wings behind him.
His eyes were still as black as black gemstones, with no trace of white, but his gaze was no longer fearful. Instead, it was filled with determination.
[Li Ziyang (Advanced)]
[B-class Mental Infection Entity]
[Eerie Power: 80... 90... 100]
Li Ran couldn’t believe his eyes. His son’s eerie power had increased by three levels, reaching 100, and he had completed the perfect advancement from C-class to B-class.
"Dad, I can’t grow up forever hiding under your wings. I can handle my own problems!" Li Ziyang said with firm determination.
It seemed as if in an instant, Li Ziyang had become much more mature, much more grown-up.
Li Ran smiled with relief. "Your mother and I will be waiting on the sidelines for you."
With that, Li Ran walked off the field and joined Su Bingyao, naturally taking her anxious little hand in his, offering comfort. "I believe in our son."
"I believe too!"
On the field, Li Ziyang stood firm, slowly walking toward Fat Tiger.
"In the past, when I encountered problems, I would always choose to avoid them. When I faced difficulties, I would find all kinds of excuses. But now I realize that constantly being weak and avoiding things is meaningless. Because the wind won’t stop just because the tree wants peace. If they think you’re weak, they will keep bullying you, just like squeezing a soft persimmon and finding joy in it."
"Today, I finally understand. Actually, you and I are the same. You rely on your dad’s backing to bully others, but without that backing, you’re no different from the students you’ve bullied. You’re nothing."
"My dad taught me a saying: I don’t offend others, and others don’t offend me. If someone offends me, I cut them off at the roots!"
"As long as you’re strong enough, with fists hard enough, others won’t dare to mess with you."
Li Ziyang’s pace quickened, and he charged towards Fat Tiger.
Seeing this, Fat Tiger immediately pulled out two bone spikes from his back and threw them at Li Ziyang.
Su Bingyao, worried for her son’s safety, screamed in panic.
"Ziyang, dodge! He’ll kill you!"
(End of Chapter)