Death… And Me

Just as Liana thought she would win by breaking Roan's arm, Roan did something she didn't expect. He suddenly jumped forward, rotating his body forward in the same direction Liana's grab was trying to break to. Liana might be good at this kind of combat, but Roan was certain about one thing. She definitely didn't have many people to practice this combat style with. Against him, it was just too far from enough.

As soon as Roan landed on the ground once more, he used his feet to push against Liana's body, making her lose her balance. At the exact moment Liana's body was forced back, Roan retracted the hand Liana tried to grab onto while using the other one to attack her. Liana had only one choice, which was to let Roan's hand go or receive a hit on the face. Obviously, Roan couldn't care less about genders. 

Liana indeed let Roan's hand go as she used that push to jump back. Then again, Roan wasn't going to let her go that easily. He was the one who pushed her body in the first place, so he was also moving in her direction. He used that chance to step forward and kick Liana in the stomach.

*Bang!*

Liana used her hands to block the kick, but she really underestimated the power behind Roan's leg. He was in the perfect position to do the attack, so the forearm's bone cracked from that alone before Liana rolled on the ground.

Liana was shocked at how savage Roan's assault was just now, but she felt the danger right there and quickly got up. Obviously, Roan was already right in front of her, ready to continue his barrage of attacks. In response, Liana gritted her teeth and paid close attention to Roan's attack. Following that, she parried Roan's next punch and performed a grabbing motion once more.

Roan wasn't having any of that, though. He already gave her a chance by letting himself get caught. How could he fall for that twice? At the same time Liana grabbed his punching hand, Roan brought his own body close to it, making his face appear right in front of the girl's.

*Bang!*

Suddenly, Roan rammed Liana on the head...with his head! Rean couldn't help but remember the scenes of fighting films back on Earth. 'I didn't expect to see it happening in this side of the universe.'

Liana went dizzy for a moment, which was enough for Roan to grab her fractured arm and contort it in a weird position while moving behind her. Simultaneously, he used his free arm to grab Liana's neck, paralyzing her completely. Liana had no way of escaping anymore by the time she recovered her awareness.

"I... admit defeat." As painful as it felt, Liana knew that she had lost through and through. Roan and her simply weren't at the same level. 

As soon as Roan heard those words, he let Liana go. "Don't worry. When I kicked your arm, I only used enough strength to crack it slightly. It would be somewhat painful to use it during the rest of the test, but if you endure the pain, you can still fight."

Liana was surprised to hear that. "So you could have broken my arm with that kick, huh?" Liana sighed as she looked at Roan. "I thought that I would excel in this kind of test, but it seems like I'm still far lacking."

Roan shook his head in response. "You're not bad. At the very least, those pieces of trash over there probably can't perform to your level without Divine Energy or Soul Power. You just selected the wrong person to show it off to."

Though, even after saying that, Roan was curious about one thing. "Why did you learn how to fight without Divine Energy and Soul Power?"

Liana seemed to reminisce some things from the past after hearing that question. "I passed through a similar situation in the past. Let's just say it was not a good memory, so I trained in this combat style to prevent being helpless again."

Roan nodded after that and didn't force the issue.

Rivaldo laughed on the outside. "Hahaha! Very good fight, very good fight!" He then patted Liana's head and told her, "Girl, you did much better than I expected. I knew you were not his match, but to think you lasted this long. I thought he would have broken several of your bones in the very first exchange as this guy is extremely good with grabbing motions as well."

Rivaldo then took the pearls out of his bag before continuing, "Still, the rules are the rules. Since you lost, all your 15 pearls are now his. You have no complaints about that, right?"

''Yes." Liana knew that she wouldn't be able to get her pearls back anyway. Even if she could, her pride wouldn't allow it. 

Rivaldo then passed the thirty pearls to Roan after that. "Here you go."

Roan then took the 15 pearls and put them together with his own. Immediately, his number of pearls in the ranking jumped to 145. "You should go out and look for more pearls. With fewer cultivators and more tasks, you should be able to get another ten before time is up."

Liana nodded and turned around to leave. Since she didn't have any other pearls, Venali and the others didn't care much about her. Their attention was all on Roan instead.

Roan then snorted at the rest of the spectators. "Anyone else? You can come here to fight me any time you want. Just make sure you don't cause trouble in the city, or you'll pay for it."

Venali and the other competitors felt like they could explode in anger. However, it was extremely obvious to them. If they fought Roan one on one, they would lose miserably. No, they would still lose even if they fought two or three on one. The difference in experience was just that big.

Roan then turned around and went back to the headquarters. The city guards also returned to their patrols and watching positions, including Rivaldo. They didn't care about the rest at all.

During the next four days, not a single shadow appeared close to the City Guards' headquarters to challenge Roan.