"Motherfucker!! All of you are a bunch of bastards who only know how to scheme and use people!!"
Bai Huang screamed looking towards the participants area, clearly pushed beyond his breaking point.
The truth was, although Bai Huang was not the strongest captain in the gang, he was originally not the weakest too.
He originally had a Super Beast Soul Arrow, which made him a threat even to Qin Ling.
However, during the start of the conflict between the Shelter Gang and the Military Gang, he had killed one of the main subordinates under Chen Ning, which made Chen Ning go after him.
Bai Huang immediately fled from him, but just as he had shot the first arrow at him, he grabbed the arrow mid-air and used a sword made from Metal-Z that he kept by his side at all times to break the arrow.
Effectively crippling his ability to do damage to the strongest fighters of the Shelter Gang.
He only managed to escape in the first place because Chen Ning stopped to break his arrow.
After that, there was no time to go after another Super Arrow, and all Sacred Blood arrows that he had and managed to borrow were eventually broken by the strong people of Chen Ning's gang.
To the point where people stopped lending him Sacred Blood arrows and he was left only with mutant arrows.
Even when paired with a Sacred Blood bow, mutant arrows are not enough to truly injure someone with 20 of Fitness.
"Those sons of bitches that called themselves friends just abandoned me and now you little bitches of that Chen Ning fucker-"
Just as he was about to continue cursing, Han Fen dashed at him.
Bai Huang reacted and tried to jump out of the platform, but Han Fen managed to get a hold of him before he was eliminated.
Bai Huang was so stupid that he allowed himself to get caught just because he wanted to curse people. But that's what happened when someone felt they were wronged by others.
But this world is not fair and never pretended to be.
He tried to struggle against Han Fen, but although he was stronger, Han Fen simply used his own strength against him, putting him in chokehold and slowly strangling life out of him.
There were some threats from the military gang to release him, but Han Fen just ignored them.
Finally, there was a crack sound and Bai Huang's body went limp.
This was the first captain to fall in the tournament, all others had managed to either win or jump out of the arena.
Then, Bai Huang's body disappeared, and Han Fen returned, once more getting cheers and even Chen Ning nodded at him.
Meanwhile, the military were cursing silently, while the sergeant of Bai Huang was already talking with another captain.
Clearly, fitness is not everything, and those that depend on outside sources of power are not truly powerful.
With this top 10 spot selected, the screen changed once again. This time, there were no interesting names, and the fights went more or less how the previous ones had.
The one to win was someone from neither of the gangs. He was a middle-aged man that used a massive sword to fight. His fitness was around 29 and he won based on his overwhelming sword style, that left no space for his opponent.
Han Fen winning in the first place was pure luck, as the strongest fighter in his bracket had only 23 of fitness. And Bai Huang was even weaker than that even though he had higher fitness.
Then came the third spot, where finally something interesting happened.
Qin Ling's name appeared, interestingly, her name was in a spot where she would only have to fight in the third round, due to the number of participants.
Long Tian did not know if she was the lucky one or her would be opponents that would not have to fight her were the lucky ones.
The fights continued, and this time, there had been three people with around 30 of fitness, including one from the Shelter Gang.
However, when Qin Ling finally started fighting, she rapidly overwhelmed her opponents.
She used a saber that was from a Super Beast, and she used it to either cut tendons or cut limbs off as she went.
She did not kill anyone, only making them surrender.
Apparently, this was a directive from the military, as having military personnel kill people in the shelters was not good PR, even more so when it was in front of everyone.
The man from the Shelter Gang, who was going to fight her in the finals gave up, walking out of the participants area before the fight started.
Qin Ling simply snorted and sat back down, while the two gangs stayed in silence, one not wanting to admit their weakness, and the other too divided to commemorate this small victory, even more so when it came from the one they considered underserving of her position.
Then came the next spot. This time, Chen Ning's name appeared.
All of the people from the Shelter Gang that were also selected walked out of the participants area immediately.
Those from the military gang that were selected had ugly faces, including two captains, who looked very reluctant.
Some people from the military seemed to struggle for a while before they seemed to want to forfeit, but Qin Ling suddenly turned towards them and spoke.
"If you forfeit now you don't have to bother returning to our base in the shelter."
As soon as she said that the sergeants that were selected gritted their teeth while the two captains immediately became angry.
"Qin Ling, just because you are the assigned leader doesn't mean you can do whatever you want."
One of them said, but Qin Ling was not fazed.
As the other one was about to speak, they were teleported into the platforms.
One of them appeared alone in his platform, as his original opponent, someone from the Shelter Gang, had forfeited.
The other one had to fight but was stronger than his adversary.
On Chen Ning's platform, one unfortunate sergeant had been selected.
He tried to immediately jump out of the small arena, but a figure appeared by his side like a ghost before he could do anything.
Fitness is the most reliable way to tell who is stronger between non-evolvers. They don't have access to any other powers other than their bodies, so fitness becomes their only source of strength.
Beating someone with higher fitness is possible, but it takes effort and a superior martial art. But once the difference in fitness between two people reaches a certain level, such as one being double of the other one.
Then it is simply a fight with a result already predetermined.
And this was the case here. The sergeant was not weak, having around 20 of fitness, not the strongest but definitely not the weakest. However, his opponent had an overwhelming 40 of fitness.
Such a high figure of fitness is considered rare among all the shelters of the first sanctuary. After all, to reach this level, one needs a lot of time and resources. Not to say anything of a very good cultivation art.
So it was not a surprise when Chen Ning basically teleported to the side of the sergeant and grabbed him by his neck.
The man tried struggling, but Chen Ning's grip was simply too strong for him. The difference was too big, the gap between them was simply not surmountable for a common person.
Chen Ning then turned towards the participants and smiled at Qin Ling before breaking the sergeant's neck, tossing him aside like trash.
After he returned, his entire gang cheered for him. And he just continued smiling while looking at Qin Ling.
Some minutes later, the first round of fights ended and the second started.
This time, Chen Ning's opponent was a strong man from neither of the gangs. Long Tian estimated him to have a fitness around 28.
The strong man immediately went on the defensive against Chen Ning but was suddenly blasted backwards when Chen Ning dashed at him and punched him straight in the chest, ignoring the man's sword that tried to form a guard.
The man was clearly hurt but had been smart enough, using the force of the punch to gain enough speed to leave the platform, preserving his life.
Chen Ning simply returned to the stands not looking like he cared. He clearly only wanted to kill people from the military gang.
The two captains were the last ones from the military still in this round. The other 3 sergeants were either killed or defeated, including the one that Chen Ning killed.
Such a high mortality rate of strong people would cripple common organizations, but the military was as far from the word 'common' as it could get.
Every year, after the tournament, new people from the shelter were recruited into the gang.
More specifically, as everyone from 20 to 25 was in the military, they would just randomly select among everyone in the shelter in that age that was not in a battlefield or was needed somewhere in the alliance and recruit them.
If the military wanted, it could easily control the entirety of the first sanctuary, with only some small regions left untouched, as most people in this sanctuary were in that age group.
They didn't because it is not worth it, they just maintained some modicum of control where they could as the cost was low, and the influence return was high.
Both captains ended up fighting against strong people, as most people in this round were not weak to begin with.
One of them actually lost, and Long Tian could swear he saw a look of relief on the man's face when he was blasted out from the platform.
The other one ended up winning his fight but was injured, returning to the participants area with a somber face.
As soon as the man returned, Qin Ling moved to sit beside him.
The reason for that would be clear as soon as one looked at the screen showing the matches. His next opponent would be Chen Ning.
Qin Ling clearly did not want anyone to forfeit, and she was going to make sure this captain followed that decision.
After half an hour, due to a particularly brutal fight between a hammer user and a staff user, the next round began.
The captain immediately tried to dash with his full strength out of the small arena, but once again, Chen Ning was too strong and did not let him.
This captain's fitness was very good, around a 29, but it did not mean anything against a Chen Ning that wanted him dead.
He was grabbed by the back of his neck and slammed against the ground, creating a loud noise across the entire arena.
Then, a foot came down at his knees and arms, breaking them and causing him to scream out in pain.
Finally, Chen Ning held his shoulder with one hand and the forearm with the other and pulled. The man's scream continued increasing until his entire arm was ripped away.
Chen Ning then turned towards Qin Ling, smiling with the arm in his hands. Finally, just as the captain on the ground was going to pass out from shock, Chen Ning used the man's own arm to pierce his neck, instantly killing him.
After he returned, Chen Ning simply sat on the stand. His clothes were clean, but his hands were dripping with blood.
After that horrific display, all other people that were in the matches gave up, and the next spot came up.
The last captain of the military came up, but this time there were no monsters involved, so the fights took longer and were more even.
Ultimately, the captain won, he had a fitness of 27 and barely won against a woman that had 28 of fitness and used a whip.
The next spots came and went three more times, with more people from neither of the gangs winning.
Specifically, the winners were a woman that used a Sacred-Blood Web Crossbow from a wood spider, a very young man that used a katana made from Metal-Z, albeit Long Tian could tell that it was not the best quality and could only barely compare with a Super Beast Soul, which is already astonishing.
And finally, someone from the Shelter Gang won. And this was the strongest one besides Chen Ning, he was a short man that used a katana from some mysterious beast. He had killed all of his opponents very quickly using a clearly special martial art.
As the matches for the eighth spot appeared, Long Tian, who was almost sleeping at this point, finally saw his name.
Interestingly, in what seemed like a joke from destiny, his first opponent was Jiang Xue.
No one knew that he was Long Tian, as among 1000 names, it is hard to memorize and know each person.
And, although the Long Clan used the Long surname, it was not unique to them, so no one associated his name with the clan.
And even Jiang Xue and Qin Ling had not realized yet that Long Tian was him.