"Don't worry, it won't happen. When the time comes, I'll introduce you to my master. His old man's Liehu Quan (Fierce Tiger Fist) is incredibly powerful, with explosive force that's terrifying. It's one of the top ten most well-known fist techniques within the Federation." Kui recalled his cultivation years in the sect, a trace of warmth unconsciously rising in his eyes.

"How long until the league starts?" Li Cheng颐 asked.

"A month from now. Didn't I say that?" Kui asked, puzzled.

"There's no preliminary round or audition?"

"." Kui was silent.

"It seems, there is a preliminary round..." The warmth in his eyes vanished instantly.

"How long until the preliminary round?"

"Five days... Five days from now."

Instantly, both the person and the squirrel fell silent.

"Run!" Kui suddenly grabbed Li Cheng颐 and sprinted along the highway.

A mere five days. They had to reach the gathering city where the preliminary round would begin and book tickets. A slight delay could mean missing the chance to compete.

*
*
*

Biqiu City Gymnasium, one of the fifteen preliminary round venues for the Tumeng Federation's international league.

Li Cheng颐 followed behind Kui, surveying the entire competition venue.

A sea of participants crowded in front of the registration points, everyone pushing forward, trying to get ahead in line.

There was no order, no queue. If you wanted order, you had to fight for it yourself.

Strength was the primary principle for determining placement here.

Inside the enormous gymnasium, each of the three registration points was swarming with at least several hundred people.

Hundreds of muscular men and women with fierce faces crammed together. The stench of sweat mixed with cursing filled the air, and the atmosphere was thick with unsettling, aggressive energy.

But none of this had much to do with Li Cheng颐.

From the moment he entered the gymnasium, he had attracted the attention of many competitors.

"A squirrel!?"

"Oh my god, it really is a squirrel! Look at its muscles!? They're more developed than mine!"

"A black bear, a chinchilla, and now a squirrel... This international league is getting interesting."

"Linda the chinchilla is fighting to secure an exclusive habitat for her clan. She's the strongest creature in the mountain range where her clan lives. After slaughtering the former dominant highland wolf pack, she signed an agreement with the local government: if she gets into the top ten in the league, her clan will be granted exclusive rights to their habitat."

A tall, burly man with dyed red hair and a red gemstone earring held a woman's cigarette between his fingers, observing Li Cheng颐 and Kui with a flamboyant air.

"Chen Jianying the black bear learned martial arts to fight against the grizzly bear clan and eventually killed Nadun, the grizzly bear king who killed his parents, achieving fame and success."

The red-haired man blew a smoke ring, looking at Li Cheng颐.

"I wonder what this squirrel is here for."

"There are quite a few animal martial artists participating in the league, but only a few truly succeed." A man with a buzz cut and black hair said in a deep voice. "There's nothing to worry about."

"Shixiong (Senior Martial Brother) is right." The red-haired man nodded. "Our Feiyun Temple's Chixia Zhang (Red Cloud Palm) is the strongest! This league is our chance to shine."

Ever since humans gained absolute dominance hundreds of years ago, other animal clans had eked out a living in their shadow. Even the most powerful polar bear clan had to retreat to the extreme arctic. A mere squirrel probably couldn't make any waves.

Kui easily registered Li Cheng颐 and then went to the waiting area to rest and await the preliminary screening.

"That's it? No identification?" Li Cheng颐 asked in surprise.

"No need. This kind of competition has no limits on casualties. Impersonating someone to get on stage is a death wish. Who would dare?" Kui said nonchalantly.

"That's true." Li Cheng颐 nodded, looking around. He spotted a recliner that looked comfortable, and walked towards it.

A bald, burly man sat in the recliner, licking a cream ice cream cone daintily.

*Smack.*

Li Cheng颐 slapped the ice cream out of his hand, sending it flying to the ground.

"I want this chair."

He walked up to the man. His tall, powerful body cast a shadow over the man's face.

"." The bald man looked at his ice cream flying away, then at Li Cheng颐.

"My ice cream, aaaaaaah!!!" He suddenly exploded to his feet, hugging Li Cheng颐.

His thick arms, like iron tongs, gripped Li Cheng颐's shoulders tightly.

"How dare you!!"

"How dare you!! Knock away Morrison's ice cream!!"

"I'm going to tear you into pieces and feed you to the dogs!!"

"Nuta Qinbao Shuai (Raging Wave Capturing Throw)!!" The bald man was clearly from a traditional lineage. He used a standard wrestling stance, his hands clamping down on Li Cheng颐's shoulders, his leg sweeping. He combined the force from above and below.

At the same time, a surge of power, like a raging wave, crashed into Li Cheng颐's body.

*Boom!!!*

A dull thud exploded from the point of impact.

The bald man's right leg slammed into Li Cheng颐's left leg, making a muffled sound.

At this time, everyone around turned to look. Conflicts happened often in the gymnasium, so using these conflicts to assess the potential strength of future opponents had become a common practice.

Kui was also shocked, not expecting Li Cheng颐 to be so direct and arrogant, starting by snatching someone else's recliner.

Seeing the bald man attack with wrestling, his strength was not bad, and he immediately looked at Li Cheng颐 with some worry.

After all, Li Cheng颐 was just a squirrel. Although a strong squirrel.

But.

What he didn't expect was.

The bald man held firmly against Li Cheng颐's leg, the two standing in place, unmoving.

Yes.

Unmoving.

Not only was the bald man not moving, but Li Cheng颐 was also not moving.

"Heh, are you giving me a massage?" Li Cheng颐 folded his arms, his strong chest muscles rising and falling slightly with his breath. His bright, triangular eyes, filled with intense mockery, stared at the bald man.

"Perhaps you can use all your strength. Maybe you can amuse me a little."

The bald man's face flushed with disbelief.

He convulsed, his face red, his muscles bulging even larger.

"You bastard!!!"

He frantically used all his strength. His 1.8-meter frame seemed to be a circle larger and taller than Li Cheng颐.

"Haiwang Wuxian Liansha (Neptune Infinite Combo Kill)!!"

He roared, unleashing his technique even before the sound, fiercely ramming his shoulder into Li Cheng颐's waist, lifting him up.

But at that instant.

A huge gray shadow suddenly slammed into him from the side.

*Boom!!!*

A force like a grizzly bear pouncing slammed into the bald man's side, sending him crashing to the left.

In a series of crashes, the bald man cried out in pain, smashing two sets of tables and chairs, knocking down several contestants, and finally being stopped by the red-haired, earringed man, ultimately preventing him from crashing into the sharp blades of the weapons on the racks by the gymnasium wall.

Li Cheng颐 felt that the side effects within his body had been digested a bit due to being struck, and his mood improved a lot.

The exchange just now had digested about one-fifteenth of it. If the bald man had been stronger, it would have been digested faster.

"Pathetic." He sneered, sitting on the recliner, crossing his legs, deliberately striking a pose that was extremely provocative.

What he wanted was constant fighting and striking, so that the side effects in his body could be digested.

The second stage of enhancement was divided into three parts by him, and after the digestion was completed, he could enter the third stage of enhancement.

Now his strength had only just begun the first part of the second stage of enhancement, and he had already reached the level of a grizzly bear.

And the constant throbbing pain transmitted within his flesh and blood made him truly realize the terror of eternal life.

Therefore, he needed endless fighting, endless opponents.

Closing his eyes, he crossed his arms.

Suddenly, within his awareness, a sharp gaze shot out from not far away.

Li Cheng颐 opened his eyes and looked back.

It was the red-haired, earringed man who had just stopped the bald man.

"What, do you have a problem with that? Transvestite?"

The red-haired man's muscles suddenly tensed, and a surge of anger welled up from the bottom of his heart.

"You bastard!!" He had never seen someone so foul-mouthed. No, that guy wasn't even human.

Forcibly suppressing the veins throbbing on his forehead, he squeezed out a smile.

"Very well, I'll see you on stage later."

He raised a middle finger.

"My name is Luo Ting, a disciple of Feiyun Temple's Chixia Zhang (Red Cloud Palm)!"

"Rules are for restraining the weak," Li Cheng颐 said coldly, "Are you announcing your sect to intimidate your opponent?"

"You can only be foul-mouthed now, Squirrel Kid," Luo Ting said coldly. "Later, I'll tear off your tail and make it into a shawl!"

"Don't wait for later, come now." Li Cheng颐 stood up, pointing to his chest.

"I'll just stand here, come on, hit me here, I can not resist, I'll let you have three moves!"

"You!!?" Luo Ting's face also began to flush.

"Come on, you infusorian, use all your strength! Let me see if you still have the strength to suckle." Li Cheng颐 scoffed.

The surrounding contestants were all vaguely angered by Li Cheng颐's arrogance, and everyone began to stir.

If it hadn't been for that terrifying tail sweep that had just knocked the bald man unconscious, someone would have already rushed up to attack him.

"Kill him!! Kill him!!"

"Feiyun Temple is a famous sect in the Federation, kill him! He dares to insult a disciple of Chixia Zhang!!"

"Kill him, Senior Brother Luo!!"

The shouts from the surrounding crowd grew louder and louder, and the entire gymnasium gradually became agitated.

"All you can do is shout!? A bunch of insects!" Li Cheng颐 grinned, "Come and hit me. Hurry! You're all trash anyway, I'll allow you all to come at me."

He pointed to his chest, taunting recklessly.

Kui, who was in front, felt cold sweat all over his body. Finally, he couldn't bear it any longer. Before the others could respond, he grabbed Li Cheng颐 and ran.

"***, beat him up!!"

"Kill the Squirrelman!!"

"Kill that pervert!!"

This tug was like kicking a hornet's nest, and the surrounding contestants surged, rushing towards the two of them.

Kui dragged Li Cheng颐 out of the gymnasium speechlessly, running far away before shaking off the pursuing contestants.

Back at the hotel, he let go of Li Cheng颐 with a face full of cold sweat.

"Xiao Hui, can't you say less!?"

"Kui, you are too weak." Li Cheng颐 didn't explain, but stood up and walked to the window.

"Strength can only be sublimated in battle. They are too weak, and instead of letting them face a life-and-death crisis on stage, I might as well eliminate them from the start and save their lives."

He naturally couldn't explain that he needed to digest the Eternal Life and absorb malice.

"But what you did was too exaggerated..." Kui was speechless.

"Exaggerated? I'm a squirrel, I don't know anything." Li Cheng颐 said indifferently. "I only know, why should the strong give way to the weak?"

Kui looked at him, momentarily speechless.

(End of chapter)