Qin Wei's knuckles crackled as his eyes burned with determination.

He rose from the ground, his body groaning with pain, but his spirit unwavering.

Blood dripped from the corner of his mouth, staining the stones beneath him.

Meanwhile, Zion Fireheart stood tall, his chest rising and falling with steady breaths.

His gaze was filled with both disdain and amusement as he observed Qin Wei's struggle.

The ground beneath them trembled with the tension in the air.

"Still standing, huh?" Zion sneered, wiping the blood from his cheek with the back of his hand. "But don't think that will save you."

Qin Wei gripped his fists, feeling the strain on his muscles from the previous exchange.

"Activate… Gates of Transcendence."

"Gate of Will, Open."

A rush of power surged through Qin Wei's body at once. Qin Wei felt his muscles tighten as the power of a Rank-4 warrior flowed through him.

The veins in his arms bulged with a force he had never experienced before.

"Ha..."

After letting out a shout involuntarily, pushing away his aura, He glanced at Zion Fireheart, whose smirk had now turned into a frown of growing irritation.

"Still not enough, I see," Zion Fireheart muttered with a shake of his head, his feet shifting into a combat stance. His fingers curled into tight fists. "You should have stayed down and admitted defeat when you had the chance. Never matter. This time, you won't get up."

Qin Wei's heart beat loudly in his chest.

He didn't give Zion a chance to attack. Instead, he instantly lunged forward with a quick snap of his leg, aiming at Zion's head with a forceful roundhouse kick.

The strike was powerful and fast, but Zion Fireheart dodged with a side step and used the momentum of the attack to drive an elbow into Qin Wei's side.

"Gaah!" The elbow attack landed squarely on Qin Wei's ribs, almost fracturing them, and he staggered, but immediately he swung his leg back, forcing himself to remain on his feet.

The fight was fast-paced now, and Qin Wei's body was barely keeping up with Zion. However, it didn't take long for Qin Wei to realize that he wasn't actually keeping up with his enemy, but the latter reduced his strength and started toying with him.

"Now, fall..."

With a snarl, Zion finally took a step forward, swinging his leg in a low arc to sweep Qin Wei's feet out from under him.

Qin Wei barely managed to leap back, but Zion's attack didn't stop.

"You're not even worth my time," Zion taunted, launching a series of punches to Qin Wei's chest. Each impact broke through his ribs. "You should do better. C'mon, get up, Icarus."

Qin Wei gasped for breath, feeling his body slowly starting to break under the weight of Zion's onslaught. He wanted to say, I give up. Yet, his body refused to give up.

He narrowed his eyes and pressed the heel of his foot into the stone beneath him, grounding himself. "Fine, I'll damage my body if I have to defeat you."

Taking a wide stance, he roared. "Activate… Gate of Flesh."

His body surged with a second wave of energy, the regeneration instantly kicking in.

His wounds, the scratches and bruises, began to heal at an extraordinary rate.

The pain from his cracked ribs dulled as the raw strength of a Rank-5 flowed through him this time.

Qin Wei dashed forward again, his eyes locked onto Zion. He moved quicker now, his body's movements more fluid as the gate opened.

His fist collided with Zion's jaw, followed by a high kick that forced Zion to stagger back.

Blood trickled from Zion's lip, but Zion only smiled.

"Is that all?" Zion whispered before his body surged with his thick aura. He decided not to toy with him anymore.

Qin Wei immediately recognized the spike of power. His instincts screamed at him. 'Not good.'

Zion's fists raised, and the ground beneath them seemed to tremble.

"Die."

"Ha!" Zion thrust both his palms forward, releasing a blast of mana that sent shockwaves through the air.

Qin Wei barely had time to react before the beam of concentrated mana struck his abdomen.

"Gaaah!"

He roared in pain.

"Damn it… let's go further..."

"Activate.… Gate of Breath"

Once again, Qin Wei's aura surged from his body.

Watching the aura flare up again from Qin Wei, reaching Rank-6, Zion's frown deepened this time. "This damn trash..."

"Ha…" he roared, pushing out his mana.

A gigantic tiger, made entirely of radiant mana, manifested behind Zion. The beast roared. "Graaaa.."

"Roar of the Beast, Tiger Fist!" Zion shouted.

And in the next instant, the tiger's paw swiped through the air, the energy carrying a violent weight as it headed straight for Qin Wei, with an intention to kill.

The force of the strike felt like a hundred tons of crushing pressure, the impact so strong that the air around them seemed to bend and distort.

Qin Wei's heart raced at the incoming attack. He had no time to react, but he activated his defensive tactic as a thought came to his head.

"Activate… Paralyze Seal."

In an instant, the seal appeared in his hand, and with a snap of his wrist, he threw it toward the massive tiger. The seal expanded, surrounding the beast in a flashing array of runes. But the sheer force of the tiger's mana slammed into him before the seal could activate completely.

As a result, he was thrown into the air like a rag doll, the air knocked out of him as his body crashed into the terrace walls with a thud.

His body lay motionless against the stone, blood trickling from his mouth once again.

His limbs felt heavy, his chest crushed under the immense pressure.

His vision blurred, and for a moment, everything seemed distant and hazy even with Heaven's Eye.

"Master Icarus!" Vanessa muttered. Her hands clenched into a tight fist. She didn't even understand why she wanted to go right into the battle and stop it. But she barely controlled her urge because of Kaelan's presence.

As for the House lord, he stood at the edge of the platform, his eyes wide with shock instead of worry. "Icarus… that technique earlier. What kind of martial art are you practicing…"

Right then, Qin Wei's eyes flickered, blood staining the side of his face. His body, broken and battered, lay against the stone. But in his mind, a single thought kept him grounded:

"I will not fall… I cannot fall."

The thought of giving up has long gone from his head.

His limbs felt heavy, his chest crushed under the pressure of the mana tiger's strike. But the thought continuously filled his head. "I cannot fall… I cannot fall…"

"Argh…"

As a battle cry escaped his lips, the glow in his eyes turned even more intense.

With a trembling hand, he dug his fingers into the ground, using the stone as leverage to push himself up.

Taking a wide stance again, he roared.

"Activate… Gate of Sight."

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