"My face…" Liu Jiayu whimpered, both appalled and aghast.

The pain was agonizing; Liu Jiayu felt as if her flesh had been peeled away, and as she opened her mouth to speak, she felt a breeze blow into her throat, but it didn't enter from her parted lips.

It felt like the air came in sideways…

Several sharp intakes of breath could suddenly be heard from the spectators in the front row.

"How terribly grotesque…"

Liu Jiayu overheard them whispering.

It was not just a feeling, Liu Jiayu realized then and there, terror seizing her heart.

Li Meirong had actually torn the skin from her face!

To the spectators, the left side of Liu Jiayu's mouth was visible through her cheek. Her bloodied gums and teeth gaped through the newly-formed hole in her face.

Li Meirong reached Liu Jiayu and grasped a fistful of her hair, a cruel smile curving her lips as she observed her handiwork.

"I personally think you look much better with a permanent smile. At least this time it does not seem too fake."

Liu Jaiyu's chest rose and fell rapidly with her panicked breaths. She glared at Li Meirong, feeling as though she was staring the devil in the face.

"This daring tongue no longer seems necessary," Li Meirong continued, voice cold. "Since you appear to have no good use for it, shall I pluck it out for you?"

"Stay away from me!"

Unfazed by her opponent's cries, Li Meirong ruthlessly clamped her fingers down on Liu Jiayu's jaw until the latter's lips were forcibly pried open.

"No! Let go! Let go of me!" Liu Jiayu was helplessly rooted to the spot. Her eyes nervously darted from side to side as Li Meirong slowly began to curl her fingers.

From the corner of her eye, Liu Jiayu discovered her salvation, glimpsing her last hope. The Blood Sucking Parasol was there, near her feet!

In spite of Li Meirong's hold limiting her movement, Liu Jiayu reached out to grab the parasol, fighting against Li Meirong's painful grip with all her strength.

Against all odds, the edges of Liu Jiayu's fingertips scraped the parasol's handle.

Yet fate refused to lend Liu Jiayu a helping hand. Li Meirong's inhuman strength kept squeezing her jaw, in a single-minded pursuit to tear out the tongue which dared speak ill of her.

Li Meirong held Liu Jiayu just far enough away that Liu Jiayu could not make the extra little push to properly grasp the parasol.

Finally, Li Meirong pried Liu Jiayu's mouth wide open, dug her fingers inside, and then began to viciously tear her tongue out.

Liu Jiayu tried to cry for help, but her anguished screams were muffled by the hand shoved in her mouth and partially down her throat. Tears welled up and spilled over, an involuntary reaction to the agony she was suffering.

The salty liquid dripped into the open wounds of Liu Jiayu's cheek and mouth, adding to the stinging, burning pain.

The Grandmaster of the Armament Division felt his heart contract in his chest as he watched the violent display. Although the tournament rules forbade ending the battle before the announcement of a winner, he nevertheless rushed to his feet at the torture his disciple was undergoing.

An intense loathing burned through the Armament Division Grandmaster as he glared at Li Meirong. There was a saying that a person's true character was revealed in the face of adversity, and after all the years he spent taking care of Liu Jiayu, the Armament Division's Grandmaster was well aware of his succeeding disciple's personal flaws.

However, he hadn't expected that junior, Li Meirong, to be an opponent so bold, so fearless, that she would not be willing to give a grandmaster at the nascent soul stage any face!

This vicious girl dared torture his own succeeding disciple in front of his very eyes!

"Cease the battle at once!" The Armament Division Grandmaster shouted. His bellowing voice invoked paralyzing fear among almost all individuals present.

"I think not!" Li Meirong countered without ever shifting her gaze. She persisted in her self-assigned task of tearing Liu Jiayu's tongue out.

'This loathsome girl!' The Armament Division's Grandmaster gnashed his teeth. He regretted listening to the Sword Bearer's Grandmaster. Because of him, his precious student had been humiliated in front of everybody!

"I announce Li Meirong as the winner!" The Armament Division's Grandmaster immediately called out, gritting out the words.

Even though the Armament Division's Grandmaster knew he broke the rules, he nevertheless interfered with the battle in order to save his disciple. The moment a winner was announced, the participants were forced to cease fighting.

"Oh, very well…" Li Meirong muttered, obviously unsatisfied by the outcome.

She slowly withdrew her hand from Liu Jiayu's mouth, having released her grip on the other woman's tongue. Her nose scrunched up in disgust as she produced a handkerchief with which she could wipe the saliva and blood from her hand.

Liu Jiayu's eyes locked onto the loathsome girl before her. She forced herself to ignore the crippling pain of her torn tongue and ripped cheek, and used the exact moment Li Meirong was distracted to direct the Blood Sucking Parasol at her open wound.

"Die!" bawled Liu Jiayu.