"If you're going to face me…" Lin Yi's voice carried across the arena, calm yet suffocating in its weight. "…then step down now."
For a single breath, silence gripped the entire stadium.
It was the kind of silence that felt heavy, unnatural, as if even the air itself had frozen in place. Thousands of students, instructors, and spectators sat there, eyes locked onto the lone figure standing in the arena, their minds struggling to process what they had just heard.
Then—
The arena erupted.
"What did he just say?!"
"He's challenging Tang Yue?!"
"Has he lost his mind?!"
"No… no, I heard it too… he really said that!"
The crowd broke into waves of murmurs and exclamations, the noise rising like a storm crashing against the arena walls. Students leaned forward in their seats, some half-standing, others gripping the railings in disbelief, their eyes wide as they stared at the battlefield where Lin Yi stood unmoving.
