"Hong Yu actually won?"
"It's not surprising he won, but the thing is, he won using only the Basic Boxing Technique!"
"Since when did the Basic Boxing Technique beco so powerful? Unbelievable!"
"That Hong Yu really has so talent, defeating even Yuu Chenfei so easily... It's just a sha his cultivation speed is so pathetic. He still hasn't even broken through to the Half-Step Earth Soul Realm..."
Gazing at the young man on the stage, the thousands in the audience were all buzzing with discussion.
While cries of shock and awe were the prevailing sentint, there was no shortage of scorn and malicious slander.
Up on the stage, however, Hong Yu's expression remained as calm as ever, completely unaffected by the crowd's chatter.
He took a deep breath and slowly relaxed his Basic Boxing Technique stance, letting his hands fall to his sides. He smiled at Yuu Chenfei, who had fallen from the stage. "Senior Brother Yuu, thank you for the match!"
"Heh..."
A bitter smile touched Yuu Chenfei's lips as he shook his head. "Thank you, Junior Brother, for holding back!"
Hong Yu smiled. "We have no personal grudge. There was no need to fight to the death!"
Yuu Chenfei nodded.
"Hong Yu wins..."
The Steward announced impassively, "The next match is between number sixty-six and number seventy-nine. The two disciples, get on stage at once!"
The two Outer Disciples whose numbers were called were already waiting below the stage. However, seeing that Hong Yu had yet to leave, they simply stood with their hands at their sides, like subjects awaiting their monarch.
Only after Hong Yu had left the stage did they step onto it, one after the other.
It was a well-matched contest, a battle fought to a standstill.
However, with the precedent Hong Yu had just set by defeating his opponent with the Basic Boxing Technique, the subsequent fights seed rather dull.
During this ti, Hong Yu used his left Cyan Eye to observe the battles taking place in the other arenas.
All one hundred of the promotion arenas were well within the range of his Cyan Eye's vision.
A cyan light swirled in his left eye. He could see with perfect clarity, even spotting a mosquito resting on the shoulder of the Steward in Arena 99, a full thousand ters away. One could only imagine how terrifying the Pupil Power of his Cyan Eye was!
However, this was rely the most basic ability of the Cyan Eye!
'Hm? That guy's a new disciple too. He kept such a low profile before, I never thought he'd be this strong!'
'That guy at the Mid-stage Earth Soul Realm is pretty good. Huh? He's with Guo Fei? He must be one of Guo Fei's n!'
'Tsk, tsk. Besides the top ten on the Earth List who are exempt from the qualifying matches, there are still over a thousand experts at or above the Earth Soul Realm. The Cyan Nether Sword Sect is truly on another level. The number of Earth Soul Realm experts in the Outer Sect alone probably surpasses that of any of the Noble Families in the Fengyue Kingdom,' Hong Yu mused.
Just then...
"Hong Yu, you're up!" the Steward said with a smile.
Hong Yu paused, scratching his head. "I'm coming!"
His opponent this ti was at the peak of the Essence Realm.
The mont he saw his opponent was Hong Yu, a bitter smile crossed his face. "I forfeit!"
Hong Yu: "..."
A victory without a fight!
After that first forfeiture, a veritable wave of forfeits swept through Group Seven in Arena 19.
"Senior Brother Hong, I forfeit!"
"Oh, man! I thought I could last one more round, but I never expected to run into a monster like you. I'm not fighting, I'm not fighting! I forfeit..."
"Brother Hongyu, you've already won so many matches. Pretty please, just let have this one?"
A flirtatious and voluptuous female disciple crossed her arms, showcasing assets of such magnificent, surging proportions that they could make a man's eyes glow green. Her voice was sickly sweet, enough to lt the will of the sternest hero. "As long as... as long as you let win this round, I'll give you permission to pursue !"
This woman was quite famous in the Sword Sect. Relying on her fiery figure and pretty face, she often had disciples fighting over her in fits of jealousy.
For instance...
She had made it this far without actually fighting a single ti, having chard all of her previous opponents into forfeiting.
Unfortunately for her, she had picked the wrong target this ti.
Hong Yu gritted his teeth. "Senior Sister, let's begin!"
"Fuck, are you even a man? I'm just asking you to throw one match, it's not like it'll kill you."
Seeing Hong Yu completely unmoved, the Senior Sister, who just monts before had been the picture of delicate, seductive charm, had a complete change of face. She planted her hands on her hips, gritted her teeth, and spat a vicious curse. "I've never t a man as petty as you! I curse you to go limp with every woman you et! I curse you to be a butt-poking fag, you dead fag..."
Still muttering curses, the formidable woman jumped right off the stage and waved a hand at the Steward. "I forfeit."
Hong Yu: "..."
Steward: "..."
Everyone: "..."
Aside from that little interlude, all of Hong Yu's other matches in the Group Seven preliminaries ended with his opponents forfeiting, allowing him to advance directly.
Thus, after a little over half an hour, Hong Yu rightfully claid victory in Group Seven with an undefeated record.
anwhile, the fastest of the other groups had only completed two-thirds of their matches.
With nothing to do, Hong Yu sat cross-legged on the ground and began to regulate his state.
Hong Yu had already finished condensing his ninth Qi Vortex. All he needed was a bit more adjustnt, and he could consu the Five-Colored Golden Lotus to condense his Primordial Spirit and finally break through to the Earth Soul Realm.
If the Outer Sect's promotion tournant hadn't been so imminent, he would never have left the Sword Tower in such a hurry.
He waited for the better part of the day, until the scorching sun hung high in the sky.
The sweltering noon heat was enough to make one drowsy.
Hong Yu slowly opened his eyes. A streak of cyan light flashed through his left eye as his lips curled and he exhaled a turbid breath. 'Is it finally over?'
DONG!
A deep, resounding toll of a bell shook the heavens.
The disciples in the Martial Arts Arena all began to converge on the central tower, the source of that mighty toll.
"The preliminary selection for the promotion tournant has concluded. Of the one hundred fifty thousand disciples who participated, one thousand outstanding disciples have erged."
A voice filled with authority bood from the tower, though the speaker remained unseen. "Next, these one thousand disciples will proceed to the secondary elimination round, which will be a cross-elimination tournant. The final one hundred disciples, along with the top ten from the Earth List, will participate in the Inner Sect promotion tournant three months from now!"
At the top of the tower, the Black-Robed Elder looked to the side at Elder Bai and asked casually, "Old Bai, do you have anything to add?"
Elder Bai nodded. His voice was hoarse and not loud, yet everyone heard him with perfect clarity. "The Inner Sect of our Cyan Nether Sword Sect has no need for modesty. What we need is your courage and decisiveness, the will to advance no matter the cost. Therefore, this elimination round has a special rule..."
"Hm?"
The Black-Robed Elder froze.
'He had known Elder Bai for many years and was well aware of the man's disposition. Ever since that incident, he had never once made his opinion known on any public occasion.'
'Why was he acting so out of character now?'
'The Black-Robed Elder's mind raced. His gaze involuntarily fell upon Hong Yu in the crowd, a doubtful expression in his eyes. 'Could it be... this is all because of him?''
'He quickly dismissed the thought.'
'Elder Bai's status was incredibly special; even the Sect Leader himself had to address him as Grand Martial Uncle. He himself only had a relationship with the man because of his own mastery in the art of chess. What had this Hong Yu possibly done to earn such special treatnt?'
Below the high platform...
"A special rule? What could it be?"
"It must be so kind of restriction!"
Elder Bai's deliberate pause had thoroughly piqued the crowd's curiosity. Everyone pricked up their ears, waiting.
As everyone waited with bated breath, Elder Bai finally spoke again, slowly. "This special rule is..."
"Fists have no eyes; life and death will be disregarded!"
His words were deliberate and resolute, each one ringing with power.
When those eight words echoed across the sky above the Martial Arts Arena, the entire crowd of over one hundred thousand erupted.
"How can that be? They're really disregarding life and death?"
"In every past tournant, hasn't the Sect always done everything possible to protect the disciples' lives? Why this ti..."
The Black-Robed Elder frowned. "Old Bai, you..."
Elder Bai snorted. "If they cannot be tempered by the crucible of life and death, they will forever be nothing more than flowers in a greenhouse, unfit for any true responsibility."
"But..."
The Black-Robed Elder knew Elder Bai's temperant well; once he made a decision, it could not be changed. Shaking his head with a wry smile, he announced in a booming voice, "The secondary elimination round of the Outer Sect promotion tournant officially begins!"
No matter how shocked everyone was by Elder Bai's words, the mont they heard the round was beginning, they pushed it to the back of their minds and headed to their assigned arenas as directed by the stewards.
Hong Yu was assigned to Arena 22 and headed toward it under a steward's guidance.
He failed to notice, however, that in a pavilion sowhere in the Martial Arts Arena, Guo Fei was speaking to a man before him with a look of cold indifference. "This new rule suits my purposes perfectly... Take these two items. Later, when you're on the stage, seize the first opportunity you get and..."
Guo Fei made a sharp, cutting gesture across his own throat with his hand, a vicious glint in his eyes.
The man beside him shuddered, terrified by this cold intent. He swallowed hard and gave a stiff nod.
"Go," Guo Fei said. "Perform well. If you succeed, I'll have the Alliance Leader reward you handsoly."
The man nodded sharply, a cruel and resolute light flickering in his eyes as he walked out.
Guo Fei was left alone, his back to the door. His gaze was glacial as he stared toward Hong Yu's arena, fixated on the young man's figure. An almost imperceptible, sinister chill emanated from him. 'I was planning to thoroughly humiliate you in front of everyone during the Inner Sect promotion tournant. However, your performance in the Cyan Nether Sword Tower has left feeling... uneasy!'
His sinister voice echoed faintly through the pavilion.
...
"Will the two contestants for Arena 22 please co to the stage!"
the steward bood.
Hong Yu smiled and nodded, walking onto the stage with a steady gait. He stood quietly in the center.
But after more than a dozen breaths, his opponent still hadn't appeared.
Hong Yu frowned slightly and glanced at the steward for Arena 22.
The steward spread his hands and shouted again, "Contestant for Arena 22, please co to the stage! If you do not appear within ten breaths, you will be considered to have forfeited."
"I'm coming, I'm coming!"
The steward's words had barely faded when a voice called out.
On the stage, Hong Yu frowned. The voice sounded familiar. He turned to look in its direction.
When he saw who it was, he froze...
'It's him?'
User Comments
0 comments from readers