Chapter 124: First Battle
Chapter 124: First Battle
In fact, there wasn’t a whole lot of suspense surrounding the last round of the tournament.
The only big suspense lay in the fight between Bai Zhaoyun and Ke Yue over who would be third and fourth place.
There were still many disciples who wagered spirit stones and even entire storage pouches at the betting stalls, hoping to become rich overnight.
The match that attracted the most bets was the fight between Bai Zhaoyun and Ke Yue over third place. Following closely behind that was the fight between Xu Disheng and Yan Cheng, over who would be last in 10th place.
Li Cangyun, Guan Lu, and Kou Zun had long been famous as Sea of Qi stage geniuses, and were second only to the peak circle of geniuses at the very top. These three geniuses weren’t an easy match for Xu Disheng and Yan Cheng, who had recently risen to their positions.
Zhao Yueban had once been of the same caliber as Li Cangyun and the other two geniuses, but after he had been killed by Xu Disheng’s Ghost Devourer in the Mirage Sea Realm, a spot had opened up in the top 10.
At sundown, Tao Yuanbai flew up in a streak of profound light, arriving on the chariots atop the giant turtle. After presenting himself before the Spirit Masters and receiving their instructions, he moved to stand on the shoulder of the giant turtle. When he spoke, his voice resonated throughout the entirety of the Green Lotus Domain. “According to the rules of the final round of the Sea of Qi division of the Mingxin Mountain Internal Disciple Tournament, the contestants must voluntarily choose and challenge an opponent, starting from the contestant who received 10th place in the Mirage Sea Realm based on the number of points. The loser will be eliminated until only the top 5 remain.”
“What? Why are the rules different from how they were in the past?”
“With these rules, wouldn’t the half-step Dao Foundation stage geniuses encounter each other sooner…?”
“My spirit stones!”
“Since it’s now being done by points, doesn’t that mean that 10th place Guan Lu and 9th place Yan Cheng will be fighting each other?”
The expressions of the innumerable disciples in the domain changed greatly upon hearing the rules, despite the fact that the rules weren’t exactly the same each time. With this new set of rules that involved selecting opponents based on points, it was possible for the disciples with the least points to choose the disciples with the least strength and enter the top 5 while avoiding the half-step Dao Foundation stage disciples altogether!
The ten arenas that were once set up in the center of the domain had been removed, and now a single massive arena took their place, drawing the gazes of all the onlookers.
Many disciples who had already returned to their respective Mountain Peaks started rushing over to the Green Lotus Domain after hearing that there were changes to the rules.
Many jade slips were sent out, and shortly after, countless streaks of light belonging to all kinds of different flying-type Spirit Tools flashed through the sky as more and more disciples began to arrive in the Green Lotus Domain.
Some disciples had glittering eyes as they pulled out even more spirit stones, seeming to already have betting targets in mind.
The massive screen of light above the Green Lotus Domain had only 10 names remaining on it. Since the rules were based on the number of points, that put Xu Disheng at 4th place on the ranking.
1st place, Yu Yangyao.
2nd place, Jian Liangbi
3rd place, Bai Zhaoyun.
4th place, Xu Disheng.
5th place, Ke Yue.
6th place, He Junyu.
7th place, Li Cangyun.
8th place, Kou Zun.
9th place, Yan Cheng.
10th place, Guan Lu.
However, this ranking wasn’t reflective of their true strength. There was a factor of luck in it, with many other elements at play.
“Guan Lu, you may step up to the arena and choose an opponent,” Tao Yuanbai announced.
Guan Lu stepped on his flying sword and flew onto the massive arena in the very center of the domain.
He looked up at the ranking and gazed contemplatively at Yan Cheng and Xu Disheng’s names.
“Choose Xu Disheng! He’s only at the early Sea of Qi stage. If you choose him, I’ll go all in!” a disciple bellowed, his eyes bloodshot. He had very evidently lost quite a few spirit stones already, but now he seemed to be ready to stake everything on a single wager.
“Idiot! Zhao Yueban and Guan Lu are similar in terms of strength. Xu Disheng will just send him to his death just like he did Zhao Yueban! Why in the world do you think Guan Lu would be able to take an easy win over Xu Disheng?!” another disciple nearby sneered disdainfully.
“Among the 10 geniuses, Xu Disheng and Yan Cheng are obviously the weakest, since they recently joined the ranks of geniuses. If Guan Lu chooses one of those two, he’ll easily be able to win and enter the top 5.”
Guan Lu cupped his fists and said, “Peak Master Tao, I will choose Yan Cheng as my opponent.”
The level of strength that Xu Disheng and Yan Cheng had put out in the open was fairly similar at this point. Both of them had several Magic Treasures on them.
Given the fact that Xu Disheng had killed Zhao Yueban and Zuo Yanran, Guan Lu decided to go with the safer option and choose Yan Cheng, who now seemed weaker in comparison.
A forced smile appeared on Yan Cheng’s face as he flew up onto the arena in a streak of light. “Senior Martial Brother Guan, it’s a pleasure to exchange pointers with you.”
Guan Lu nodded and looked towards Tao Yuanbai on a chariot atop the giant turtle.
“Start,” Tao Yuanbai declared.
The moment his voice reached their ears, Guan Lu immediately attacked, flinging out a long whip. A purple streak of profound light nearly a hundred meters long swept horizontally across the stage, thrashing ruthlessly towards Yan Cheng.
“Spirit Suppressing Tome!” Yan Cheng said unflinchingly, and an ancient book appeared above his head. The pages flipped wildly, and with every turning page, a Dao Foundation stage spiritual beast charged out of the tome!
Two of the spiritual beasts collided with that relentless purple profound light, destroying it completely. The bodies of the spiritual bodies also faded into motes of light, returning to the ancient tome.
The remaining eight Dao Foundation stage spiritual beasts let out a cacophony of howls and roars and charged at Guan Lu!
Yan Cheng’s hand seals shifted, and an imperial seal Magic Treasure appeared. It swelled in size until it was the size of a hill and smashed down towards Guan Lu with a resounding explosion!
This Moon Obscuring Seal was a top-grade Magic Treasure. It was well over a hundred times better than Xu Disheng’s Severing Spirit Seal. Faced with the rumbling sound that accompanied the descent of the seal, Guan Lu’s complexion changed several shades.
Guan Lu didn’t care that much about those eight spiritual beasts, since they were just incomplete spiritual bodies. They were far from being as powerful as a genuine Dao Foundation stage cultivator.
When the purple profound light sweeping the arena dissipated earlier, a purple whip appeared in Guan Lu’s hand. It was the top-grade offensive-type Magic Treasure, the Qingyang Whip!
Guan Lu showed no signs of putting up any defenses of any kind. Instead, he recited a mantra, intending to use a spell from the Qingyang Whip!
In the moment that the eight spiritual beasts howled and approached, the Moon Obscuring Seal, which was now the size of a small mountain, was already right above Guan Lu’s head, about to crush him into the ground!
Many of the disciples who had placed their bets on Guan Lu bellowed in outrage. “What is Senior Martial Brother Guan doing?! He’s being suppressed by a newly risen genius!”
“What the hell do you know?! Senior Martial Brother Guan’s cultivation base is deep and profound. Watch, in the next moment, he’s going to turn it around on Yan Cheng and defeat him.” Some of the smarter disciples had already seen through the fact that Yan Cheng was lacking in momentum, and knew that Guan Lu’s performance so far was actually an extremely skillful display.
As if to substantiate those words, Guan Lu’s eyes suddenly shone with a radiant glow as he muttered, “Qingyang, Yin Wind.”
The Qingyang Whip in his hand transformed into a pure, brilliant orb of purple radiance, and quickly grew in size until it was several times larger than before. Before long, it had transformed into a howling tornado.
Those eight incomplete Dao Foundation stage spiritual beasts were caught up in the squall of the purple tornado. Shortly after, they disappeared, transforming into countless motes of faded light before returning defeated to the Spirit Suppressing Tome above Yan Cheng’s head.
The Moon Obscuring Seal was extremely powerful. It continued to crash downwards with an unrelenting momentum, and was already on the verge of pressing down upon the purple tornado and extinguishing it. But at that moment, a longsword Magic Treasure appeared in Guan Lu’s hand. He casually threw it out, and the longsword morphed into an orb of resplendent profound light, colliding fiercely with the Moon Obscuring Seal!
Boom!
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