Chapter 124: The Championship Battle Three

  The first round of the competition did not take up a full hour to end, and the winners were Chen Xuan, Qian Kun, Xiao Qiuyu, Ding Er, Fei Yan, all five of whom won in this round, also proving the strength of the top four Master Shanjun. Except for Chen Xuan, the other four matches were as expected.

  After a half-hour break, everyone stood up again to prepare for the second round of competition. All the disciples had basically recovered by then. The spiritual energy consumed in the first five rounds shouldn't be too much, but from the last four rounds onwards, each round would see someone running out of spiritual energy.

  Chen Xuan leaped up and jumped onto the stage again. He didn't want to deliberately choose an opponent, as fighting anyone would be unavoidable now. The consumption of spiritual energy was already negligible for Chen Xuan at this point. The Heaven-Devouring Furnace was constantly absorbing spiritual energy, which Chen Xuan stored away in the furnace. This energy would be needed later for advancement or battles, but it was limited. Currently, the Heaven-Devouring Furnace could only store enough spiritual energy to sustain Chen Xuan for five days. Once this limit was broken, the stored energy would be like a drop in the bucket, completely unable to solve the problem. A large quantity of Yuan Spiritual Pills would still be needed to replenish his energy.

  In the blink of an eye, a young man landed on Chen Xuan's stage, Qin Huo. Chen Xuan recognized him at a glance. He was ranked seventh last year and his strength was also considered strong. None of those who made it to the top ten were ordinary people.

  "Junior brother is so young, yet has such great achievements now. His future development is boundless. I heard that junior brother has offended many people recently, but judging from his strength, he indeed has the capital to be proud. A powerful expert must step on others' shoulders to rise, and I very much approve of your recent actions. Great strength requires earning others' respect."

  "Junior brother's recent actions were also forced, senior brother is laughing at him. Senior brother please give guidance." Chen Xuan said politely;

  "I didn't expect my junior brother to be so humble, these past few days his strength has been evident for all to see. With his current strength, he can easily contend for the top three spots. I'm going to concede this match directly, I want to save my strength for the later matches. As for the top five spots this year, I think I no longer have the qualifications to compete for it. I'll just conserve my strength and maintain last year's ranking. As a senior brother of the mountain peak, conceding might be seen as shameful, but I don't think so. It's not a matter of life and death, besides, strategically giving up on a match to conserve one's strength and improve one's ranking in later matches is also a good tactic, it can be considered making a good connection." Qin Huo directly gave up the match and said to Chen Xuan:

  Chen Xuan was also stunned. Which of the sixteen masters wasn't arrogant and disdainful? How could they possibly give up on the competition? Although his own strength was stronger than theirs, it was not enough to make them directly concede defeat. A look of surprise appeared on Chen Xuan's face;

  "Little brother, aren't you surprised? Why did I give up the match? Even if I couldn't defeat you, I could have fought with you for dozens of rounds. You thought so too, didn't you?" Qin Huo said with a smile.

  "Please enlighten me, senior brother," Chen Xuan asked doubtfully;

  "I'll be honest with you, before I stepped onto the stage, our Peak Master had already sent me a message. If I were to meet you, I should directly give up and conserve my strength for later, don't waste spiritual energy unnecessarily. Although I didn't understand what the Peak Master meant, I will still follow their instructions. I wish your master can achieve good results." Qin Huo explained;

  "Thanks a lot!" Although the opponent had conceded, Chen Xuan still politely said thank you. After that, both of them jumped off the stage and the referee recorded Chen Xuan's two consecutive victories.

  Chen Xuan won the second round without a fight, originally thinking there would be an epic battle, but in the end it was just like this. However, this is also good, at least from now on he has one less opponent and one more friend, Chen Xuan thought to himself.

  Return to the seat Chen Xuan watched other matches, Chen Xuan is now most concerned about the top few opponents, Chen Xuan has not seen a few people use their own spiritual instruments, all of them defeated their opponents with bare hands, leaving some trump cards.

  Suddenly, a loud noise was heard, and a figure was directly knocked flying. The referee on the first arena immediately announced the result: Qian Kun wins! Chen Xuan's eyes narrowed, also shocked by this punch. The power of this punch had completely surpassed his own Chi Yan Fist, which he rarely used now. But that was also a low-grade Earth-level martial skill, wasn't it? Was Qian Kun's fist technique an upper-grade Earth-level or even Heaven-level? Didn't Old Li say that Heaven-level martial skills were very rare?

  Qian Kun's eyes widened as he walked down from the stage, his disciples who were knocked flying struggled to get up after a dozen breaths, their faces filled with shame, not expecting that they couldn't even withstand a single move, and then spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

  The second opponent of Xiao Qiuyu was Xuan Yuan Li, Xuan Yuan Li's big ring knife had no room to play at all, and was beaten back step by step by Xiao Qiuyu's double fists. In the end, he was still knocked off the stage by Xiao Qiuyu's fist, another abnormality, Chen Xuan thought to himself.

  The Fengteng team won this match against Licheng, who was not very strong. Licheng ranked 10th last year and again entered the top ten this year.

  Fei Yan's opponent this time is Ding Er, the strength of both are between Zhong Bo, last year's ranking was one third and one fourth, it seems that these two will have a tough battle.

  The other four matches have ended, but this one has not. The two are evenly matched on the field, with Fei Yan's hands covered in a layer of frost and her entire body dancing elegantly. It is a beautiful sight to behold. Ding Er's fists are also powerful, causing the bluestones all over the field to shatter, but still unable to harm Fei Yan's hair.

  On the stage, two figures intertwined, one ethereal and one steady, one with gentle palm techniques and the other with fierce fist methods. After over a hundred rounds of fighting, neither had gained the upper hand. Ding Er was already showing signs of anxiety - if he lost to Fei Yan this year, his Water Cloud Peak would likely drop in ranking. Ding Er's fist attacks became even faster.

  Bang, bang, bang! The two men's fists and palms clashed together, producing a fierce crashing sound that echoed out from the arena. The two of them retreated four or five steps, "Flying Swallow didn't think your strength would increase so much in just one year, you've already cultivated your Frosty Heart Method to the sixth level, right?" Ding Erdao said, stopping his hands.

  "Your strength is not bad either, I lost to you last year, it seems that this year I will take it back." Fei Yan said coldly.

  "Your strength has improved a lot, but wanting to defeat me is probably impossible. I was able to beat you last year and this year I will do it again." With that, Ding Er launched another attack;

  "Ding Er's" loud shout, his fist accompanied by the sound of breaking air, charged straight at Fei Yan. His fist grew larger in Fei Yan's eyes, and in an instant, it was right in front of her face. "Hàn Bīng Zhèn Fǎ" (Ice Array Formation) Fei Yan shouted, and countless ice cones appeared around her. The ice cones eventually formed a formation that trapped Ding Er at its center. Several ice cones also met Ding Er's fist, and within the time it took to take one breath, Ding Er's fist collided with Fei Yan's ice cone, while Fei Yan's ice array was also formed.

  Ding Er suddenly felt a change in front of him, and he found himself in a vast white expanse. Everything around him was white, and his opponent, Fei Yan, had vanished. Ding Er was startled, "What kind of formation is this? Trying to trap me? I'll break it!" Ding Er punched forward, but there was only a vast whiteness in front of him, and his fist felt like it was hitting air.

  Even the few people watching from under the stage were attracted by this formation, and each of them saw Ding Er making random attacks on the stage, while Fei Yan stood in the distance controlling the formation.

  This flying swallow is also an expert in array techniques, Chen Xuan thought to himself;

  In the formation, Ding Er Chao punched countless punches in mid-air, but still couldn't escape this vast white expanse. The spiritual energy in his dantian had been rapidly depleted. "At this rate, I'm afraid my spiritual energy will be completely exhausted, and it'll be difficult to complete the next match," he thought. He drew out his top-grade spirit artifact, Dingzi Sword, from his ring and made a swift slash at the void. A black fissure appeared in the white expanse, and Ding Er quickly increased his attack, striking out with over a dozen more swords. The black rift grew wider, and after hundreds of slashes, the white scene finally disappeared. However, just as Ding Er regained his vision, an arrow had already stopped at his throat, mere inches away. Fei Yan had moved her hand holding the arrow the moment Ding Er broke through the formation.

  Ding Er looked at the flying shuttle under his eyelids and said with a dejected tone, "I lost."

  "Yielding" Fei Yan retrieved her flying dart and returned to her seat, preparing for the next match.