Chapter 436 - 412: The Dignity of a Supreme Expert

King of Hell, Mo Luo, Sword King Ye Cangtian, Power King Red Cliff Celestial Ape, Blood King Netherworld Green Blood, and Spear King Fengyun Sheng—just as these five super experts took their seats, three rays of light, like scorching suns, suddenly shot in from the horizon. The three rays of light arrived above the valley at an incredible speed, transforming into three elders with long, flowing beards.

The auras of these three elders were so immense they were suffocating. They stood high in the void like three scorching suns, and no one dared to look at them directly.

BOOM!

"Seventh Elder, Eighth Elder, and Ninth Elder! They’re all peerless masters at the True Dao Seventh Layer or higher!"

Seeing these three elders caused an immediate uproar in the valley. People rose to their feet one after another and respectfully greeted the three experts.

The elder standing in the middle nodded slightly and spoke, "I am Seventh Elder Jin Zhongyu of the Green Cloud Sect. To my left is the Sect’s Eighth Elder, Chi Haisheng, and to my right is Ninth Elder Deng Jian Gong. The three of us will preside over this entrance tournament for sect disciples. We will provide you with the fairest possible competition.

The Green Cloud Sect’s entrance tournament is held once every twenty years. Its purpose is to select the most promising geniuses from all over and give them special training within the Sect. The Barbaric Land is rife with competition; those without skill have no right to survive. Therefore, in this entrance tournament, every disciple must display their greatest strengths. Let us discover you, appreciate you, and cultivate you!"

ROAR—

The crowd clapped excitedly. The participating disciples were even more fired up, itching to rush onto an arena stage, find an opponent, and fight a vicious battle.

After Seventh Elder Jin Zhongyu finished speaking, Eighth Elder Chi Haisheng took a step forward and said slowly, "Now, I shall announce the rules of the competition. A total of five thousand four hundred and nine people are participating in this entrance tournament, including fifty seeded contestants.

Starting today, we will begin the arena elimination rounds. The seeded contestants will not participate, so there are a total of five thousand three hundred and fifty-nine contestants in the eliminations. These five thousand three hundred and fifty-nine contestants will be randomly matched for three rounds of elimination, until six hundred and seventy people remain. These six hundred and seventy people will advance to the second round of the competition."

Ninth Elder Deng Jian Gong then spoke up, "We have set up a total of fifty arena stages, which can accommodate one hundred contestants fighting simultaneously. These stages are all built from Ten Thousand Year Purple Jade and are inscribed with powerful Protective Arrays. They can withstand a full-force blow from a Daoist Master, so you can fight without holding back.

To ensure you can display your full strength, you may use any means to attack on the stage. But be warned: if an opponent has surrendered or lost the ability to resist, you may not attack them further.

Alright, your opponents will now be randomly determined. Pay close attention to your Identity Recognition Jade Token. The token is inscribed with a relevant array. When it’s your turn, the Jade Token will light up to notify you to enter the stage and fight."

SWISH!

As the Ninth Elder’s voice fell, Zhaang Ye felt the Jade Token in his hand grow slightly warm, and then a line of small red text appeared on it: "Zhaang Ye and Qu Aotian, please proceed to arena stage forty-nine to fight."

Zhaang Ye was slightly taken aback. ’I didn’t expect to be called to the stage so quickly.’ He stood up, glanced at the arena stages, and strode down to stage forty-nine.

On stage forty-nine, Qu Aotian was already standing steadily. He had a gaunt figure and a sallow complexion, looking as if he were on death’s door. But Zhaang Ye’s keen Spiritual Power sensed a thread of danger from this Qu Aotian.

Seeing the two on the stage, the referee announced loudly, "Contestant Zhaang Ye from the Land of Divine Abandonment, and contestant Qu Aotian from Sanqu City. Both of you, take your positions. You may only begin when I give the signal."

The referee’s voice had barely faded when the audience immediately broke into a commotion, everyone chattering amongst themselves.

"Huh? The Land of Divine Abandonment, that godforsaken place, actually sent a contestant?"

"Heh, if the referee hadn’t mentioned it, I’d have forgotten that dump even existed."

"The Land of Divine Abandonment is just a tiny place. The Martial Artists there have extremely low Cultivation. Even if they reach the Half-step True Dao realm, they can’t adapt after coming to the Barbaric World. Although this Zhaang Ye has Half-step True Dao Cultivation, he’s definitely no match for Qu Aotian."

"Agreed. This Qu Aotian may look gaunt and unremarkable, but he’s a famous genius in Sanqu City. Who knows how many people have died at his hands. I doubt this Zhaang Ye will make it back to the Land of Divine Abandonment in one piece."

"That’s right. I’ve heard Qu Aotian’s name before. He’s cultivated his Long Whip technique to an unbelievable level. When his whip is fully unleashed, its afterimages fill the area a hundred zhang around. If you’re so much as grazed by it, you’re dead. This Zhaang Ye just came out of the Land of Divine Abandonment; he probably hasn’t even adapted to the gravity here. He’s definitely not Qu Aotian’s opponent."

...

「On the arena stage.」

Qu Aotian sized up Zhaang Ye and said arrogantly, "Zhaang Ye, I’d advise you to just obediently return to where you came from. You might be a local tyrant in the Land of Divine Abandonment, but here in the Barbaric World, your pathetic strength is a joke. I suggest you surrender now to avoid an ugly defeat."

Zhaang Ye smiled faintly and said, "Qu Aotian, I’d advise you to just obediently return to where you came from. You might be a local tyrant in Sanqu City, but here on the arena stage, your pathetic strength is a joke. I suggest you surrender now to avoid an ugly defeat."

"You!"

Qu Aotian was practically seething with rage. A savage look appeared in his eyes, blue veins popped on his gaunt face, and his entire demeanor became sinister, like a man-eating Fierce Beast.

Just then, the referee announced in a deep voice, "Let the fight begin!"

Before the referee’s voice had even faded, a black Long Whip suddenly appeared in Qu Aotian’s hand. With a slight flick of his wrist, the Long Whip instantly swelled to the thickness of a water bucket, and a murderous aura surged across the stage like a tidal wave.

A hint of killing intent appeared on Qu Aotian’s gaunt face, and he roared savagely, "Brat, you refused to do things the easy way, so don’t blame me for being ruthless! Now die!

CRACK!

The bucket-thick Long Whip transformed into a black giant dragon, coiling toward Zhaang Ye from a strange and unpredictable angle. Wherever the whip passed, the air filled with the thick stench of blood. Clearly, Qu Aotian’s black Long Whip had tasted the blood of countless opponents!

Just as the Long Whip was about to strike, Zhaang Ye suddenly took a step forward. His hand chopped down like a blade, and with a SWISH SWISH SWISH, he unleashed three successive strikes. Three long Sword Gangs shot out in response!

Zhaang Ye’s first strike landed squarely on the middle of Qu Aotian’s Long Whip. The middle of the whip is where it has the least force, and after being struck by Zhaang Ye’s Sword Gang, the bucket-thick whip instantly lost its power and went limp.

And at that very moment, Zhaang Ye’s second and third Sword Gangs suddenly formed a cross shape, shot past the Long Whip like lightning, and appeared before Qu Aotian.

"Ah!"

Qu Aotian had never imagined Zhaang Ye’s counterattack would be so swift. Seeing the two Sword Gangs flying at him, he roared in terror and unleashed a vast amount of Innate True Qi from his palms to block them head-on.

BANG! BANG!

Zhaang Ye’s two Sword Gangs slammed viciously into Qu Aotian’s hands. The immense power within the Sword Gangs erupted instantly, sending Qu Aotian flying. He crashed hard against the arena’s Protective Shield before falling heavily back onto the stage, spewing mouthfuls of blood.

"You, you..."

Qu Aotian pointed at Zhaang Ye, unable to form a complete sentence.

Zhaang Ye walked over to Qu Aotian’s side and said nonchalantly, "You couldn’t even block three casual Sword Gangs from me. You’re not a genius at all; you’re trash. After such an ugly defeat, you should just obediently go back to Sanqu City."

PTHOO!

Qu Aotian spat out another mouthful of blood and fainted.

The referee quickly walked over and glanced at Qu Aotian, a flash of astonishment in his eyes. He was the closest to them and had seen the entire fight clearly. ’I thought it would be impressive if Zhaang Ye could even withstand three of Qu Aotian’s moves. Who would have known he’d defeat him so easily, in just the blink of an eye!’

The referee confirmed that Qu Aotian had lost the ability to fight and announced, "First elimination round, the battle on arena stage forty-nine is over. Zhaang Ye of the Land of Divine Abandonment is victorious."

ROAR!

Hearing the referee’s announcement, the spectators near the arena stage erupted into a clamor. Just moments ago, when they heard of Zhaang Ye’s origins, not a single person had favored him. No one had expected that Zhaang Ye would knock out the formidable Qu Aotian with just three casual Sword Gangs.

Zhaang Ye paid no mind to the crowd’s uproar and strode back to his seat.

Zhaang Ye’s performance only caught the attention of a small number of people. After all, there were a full fifty arena stages in the valley, with battles unfolding on all of them simultaneously. It was a dazzling spectacle, impossible for one pair of eyes to take in completely.

The super expert Ye Cangtian watched Zhaang Ye’s retreating figure and said slowly, "That kid has a good eye. He was able to spot the weakness in Qu Aotian’s Long Whip at a glance and attack decisively. On top of that, his Sword Gang is also impressive. His Sword Gang is extremely condensed; Qu Aotian’s Innate True Qi has reached eighty-three percent purity, yet he still couldn’t take those two Sword Gangs."

Next to Ye Cangtian was the super expert Fengyun Sheng. Fengyun Sheng said indifferently, "The kid does have some skill. But he’s also far too arrogant. When we entered, he actually sent out a Sword Gang to block us. If he manages to make it to the point-based matches, I’ll pin him to the ground with a single finger and cripple his Cultivation."

Ye Cangtian nodded slightly. They were the super experts of the Younger Generation and placed great importance on their dignity. Zhaang Ye’s act of sending out the Sword Gang was tantamount to a provocation, and faced with such a provocation, they would surely retaliate ten, even a hundred times over!

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Finally finished. Thank you for your support, my friends! I’d like to recommend a friend’s book, ’Proud Immortal Doctor’. The author’s writing is masterful, the content is exciting, you can’t miss it.

——————————————————————(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote with Recommendation Tickets and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)