“A lot of time will be wasted if we follow the original rule of the competition by drawing lots. Besides, it might be a little unfair to leave things up to chance by drawing lots. I would rather take the trouble to maintain the fairness in the Mysterious Heavenly Selection myself. Whoever dares to question my decision will be punished for being disrespectful to the Mysterious Heavenly Palace.”
Er Chun’s voice was slightly bleak with a hint of coercion. The sense of coercion was still bearable for the Heavenly Jewel Masters. However, it was more than enough to scare the commoners. When he finished talking, the commoners thought it over and surmised that his words made sense as well. The protest from below the stage gradually came to a halt.
After he motioned for the first Heavenly Jewel Master to stand in front of him, Er Chun explained indifferently, “The test will be the same for everyone. It doesn’t matter what technique you use, as long as you can withstand my blow and not fall off the stage, you’ll be able to advance to the second round. If by chance, only three participants manage to withstand my blow, those three will instantly advance to the finals. If there are more than three participants that successfully pass this round, the third round of assessment will be conducted.”
The ten selected participants nodded to indicate that they understood. Seeming magnanimous, Er Chun nodded at the young man in front of him, gesturing for him to get ready.
Naturally, the young man did not dare act carelessly. Having a five Jewels cultivation base, he released his four-piece Consolidated Equipment all at once. As an unaffiliated Heavenly Jewel Master, it was not an easy task to possess so many pieces of Consolidated Equipment. He focused as he waited for Er Chun’s blow.
“Careful!” Er Chun took a step forward. Heavenly Jewels intrinsic to him immediately materialized on both of his wrists. Both sides were impressively equipped with nine bright and shining Heavenly Jewels. Without making any unnecessary movement, he delivered a direct punch.
The young man quickly defended by casting an ice shield as he used all his might to maintain it.
Crack!
A muffled sound resonated as the ice shield shattered into pieces. The young man was thrown back until he dropped off the stage.
Zhou Weiqing stood on the stage. A twitch could be seen on the corner of his mouth. He almost burst out laughing.
It was normal for the commoners to be fooled by the gimmick, but how could it possibly escape his eyes? It might look fair, but how was it fair, exactly?
Er Chun indeed had pretty good strength, especially coupled with his Heavenly Zong cultivation base. How could someone who was at the Fifth Jewel-tier defend against a punch from a Ninth-tier? To top it off, the amount of Heavenly Energy infused in this blow was entirely controlled by him, was it not?
Under such circumstances, it was obvious the situation they were in was absolutely unfair. At the moment, Zhou Weiqing completely believed the words that Sang De uttered earlier. It was completely out of his expectations for the Mysterious Heavenly Palace to stoop so low and degenerate to such a state. In this aspect, the Five Great Saint Lands on the Boundless Mainland were much better than them. At the very least, nobody had ever heard of such sordid deeds in the Five Great Saint Lands in the past.
One blow after another was exchanged. Within a short period of time, the first four participants were blown off the stage by Er Chun.
When it came to the fifth person, the situation changed all of a sudden. The young man looked unremarkable, but when Er Chun threw his punch, the young man managed to stop himself and stabilize his body just a meter away from the edge of the stage.
A faint smile slowly crept onto Er Chun’s face. Nodding his head, he said to the young man, “That was a quite good way of negating strength. You’ve passed.”
The muscles on Zhou Weiqing’s face twitched uncontrollably for a moment. He almost could not help himself from swearing out loud. ‘What a f*cking fake!’
The sixth person was none other than Sang De. Bing’er and Zhou Weiqing were ranked at seventh and eighth respectively, so her turn would come first.
Sure enough, things went according to his expectations. Sang De was not thrown out of the stage after he had taken the punch. Better yet, he even managed to stop himself one meter ahead of the man who passed earlier. After receiving a ‘smile’ from Er Chun, he remained on the stage.
Finally, it was Bing’er’s turn. The entire audience now turned their attention to focus solely on Er Chun. With a faint smile, Zhou Weiqing looked at him. He was interested to see how Er Chun planned to deal with Bing’er. After all, the cultivation base that she demonstrated earlier was at the Seventh Jewel-tier. Aside from her, none of the remaining participants were at the Sixth Jewel-tier.
Looking at Bing’er, a smile suddenly flashed across Er Chun’s face as he said, “Having cultivated to the seventh Jewel cultivation base at such a young age is more than enough to prove the extraordinary talent that Lady Shangguan possesses. Naturally, you deserve a spot in the finals as well. However, as your cultivation base has already far exceeded the other participants. As such, I will gladly make an exception and get you an additional spot. Please step down and wait below the stage. You don’t have to participate in the next round.”
Taken aback, Bing’er could not help but turn to look at Zhou Weiqing.
Zhou Weiqing could not keep himself from smiling. Er Chun was not a fool after all! He did not dare cheat in front of so many people.
Sure enough, after hearing Er Chun’s statement, even the Heavenly Jewel Masters who were dissatisfied with his actions just now were at a loss for words. Bing’er proceeded to walk down from the stage when she received Zhou Weiqing’s signal from his eyes.
The eighth person was none other than Zhou Weiqing. There were two other people after him.
Er Chun had naturally seen the look Zhou Weiqing and Bing’er exchanged a moment ago. Still, there was not even the slightest change in his expression.
“Are you ready?” Er Chun asked him nonchalantly.
Nodding his head, Zhou Weiqing replied, “Yes, I’m ready. Please, sir.”
Er Chun stared at him in surprise. This was because Zhou Weiqing had answered him casually without even releasing a single piece of Consolidated Equipment.
Er Chun sneered secretly in his heart. He did not care at all. He took the same step forward before punching straight at Zhou Weiqing.
His fist contained Heavenly Energy. Although its might could not be seen on the surface, the moment his fist punched out, a strong oppressive force came pressing at Zhou Weiqing’s chest. The punch left him a little stifled.
With this attack, even a Seventh Jewel-tier master could not guarantee not being struck out by the punch, let alone a Fifth Jewel-tier master. The difference in their Heavenly Energy was just too enormous.
A smirk suffused Zhou Weiqing’s face. Facing Er Chun’s fist, he struck with his palm.
Bam!
A loud noise resounded on the stage. A scene that left the audience below staring with their mouths agape happened. Accompanied by a humming resonance, Zhou Weiqing remained standing in the same spot. He did not even take a step back. He just swatted Er Chun’s fist away.
“Huh?” Chun Er was dumbfounded, and he immediately fixed his gaze on Zhou Weiqing. This guy was someone who was on the fifth-tier! He only had Five Jewels! He could see five pairs of Heavenly Jewels on Zhou Weiqing’s wrist.
I-Impossible! Instinctively, he wanted to throw another punch but Zhou Weiqing suddenly interjected, “Master, I’ve passed, haven’t I?”
Filled with resentment, Er Chun stopped himself from raising his hand again. Instead, he put on a curious facade and asked Zhou Weiqing, “Young man, how did you manage to block my strike?” After all, there was absolutely no theatrics to his earlier blow.
Chuckling toothily, Zhou Weiqing replied, “Oh, my strength is relatively stronger, Master. I used to be told that I’m gifted with superhuman strength!”
Er Chun cursed his bad luck inwardly. Still, he did not think too much of it. After all, Zhou Weiqing had come together with the genius, Shangguan Bing’er. It was not peculiar at all for him to have a special skill or two under his sleeves. After nodding his head, he held his tongue and continued with the test.
This was only the second round. Er Chun was confident that Zhou Weiqing would not be able to ruin his plan.
Another person was eliminated between the remaining two participants, leaving an additional person on the stage. Needless to say, Zhou Weiqing was clear that apart from himself, these three remaining people had long been decided to be the winners before the competition began.
Looking at the remaining four people, Er Chun shot a gaze at Zhou Weiqing for a moment before he announced, “Since the four of you have passed the assessment earlier, we’ll now proceed to the third round. Being able to withstand my blow doesn’t mean that you’ll be able to withstand it another time. Just like before, this round will be personally conducted by me.”
Without a doubt, the first two participants were naturally able to withstand his ‘attack’ again. Then, it was Zhou Weiqing’s turn once again.
Smiling, Zhou Weiqing looked at this so-called ‘Master’ before him. In front of Zhou Weiqing, Er Chun’s expression looked relatively normal, as if everything was fair and just. He even specifically said to him, “Be careful, young man.”
Zhou Weiqing smiled as he said to Er Chun, “Please go ahead, Master.”
A cold glint flashed in Er Chun’s eyes. As he stepped forward, he punched his right fist out. His fist was charging straight at Zhou Weiqing’s chest. A cold sensation erupted from his fist. However, what was peculiar was the fact that the cold wave did not dissipate but it started to condense instead. Like an invisible icicle, it shot straight at Zhou Weiqing’s chest.
‘A skill? This fellow actually cast a skill? And look at how he good he is at covering it up! What a f*cking ‘amazing’ person!’ Zhou Weiqing thought to himself. He still maintained the smile on his face as he retaliated in the exact same manner he did earlier, with a slap on Er Chun’s hand.
Bam!
Amid the resonating hum, Er Chun fell into a daze. This was because once again, his fist was smacked away by Zhou Weiqing. Not only that, Zhou Weiqing was still standing there, perfectly fine at the same spot like nothing had just happened.
“Thank you, Master, for showing me mercy!” Zhou Weiqing chuckled lightly.
Er Chun stared at Zhou Weiqing and finally, he was unable to conceal it any longer. His face clearly turned sullen. This young man was not a simple person. His strength was just too strong! He had used 80% of his energy in the punch from earlier! Though he did not unleash much of his strength in order to conceal his skill, even Seventh Jewel Heavenly Jewel Masters would not be able to block his attack so easily! The superhuman strength he was born with seemed a little overboard.
In all honesty, Zhou Weiqing did not use much of his Heavenly Energy. He only maintained it at the five Jewels cultivation base level. However, his physical strength had already reached an extremely horrifying level. He was at the Ninth Jewel-tier, had experienced improvement from the Saint Energy, and possessed Dark Demon God Tiger Bloodlines and great dragon bloodlines from the dragon. All the various boosts had allowed him to reach a rather terrifying level with just his own physical strength. As for the attack skill from Er Chun with the ice attribute earlier, what damage could it do in the face of Zhou Weiqing’s Saint Energy?
Er Chun gloomily tested the fourth candidate again, and naturally, he passed again.
Four people! There were still four people left on the stage, but there were only three places available for the finals. There were four remaining people after two consecutive rounds of testing. Even though the commoners did not sense anything out of the ordinary, the Heavenly Jewel Masters below the stage had begun to smell something fishy.
The person that appeared the greatest phony was none other than Zhou Weiqing. After all, he did not even take a step back at all. However, his overly contrived action appeared genuine to those with discerning eyes. They took another look at the remaining three other than Zhou Weiqing, and soon, they recognized them.
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