Chapter 1740: Chapter 1740 Attract Attentions
Ye Liuyun estimated that Li Yuanyang’s round trip would take at least twenty days, giving him ample time to participate in the selection.
Immediately after deciding, Li Yuanyang gathered his men and set off, aiming to return quickly so Ye Liuyun could resume his alchemy practice without delay.
The selection for martial practitioners was well arranged, and there was no cause for concern.
As soon as Li Yuanyang left, Li Manfu hurried to inform Ye Liuyun.
"Training begins in two days. With the city lord absent, it’ll be even more convenient for you to participate!"
Ye Liuyun nodded, about to dismiss him when Li Manfu added, "Mr. Ye, I just heard that something happened at the Ice Palace."
"Oh? What happened?" Ye Liuyun became interested, and curious about the developments at the Ice Palace.
"The Ice Palace wiped out the Black Tiger Gang a month ago. Xiao Bingxin, the one abducted, died in that battle. Before her death, it’s said she plundered all of the Ice Palace’s resources!" Li Manfu informed Ye Liuyun.
"Is that so?" Ye Liuyun pretended to be surprised, then said, "Well, serves her right. She was too greedy, even trying to snatch some elixirs! Good riddance!"
"Indeed! Such people only leave behind a bad reputation when they die!" Li Manfu agreed.
"Did the Ice Palace recover those resources?" Ye Liuyun inquired.
"No. The Palace Master of the Ice Palace was furious, suspecting that Ma Wanhao, the leader of the Black Tiger Gang, not only killed Xiao Bingxin but also ran off with the resources! The situation is chaotic, and no one can make sense of it!"
Li Manfu said, sharing the latest rumors from the Ice Palace.
"Hmm. It’s likely that someone stronger than Xiao Bingxin took them," Ye Liuyun added.
After Li Manfu left, Ye Liuyun felt relieved. With Ma Wanhao taking the blame, he wasn’t worried about the Ice Palace investigating him.
Besides, they wouldn’t find any evidence against him.
To be safe, however, he decided to refrain from using his Power of Ice for the time being.
Two days later, the training for the selection officially began.
Ye Liuyun had his clone don a Concealcape to escort everyone out of the mansion before he went looking for Li Manfu.
Following Ye Liuyun’s instructions, Li Manfu registered them, allowing them to blend in with the training teams.
However, Ye Liuyun didn’t let his clone participate to avoid revealing his identity. The Black Panther acted as Ye Liuyun’s feral beast, counting as part of his strength.
The inspector sent by Prince Liang, a middle-aged man with a beard, took a headcount and then had them draw lots for the first round of elimination matches.
Using his Divine Sense, Ye Liuyun scanned the martial practitioners and found that most were commoners.
However, there were also genuine martial practitioners, including some in the late first stage and early second stage. It was unclear why they had entered the competition.
The inspector sat half-awake, not paying respectful attention.
He was at the mid-stage of the Second Tier, and with a glance, he could assess the capabilities of these individuals.
Yet, every year, the situation remained the same, with a large number of commoners being brought in to fill the numbers. He could only eliminate them through the initial rounds of elimination.
Thus, at the beginning of the elimination matches, he didn’t bother to pay much attention. However, duty required his presence.
Ye Liuyun and Lei Ming, among others, faced ordinary commoners in the first round. They barely needed to fight, just the release of their aura was enough to make their opponents surrender.
Thus, the first round of eliminations progressed very quickly, with half of the martial practitioners being eliminated in just two days.
Next came the second round of eliminations.
The officials from the city lord’s mansion were adept at arranging the matches. They ensured that true martial practitioners did not face each other in the elimination matches. Instead, they used the matches to eliminate as many commoners as possible. Otherwise, if everyone died, they would not have enough participants for the next year.
Five days later, the number of participants was finally reduced to just over one thousand and two hundred. It was then that the training officially began.
The city lord started issuing first-grade body refining and qi refining pills to everyone each day. Those without weapons were also given ordinary-grade weapons.
The martial practitioners were divided into teams of ten for training and battles.
Li Manfu assigned Lei Ming and others to Ye Liuyun’s team to facilitate mutual care. Those on the same team wouldn’t have the opportunity to fight to the death.
Ye Liuyun’s team accounted for half of the total number, with the remaining five being ordinary commoners.
After the teams were formed, there were inter-team elimination matches. Ye Liuyun’s team easily eliminated the five commoners.
"There won’t be any more eliminations for the teams. Starting tomorrow, there will be team battles until the end, all in the form of small teams!" Li Manfu informed Ye Liuyun.
He then added with concern, "This time’s selection includes two martial practitioners in the early Second Tier and over ten in the late First Tier. There are also over fifty in the mid First Tier, making it a relatively strong group! I’ll try to arrange for you not to encounter them. If you do, I’ll let you know in advance, just surrender!"
"No need for further arrangements! With our cooperation, even facing martial practitioners in the early Second Tier shouldn’t be a big problem!" Ye Liuyun stopped Li Manfu from making any more arrangements and considered this sufficient.
"Well then, be careful from now on. I won’t make any more specific arrangements!" Li Manfu also felt that it was enough for now and agreed temporarily.
"But the battles after this will be public," Li Manfu reminded Ye Liuyun.
"Public?" Ye Liuyun was a bit puzzled.
"The City Lord’s Mansion can make some income from this by attracting spectators through the fights between the teams," Li Manfu explained with a smile.
"Oh! The city lord really knows how to make money!" Ye Liuyun finally understood. The city lord’s mansion was using the fights between the teams to attract spectators and generate revenue.
"All cities do this, not just ours. Otherwise, with so much effort and resources invested, without any income, the city lord’s mansion would be at a loss!" Li Manfu explained.
However, all of this had no impact on Ye Liuyun. He would fight as he saw fit.
That evening, Ye Liuyun led the group back to their residence and returned to the Xuankong Stone to cultivate.
After so many days of cultivation, Ye Liuyun, his clone, and Lei Ming had all reached the peak of the First Tier, waiting to break through to the next realm after the selection and honing.
Manshu, Dragon Lady, Ye Tiandao, and Black Panther were also on the verge of breaking through to the late First Tier. Therefore, Ye Liuyun’s team was definitely the strongest.
The inspector sent by Prince Liang, seeing that Ye Liuyun and the others were quite capable, and noticing that they had their own separate residence every night, rather than living with others, began to pay special attention to this team.
The next day’s competition brought Ye Liuyun and the others to a huge arena surrounded by stands.
When they arrived, the stands were already filled with spectators.
All the teams were divided into two groups and taken to the ends of the arena to wait their turn.
