Chapter 215: Chapter 215: Shi Xiaole’s Opponent
"First round, first match, Xu Ping versus Huang Shengxiang."
No sooner had the words fallen than two figures appeared on the ring, their momentum like crashing waves snapping against each other without any pretense, invisible ripples spreading out, shaking the hearts of those under the stage ruthlessly.
Those who had been eliminated were still on the main peak. Their hearts trembled, with some even stepping back. After realizing their error, they held their ground.
"Sure enough, they not only hide their strength but also quite a bit of it," someone said in a disheartened tone.
In Qingxue State with its billions of inhabitants, young individuals are too many to count. If we were to rank the top 500 talents, they would certainly be on the list. However, compared with the real top eighty-one, the gap is inevitably huge.
While the crowd was lost in thought, the two prodigies on the ring had already engaged each other. The surging internal power erupted with the fierce clash, rippling out in layers, much like a stone falling into a lake. Fortunately, the ring was large enough, otherwise, those too close might have inevitably been affected by this internal power.
Huang Shengxiang had mastered a certain form of palm skill, which with his Qi Absorption at its seventh peak level, placed Xu Ping, a blade user, under considerable pressure right from the outset.
Xu Ping exemplified the calm temperament of a swordmaster, escalating steadily, patiently accumulating power, not in a hurry to turn the tide.
"Palm Breaks Fate!"
After 132 moves, Huang Shengxiang burst out laughing, his powerful palm energy surged out through his secret technique, enveloping Xu Ping from all directions.
"Eradicate!"
This time, Xu Ping did not dodge. His broadsword choosing instead to slash forward. The built-up momentum passed through the blade venturing forth, transforming into a sharp, earth-colored, semi-circular arc that flew out.
"Is that... sword qi?"
Many were startled by the sight of this and called out.
In the shout, the earth-colored semi-circular arc easily sliced open Huang Shengxiang’s palm power. The momentum uninterrupted continued towards him. Huang Shengxiang had to move fast as his long hair by the temples were cut off.
Seizing the advantage, Xu Ping swung his sword again and again, releasing earth-colored arcs continuously towards Huang Shengxiang, not giving him any opportunity to retaliate.
Underneath the ring, the crowd was abuzz with discussion.
"It’s a pseudo sword qi."
Ignoring the chattering around him, Shi Xiaole paused slightly, before soon recognizing what it was.
It is widely recognized in the Martial World that only those who have attained the seventh level of Qi Absorption can provoke sword qi or anything similar. But in reality, the so-called sword qi or knife qi is just a different form of internal power released through the weapon.
Real sword qi and knife qi are not that simple, they can only be comprehended by those with outstanding talent.
Of course, even pseudo sword qi or knife qi requires a certain level of weapon realm mastery, not just simply stimulating the internal power through a weapon. Anyone achieving so at the seventh level of Qi Absorption is indeed a rare genius.
No wonder, that seeing Xu Ping’s sword qi, many people gasped in surprise. Even Huang Shengxiang, as his opponent, was extremely cautious, fearing to be grazed slightly by it. Despite being a pseudo sword qi, it far exceeded the attack power of ordinary techniques. It was not a game.
Unfortunately, once a swordsman masters the sword qi, it is as though a master marksman hold a machine gun. Unless his internal power is exhausted, the attack can last indefinitely without pause.
After about a dozen moves, Huang Shengxiang, who had not mastered a high-level flying skill, finally had his protective internal power broken by the blade qi and had to admit defeat helplessly.
"Xu Ping wins."
The referee of the first round looked at Xu Ping appreciatively.
In all previous tournaments, on average, only two to three swordsmen could understand pseudo blade qi, by this measure, Xu Ping was definitely gifted. Perhaps in the future, there’s a glimmer of hope that he could comprehend real blade qi.
"First round, second match ..."
The competition went on. The prodigies who stepped onto the stage were well aware that every match was crucial, so they did not dare slack off. The spectacle was ten times as thrilling as the elimination round, causing the spectating martial artists to cheer intoxicatingly.
"First round, thirteenth match, Lin Xuanyuan versus Fang Shenwu."
Boom!
The announcement of this matchup suddenly made the scene boil over.
Lin Xuanyuan had ranked seventeenth in the previous tournament. No one in the elimination round lasted more than three moves against him. His strength was truly inscrutable.
As for Fang Shenwu, the runner-up of the last tournament and one of the four Heaven Kings, he was the acknowledged favorite for the championship and attracted the attention of everyone.
You could say that so far, this was the most high-profile match in the tournament.
"Finally, it’s Fang Shenwu’s turn. I am curious to see just how strong he is."
"Lin Xuanyuan will definitely not be his opponent, but he should be able to duel for twenty or so moves."
The crowd expressed their opinions.
"Brother Fang, please teach me."
Up on the ring, Lin Xuanyuan looked grave. Facing an opponent like Fang Shenwu, he didn’t even have a ten percent chance of winning. But as long as he could last for twenty moves, he wouldn’t lose face.
"You go first."
Fang Shenwu, with his thick eyebrows and large eyes, held one hand behind his back.
"Heaven Folding Hand."
Not daring to act rashly, Lin Xuanyuan employed his signature technique right off the bat. He swung his right arm in mid-air; his invisible internal power was like a sharp sword cutting through the air. If the air had form, it would have been pierced into two halves by now.
At the same time, the invisible Heaven Folding intent spread densely, giving people a sense of absolute despair.
In the face of this move, Fang Shenwu slowly shook his head and then casually thrust out his fist.
Smack...
What Celestial Fate atmosphere, what Celestial Fate Palm, all shattered, fragile as glass.
"Celestial Fate’s Raging Seas!"
His figure quickly trembled, avoiding the scattered internal power, Lin Xuanyuan forcefully suppressed his pounding heart and used the strongest skill within the Celestial Fate Palm.
An echoing sound of internal power colliding rang through the void. His palm energy was like a serrated wheel, the gear was the surging internal energy, cutting towards Fang Shenwu with the force of a thousand catties, the energy seemed like it could split the sea waves in half.
This hit made almost everyone in the venue’s heart race.
However, Fang Shenwu still maintained his posture of a single hand behind him. He opened his right fist, and in the midst of the wide-eyed gazes, he directly caught the internal energy wheel and then fiercely squeezed it, like a rubber ball, throwing it back at Lin Xuanyuan.
Bang!
The stage slightly moved, Lin Xuanyuan couldn’t dodge in time, and he was embarrassingly thrown out of the stage, his face a mix of shock and horror.
Besides his secret moves, he had just now used all his strength, yet he couldn’t even withstand the opponent’s two moves, and it seemed as though Fang Shenwu hadn’t even taken him seriously.
"This time, it’s still their world."
Because of the strong performance of the up-and-coming stars like Yue Tianlin, Lin Xuanyuan had thought they might be able to replace the major seeded players.
Now, he didn’t think so anymore.
With the power Fang Shenwu showed, only masters of the same level could compete. And it made sense; weren’t they the Yue Tianlin and others of the previous term?
"So powerful!"
"He’s truly worthy of being one of the four Heaven Kings. I think with Fang Shenwu’s horizontal exertion, others would have a hard time even breaking his defense, let alone defeating him."
The people fervently discussed, all greatly shocked.
And people like Yue Tianlin, Nangong Yang, etc., also narrowed their eyes. The power of Fang Shenwu put a lot of pressure on them.
Wave after wave, after Fang Shenwu, another seeded player took the stage, the ’Fist-shaking the Netherworld’ Xu Canghai from the Xu Family in the north of the martial world.
Xu Canghai’s opponent was strong, ranking twenty-first in the last tournament. Yet as if competing with Fang Shenwu, Xu Canghai decided the match with a single punch, causing an uproar from the crowd.
The third seeded player to perform was Ye Liushuang, one of the Four Heaven Kings. Her opponent didn’t even see her shadow before she had already hit him in his pressure points.
After that, Lin Gaofei, Xue Changqing, Bali Wen, Su Zhi’er, Wang Zuying, all took the stage one after the other, decisively defeating strong opponents, without any equal match.
As for the strongest Yuan Zong, his opponent was scared off the stage by just his gaze.
This was not an illusion technique but a genuine aura. It just showed that Yuan Zong’s aura had reached a tangible stage, easily capable of crushing the will to fight of his opponents.
Such a one-sided battle situation made the cheers of the nine seeded players stand out, their momentum all of a sudden overshadowing the up-and-coming stars represented by Yue Tianlin and Nangong Yang.
"This tournament is not your time to shine yet."
Bali Wen sneered coldly.
However, the scene that followed left them speechless.
The up-and-coming stars like Yue Tianlin, who began the ranking competition, did not change their previous momentum, defeating their opponents with a single move, as if responding to the nine seeded players.
This caused the match to proceed very quickly; often just after the two sides began, a blink of an eye, and it was already over. The nine judges have presided over the Heroes Competition for many years, but this was the first time they had seen such a situation, all sharing bitter smiles.
"It’s not that those people are weak, but that the nine candidates, as well as several up-and-coming talents, are too strong. Put them in other terms, and they all would be hot candidates for the championship."
Number Five Judge sighed with a brilliant light in his old eyes. Being able to preside over such a competition and witnessing the talents vying for supremacy in his lifetime, how lucky he was.
"Seventy-ninth match of the first round, Shi Xiaole against Bai Zhanmei."
After several ’unexciting’ matches, the voice of the Number One Judge resonated, once again exciting the crowd.
"It’s these two! Hehe, Shi Xiaole is definitely among the first tier in the new talents. The ’Little Hawk King’ Bai Zhanmei ranked thirteenth in the last term, especially his flying skill is ahead of his peers, very entangled. There’s bound to be a fierce fight between the two."
"I’m still more optimistic about Bai Zhanmei, once he displays his Eagle Flying Skill, there are few among his peers who can keep up. As long as he continuously depletes Shi Xiaole’s stamina with this, the victory is within his reach."
"You can’t say that, Shi Xiaole is not simple, he might have a method to counteract the flying skill. In any case, these two should be the closest in strength among the new stars and the previous high-level players, the match will definitely be very exciting."
Amidst the intense discussion, two figures landed on the stage, standing opposite each other.
"You’re very good, but if you think you can win against me, you’re delusional."
Bai Zhanmei wore a black robe with a cloak of the same color draped over his shoulders. His eyes were as sharp as those of a hawk.
"We’ll see."
Shi Xiaole said lightly.
Bai Zhanmei licked his lips.
In his heart, aside from the Four Heaven Kings, he did not believe he was weaker than others. Adding to that, Shi Xiaole’s ’arrogance’ at the moment gave him a strong urge to defeat his opponent in a single move, comparable to the nine seeded players.
Also a large part of it was that Bai Zhanmei had developed three killing techniques for this competition, he wasn’t worried about running out of trump cards. Besides, against Shi Xiaole, he estimated the result would come down to the killing techniques in the end.
With this in mind, why not condense everything into one move to greatly enhance his momentum?
A passionate look flashed in his eyes, Bai Zhanmei’s mouth curved up, stretching out his arms,
In an instant, he darted out like a hawk striking the sky at a staggering speed, the blurred figure abruptly split into three halfway, all attacking Shi Xiaole from the left, center, and right.
The killing technique, Eagle Eating Thirds.
