Chapter 33: Chapter 33: The Three Geniuses of The Golden Phoenix Tower (Seeking favorites, seeking recommendations!)
"You shouldn’t have entered the competition."
After the draw, the younger generation was arranged in the southeast corner of the square, where a cold youth in black walked up to Shi Xiaole.
His name was Leng Feng, one of the few young elites in Su Yanru lineage.
"Why shouldn’t I?"
Shi Xiaole asked.
"If you hadn’t returned, at least you would have had a reason not to. Now as the tower master is in danger, your performance in the competition will surely become a joke, used to attack her."
Leng Feng looked at Shi Xiaole, his eyes filled with anger and disappointment.
"I will take responsibility for my actions, and I will not let anyone mock my aunt."
Shi Xiaole said indifferently.
Leng Feng snorted and walked away, obviously not believing his words.
As the draw concluded, the once in a decade grand competition at the Golden Phoenix Tower officially began.
"Number one, Zhang Defang, against number forty-six, Wu Yan."
No sooner had the referee’s voice fallen than the two young people exhibited their Flying Skills, leaping onto the stage, which was about 10 feet long and 10 feet wide.
Under the gazes of the big tycoons of Feiyan City, the two were excited and almost immediately used their full power, determined to show off in front of everyone.
Prior to the competition, the top three was generally agreed to be Lan Ning, Jin Wuwei, and Sha Zongheng, so the rest were calm with little obsession over winning or losing.
Of course, they would still strive when challenging others.
"Wu Yan, you’re not my match. Admit defeat, Sky Shaking Palm!"
Up on the stage, Zhang Defang roared, his aura thunderous, and his right palm, which had been accumulating power for some time, fiercely slapped towards Wu Yan.
"Nonsense, Tornado Kick."
Unwilling to show weakness, Wu Yan leaped up, his legs crossed as if a pair of scissors attacking Zhang Defang.
Both of them were in the fifth tier of the Hidden Qi Realm, but Shi Xiaole could clearly see that Zhang Defang had a higher mastery over Palm Skill.
Sure enough, after dozens of moves, Zhang Defang found a loophole, and narrowly defeated Wu Yan with half a move.
"Zhang Defang wins."
After the results were announced, sporadic applause sound on the scene. However, Zhang Defang didn’t mind and still had an excited face.
The competition was going on one after another.
For the martial arts masters on the scene, these early matches were a bit childish, like middle school students watching elementary school students do math.
However, the atmosphere changed beginning the sixth match.
"Number six, Leng Feng, against number forty-one, Xu Ping."
Upon hearing his name, Leng Feng’s eyes narrowed, and with a light step, he landed gently at the edge of the stage, winning full applause for his lightness.
"Yanru, so this is your apprentice, looks really impressive."
Fully aware of Su Yanru’s situation, the city lord glanced at her profile and spoke.
Before Su Yanru could respond, the second tower head preempted: "Lord, this Leng Feng is not just the tower master’s apprentice, but rather her proudest disciple, barely ranking in the top four of Golden Phoenix Tower."
As soon as these words fell, people around wore a strange look.
As the saying goes, those who beat people do not hit the face, it seems that this second tower head doesn’t take Su Yanru very seriously, does he?
Meng Qi was silently angry, blushing and turning pale. Recieving a hint from Su Yanru, he just reluctantly hold back.
At this moment on the stage, Leng Feng had already started fighting with Xu Ping.
As Su Yanru’s most proud disciple, Leng Feng’s strength was beyond doubt. With his double sabers and the aura of the Hidden Qi eighth tier, he immediately forced Xu Ping to the edge of the stage.
"You exert too much energy at the start, which will leave you weakened afterwards. You’re using too much force, senior brother Leng."
Seeing that he was about to lose, Xu Ping gave a sly smile. With a stroke of his long sword, he immediately created a solid defensive shield in front of him.
The situation started to tilt slowly.
Every time Leng Feng was about to defeat Xu Ping, Xu Ping would use that strange move, and after dozens of moves, Leng Feng’s attack power obviously declined a lot.
"Where did senior brother Xu learnt this move?"
"I heard senior brother Xu say, it seems to be a technique senior brother Sha taught him."
Someone whispered and turned to look at Sha Zongheng, who was fluttering his fan.
Sha Zongheng didn’t deny it and smiled: "I created this move when I had nothing to do, never thought it would be quite useful."
What!
There was a commotion among the people. What! The strange technique that Xu Ping used to withstand Leng Feng’s attack was created by Sha Zongheng himself?
"Isn’t senior brother Sha just seventeen? Can he really create a martial art?"
"Everyone knows about senior brother Sha’s talent. Can it be fake?"
The juniors from Su Yanru’s lineage all looked upset, while those from the other lineages, especially from the fourth tower lord’s lineage, began to cheer loudly.
Shi Xiaole ignored others, looked at the situation on the stage, and shook his head.
Just as Xu Ping said, Leng Feng’s strength was indeed strong, but he had too much offense and not enough endurance. Especially after being provoked by Xu Ping, he seemed to be losing his calm.
Of course, Shi Xiaole could feel that Leng Feng was still holding back his real strength based on his intuition, but even if he defeated Xu Ping, Shi Xiaole didn’t think he would do well in the following matches.
"You forced me to do this, Dual Sabers Unleash!"
With cold eyes, Leng Feng’s saber maneuver suddenly changed. Like two grinding wheels, he swiftly attacked from both sides.
Clink.
Xu Ping was panicked. Before he could perform his strange sword technique, the long sword in his hand was knocked away, and then he was kicked off the stage by Leng Feng.
"Leng Feng wins."
"Eventually, Leng Feng took the victory, but those who watched closely could see that his cards were forced out by Xu Ping. The next fights might not go as smoothly.
Downstage, Su Yanru sighed almost imperceptibly.
Leng Feng’s temperament has always been his flaw. If he had remained calm just now, he could have completely exploited his opponent’s weak spot and delicately countered it, but alas...
If the fight between Leng Feng and Xu Ping finally stirred interest among the martial art tycoons present, then the eighth match truly captured their attention.
’Fighter number eight, Jin Wuwei, against fighter number thirty-nine, Wang Tiancheng.’
Upon hearing the adjudicator’s resounding voice, all pairs of inquisitive eyes were locked onto the stage.
’City Lord Three, finally it’s Wuwei’s turn. I wonder how strong he is now?’
City Lord Two looked toward City Lord Three, who had a calm demeanor and was smiling gently. While he had great confidence in his granddaughter, Lan Ning, but he was also curious about Jin Wuwei’s actual strength.
’Heh, I’m not sure myself. However, Wuwei stated that anything less than first place would be his greatest failure.’
City Lord Three’s statement stunned the others, including City Lord Two, City Lord Four. Even Su Yanru’s expression shifted slightly.
Such a bold assertion.
On the stage, Wang Tiancheng faced Jin Wuwei, standing with hands behind his back, and said, ’Senior Brother Jin, please teach me.’
Jin Wuwei gave a slight nod.
Activating all of his internal power, Wang Tiancheng stomped his left foot on the ground and charged at Jin Wuwei like a sharp arrow. While in mid-air, he threw a heavy punch.
The third-tier intermediate martial arts, Heavy Sand Fist.
Wang Tiancheng was considered as a middling talent in Golden Phoenix Tower. Now at seventeen, he had reached the seventh tier of the Hidden Qi Realm. Coupled with his attainment of the Spirit Integration stage with the Heavy Sand Fist, he was confident that he could withstand Jin Wuwei’s attacks for at least ten moves.
’Ten moves is the minimum, fifteen moves would mean victory.’
Grinding his teeth, Wang Tiancheng saw his punching fist reach near Jin Wuwei’s face.
Jin Wuwei suddenly stretched out a hand, spread out his fingers, and gently clenched his fist. This caused Wang Tiancheng’s all-out attack to abruptly stop, as if hitting an unbreakable bottleneck, unable to move a bit further.
’Your power is too weak.’
Shaking his head, Jin Wuwei applied a little force and Wang Tiancheng was pushed back three steps, his face full of surprise and disbelief.
Was he defeated in just one move? And Jin Wuwei didn’t even use his full strength.
A feeling of helplessness surged in Wang Tiancheng’s heart.
Not just him, this very moment, even the many martial art tycoons present couldn’t help but squint.
Because a substantial number of them admitted they couldn’t do what Jin Wuwei just did. Does this mean this young man, only eighteen years old, possessed strength that surpassed them?
’Wuwei, indeed the younger ones outshine us.’
City Lord Two clenched his fist, his expression shifting between gloom and joy. Only when he saw the unperturbed expression of Lan Ning in the distance, did the uneasiness in his heart gradually dissipate.
Humph, Jin Wuwei may be strong, but my Ning’er surely won’t be weaker than him!
’Yanru, this young man is truly amazing.’
Even the city lord of Feiyan City couldn’t help but praise.
Su Yanru acknowledged, then glanced at Shi Xiaole, noticing his inscrutable expression. She wondered, did this little imp get scared?
’Lan Ning, I have not been able to defeat you in the past, but this time, I’ll let you taste the bitterness of defeat.’
Stepping off the stage, Jin Wuwei faced the approaching Lan Ning and spoke with an exceptionally calm expression.
’Really? I am looking forward to it.’
Holding her long sword, Lan Ning gracefully stepped onto the stage. It was her turn to make an appearance.
Her opponent happened to be a young man from the faction of City Lord Three.
’Senior Sister Lan, please forgive my offenses.’
The young man brandished an eyebrow-length staff and circled around Lan Ning, seeking opportunities to strike.
Before the fight, he had received instructions from City Lord Three to try his best to exploit Lan Ning’s martial arts skills, even at the cost of giving Jin Wuwei more time to prepare mentally. So he dared not act rashly.
After a few dozen moments, seeing that Lan Ning remained flawless and immovable like an iceberg, and depleting his internal power through constant use of his flying skill, he knew he could not continue this way. So he let out a loud roar and charged forward with his staff.
Boom!
The young man who came quickly was sent flying even faster.
Only a few in the audience could see clearly that Lan Ning, using only a section of her sword scabbard, knocked this young expert of the seventh tier Hidden Qi Realm out of the stage.
More remarkably, she didn’t move an inch throughout the match.
’Excellent!’
City Lord Two was overjoyed, and applauded by clapping on the table in front of him.
This young man who wielded the staff had martial arts skills that were even slightly better than Wang Tiancheng. From Lan Ning’s countermove, it could be inferred that she would not be weaker than Jin Wuwei.
City Lord Three gave a cold humph.
City Lord Four’s gaze was flickering.
As for the others, there were those who were surprised, those who were cheering. All sorts of emotions were self-evident.
Shi Xiaole slowly withdrew his gaze, secretly thought that the strengths of Lan Ning and Jin Wuwei were probably stronger than that of Dong Chengwu and others. Had he not made a breakthrough last night, he really wouldn’t have any confidence facing them.
Not many matches later, it was finally the turn of the last of the three geniuses of Golden Phoenix Tower, Sha Zongheng.
Unlike the overt dominance of Jin Wuwei and the cold aloofness of Lan Ning, when Sha Zongheng laughed, he resembled a charming young master, giving others no sense of threat.
Unfortunately for his opponent- a strong man of the sixth tier Hidden Qi Realm, just as he was about to seize the opportunity to attack by surprise, he was sent flying by Sha Zongheng amid their casual conversation.
They were not at all on the same level.
’Fighter number eighteen, Shi Xiaole, against fighter number twenty-nine, Song Xian.’
In the eighteenth match, Shi Xiaole finally heard his own name being called."
