Chapter 250: Not a Coincidence
One hour after the end of the second round of competition, the third round began.
The format of the third round was the same as the second round.
However, there were ten people in each ring and only one winner.
As before, the participants drew lots to determine their placement and then exited the stage to stand in the participant area.
"What number are you?" Jiang Yue asked as soon as Yu Nianzhen returned from drawing lots.
"Tenth ring again." Yu Nianzhen said and showed his lot.
"Your luck has finally run out." A voice said and the two turned to see a man.
The two didn’t know the person and wanted to ignore him.
However, the person was walking towards them with an arrogant look on his face.
"I am also in the tenth ring." He said and showed his bamboo stick.
"Fellow Daoist Gu is too confident. As it happens, I am also in the tenth ring. If anyone has run out of luck, it should be you." A monk said and also walked toward them.
"Kong Chi, you take yourself too seriously. Just you is not enough to defeat me."
"Don’t act brave. My ghost-sealing technique is the nemesis of your ghost technique. Your ghost valley doesn’t have a chance."
"Kong Chi, don’t take my tolerance as a weakness. I haven’t forgotten what your Thunder God Temple did to my Ghost Valley disciples in the Great Artisan city."
"Fellow Daoist Gu and fellow Daoist Kong are as lively as ever. However, you both have to bow down to my Great Zhu empire."
"Zhu Zheng, everyone is afraid of your ice poison but my poison valley is not afraid of any poison."
"Du Yihan, are you also in the tenth ring?" Gu Meng asked.
"Mmmm." Gu Meng said and showed his lot.
"So am I." Another voice came in and everyone turned to see Mo Tianxing.
"Mo Tianxing, isn’t your cultivation at the fifth level of the origin tempering realm?" Du Yihan asked.
At this time, everyone noticed that Mo Tianxing’s cultivation had suddenly changed from the fifth level of the origin tempering realm to the eighth level.
’He was probably hiding his cultivation.’ Jiang Yue thought.
"I am looking forward to the next game." Mo Tianxing said and bowed to the group.
After he finished speaking, a few people approached the group.
These people were Zhang Yusen, Qin Yuwen, Lin Fu, and Dan Qinghong.
Zhang Yusen was a famous cultivator who defeated Ya Daqiang-another famous cultivator, in the first round of the competition.
In the second round, he qualified easily and became a top contender in the martial contest.
Qin Yuwen was also a famous participant and was expected to finish in the top ten of the martial contest.
As for Dan Qinghong, he was a disciple of the sword sect and was expected to finish in the top five.
"Isn’t our ring a little strange?" Qin Yuwen suddenly asked.
No matter how he thought about it, he didn’t think it was natural for most of the likely winners to be in one group.
"What’s strange about it?" Gu Meng sneered.
"The Ice Palace sect obviously wants us to eliminate each other." He continued.
Everyone had noticed this but there was nothing they could do.
In the end, they didn’t have evidence that the Ice Palace sect had manipulated the lots.
Even they didn’t know how the Ice Palace sect had done it.
In such a situation, they could only accept the outcome.
"It doesn’t matter whether there is a trick or not. Only one person can win the contest." Kong Chi said.
"Kong Chi, don’t think we are fools. I heard that Xuan Dong from your Thunder God Temple has a yang physique. Aren’t your Thunder God Temple and Ice Palace sect colluding to eliminate the tough competitors to make way for him?" Gu Meng said.
Kong Chi was chocked when he heard that.
He didn’t expect Gu Meng to bring the matter to the open.
However, there was no way he could concede to the matter so he pretended to be angry.
"Gu Meng, our temple’s Xuan Dong indeed has a yang physique. However, winning or losing depends on his ability. Don’t judge our Thunder God Temple with the standards of your Ghost Valley."
"As expected of Thunder God Temple. Your ability for double standards is unprecedently high."
"Gu Meng, do you want to fight?"
"I am always ready to fight. Let me see if your ghost-sealing technique can deal with my new technique."
"Fellow Daoists, don’t hurt the peace before the contest starts." Lin Fu jumped in at this time.
Yu Nianzhen heard the words and almost rolled his eyes.
He thought Lin Fu had learned from his previous lesson but didn’t expect that he hadn’t.
[The busybody is at it again.] Jiang Yue transmitted.
He really didn’t like Lin Fu’s type.
The Thunder God Temple and the Ghost Valley had been enemies for thousands of years.
Telling the two not to hurt the peace was a superficial thing that didn’t hold any water.
[He just wants to brush up on his existence.]
[Azhen, the tenth ring won’t be easy this time around. You may not be able to get by with one sword per person.]
Yu Nianzhen did not reply right away.
Instead, he looked at the other participants and tried to feel their qi presence.
Unfortunately, most of their qi presences were hidden and he couldn’t estimate their level.
[You may be right.] He finally said.
However, he didn’t plan to give up his original plan.
He would do his best and only change if he discovered that his plan really didn’t work.
[I believe you will defeat everyone and win the martial contest.]
[Thank you for believing in me.]
[If I don’t believe in you, who should I believe in?]
[I understood.] Yu Nianzhen said and his heart softened.
Jiang Yue always knew how to make him feel better and this time was no different.
Rather than worry about what he could or could not do, he would get on the platform and do his best.
Even if he used more than one sword to defeat his opponents, he would let everyone know that his strength was beyond doubt.
[Come to think of it, did you notice that our Cangxing ranking has shifted from the qi transformation realm category to the origin tempering realm category?]
[I noticed.]
When the list stopped malfunctioning, their titles officially shifted to the origin tempering realm category.
Jiang Yue had yet to fight anyone so his title was at the bottom of the list.
However, Yu Nianzhen fought many people and his rank continuously improved.
After the last game, his title entered the top one hundred and he was now ranked at number seventy-eight.
[You could be in the top ten when the martial contest comes to an end.]
[Maybe. It’s not a good thing though.]
[What do you mean?]
[If I do enter the top ten, it will be easy for others to know my identity.]
Jiang Yue thought about it and realised that what Yu Nianzhen said was true.
It was possible that someone would notice Yu Nianzhen’s sudden rise from the top
of the qi transformation realm category to the top ten of the origin tempering realm category.
At that time, an observant person may be able to draw a line between the Cangxing title and Yu Nianzhen.
[Is it better if you keep a lower profile?] Jiang Yue asked.
Yu Nianzhen shook his head without hesitation.
One of the reasons he acted high profile was because he wanted to tell the world that his master was covered.
Although he was only at the origin tempering realm, he was extremely talented, and it was only a matter of time before he became a nascent soul realm cultivator.
With this kind of insight, he hoped that others would restrain themselves a little.
After all, no one wanted to offend a future nascent soul realm cultivator.
[Don’t worry too much. Everyone should be more focused on the Death Flower Ascension Front.]
[Talking about the Death Flower Ascension Front, that girl we saw in the Great Artisan city was captured by the Death Flower Ascension Front.]
Yu Nianzhen tried to recall the people they met in the Great Artisan city and couldn’t remember a girl.
[What girl?] He asked.
[Duanmu Qing. It’s the girl that was travelling with Mo Tianxing.]
While in the spectator stands, Jiang Yue happened to overhear about the matter.
Normally, he wouldn’t remember people they met in passing.
However, he remembered her because she was the one who bought the questionable two-coloured stone.
He wanted to tell Yu Nianzhen right away, but the other was fighting in the second round.
After the game ended, Jiang Yue forgot about it and didn’t remember until now.
[Do you think it’s related to the two-coloured stone? Maybe the two-coloured stone is related to the Death Flower Ascension Front.]
