"Damn this old geezer! He is probably jealous of me after seeing all my women", Zhan Chen thought to himself. Second elder of the Lu clan took a look at Lu Mingxi but he couldn't think of what to say after seeing the look of innocence on her face.
The remaining battles of the first stage of competetion started as soon as the Spirit palace experts arrived. There were several talented cultivators among the participating groups.
Experts present from various powers took note of them as they battled in the first round. It took only two hours to wrap up the first stage of the competition.
"Little Chen, I know you are powerful but don't be careless while fighting your opponents", Zhan Qingyue spoke. Zi Ningxi also conveyed the same with her eyes as they waited for the second stage of the competition to begin.
"Big sis, you can rest assure. I will keep your words in mind", Zhan Chen spoke. He bade farewell to all his women and walked towards the hill top where the participants from the Xuantian sect had gathered.
"Zhan Chen, are you ready for the second stage?", Yin Chao asked after Zhan Chen got near the group from the Xuantian sect. Zhan Chen nodded his head and looked towards the other participants from the Xuantian sect.
Sima Chunhua came out to greet him and Zhan Chen got busy in having a conversation with her. An expert of the Spirit palace announced the start of the second stage and the cultivators started to gather near the five stone platforms.
"Junior brother, are you still planning to target the Heavenly sword sect?", Sima Chunhua asked Zhan Chen.
"No, I have no such planning for the upcoming stage", Zhan Chen replied.
"Thrum! Thrum! Thrum", the beating sounds of spirit drums reverberated in the air. The judges gave the signal to start the battle simultaneously and the battle begen between groups of three cultivators.
Compared to the first stage, the battle of the second stage was more intense. All eyes went towards the five stone platforms as they witnessed the rumbling between talented cultivators.
"Junior brother, I am going down the hill. It will be best if we can find a weaker group to compete", Sima Chunhua spoke.
Zhan Chen wished her good luck as she led her group towards the five stone platforms.
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It was already afternoon when Zhan Chen led his group towards the five stone platforms. He didn't have to manipulate his group members this time as they followed him on their own.
"Two senior brothers, please take the battle easy. I will handle the opponents if they proved to be difficult for you", Zhan Chen spoke.
"Junior brother, don't worry. We will do as much as we can to help you", his two group members replied.
They had to wait a little as all the five stone platforms were occupied. Zhan Chen stepped on a battle platform as soon as it got vacated by the competeting participants.
Another group followed after them and it was a group of two young men and one girl. They brought out their weapons and looked at Zhan Chen's direction.
"Zhan Chen, everyone is talking about you lately. As a man who loves sword, how can I miss this opportunity?", the leader of the opposition spoke.
"You want a sword fight?", Zhan Chen asked his opponent.
"Yes, I want a fair sword fight and I can guarantee that my group members will not interfere in our battle", the leader of the opponent group spoke.
"Tell me your name. We can have a proper sword fight where no one will interfere in our battle", Zhan Chen replied.
"Canghai Wei", the leader of the opposition announced his name and took a fighting stance.
Zhan Chen took out his sword and a battle began between them as soon as the judge gave his signal.
"Clang", both of their swords collided with eachother as Canghai Wei chose to do a close range battle with Zhan Chen.
Zhan Chen responded in kind as he had no problem with a long rang or close range battle. He defended himself easily as Canghai Wei rained his attacks towards him.
"Chop, stab, swing", Canghai Wei tried all of his skills but Zhan Chen easily defended himself from his attacks.
"It will be difficult to defeat you with pure swordsmanship. In that case allow me to use my cultivation", Canghai Wei spoke after stopping his fierce attacks.
"Show me your best. You can't push me without getting serious", Zhan Chen replied nonchalantly.
Canghai Wei nodded his head and stepped back few steps. Then he swung his sword towards Zhan Chen as a long fire serpent crashed towards Zhan Chen.
"Fire element affinity", Zhan Chen smiled slightly and swung his sword. An energy slash flew towards the fire serpent and collided with its body.
"Boom", there was a small explosion as the fire blasted off in the air. A wary expression appeared on two Xuantian sect cultivators after witnessing such a battle.
They looked at their opponents and a helpless look appeared on their faces. It had been sometime but they couldn't manage to push their opponents a single step.
"You two should stop here. Otherwise, it will be dangerous for you if you come in the range of elder brother Canghai", the other male cultivator from the opponent group spoke.
Both the cultivators from the Xuantian sect looked at eachother as an undecided look appeared on their faces. They were thinking what to do when they saw what Wei Canghai was doing.
"You two, don't stand there. Otherwise, you will got cut in the explosion", Zhan Chen shouted. Both of them nodded their heads and dashed towards the edge of the stone platform.
Wei Canghai was floating in the air now as he was propped up by two enormous wings. Wings were made up of fire as they helped Wei Canghai in floating in the mid air.
"Such a rare technique", Zhan Chen murmured to himself and swung his sword. An energy slash went flying towards Canghai Wei as he wanted to see his response.
Canghai Wei dodged the attack of Zhan Chen swiftly and swung his sword. A gigantic bird shaped fire crashed towards Zhan Chen after he launched his attack.
Zhan Chen used movement technique and dodged his attack. He swung his sword once again and launched an attack towards Canghai Wei.
It was an attack much faster than before. Canghai Wei caught off guard slightly as the attack of Zhan Chen zoomed past his shoulder.
A look of seriousness appeared on his face as he looked towards Zhan Chen. Zhan Chen was as nonchalant as before but Canghai Wei knew how dangerous he could be if situation demanded.
"I have to wrap this battle early. Otherwise, my disadvantage will be widened up", he thought to himself.
Canghai Wei took a spin in the air and launched an whirlwind slash towards Zhan Chen. It was a revolving ring of fire which crashed towards Zhan Chen.
"Windbreaker sword", Zhan Chen shouted and swung his sword towards the revolving ring of fire. A huge slash came out from his sword and crashed on the revolving ring of fire.
Unlike his previous attacks, this attack didn't blasted off the fire. Rather it cut the revolving ring of fire in two.
His attack didn't stop there and zoomed towards the body of Canghai Wei. Canghai Wei hurried brought down his sword but it could offer little resistance.
His sword got deflected from his hand as the attack landed on the body. The crowd was watching in a stupor as Zhan Chen finally emerged victorious in a long drawn battle.
Contrary to crowd's expectation, Canghai Wei stood up after few moments. Blood was seeping out of the corners of his mouth as he looked towards Zhan Chen.
"Zhan Chen, I admit my inferiority. This attack of yours can probably stop a mid Martial ascension realm expert", he spoke and dragged his injured body towards the edge of the ring.
"Zhan Chen, we will meet again", he spoke before leaving the stone platform.
"Sure, you can find me in the Xuantian sect", Zhan Chen replied.
He stashed off his sword and left the battlefield calmly amidst the loud cheer from the audience. He felt some formidable soul senses scanning his body but he stayed calm. He knew the peculianess of the diagram world. So, he was confident that no one could see through his body no matter how they try.
Zhan Chen walked towards Lu clan's group after finishing the battle. His head was already busy in drawing plan for the night's adventure.
He managed to have a good time with Shen Ruyan, Ling 'er and Su'er but he had yet to see Liu Nanxi. She was cultivating when he visited Shen Ruyan 's room.
There were also eldest princess Zi Nuan, the beautiful manager of the Golden leaf pavilion- Zhou Xiaoling and Lu Mingxi with whom he had just cultivated once.
"There are so many things to do. I really am a busy person. Everyone is wondering about my talent but no one knows how many hard work I have to do every day", Zhan Chen thought to himself shamelessly.
He had no idea that even gods would die of anger if they found out about the thoughts of a shameless man like him.
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