Jun Qiangwu walked toward the tournament venue. It was located halfway up the Xi Immortal Palace, but that didn’t mean it was inside the building. No, it was on a balcony on the side. However, the balcony was only a relative term, as it was closer to an external garden. One that floated and was linked to Xi Immortal Palace through a bridge with no other attachment holding it up in the air.
Thankfully, unless you deliberately looked down from the side, no one would feel the gravity of the situation or even realize they were in the air instead of on the ground.
He looked around and saw that around half of the disciples had arrived. So, Jun Qiangwu had arrived neither early nor late, just perfectly in the middle. The only thing of note was that he couldn’t see the legendary Mu Long or Qian Jiafeng, but perhaps that was for the best.
“Senior Brother.”
Jun Qiangwu turned around to see Hou Yawen. She exuded a cold aura that separated her from others, but that only made her appear more like what he imagined those fairy-like existences appeared as. Detached, lofty, and untouchable.
“Junior Sister Hou has come out?”
“Yes, I was lucky to finally enter the Third Stage,” Hou Yawen said. For most disciples, entering the Third Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm would have been an amazing feat. But with Jun Qiangwu’s example, she didn’t think it was anything amazing. “Compared to you, I’m still very lacking.”
“No,” Jun Qiangwu said. “You should know that I already received a cultivation method before I joined the Xi Immortal Dynasty. Back then, the time it took me to reach the Third Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm was far more than a year.”
Even if Jun Qiangwu said this, he didn’t think he was any bit inferior. He had already asked the Nine Heavens Revenge System. The reason Hou Yawen could cultivate so fast was because of her ability as a superhuman. Hou Yawen’s ability was to increase the strength of her body. Because of this, the speed of opening her meridians is faster than other people. If she cultivated the martial path, this advantage will continue, although it will decrease with each realm. For the spiritual path, this advantage would disappear in the Foundation Establishment Realm.
Hou Yawen didn’t answer. Instead, she just stared at her potential opponents. Originally, the rankings on the Monument of Records were decided by the disciples’ status as an outer or inner disciple and their cultivation base. After today, it would be decided by their status and battle records instead of cultivation base. The higher the ranking, the better the monthly resources the disciple would receive.
Although Hou Yawen and Xingyi were both disciples under Elder Hui, they weren’t considered inner disciples just yet. So, they still received the monthly resources equivalent to that of a new disciple.
“How well do you think you’ll do?”
“Maybe in the low sixties or high fifties?” Hou Yawen replied.
“That’s pretty good for a year, considering most of the disciples had several years of time,” Jun Qiangwu said.
Hou Yawen turned to stare at Jun Qiangwu. “What about you?”
“Me? I hope to battle Mu Long,” Jun Qiangwu said.
“Not hope, but will, right?”
Jun Qiangwu didn’t answer. Thankfully, the awkward atmosphere was dispersed by Xingyi’s arrival. She forced herself between her senior brother and sister and locked her arms with both.
“Guess what?” Xingyi asked. She didn’t wait for the two to answer and said, “I entered the Third Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm!”
“So fast?” Hou Yawen asked. She stared at Xingyi with amazement and slight jealousy. “If I had known you could cultivate so fast by hunting monsters, I should have joined you two.”
As the trio talked more and more people arrived. The trio found a seat reserved for disciples while waiting. The size of the venue could easily seat a thousand disciples, so there was no such thing as overcrowding or no space.
“What are you looking at?” Xingyi asked.
Jun Qiangwu, who had been sneaking glances toward the bridge, said, “No, it’s nothing.”
Xingyi wanted to ask, but before she could, the rest of the disciples made an uproar. Turning around to look, she saw her fellow disciples looking toward the bridge entrance, where two people—one man, one woman—just arrived.
The man had a tall stature, with thick brows, noble features, and an elegant temperament. He was Mu Long; the disciple regarded by everyone as the strongest.
Walking beside him was a woman. Her lips were cast in a perpetual slight smile. With her almond eyes and willow brows, she was as beautiful as Mu Long was handsome. Side by side, the two looked like a fairy tale couple.
Xingyi looked back and forth between them and Jun Qiangwu then, she smirked. “Senior Brother Wuqiang, you like her, don’t you? That’s why you stayed to watch her assessment, didn’t you?”
“What?” Jun Qiangwu looked away from the famous couple and toward Xingyi.
Xingyi flinched when she saw the burning rage simmering in Jun Qiangwu’s eyes. “S-Sorry!”
Jun Qiangwu closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. “Never ever say that to me again.”
“S-sorry,” Xingyi apologized again.
“Do you have a relationship with her?” Hou Yawen asked. Ever since the three knew each other, Jun Qiangwu had kept his past a mystery.
Jun Qiangwu closed his eyes and leaned back. “No.”
No matter how Xingyi pestered Jun Qiangwu, he remained silent. Because of this, he missed Mu Long and Qian Jiafeng looking at him, both for different reasons. It was only for a few seconds at most and no one but Hou Yawen caught their gazes.
Hou Yawen glanced at Jun Qiangwu. Since the latter didn’t want to say, she would not pursue it.
Mu Long and Qian Jiafeng were the last two disciples to arrive. A few minutes later, the elders arrived. Unlike the disciples who walked over the bridge, all the elders arrived by flight. The terrace lords flew by stepping atop their artifacts while the tower lords walked through the air.
After the elders arrived and were seated, everyone noticed that the palace lord, the founder of the Xi Immortal Dynasty, was absent. Still, none of the disciples questioned it, as they did not possess the right or power. Still, this only raised the curiosity of the disciples, wondering what the palace lord looked like. Aside from his name, Xi Ri, they knew nothing about him. They weren’t even sure if the palace lord was male or female.
Under the elders’ order, every disciple sat down and waited for their names to be called. It was a knockout-style tournament, where the winner would advance and the loser would be eliminated. The rules for the matches themselves weren’t complicated. Just knock the opponent out of the ring, making them admit defeat, or make them unable to move anymore and the match was over.
The contestants could even maim their opponents. As long as you didn’t kill your opponent, everything would be fine.
A dark glimmer appeared in Jun Qiangwu’s eyes as he heard this rule. He muttered under his breath. “System, are you able to rig the matches so I meet that woman?”
[Ding! It’s possible. The price is that you must complete a mandatory mission or you will die.]
“Do it,” Jun Qiangwu said without an ounce of hesitation.
[Done.]
With the Nine Heavens Revenge System’s guarantee, Jun Qiangwu smiled. It wasn’t a pleasant smile.
Soon, the matches started. Names were called one by one. Disciples stepped into the arena by the twos and fought against another. Of the trio, Xingyi was called up first.
“It’s you?” her opponent asked. Then, he smiled in relief. “I’m so lucky. Although I wasn’t given a free victory, there’s not much difference.”
He was a disciple also with second-class talent like Xingyi, but he became a disciple a year earlier. Because there weren’t exactly one hundred and twenty-eight disciples, a few disciples like Mu Long and Jun Qiangwu would only take the stage in the second round.
Xingyi pouted. “Don’t think you can beat me just because I joined later than you.”
Her opponent only smiled confidently. That confidence disappeared when the match began. Although her opponent joined one year earlier than her, Xingyi had caught up to him in terms of cultivation.
That wasn’t the most crucial difference between the two. No, it was the difference in combat prowess between the two. For the past five months, Xingyi had experienced constant battle. So much so that she had likely killed more monsters than ninety percent of the disciples.
Xingyi’s strikes were accurate, deadly, and flawless. At least in her opponent’s view. He quite simply couldn’t match Xingyi. Ten minutes later, he was forced out of the stage, much to his disbelief.
“Is that really Junior Sister Xingyi?” Hou Yawen asked. “She’s changed so much. Now, I’m beginning to think more and more that I should have joined you two instead of cultivating behind closed doors.”
Jun Qiangwu said nothing. Not even when Xingyi came back did he open his eyes. He was waiting, waiting for his name to be called. But before he was called to the arena, Hou Yawen entered the arena.
Although she didn’t dominate her opponent like Xingyi, she still delivered a flawless victory. It took longer, but her opponent did not land a blow on her. Of course, she was lucky and only met a disciple with fourth-class talent. Despite becoming a disciple much earlier, he was only at the peak of the Second Stage.
Like this, the first round ended, and the second round began.
Like the first round, Xingyi and Hou Yawen defeated their opponents, albeit with much difficulty. Xingyi fought someone who just entered the Fourth Stage, while Hou Yawen fought a disciple in the Third Stage. Their victory secured them a spot in the top thirty-two of all disciples. As impressive as their accomplishment was, they would stop here, as it was all but impossible for them to enter the top sixteen.
Jun Qiangwu, on the other hand, showed much promise.
“You look so ordinary. I don’t see what’s so special about you that an elder accepted you as a disciple the moment you joined,” his foe said.
Many of the disciples in the audience sighed. No matter what they personally thought about Jun Qiangwu, they all sentenced him to defeat. His opponent was someone who had joined the Xi Immortal Dynasty since its inception. Not only that, he had first-class talent, and he entered the Fifth Stage of the Qi Gathering Realm months earlier.
Jun Qiangwu said nothing as he stood there with his arms crossed and eyes closed.
His foe sneered. “What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue, or are you scared? Too scared to even open your eyes? I’ll advise you to give up now or enter a world of pain.”
Jun Qiangwu still said nothing. His foe laughed. “A useless waste who doesn’t know the height of heavens.”
His foe sneered and stopped talking, growing bored with Jun Qiangwu’s non-reaction. Thankfully for him, the referee started the match. Unfortunately for him, Jun Qiangwu moved.
“Wah—?” the disciple let out. Before he realized it, Jun Qiangwu had disappeared from his sight. Then came the pain. “Argggh!!!”
He fell to his knees as he clutched his mangled left arm. Then he heard footsteps behind him. Sweat dripping down, he turned around to see Jun Qiangwu walking toward him. He wanted to yell, wanted to scold Jun Qiangwu, but those pitch-black eyes strangled his throat. He could feel the wrath, the anger simmering within.
For the first time in his life, the disciple hated his mouth. With his talent and as one of the first disciples, he had always been a step ahead of other disciples. At least, until Mu Long came along. He pushed himself hard, wanting to catch up, but before that happened, another disciple became an inner disciple before him.
He thought that Lady Luck had favored him when she matched him up against Jun Qiangwu. Now he knew it wasn’t luck but misfortune.
The disciple opened his mouth, wanting to forfeit, but before he could, Jun Qiangwu disappeared, and he felt a hand over his mouth. The next thing he knew, he felt the searing pain on the back of his head. Then, he knew no more.
Jun Qiangwu stared at his unconscious opponent. He showed no emotion as he watched the blood seep out from below his foe’s head. He even ignored the terrace lord that appeared next to his downed opponent and began healing the latter.
All Jun Qiangwu could feel was the gaze of Qian Jiafeng. He couldn’t see her, but he knew that she was staring at him.
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