Baili Xuanqing looked at the eighty-five people in the square. “There are ten rings in total, and each person must challenge the ring master at least once.”
“Any disciple without a single challenge record will be eliminated directly, and any disciple without a single win will also be eliminated directly.”
“In addition, any ring master who wins ten matches will not only advance directly but also receive a Spirit Quenching Fruit.”
“This ring tournament will last one month. Now, I will name the ten ring masters. Step onto the rings…”
Baili Xuanqing called out ten names, and several from the Lingyun Sect were among them. The ring masters were all at the Nascent Soul stage.
The Golden Core disciples all looked utterly hopeless.
“This is basically giving us no way out! It seems the Spirit Quenching Fruit isn’t easy to get at all. I’ll wait until these strong ones step down before I go up…”
“But don’t forget, those who went up are all at the mid or peak Nascent Soul stage. There are hardly any here who can beat them…”
“But the rules say everyone has to challenge at least once, and we also need a win…”
“This is totally unreasonable! What if someone wins ten times in a row? Then there’ll be even fewer people left to fight later on…”
“Holy crap! This is practically a trap. The further it goes, the fewer people remain, and the harder it becomes to get ten wins…”
After a moment of discussion, the disciples realized the danger and decided to step up and challenge.
Feng Qingran, being at the mid Nascent Soul stage, became the first choice for many disciples.
Some even used rock-paper-scissors to decide who would go up and compete against her.
“Hahaha… I won! You guys can pick someone else!” said the winning disciple, laughing excitedly.
On the rings, there were only three disciples at the mid Nascent Soul stage in total.
Feng Qingran was the only woman among them.
This disciple thought he had chosen the weakest one and was thrilled, but the other strong disciples looked at him with sympathetic eyes.
The disciple in the brown robe stepped onto the ring.
He gave a fist-and-palm salute. “Sheng Sanqiu of the Heavenly Sword Sect. Thank you for your guidance.”
Feng Qingran returned the gesture. “Feng Qingran of the Lingyun Sect. Thank you for your guidance.”
Sheng Sanqiu raised his hand. “Miss Feng, please go first.”
Feng Qingran’s delicate hand twirled the Qingluan sword in a flourish, her spiritual energy surging around her. She leaped into the air and slashed out a sword beam.
Immediately after, the Qingluan sword in her hand flew out as well. One sword beam, one flying sword, attacked Sheng Sanqiu from the left and right simultaneously.
Feeling the killing intent closing in, Sheng Sanqiu dared not be careless. He gripped his spiritual sword tightly, his entire body on high alert.
He was a disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect—there was no way he could lose to Feng Qingran in swordsmanship.
Sheng Sanqiu swung his sword and spun around, blocking the sword beam first.
Clang!—
As the spiritual sword clashed with the Qingluan sword, Sheng Sanqiu’s sharp eyes noticed a nick had appeared on his blade.
Sheng Sanqiu: !!!
His sword was a Heaven-rank magical artifact!
But his weapon was inferior to hers—this was not something Sheng Sanqiu would ever admit aloud.
Through that exchange, Feng Qingran recognized that Sheng Sanqiu’s sword intent was only at the Upper Mortal rank.
She judged that he was not her match, so she decided to go a little easier on him.
Sheng Sanqiu watched Feng Qingran warily, not daring to let his guard down. Since both were at the mid Nascent Soul stage, the contest came down to sword intent.
Feng Qingran raised her sword and charged at Sheng Sanqiu.
Boom!—
Before Sheng Sanqiu could even react, his entire body was sent flying and he crashed off the ring.
Sheng Sanqiu looked utterly dumbfounded. He had lost just like that?
Feng Qingran was also a bit surprised—she had controlled her power well. Shouldn’t she have won after ten moves?
The Grand Elder and the Fifth Elder of the Heavenly Sword Sect both rose at the same time, exchanging a glance before turning suspicious looks toward Feng Qingran.
“Sect Leader Baili, perhaps you should take a closer look,” said the Fifth Elder, glancing at Baili Xuanqing.
This third round of the ring tournament was under Baili Xuanqing’s jurisdiction.
“I’ve been watching the whole time. Feng Qingran won with her own strength,” Baili Xuanqing said firmly.
“How laughable! A disciple of the Heavenly Sword Sect loses in swordsmanship and can’t even take the loss gracefully,” Rong Zhuofan scoffed with sarcasm.
The Fifth Elder’s face instantly turned red. “Sect Leader Rong, don’t think you can act arrogantly just because our sect leader isn’t here!”
The Grand Elder fixed his gaze on Rong Zhuofan, saying nothing.
Just as Rong Zhuofan was about to retort, he suddenly felt a chill run down his back. He glanced sideways and met the Grand Elder’s stare, every hair on his body standing on end.
Rong Zhuofan turned his head away and fell silent.
At the same time, he recalled the Grand Elder’s former expression. Back then, the Grand Elder had closely resembled Xiao Hongyu—upright, stern, and clear-cut, nothing like the gloomy figure he was now.
But of course, Rong Zhuofan wouldn’t say that out loud. The Grand Elder wasn’t a member of his sect, so he had no authority to intervene.
And so, under everyone’s stunned gazes, Feng Qingran won her first match.
Some matches ended quickly, while others dragged on—like Dugu Jianyi and his fourth opponent, who fought for a full three days and three nights.
——————
In the blink of an eye, thirty days had passed.
In the third round of competition, five more disciples were eliminated.
These five were eliminated because they hadn’t won a single match.
After the third round concluded, a total of eighty people were led into a room filled with rows of tables.
The fourth round, the ranking match, had its rules announced by the head of the Sheng family.
The disciples had expected another competition, but it turned out the ranking match was simply a matter of drawing lots.
Such a haphazard ranking method left everyone utterly bewildered.
However, three months later, when the group participated in the Spirit Combat Tournament, everything became crystal clear.
The provincial capital of the Fire Spirit Province, Nine Provinces Continent.
Boom!—
With a resounding blast…
The Spirit Combat Tournament had begun.
