Chapter 18: Strolling with Ease, Shaking the Entire Academy!
The crowds inside and outside the academy made their way toward the combat platform.
The Blade-Bearers had already prepared the black lottery box.
Double-elimination was, without question, the more forgiving format.
Unlike the single-elimination Sacred Ground selection trial a month away, where both strength and fortune had to hold up without a single misstep.
Half an incense stick later, the orange-robed figure stood before the black box.
All twenty contestants wore tense expressions, staring fixedly at the honored Blade-Bearer’s every movement.
Everyone hoped to draw a weaker opponent in the first round.
Advancing into the Winners’ Bracket first meant having “two lives” to spare!
The onlookers inside and outside the square held their breath as well, countless eyes locked on the black box.
The orange-robed figure reached in casually, drew out two folded slips of paper, and read the names aloud one after another:
“Yan Shouxu, Liu Si.”
“First match: Yan Shouxu versus Liu Si!”
The atmosphere erupted into noise, the academy’s leadership exchanging glances.
The very first match, and already a clash of titans!
The two contestants ranked fourth and fifth in the three preliminary events had drawn each other.
Before the trial, Young Master Tiger-Cub had always held second place in the academy, while Liu Si had consistently secured a stable third.
This match would, without doubt, be a clash of the sharpest points against the sharpest edges!
“Prepare at once,” the orange-robed figure commanded.
The Blade-Bearers took their positions around the eight directions of the combat platform—should either contestant’s life be endangered, they had to intervene without delay.
Yan Shouxu drew a deep breath and stepped onto the platform in a single stride, his entire body radiating an unstoppable, forward-charging aura.
Across the three preliminary events, he’d become an unremarkable also-ran of a prodigy—even the title “Young Master Tiger-Cub” now rang harsh in his own ears.
He needed to prove to the entirety of Shiyang County just how formidable his true combat strength was!
He could not bring shame upon his grandfather, the headmaster.
Liu Si showed not the slightest fear, leaping onto the platform without hesitation.
The drums sounded, and the fight began in an instant.
Everyone held their breath, unwilling to miss a single move.
After nine exchanges, Yan Shouxu gained the upper hand—seizing the moment Liu Si’s back opened up an opening, he gathered his strength into a single punch and sent Liu Si flying clear off the platform.
Bang—
Liu Si lay on the ground, blood streaming down his back.
Several Blade-Bearers produced hemostatic pills and blood-and-energy restoration medicine.
The orange-robed figure announced in a ringing voice:
“First match: Yan Shouxu wins!”
Headmaster Yan’s stern, hardened face finally softened into a look of relief.
While the crowd was still savoring that thrilling battle, the second round of lots had already begun.
The orange-robed figure drew out two more folded slips and read the names:
“Gu Lin, Lu Pi.”
“Second match: Gu Lin versus Lu Pi!”
The moment those words landed, the whole academy erupted in an uproar, and even the remaining eighteen contestants couldn’t help turning to look at Gu Lin.
What incredible luck.
Gu Lin had drawn Lu Pi, the very last-ranked contestant from the qualifying trial.
Who was the weakest among the top ten?
Without question, it was Gu Lin himself, ranked third.
However astonishing his willpower had proven to be, cultivation at Energy Condensation Third Tier alone would still struggle mightily against real combat.
And yet, somehow, his luck had turned out to be this good.
Lu Pi felt a wave of relief wash over him, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
For him too, this was excellent luck with the draw!
Advance into the Winners’ Bracket, then draw the weakest opponent there as well—he too now had a real shot at claiming a seeded spot!
“Go, Lin’er!”
Out beyond the square, Gu Changchuan and Zhou Man breathed heavily with tension, neither daring to look away for even an instant.
As Gu Lin and Lu Pi stepped onto the combat platform one after the other, the atmosphere fell suddenly quiet, everyone eager to see just how Gu Lin would fare in genuine combat.
Lu Pi drew breath deep into his dantian, crouching slightly, unleashing the full force of his internal energy at Energy Condensation Fourth Tier.
Thump!
As the drums suddenly sounded, Lu Pi sprang forward like a taut arrow loosed from its string, extending his right arm mid-leap, his dense internal energy coiling around his arm like a slithering snake, the air itself crackling and hissing.
“That’s the Star-Plucking Hand!”
“Leaping the Dragon Gate!”
The academy’s leadership watched with rapt attention—both this hand seal and this body technique came from the highest floor of the martial pavilion; no one had realized Lu Pi had quietly mastered them to such a refined degree!
Gu Lin, meanwhile, still hadn’t moved at all.
As if he hadn’t reacted in the slightest.
The Blade-Bearers frowned deeply—by all rights, this shouldn’t be happening. In the jade-disc reaction trial, Gu Lin had ranked third!
In that split-second flash, countless onlookers reeled with disbelief and disappointment.
“How could he not react at all?”
“Has he frozen in fear?”
But in the very next instant—a truly stunning scene unfolded.
As Lu Pi came hurtling in, claw and body together, his internal energy whipping up a fierce gale mere inches away, forcing both their loosened hair to whip wildly about.
Every meridian point on Gu Lin’s body snapped open at once, his fingers curling into a fist, meeting the Star-Plucking Hand head-on with brute force.
The punch landed with precise, unerring accuracy right in the center of Lu Pi’s palm.
Bang—
At the sound of the violent collision—
Gu Lin’s fist withdrew in one fluid, unbroken motion, and in the blink of an eye, he struck out again.
Another punch, straight toward Lu Pi’s face.
Lu Pi dodged with blistering speed, dropping to the ground, twisting into a half-roll, springing back up to deliver a vicious kick, his entire right leg cracking through the air like a thick, powerful whip.
Gu Lin answered with a single punch once more.
This punch landed with such force that bones audibly creaked and cracked.
Bang—
Lu Pi’s face twisted with terror as the fist connected squarely with his right leg, sending his entire body flying clean off the combat platform.
“Gu Lin wins!” the orange-robed figure declared at once, his eyes now regarding Gu Lin with even greater astonishment.
The crowd sank into a long, drawn-out silence, countless martial cultivators’ faces etched with shock. Even Zhu Yuting, Yan Shouxu, and the others wore grave expressions, growing more and more unable to read this Energy Condensation Third Tier fighter!
He hadn’t moved a single step, from beginning to end.
Was he truly unskilled in combat—or was his confidence simply that unshakeable?
He hadn’t budged his footing even once throughout the entire exchange!
How could Lu Pi possibly be weak?
That technique had clearly been honed over years of dedicated practice, and with a genuine advantage in raw strength, it should have landed a devastating blow on Gu Lin.
And yet the other man had stood utterly unmoved, like a mountain—not so much as a fold in his robe disturbed.
“Excellent!”
After the silence broke, wave after wave of cheering erupted across the academy. Gu Changchuan’s face flushed deep red, his heart aching to shout at the top of his lungs that this was his own son.
“That’s my son!” he shouted anyway, unable to hold it back.
Up on the combat platform, Gu Lin walked off with perfect calm.
Since opening his Literary Palace, his powers of perception and focus had multiplied several times over. However fierce and swift Lu Pi’s technique might have appeared, in Gu Lin’s eyes it had all played out several beats too slow.
Li Qingwu’s face turned cold, a fresh flicker of wariness surfacing deep in her eyes—she could never have imagined that the surnamed Gu could handle real combat with such effortless ease.
Just as her emotions threatened to overflow—
“Li Qingwu, Zhu Yuting.”
The Blade-Bearer continued calling names.
“Third match: Li Qingwu versus Zhu Yuting.”
At those words, Li Qingwu’s face turned deathly pale, a suffocating surge of injustice welling up inside her with nowhere to go, until she nearly ground her teeth to powder.
Why did this happen?
Why did the surnamed Gu get the very last-ranked opponent, while she had to face the utterly unfathomable Zhu Yuting?
That bastard’s luck was this good, and hers was this rotten!!
Over on the platform, Zhu Yuting had already stepped up, and Li Qingwu steadied her breathing before leaping onto the platform herself.
She lasted only three exchanges before falling to defeat.
Both prodigies in their own right, yet the gulf between Energy Condensation Fifth Tier and Seventh Tier proved utterly unbridgeable!
Li Qingwu fell into the Losers’ Bracket, while Zhu Yuting advanced into the Winners’ Bracket.
Next, the lottery drew Zhao Yao and Wu Tong.
Wu Tong cupped his fists and bowed.
“I concede defeat!”
Though he’d ranked seventh across the three preliminary events, he still knew his own limits well enough—he didn’t even have the qualification to raise a hand against Young Master Qilin.
Better to withdraw with dignity intact than to be battered and gravely wounded—far wiser to conserve his strength and fight his way back through the Losers’ Bracket at full power instead!
Zhao Yao’s expression remained utterly unmoved, his thoughts still submerged in the willpower trial from before—he still couldn’t bring himself to accept his own defeat.
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