Chapter 35: A Shocking Draw, Duel Number One
Near the end of the Hour of the Rooster, dusk was approaching.
The lottery draw for the Round of Sixteen advancing to the Round of Eight was about to begin.
Every gaze converged on the disc-shaped artifact.
Two stones shot forth.
“Song Shiwei, Qi Wudi.”
The moment the pairing was announced, the entire arena erupted in fervent cheers, the atmosphere surging toward a climax.
A clash between two Cavern Mystery cultivators!
Before the selection trial began, the Heaven’s Favored Daughter Song Shiwei had ranked fourth on the popularity list.
Meanwhile, the Undefeated Young Master, Qi Wudi, ranked sixth!
A fierce showdown between fourth and sixth place!
Centurion Zhu of the Literary Dao Academy, clad in his pristine white Lotus-flower robe, announced in a voice like a booming bell:
“Arena Eight.”
The Round of Sixteen matches would not run simultaneously, but one after another.
Under the weight of countless watching eyes, the breathtakingly beautiful and coolly composed Heaven’s Favored Daughter stepped into the arena.
Qi Wudi’s presence remained unshaken, moving with the bearing of a dragon and the stride of a tiger as he took his position opposite her.
Thoom—
The drum’s report tore through the silence, and almost in the same instant, two currents of internal energy pressed against and overwhelmed each other, surging straight toward each other’s faces.
There was no probing, no feeling each other out—only killing strikes meant to secure victory outright!
Under the tense gazes of countless spectators, the two of them fought fiercely through more than a dozen exchanges, blood splattering across the arena floor, until Song Shiwei finally seized upon a gap in the sequence of Qi Wudi’s technique and slammed a single punch that sent him crashing to the ground.
Qi Wudi’s body had fractured from shoulder to tailbone, and he fell completely unconscious.
The Heavenly Mystery Guard official in the Qilin robe announced in a clear voice:
“Song Shiwei wins, advancing to the Round of Eight!”
Drenched head to toe in blood, Song Shiwei staggered back toward the elevated platform, and amid the thunderous cheers washing over her, a brilliant smile spread across her lips.
The Round of Eight!
From eight to six—she was drawing ever closer to the Sacred Ground she had dreamed of for so long.
The countless spectators in the martial arena, still not having had their fill, found the next lottery draw already underway.
The disc-shaped artifact shot forth two stones simultaneously.
“Yan Xu, Gu Lin.”
In that instant, heaven and earth themselves seemed to fall silent.
So quiet that not a single sound could be heard.
Song Shiwei, still drenched in blood, glanced sideways, looking at Gu Lin with an expression of the deepest pity.
The prolonged, dead silence stretched on, and the atmosphere across the vast martial arena grew oppressive and rigid.
When Gu Lin had overwhelmingly crushed the Qilin Young Master, many spectators had believed in their hearts that Heaven’s Favored Gu could forge a miracle—securing a Sacred Ground placement at the mere Energy Condensation Seventh Level, becoming the pride and glory of Chuwei Prefecture!
Having witnessed with their own eyes such a magnificent display of the weak triumphing over the strong, they held Young Master Gu Lin in the highest esteem.
But this time, the obstacle blocking his path was so overwhelmingly powerful it could not be shaken.
Just what kind of existence was Yan Xu?
Ranked first on the popularity list before the trial began—the undisputed champion!
A direct descendant of the Yan Family’s main line!
In the Record of Clans compiled by the Divine Dynasty’s central court, the only noble family in all of Chuwei Prefecture was the Yan Family of Yin Mountain. Though it held only the lowest rank among the nine-tier noble families, it was, without question, a noble family!
A nine-tier noble family had to satisfy four conditions—
First, possession of a mountain range rich with spiritual energy.
Second, at least six family members serving within the Divine Dynasty’s bureaucratic system, including at least one official of the seventh rank or higher.
Third, three cultivators at the Mountains and Seas realm stationed within the family, including one at the very pinnacle of that realm.
Fourth, at least five family members who were Sacred Ground members.
That was what it meant to be a noble family!
And that was the background Yan Xu carried!
What did the deceased Zhao Yao even amount to, standing before someone like him?
This was precisely why, in the pre-trial predictions, both the Tyrant King Chu Sheng and Young Master Order Li Zhixu had been said to hold a ninety-nine percent certainty of securing Sacred Ground placements.
With six placements available, why wasn’t it a sure thing?
Because of bad luck—because there was a chance of drawing Yan Xu!
Below him, no one was guaranteed to secure a placement.
That was the terrifying, crushing pressure Yan Xu’s very presence carried!
Up on the elevated platform, silence reigned there as well.
The Centurion of the Martial Extremity Hall glanced back at Zhao Can.
Zhao Can was not smiling. With Little Yao’s tragic death still weighing on him, how could he possibly find it in himself to smile?
But the hatred in his eyes had transformed into a killing intent utterly certain of its goal.
That man surnamed Gu could only ever become a Blade-Bearer!
The Centurion had already agreed to select him into the Blade-Bearer Bureau under the Martial Extremity Hall.
Once that happened, the man surnamed Gu would answer entirely to the Martial Extremity Hall.
All it would take was assigning him some official duty to oversee, and Zhao Can would have ten thousand ways to punish Gu Lin—implicating his parents in the process, too—all without leaving so much as a trace!
Zhao Can’s gaze turned venomous as he murmured to himself:
“What a truly perfect draw!”
The many Sacred Ground members present kept their expressions unchanged, though a trace of regret lingered.
What a fine talent Gu Lin was, and yet he still couldn’t set foot in a Sacred Ground.
Who would claim second place in this selection trial remained hotly contested, but the crown for first place already belonged, without dispute, to Yan Xu.
“Proceed to Arena Eight!” Centurion Zhu of the Literary Dao Academy commanded.
Countless spectators snapped out of their daze, each letting out a sigh, lamenting the cruel tricks of fate.
This was the brutality of the Sacred Ground selection trial—it demanded not only absolute strength, but also the mysterious favor of fortune itself.
And Heaven’s Favored Gu’s luck had been dismal. At merely the Round of Sixty-Four, he had drawn the Qilin Young Master and clawed out a hard-won victory through defiance of the odds. Now, in the Round of Sixteen, he had to face Yan Xu—an opponent he stood absolutely no chance of defeating.
“Shiyang County, in the end, was never destined for glory.”
Countless spectators from Shiyang wore expressions of dejection, and Headmaster Yan himself looked utterly drained, body and soul.
That Gu Lin had made it into the Blade-Bearer Bureau had already brought him tremendous shock and pride. But having come this far, he had, of course, hoped for a Sacred Ground placement—one that would also let him select three more Blade-Bearers from the same academy.
But how cruelly fate had shattered Gu Lin’s future prospects!
“It’s over…”
“It’s all over…”
Chubby Wang Mu let out a pained groan, his heart consumed with grief and indignation.
Just how powerful was Yan Xu? One only needed to look at the odds set by the major gambling houses to know.
The odds on Yan Xu securing a Sacred Ground placement stood at one to one, and the gambling houses had explicitly stated that a small service fee would still be deducted.
In other words, betting a hundred taels on Yan Xu meant you’d actually have to pay extra out of pocket!
Who would ever place such a bet?
Meanwhile, the odds on Yan Xu defeating every single opponent with just one strike throughout the entire tournament stood at one to one-tenth.
Bet a hundred taels on that, and you’d walk away with one hundred and ten taels.
Defeating every opponent with a single strike throughout the entire tournament!
Whether facing the Tyrant King Chu Sheng himself, or the third-ranked Young Master Order Li Zhixu, all of them were expected to fall in a single strike.
With odds this insulting, how many gamblers had still rushed, one after another, to bet on Yan Xu winning every match with a single blow?
It went without saying—Yan Xu stood as an existence towering far, far above the younger generation of Chuwei. His peers couldn’t even glimpse his shadow in the distance!
“Uncle Gu…”
Wang Mu looked toward Gu Changchuan.
Gu Changchuan’s smile remained unburdened and carefree:
“That Lin’er has made it this far is already something I’m tremendously proud of. Losing to Yan Xu brings no shame—from now on, who in all of Chuwei Prefecture won’t know the name Gu Lin?”
“I believe Lin’er has good judgment. He will absolutely not lose his life out there!”
Hearing this, all Wang Mu could do was silently pray in his heart that Gu Jingming would manage to escape with his life. Having already achieved the fate-defying feat of becoming a Blade-Bearer, to then throw his life away in a fight with no chance of victory would be nothing short of foolish!
Up on Arena Eight, Yan Xu had already taken his position first.
He watched the dark horse of Chuwei Prefecture drawing steadily nearer, a smile touching his lips as he spoke:
“I’ll spare your life.”
Once the words had settled, the entire arena fell into a hush of solemn respect.
This was Young Master Yan Xu—the gentle, elegant bearing befitting a noble family!
Was this arrogance?
It was not!
It was simply the natural order of things, an act of pity toward the weak!
Though laced with a condescending disdain, there remained, at its core, genuine compassion—an unwillingness to destroy the hard-won future Gu Lin had fought so desperately to earn as a Blade-Bearer.
Should he so choose, he could crush and kill Gu Lin at any moment during their match!
The instant Yan Xu finished speaking, he no longer bothered concealing his aura, internal energy circulating freely throughout his body.
It was unmistakably the Cavern Mystery Second Level!
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