Chapter 38: A Peerless Talent, Unmatched Throughout Chuwei!
Across the vast martial arena, silence fell so absolute that not a single sound could be heard.
Boom!
As the kick landed square against Yan Xu’s chest.
Yan Xu was sent hurtling backward fifty feet, slamming down hard onto the arena floor.
The sound of his body crashing to the ground rang out like a clap of thunder, shattering not only every last shred of Yan Xu’s pride, but also stirring up a tidal wave of shock in the hearts of nearly a hundred thousand spectators.
Heaven and earth fell into utter stillness.
Yan Xu struggled desperately to pull himself up, but the bones in his waist had shattered, and all he could manage was a bitter, defiant howl.
His vision blurred as he watched the blood-drenched figure stagger slowly toward him.
Those calm, steady eyes bore down on him like an executioner’s grip closing around his throat.
Gu Lin looked down at Yan Xu for a long moment, a cold, cutting smile spreading across his face:
“I need to correct your wording. Remember this—it’s I who spared your life.”
An endless, boundless silence settled over the arena like a tomb.
Everyone remembered the words Yan Xu had spoken before the match began—
‘I’ll spare your life.’
It had been overbearing, domineering—simply the natural order of things, the gentle, elegant bearing of a noble family, and above all, the absolute contempt of the strong looking down upon the weak.
And now, Gu Lin had returned those very words to him.
With a display of combat strength so staggering it shattered every preconception, he handed that line right back.
He needed no pity.
He needed no sympathy.
He was the one looking down with contempt now!
Spare my life? Were you even worthy of such a thing?
In other words, it was precisely because of that single line that Yan Xu now found himself alive.
Up on the elevated platform, every Sacred Ground member stood in solemn, prolonged silence, their eyes fixed unwaveringly on the blood-soaked figure below.
Chuwei Prefecture’s unbeatable golden body had been shattered!
Defeated at the hands of a mere Energy Condensation Seventh Level cultivator.
But in this match, Gu Lin had simply been the more brilliant, the more formidable of the two!
Did Yan Xu not know that Gu Lin still had a hidden Confucian Dao art in reserve?
He had been guarding against it the entire time, forcing himself to hold back even as both his arms burned, never once giving his full effort.
But in a direct, head-on struggle, Yan Xu simply could not bring Gu Lin down!
And yet Gu Lin had kept that particular technique hidden, never once deploying it.
What choice did Yan Xu have?
How long had Yan Xu waited, until that decisive palm strike came bearing down on him at point-blank range, and he couldn’t help but burn his essence blood, seizing the moment to strike a killing blow!
That was the perfect opportunity.
And Gu Lin had seized it!
Or rather, everything had unfolded exactly according to Gu Lin’s plan.
One could say that aside from his overwhelming advantage in cultivation, Yan Xu fell short of Gu Lin in every other conceivable way!
Had Gu Lin also been at the Cavern Mystery realm, why would any of this even have been necessary? Perhaps a single strike would have been enough to crush Yan Xu outright, cultivation gap and all!
Precisely because he stood at the mere Energy Condensation Seventh Level, it was through a combination of fate-defying methods and masterful combat strategy that he managed to overpower Yan Xu head-on—and that was exactly what brought such tremendous shock to every Sacred Ground present!
“Gu Lin advances to the Round of Eight.”
The Heavenly Mystery Guard official in the Qilin robe forced down his own emotion, his hoarse voice finally breaking the prolonged silence.
In that instant—
Heaven and earth themselves seemed to tremble.
“Gu Lin!”
“Gu Lin!”
“Gu Lin!”
The passionate roar surged forth like a tidal wave sweeping across the entire arena, nearly piercing straight through the clouds above. Nearly a hundred thousand spectators, blood boiling with excitement, thrust their arms into the air and shouted, the atmosphere swelling into something magnificent and boundless.
What an extraordinary, breathtaking battle this had been!
People had once thought that Yan Xu couldn’t possibly remain undefeated among his peers forever—that once he reached Chu Province itself, he would eventually encounter talents even more brilliant, even more dazzling than himself.
But who could have believed that Yan Xu would fall right here, in Chuwei Prefecture? That he wouldn’t even manage to make it out of Chuwei Prefecture at all!
Defeated at the hands of a peer at the mere Energy Condensation Seventh Level!
Unable even to secure a Sacred Ground placement!!
Was it that fortune simply hadn’t favored Gu Lin?
Did Gu Lin even need fortune’s favor?!
Just who, exactly, was the unlucky one here?
The thunderous cheers rose and fell in waves, and Gu Lin, drenched head to toe in blood, looked around the entire arena, watching nearly a hundred thousand people shouting his name—even some Sacred Ground members couldn’t help but applaud in praise.
In this moment, though he stood battered and disheveled.
In the eyes of all Chuwei Prefecture, Gu Lin stood triumphant and radiant, utterly unmatched among his peers!
Amid the crowd, Gu Changchuan’s face went slack with disbelief, hot tears streaming down in an unbroken torrent.
From complete obscurity to a name on every tongue—Lin’er had truly done it!
The spectators from Shiyang County were overcome with an excitement beyond words, clapping and pumping their fists in celebration until their arms cramped and went numb.
Chuwei’s champion, Yan Xu? Nothing more than a defeated foe beneath the feet of our own Shiyang prodigy!
As Gu Lin made his way step by step from the arena back toward the elevated platform, the wave upon wave of cheers still hadn’t died down, and with every step he took, his fellow peers among the young talents slowly lowered their heads.
Including the Tyrant King Chu Sheng, and Young Master Order Li Zhixu.
Yan Xu—powerful enough to have once instilled fear in them—had fallen, and fallen utterly and completely, fallen to the point of needing someone else’s mercy just to survive.
Deep in their hearts, they understood clearly now: among their peers throughout Chuwei Prefecture, Gu Lin stood as an existence beyond surpassing, beyond resisting!
And his opponent had possessed nothing more than Energy Condensation Seventh Level strength.
Gu Lin returned to his rightful place, took his medicinal pills, and closed his eyes to rest and recover.
No one could stand in his way now—a Sacred Ground placement was as good as guaranteed. His stage lay in Chu Province, in a place far higher than this!
At the center of the elevated platform, Centurion Zhu of the Literary Dao Academy finally snapped back to his senses, having very nearly forgotten that the lottery draw still needed to open the third match. Such an extraordinarily spectacular clash between Energy Condensation Seventh Level cultivators had left him half-believing this was the grand finale of the entire selection trial itself…
“Silence!”
Centurion Zhu sank his energy into his dantian, his voice rolling out like thunder.
The entire vast arena fell silent in an instant.
And yet, none of them had any interest left in following the remaining matches.
Every spectator’s mind kept replaying Gu Lin’s battle over and over, unable to let it go for a long, long while.
Zhao Can’s heart twisted like a blade had been driven through it, a boundless fury with no outlet, his temples bulging faintly with suppressed rage, his entire demeanor darkening with gloom.
Even Yan Xu had fallen—there was no stopping this man now.
From eight to six—the man surnamed Gu was now certain to secure a Sacred Ground placement.
Zhao Can tilted his head back, staring up at the heavens above, desperately wishing he could rush down onto the arena right now and carve Gu Lin apart piece by piece. But for now, he had no choice but to set aside his blood feud, and slowly, patiently, seek out the right opportunity.
Up on the viewing platform, Deputy Magistrate Zhao seethed with grief and fury—that single kick that had sent Yan Xu flying had, in the same instant, shattered the Zhao Family’s dignity and honor as well.
From eight to six—once that little beast secured a Sacred Ground placement, he would no longer be some insignificant ant to be crushed at will, but would stand at the very same tier as Can’er himself.
How could they possibly exact revenge now?
Yao’er would never rest in peace!
No—Can’er would surely find a way, he absolutely would. Can’er had spent six years within a Sacred Ground, with connections and resources this beast could never hope to match!!
Up on the back rows of the viewing platform, Li Jisheng and his daughter wore expressions of utter despair. Blade-Bearers were already existences far beyond their reach, and all they could do now was pin their hopes on Zhao Can dealing a ruthless, decisive blow.
But once he secured a Sacred Ground placement, he would become an existence they’d have to kneel and bow before!
Li Qingwu trembled from head to toe, a crushing sense of helplessness sweeping through every fiber of her being. She sank weakly onto the viewing platform, watching as, one by one, that man had trampled down every dazzling existence she had once looked up to.
The man she had once viewed as nothing more than a filthy, contemptible beast had now become the most dazzling talent in all of Chuwei Prefecture.
“Hahahahaha…”
Li Qingwu let out a hate-filled, half-mad laugh, her arms trembling from the sheer agony of it all.
The spectators nearby quickly distanced themselves from the deranged, veiled woman, turning back to continue praising Heaven’s Favored Gu’s fate-defying combat prowess.
Time flowed steadily onward, and before anyone quite realized it, all six matches had drawn to a close.
The Tyrant King Chu Sheng advanced to the Round of Eight!
Young Master Order Li Zhixu advanced as well!
Of the top five on the pre-trial popularity list, aside from Young Master Yan Xu and the Qilin Young Master, the other three had all successfully made their way into the Round of Eight.
Yan Xu was now nothing more than a Blade-Bearer.
Zhao Yao’s corpse had long since gone cold.
All because they had crossed paths with Young Master Gu Lin!
Some obstacle blocking his path? He was the most terrifying tiger in the entire selection trial!
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