AGM 130 – Top Nine
At this moment, only nine contestants remained on the platforms. Qin Wentian, Luo Qianqiu, Sikong Mingyue, 2nd Sword, Orchon, Hou Tie, Leng Ya, Chu Chen and Jiang Feng.
And two out of these nine would have to accept the challenges of Luo Huan and Gu Xing. The victors would proceed to the next round, enjoying the glory of being the top nine contestants.
And among them, there were some that didn’t participate in the battles of the 2nd round. They couldn’t be bothered to make a move, and there was also no one that dared to move against them. Some examples of this were Luo Qianqiu, Orchon and Hou Tie.
In the 2nd round, these examples didn’t experience even a single battle. Qin Wentian was in most of the battles that occurred. After his performance, the spectators all looked at him in a new light. Currently, Qin Wentian already had half a foot in the top nine rankings, or it would be better to say that he was already in the top nine rankings.
Many in the crowd were impressed by him. And in the Royal Capital, almost everyone already knew that this youth, Qin Wentian – who originated from Sky Harmony City – had only enrolled in the Emperor Star Academy a year ago, a full year less compared to the two years of Luo Qianqiu!
“The two of you, start choosing your opponents.” The aged figure beside Chu Tianjiao spoke.
After Luo Huan finished her recuperation, she opened her eyes and let out a charm-filled laugh. After which, she stood up and lightly nodded in the direction of Mo Qingcheng, indicating her thanks. The 2nd-grade top tier medicinal pill Mo Qingcheng gave her could be considered a miracle pill. The injuries she sustained in her battle earlier had already totally healed, allowing her to gain back her original level of strength within such a short span of time.
And as for Gu Xing, he wasn’t injured at all. He voluntarily gave up the battle earlier after Qin Wentian won. From the predictions of the crowd, Gu Xing would most likely be part of the final top nine positions. Nobody dared to underestimate him despite him keeping a low profile.
Both of them walked up to the platform. Luo Huan chose the 6th ranked prodigy Jiang Feng, while Gu Xing chose Leng Ya from the Godly General Martial Palace as his opponent.
Their choices were not surprising in the least. If the spectators were to choose, they would also choose from Jiang Feng, Leng Ya, or Chu Chen. However, the little prince Chu Chen should have many hidden trump cards for unexpected situations. It was only logical for Luo Huan and Gu Xing to challenge the other two instead.
And with regards to the results of the final battle, Gu Xing defeated Leng Ya, while Luo Huan who just recovered from her injuries, also defeated Jiang Feng.
Luo Huan was even stronger than Jiang Feng, but was easily defeated by Sikong Mingyue. All of them were geniuses, yet the disparity between them was this great.
After Luo Huan defeated Jiang Feng, all the prodigies that joined the Jun Lin Banquet this year had been fully eliminated.
This scenario wasn’t that surprising to behold. After all, in the cruel cultivation world, one would naturally regress if one failed to advance forward.
There were 10 members in the ranks of the 10 prodigies. The first five had already broken through to Yuanfu, while the last five were all eliminated during the Jun Lin Banquet this year.
Luo Qianqiu, Orchon, Qin Wentian, Luo Huan, Hou Tie, Chu Chen – any of them would be able to replace the positions of the fallen prodigies.
And at the same time, the top nine rankings were finally unveiled. The top nine contestants were: Sikong Mingyue, 2nd Sword, Luo Qianqiu, Orchon, Qin Wentian, Luo Huan, Hou Tie, Chu Chen and Gu Xing.
And of the remaining contestants, two were from Snowcloud Country—Sikong Mingyue and 2nd Sword. At the same time, both of them were extremely terrifying existences. Sikong Mingyue could almost certainly be ranked within the top three, and 2nd Sword had a high probability of being ranked within the top three as well.
And there were a total of seven that hailed from Chu.
The most resplendent was still the Emperor Star Academy. Because among those in the top nine, there were a total of four that originated from the Emperor Star Academy.
Luo Qianqiu, Orchon, Qin Wentian and Luo Huan!
There were no weaklings among these four.
The Emperor Star Academy truly deserved its reputation as the number one martial academy in Chu. This reputation was accumulated through the years, and because they would often produce elites and geniuses, many unpolished gems would also be extremely willing to enrol in the Emperor Star Academy.
And for Chu – other than the contestants from Emperor Star Academy – Godly General Martial Academy had Hou Tie, and the Royal Academy had Chu Chen as well. At the very least, the Royal Clan would still have some face considering that the two other martial academy ran on their support.
Not only that, there was still the youth with the mysterious background – Gu Xing.
The nine remaining contestants didn’t have any hints of satisfaction on their faces. They all knew that the battles in the 3rd round would definitely be even more brutal.
These remaining nine would compete for their ultimate placing in the last round of the Jun Lin Banquet.
They may face opponents like Luo Qianqiu, Sikong Mingyue, or even 2nd Sword.
And the battles at the 3rd round, be it the intensity, or the difficulty, would naturally surge immeasurably as well.
And at this moment, from behind the Chu Emperor Seat, a total of nine people walked towards the platforms.
These nine people each possessed a small case, and in the centre of those small cases, there was a jade token that was delivered to the nine remaining contestants respectively.
And so, one of the nine also appeared in front of Qin Wentian. After which, that person spoke, “Engrave your name onto it.”
Qin Wentian naturally understood the rules of the Jun Lin Banquet. He didn’t say anything as he engraved the three words, ‘Qin Wentian’, onto the jade token.
After that, the person took the jade token back as he brought the case away. And when the nine deliverers gathered, they placed each of the nine jade tokens into a case together, flipping them over, before mixing up the order.
After that, they left the platform immediately, while leaving the case with the nine tokens atop the platform.
“Who is willing to do the last honor?” Chu Tianjiao, sitting on the Chu Emperor Seat, glanced about as he smiled at the crowd
“Let me do it.” A powerful expert from the Ye Clan stood up.
“We will have to trouble Senior Liuyang to do so then.” Chu Tianjiao smiled.
Liuyang retrieved three jade tokens randomly and placed them in his hands. With a gentle push of his palms, the three jade tokens hovered in the air, and the names engraved on the tokens appeared in front of the crowd.
“Luo Qianqiu, 2nd Sword, Luo Huan.”
As the three names were shown, the spectators couldn’t help but sigh in regret for Luo Huan. She was truly unlucky to be grouped with Luo Qianqiu and 2nd Sword.
The 3rd round of the Jun Lin Banquet would be a group battle. The nine contestants would be divided into three groups, and the contestants in each group would then battle with each other to determine who would be the first, second and third.
After which, those that obtained the first position of each group would proceed to the strongest stage, and fight for the top three positions.
For those that attained the 2nd position of each group, they would proceed and fight for the 4th to 6th positions.
And for those that obtained the last position of each group, they would then fight for the 7th to 9th positions.
Luo Huan would need to contend with Luo Qianqiu and 2nd Sword to determine her ranking. She was truly unlucky as she had a high probability to be ranked last in this group.
Ye Liuyang withdrew another three jade tokens and caused them to hover in the air again. This time round, the spectators had a strange expression on their faces and they couldn’t help but cast a glance at Qin Wentian.
Earlier, Qin Wentian pointed his ancient halberd straight at Sikong Mingyue. His intent to battle was overwhelming.
And now, they would finally have the chance to battle. The 2nd group consisted of Sikong Mingyue, Qin Wentian and Chu Chen.
Since the names of the first two groups had been unveiled, the spectators were already able to guess who the last group consisted of. But despite this, Ye Liuyang still did the same procedure, allowing the jade tokens to hover in the air. The last group consisted of the remaining three contestants – Orchon, Gu Xing and Hou Tie.
The groupings of the 3rd round cause the spectators to be filled with intense anticipation. Regardless of which grouping it was, they were sufficient to cause the crowd to feel that their blood was boiling with excitement.
Luo Qianqiu, 2nd Sword, Luo Huan.
Sikong Mingyue, Qin Wentian, Chu Chen.
Orchon, Gu Xing, Hou Tie.
As Qin Wentian stood on the platform, he sensed a malevolent glance filled with sharpness locking onto him. Shifting his gaze over, he discovered Sikong Mingyue walking towards him. Even before the battle started, killing intent could already be felt in the air.
At this moment, in the Emperor Chu District, on the Azure Dragon Jadeite Seat, Chu Tianjiao stood up as he smiled. “Let me begin by announcing the rules of the final round of this year’s Jun Lin Banquet. All the contestants will battle within their groups to determine who will be the number one, number two and number three”
“For the three number ones, they will contend for the top three rankings of the Jun Lin Banquet.”
“For the three number twos, they will contend for the 4th to 6th rank.
“And for the three number threes, the 7th to 9th rank.”
“Other than that, the one ranked 7th will have a single chance to challenge those in the 4th to 6th rank. The one ranked 4th will similarly have a chance to challenge those in the top three rankings.”
Chu Tianjiao explained, as he confirmed the rules of the final round.
“Okay, this will be all for today. We will continue the final round of the Jun Lin Banquet tomorrow.” Chu Tianjiao announced, causing many of the spectators to have dissatisfied and unhappy expressions on their faces.
What was he doing, the groupings of the last round has already been determined, but they must still wait one more day to see the final battles? This feeling was too unbearable.
“Go, let’s go to Drunken Wonder to take a look. Now that the groupings are determined, the payout rates may change as well, this is a chance!”
“Right, my chance is here. This means that there will be new payout rates calculated for each of the segments, I’m going to try my luck.”
And thus, many in the crowd headed towards Drunken Wonder, preparing their bets. And within them, the majority had already made a killing from their earlier bets on who would obtain the top nine rankings. How could they not seize the chance to make another killing this time round!
