Three inner disciples of a King Stage martial artist, plus two mid-level innate martial artists.
With their strength, the Stick Nation undoubtedly had the qualifications to win first place. Ye Lingchen and the others could only blame their bad luck to have encountered such a tricky opponent in the first battle.
Sun Hongtao sighed lightly and could not help but glare at Ye Lingchen. The latter knew that the Stick Nation was a tough opponent to deal with yet continued to chant that country when drawing lots. Idiot!
What a jinx!
They had no idea as to the strength levels of those three inner disciples.
Ye Lingchen spread his palms and put on an innocent look. ‘Can you blame me for this?’
“Zheng Dali will be the first to go up tomorrow, and Jing Shan will go next. Ye Lingchen will go last,” Sun Hongtao spoke up about the arrangement.
“I’m the last one? ”
Ye Lingchen raised his eyebrows in surprise. “That’s so pointless. Those people have grudges with me and I wanted to meet them. How can I possibly be placed last?”
“I put you last precisely because you have grudges with them. If you’re the first to go and you win that first match, the opponent will definitely take the opportunity to crush you more ruthlessly in the second game,” Sun Hongtao said lightly.
“That’s not necessarily true. Who knows, I might just be able to end them directly? ” Ye Lingchen muttered.
Sun Hongtao laughed. “Confidence is good, but don’t underestimate anyone. I haven’t seen your strength with my own eyes yet, but your score at Tie Jun’s end isn’t that high.”
Ye Lingchen rolled his eyes.
That assessment could only signify his lack of experience and incomplete knowledge of martial artists. He had already progressed tremendously.
“Still, you can’t put me behind the girls. I should be the one to face the danger,” Ye Lingchen continued.
Lin Xi asked unhappily, “What do you mean by this? Are you looking down on women? ”
“This all happened because of me, and I’d feel really uncomfortable if you got injured early. Besides, it is not the style of a warrior to retreat in the face of difficulties,” Ye Lingchen said.
Sun Hongtao pondered for a moment, and said, “Zheng Dali goes first, Jing Shan second, Ye Lingchen third, Lin Xi fourth, and Chen Xiaoxiao fifth! That’s settled then.”
Chen Xiaoxiao pursed her mouth slightly and wanted to speak, but ended up not saying anything at all.
Well, the female warriors did look rather tough-as-nails, and even the quiet-looking Chen Xiaoxiao seemed up for a good fight.
“It might be good for me to go third. The two ladies behind me can rest well. Perhaps they wouldn’t even have to do anything,” Ye Lingchen said with a smile.
Sun Hongtao’s face turned dark and wondered where the kid’s self-confidence came from. Chen Qi said that Ye Lingchen was a show-off, but he did not expect the kid to be that big of a braggart.
He could not be bothered to entertain Ye Lingchen and turned around to walk away, saying, ” If I were Sung-Yoon Lee, I would’ve placed the weakest two in second and fourth place. Since we can waste the opponent’s strength for the other three without being at a disadvantage, our side’s third person is in a very important place. Ye Lingchen, you’ll have to bear a lot of responsibility if you lose out of sheer carelessness. You’d better nip out some of your ideas in the bud.”
Sun Hongtao was from Xiangjiang’s Warrior’s Department, while Ye Lingchen was from Capital’s Warrior’s Department. The two of them were not familiar with each other, but he still chose to believe in Ye Lingchen, though he spoke in a very solemn manner too.
China’s resources would be reduced in the snap of a finger if Ye Lingchen’s arrogance cost them a defeat. Their strength would inevitably be drastically reduced, and the subsequent consequence was likely to be the inability to suppress the Hell’s Gates in China, making the loss a completely unimaginable one.
Winning was the only option in that battle! Responsibility was very important!
If Ye Lingchen lost the first battle, he should just give up his intentions of running a martial arts school.
“Understood!”
“Okay, our match is third, so we probably won’t have to go up tomorrow. We should observe the strength and methods of martial artists from various countries. Do a bit of last-minute practicing and settle down.” Sun Hongtao did not linger around much longer and left.
As soon as he left, Lin Xi quickly said, “Ye Lingchen, please don’t feel too pressured. Let us do some stuff too. Don’t look down on us girls. Xiaoxiao and I are also very strong. ”
Chen Xiaoxiao also nodded.
“According to Director Sun, the last person will definitely be the one of the three inner disciples. Do you think that person will be a pushover?”
Ye Lingchen shrugged. It would have been a lie if he said he was not feeling any pressure, but he paused and said, “I’ll leave them to you if the situation is good. Otherwise, it’s better to take some precautions first. The best would be to save strength, since Murica is also one of our opponents.”
“Seriously, how strong are you? Your confidence is unbelievable…”
Lin Xi smiled as she said that. That he could consider conserving his strength while facing an opponent seemed to suggest as though the latter was unworthy of being his opponent.
“Hehe, just wait and see.” Ye Lingchen laughed.
Although was only in the mid-level Innate Stage, he was an overpowered person after all. His skills were many, and none of them were weak.
Parkour (Advanced), Eight Extremities Brute Training (Advanced), Arhat Fist Force (Advanced), Dragon-Catcher Hand (Advanced), Windwalk (Basic), Heart-Crushing Palm.
Ordinary martial artists would find it difficult to be extremely proficient in cultivating a particular branch of martial arts, but Ye Lingchen was proficient in many, giving him a distinct advantage among those who were at the same stage as him.
Tie Jun said it before that if Ye Lingchen really dared to fight him, the chances of either of them winning was 50-50.
Moreover, Ye Lingchen had a trump card that no one else knew: aside from practicing martial arts, he could also cultivate.
The next day.
Early in the morning.
Buff Island’s tournament zone.
The architectural style there was reminiscent of ancient Roman Colosseums, but had a much more humane character. The arena was big enough that everyone could clearly see the battlefield.
Participants were on standby off the arena while others were watching the matches on the second floor.
The emcee platform was in a corner, and Wu Tianbao was still in charge of emceeing.
Ye Lingchen and the others arrived early. Some distance away, the Stick Nation, Murica, and Deutscheland were also seated in the arrangement.
The first match of the day was Tintu vs. England, while the second was Hellas vs. Sun Nation. The matches would commence in the morning and afternoon, respectively. China’s turn was the day after.
At that point, the five peak King Stage martial artists were also sitting on the second floor. They were not far from everyone, but no one felt any pressure at all. Everyone talked and laughed with each other and did not show any indifference.
Looking down from the second floor, the five Tintu monks were sitting cross-legged on the ground, with their eyes closed as if chanting. Meanwhile, the five people from England were waiting with solemn faces.
Everyone talked about the strength of both sides and the chances of either winning.
Not long later, the referee blew a whistle and the audience fell silent instantly.
The tournament had officially begun!
Wu Tianbao began to introduce the order of appearance of both sides.
The five members of Tintu were Saathi, Jakur, Jalil, Shriya, and Vikas.
The five people from England were Anthony, Fran, Julian, Joey, and Alex.
The foreigner’s names gave Ye Lingchen’s a headache, but it was fortunate that he had an outstanding memory, otherwise he would not be able to remember them.
Judging by their Qi, the first player for Tintu and England were one of the stronger ones. Both sides appeared to aim for stability by winning the first game directly.
