The people watching the fight all fell silent, as most of the audience were unable to understand what had just happened.
In the distance, Bu Kong, Zhi Yi, and the others all watched Qiu Shi with solemn expressions. This woman was truly not simple, and in an instant, Shi Zhongjian had been severely injured to the point where he could not even hold his weapon any longer.
A swordsman who had lost his weapon had already been completely defeated.
Beneath one staircase, Lu Yin carefully observed Qiu Shi. Her performance in this fight had startled him. The All Rounder Fairy had finally shown some of her fangs, and the first person to suffer from it was Shi Zhongjian.
Shi Zhongjian certainly was not weak, as his Heaven Splitter technique and imprint had allowed him to overpower the Cosmic Sect’s Celestial Sword. Despite that, he had still suffered a miserable defeat.
Qiu Shi was one of the Cosmic Five. If Lu Yin had not been born, then either Qiu Shi or Yuhua Mavis would have been the Human Domain’s second gatekeeper. Qiu Shi was certainly strong enough to become one of ZENITH’s top ten, even if the public lists had ranked her ninth.
There was a soft bang as Shi Zhongjian smashed into the ground.
Qiu Shi calmly looked at Shi Zhongjian. Her expression did not change in the slightest, and it seemed as though the battle had not even affected her at all.
Some ways away, Shi Zhongjian stood up; his belly was still bleeding nonstop. He immediately used the Secret Technique of Resurrection, which brought his injury under control. He then lifted his head to look at Qiu Shi. His eyes betrayed his reluctance, but he did not attack again. There was no need, as the difference in their strength had been made all too clear.
He had not expected this woman to have hidden her power so deeply.
When ZENITH first began, Qiu Shi had not revealed such strength.
After crushing Shi Zhongjian with overwhelming strength, Qiu Shi soon appeared at the bottom of another staircase.
All of the other finalists had been watching Qiu Shi with fear-filled eyes, but the moment her opponent was revealed, those eyes were filled with sympathy or schadenfreude as she had been paired up with Shang Qing.
No one had expected Qiu Shi to be matched up against Shang Qing.
Lu Yin was similarly stunned; was this okay?
Even an idiot could tell that these two were more than qualified to end up within ZENITH’s top ten, and this was a competition being hosted by the Human Domain’s Hall of Honor. So, why had Qiu Shi encountered Shang Qing before the final rounds? Were they deliberately trying to keep her out of the top ten? Had the Cosmic Sect offended the Hall of Honor somehow?
Anyone with a brain could see that there was a problem. There were only two possibilities for why Qiu Shi had ended up being paired with Shang Qing. The first was that her Cosmic Sect had offended the Hall of Honor and been abandoned. The second was that ZENITH was truly a fair competition to determine the top ten. It was also possible that there was still a chance for those who lost their battles.
Lu Yin knew that the Sixth Mainland had three Progenitors that had pressured the Hall of Honor into giving the Sixth Mainland the entire Outerverse. Additionally, there were clearly major benefits that would be given to the top ten and the powers behind them, and there would naturally be people from each mainland who would be sacrificed. However, Qiu Shi should not be one of those sacrificial pawns. The Cosmic Sect was an absolute behemoth.
Instead, Lu Yin believed that it was not that simple to decide the top ten as what people expected.
Lu Yin grew more serious the more he stared at Qiu Shi. He saw that her expression remained calm, and it was even possible that she had known that this would happen long before.
Inexplicably, Lu Yin became terribly upset; ZENITH was not actually a fair competition. Everyone who had reached a high stage in the contest through luck had been eliminated during the current round, and it was clear that someone was controlling the situation from behind the curtain. The fact that they had paired Qiu Shi up with Shang Qing looked more like the actions of a thief with a guilty conscience and something done to make the universe see ZENITH as a fair competition.
What had been true of the competition for the Astral Tower in the Mountain and Seas Zone was actually also true of ZENITH. Everything had been set up beforehand, and Lu Yin had actually been deliberately paired with Yuhua Mavis. Perhaps the people behind the scenes had expected Lu Yin to lose.
Lu Yin suddenly froze. This time, he would not repeat what he had done during the final stage of the competition in the Mountain and Seas Zone. He lifted his head to look up at the statue. Most likely, the Hall of Honor and the Sixth Mainland’s three Progenitors saw the statue as already having the face of Shang Qing or one of the Daosource Three Skies, as those options would be the best for the two powers.
Lu Yin’s face grew cold. How interesting would it be to force out a result that these powers were not expecting? He could only imagine the expressions on those powerhouses if such a thing occurred.
Not only had Qiu Shi and Shi Zhongjian participated in a contest between the top youths of the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands, but they had also participated in a contest of swordsmanship.
When it came to swordsmanship, whether it was the Fifth Mainland or the Sixth Mainland, there was one power that could not be ignored: the Sword Sect.
Liu Tianmu’s figure appeared in the arena.
Upon seeing Liu Tianmu appear, even Shang Qing’s face became more somber.
In the Mountain and Seas Zone, Liu Tianmu had been the only person who had managed to injure Shang Qing. There was no way to counter her Thirteenth Sword, and the Sword Sect’s Thirteen Swords had a well-deserved reputation for being an utterly peerless sword technique.
Liu Tianmu’s opponent was a Cruiser from the Sixth Mainland.
Many people felt regretful upon seeing Liu Tianmu’s opponent; the battle was already known, and there was no need to fight.
Shang Qing looked aside, as this match was just a waste of time.
Anyone who knew Liu Tianmu knew that this battle was a waste of time, but the Sixth Mainland cultivator grew excited. He had purposefully broken through to the Cruiser realm because of ZENITH, and although he could not compare to the heirs of an imprinter’s family, he was still quite powerful. Between his strength and some good luck, he had made it this far into ZENITH.
However, he had just been paired with someone actually famous. The Cruiser did not expect to win. After all, Liu Tianmu was expected to enter the top ten. However, he did intend to hold out for as long as possible in order to become famous himself, and he felt that it would be best to present an attitude of welcoming death while fighting for his Sixth Mainland. Perhaps he would be seen positively and be accepted as a Progenitor’s disciple.
The more the Cruiser thought about this, the more excited he became as he looked at Liu Tianmu. He then lifted a hand. There was a smile on his face, though he did his best to appear humble and amiable. If Liu Tianmu fell in love with him at first sight, then things would be even better!
“Next-” He just barely started to speak when there was a flash of sword qi, and he collapsed in the middle of speaking. Liu Tianmu had never even looked at the Cruiser.
Many of the people from the Sixth Mainland who were watching ZENITH had ugly expressions. This was just too embarrassing. Why did he have to utter so much rubbish? If he had acted immediately, then he could have at least unleashed some attacks. This is just too shameful.
Liu Tianmu disappeared from the battlefield and reappeared at the bottom of a staircase.
Countless people were stunned for a moment, but then they burst into cheers. Whether they were from the Sixth Mainland, the Fifth Mainland, the Astral Beast Domain, or the Technocracy, everyone began cheering. This was because Liu Tianmu’s opponent was Lu Yin.
Ever since ZENITH had started, Lu Yin had been one of the most active and visible contestants. He had defeated many powerful opponents, and his fights were usually the most fun to watch.
He was soon going to be Liu Tianmu’s opponent, which was even more exciting.
In the Innerverse’s Sword Sect, many of the disciples grew excited. “Elder Sister, beat him!”
“Beat him! That bastard dares to go against our Innerverse! Use the Thirteen Swords to cut him down!”
“Senior Sister is invincible!”
“Senior Sister, I love you!”
…
In the Outerverse, countless people from the Great Eastern Alliance were also excited. “Alliance Leader is invincible! Overcome the Thirteen Swords!”
“Destroy the legend of the Thirteen Swords! Alliance Leader is the strongest!”
“Alliance Leader, I love you!”
…
Lu Yin and Liu Tianmu. They were both members of the Ten Arbiters, as well as some of the most famous youths in the entire Fifth Mainland, and they were about to go head-to-head.
At the top of Zenith Mountain, beneath a staircase, Lu Yin gave Liu Tianmu a strange look. “I didn’t expect to face you in the next round.”
Liu Tianmu appeared calm as she looked back at Lu Yin. “I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time.”
Lu Yin nodded. “I’ve admired Thirteen Swords for a long time as well.”
Below, Liu Shaoqiu’s eyes betrayed his complicated emotions. Lu Yin had originally been Liu Shaoqiu’s rival. He still remembered the Astral Combat Tournament from when they had both been in the Astral Combat Academy. There, he had spread the fame of the Thirteen Swords, only to ultimately be defeated by Lu Yin. Now, Lu Yin was about to fight against Liu Shaoqiu’s senior sister. Could Lu Yin stand up to the invincible Thirteen Swords? There was no way to counter or defend against the Thirteenth Sword. Their battle would be wonderful.
At this point, there were only four matches left in the round.
Other than a trembling Cruiser, the other contestants were all Hunters or Enlighters, and one of them was even one of the Daosource Three Skies.
Many people looked at the first layer and felt sympathy for the lone Cruiser.
However, that person was also quite impressive since he had managed to stay in ZENITH for so long.
Countless people stared at the battlefield through the livestream, and soon, another figure appeared.
It was Yao Xuan, the crown prince of the Celestial Beast Empire. He belonged to one of the most powerful legendary species in the Astral Beast Domain, and he had also been one of ZENITH’s gatekeepers.
Everyone grew excited when they saw that Yao Xuan would be in the next match. Every human, from both the Fifth and Sixth Mainlands, were very curious about the Celestial Demons, as there were many legends surrounding this race.
They were born at the Hunter realm, and they ate spiritual force. It was also rumored that the spiritual force that a Celestial Demon devoured could never be recovered. The race was extremely powerful and very mysterious.
The Hall of Honor was the supreme ruler of the Fifth Mainland’s Human Domain, and the Celestial Demons were the masters of the Fifth Mainland’s Astral Beast Domain. Basically, Yao Xuan held the same status in the Astral Beast Domain as Shang Qing in the Human Domain.
Yao Xuan was handsome, and there was always a smile on his face. He looked no different from a human, and he had attracted quite a few female fans who had been cheering for him during the tournament even though these new fans were human.
If it was a matter of looks, then Yao Xuan was undoubtedly the most beautiful man in all of ZENITH.
His opponent was Xin Nü.
Upon seeing that Xin Nü would be facing off against Yao Xuan, Lu Yin’s expression grew much more somber. She most likely would not get away with just light wounds in this battle.
Xin Nü still appeared completely indifferent to everything. Besides Lu Yin, she held the same indifferent attitude towards everyone.
Yao Xuan’s eyes lit up when he looked at Xin Nü. Then, he turned to look at Lu Yin with a smile.
Lu Yin’s expression sharpened. When he had been acting as a gatekeeper, he had taken action against Shang Qing once to allow Xin Nü through the final checkpoint. Although the others did not know, Yao Xuan was fully aware that Lu Yin was the one who had taken action at that moment, and it was also why he had looked over at Lu Yin after seeing Xin Nü in the arena.
Celestial Demons fed on spiritual force, and not even the Daynight clan could compare to the beasts in terms of control over spiritual force. Xin Nü was in danger.
Xin Nü was also aware that she was in danger. She had faced many opponents before and was very conscientious. Although the Rock Realm’s Realmling was actually Shi Zhongjian, she was no weaker than him and had fought countless battles before.
Facing Yao Xuan, Xin Nu felt a creepy sensation that left her certain that she was not this person’s match.
“That person was able to save you once, so let’s see if he can save you a second time,” Yao Xuan said. He elegantly gestured with a sign of invitation as he said, “You can make the first move.”
Xin Nü did not reply politely, and she lifted a foot to cross the void. She immediately appeared in front of Yao Xuan and struck out with an attack.
Yao Xuan stood still, and Xin Nü’s palm pierced his body. Her face showed surprise, but there was still a smile on Yao Xuan’s face.
Beneath one of the staircases, Shang Qing’s face grew solemn. “The body of the Celestial Demons is composed of spiritual force, and they can choose to manifest this body into a physical being according to their will.”
Lu Yin was caught off guard; there were actually such creatures?
In ZENITH, both Yōu Qi and Xu Ling had possessed bodies that could simply ignore an enemy’s attacks, but those two did so by traveling through the void and still had an actual, physical body. That was why Yōu Qi could grab Xu Ling and instantly defeat the beast.
However, there was no other participant like Yao Xuan, as there was no other participant that lacked a physical form.
