Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“This…” The spectators felt speechless seeing the enormous golden ancient god figure that was unable to be burned down by Hellfire.
“You fat*ss.” Zhuge Mingyue smirked looking at the battlefield. That fat*ss had what it took to best a mighty one of Zhisheng Cliffs, yet he chose the weakest one to fight against nonetheless. Very dirty indeed.
Wang Yu evaded and retreated. The golden huge leg stomped, causing a rumble throughout the entire forum stage. If the stage had not been one forged using matrixes by the mighty ones of the Xihua Sacred Mountain, it would have crumbled right there and then.
The golden ancient god continued to press forward. It was something that exuded intense pressure by simply standing around. The power of rules that Wang Yu was skilled at wielding were derived from flames. It was a type of rules useful against wood elemental powers, but it was unable to do anything against the huge golden body.
“Stomp, stomp, stomp!” Yi Xiaoshi yelled while hiding behind the ancient god’s body.
Wang Yu stared coldly in his direction. That fat*ss sure is one goddamn *sshole.
The ground continued to shake and Wang Yu looked awful. He eventually yelled, “I quit.”
The ancient god figure had only ceased after the line was spoken. It gradually dissipated into countless blots of light, and Yi Xiaoshi leaped from the air, saying to Wang Yu while looking at him, “Too weak. Waste of my time.” Yi Xiaoshi then turned around and left in a dashing manner, leaving Wang Yu to stare at his fat silhouette.
Too weak? Wang Yu’s fists popped loudly and clearly. He gritted his teeth and wished he could have kicked the fat guy hard right there and then. That fat*ss is just too much.
“What the hell.” Many great figures in the grandstands felt rather speechless. They were thinking that the fat participant from the Barren State really deserved to be called an *sshole.
Regardless, Yi Xiaoshi was able to make it to the top hundred after that battle, and he also happened to be the first participant from the Barren State to make it to the top hundred.
“The Barren State.” Many turned to look in their direction, and their opinion of the Barren State gradually changed. They had thought the Barren State to be little more than just decoration, yet, the Barren State had just as many participants as the other participants from other sacred grounds at the moment. One could have easily seen that there would be at least three participants from the Barren State capable of making it to the top hundred. With that turn of events, the Barren State’s sacred ground began to look like something befitting their status.
It was important to note that none from Zhisheng Cliffs of Yu State was capable of making it to the top hundred. Such a comparison was a form of disastrous irony to many.
The spectators at the grandstands began to look amused. They began to look forward to the top hundred places being filled and the eventual matches between the top hundred candidates, wondering how brilliant the fights would be.
Mighty ones from Cloud State, War State, and the others continued to step forward and fight. None dared to challenge the participants from the Barren State anymore.
Even Yi Xiaoshi had proven his strength. The one among the remaining participants from the Barren State who could be considered weak was none other than Phoenix.
But what if she is just like the others who haven’t brought their full powers to the game just yet?
As such, no one dared to challenge her.
When it was the Barren State’s turn again, Phoenix was the first one to step out. Ye Futian nodded to himself, getting what Yu Sheng and the others were trying to pull with that.
That round of eliminations had just begun, and if they were to make a move to challenge others first, there would be some weak ones available for picking. If they were to be challenged or if the rounds continued, the chances of doing so would lessen. As such, they simply let Phoenix seize the chance to make it to the top hundred.
Phoenix did not disappoint as she ended up defeating the one she challenged. She became the second participant from the Barren State who made it to the top hundred after Yi Xiaoshi. Both of them had been thought to be the weakest before that round of battles began, yet both were able to make it to the top hundred nonetheless.
It would be difficult to eliminate the remaining five: Yu Sheng, Hua Jieyu, Ye Wuchen, Xu Que, and Yuan Zhan.
It was especially so in the case of Yu Sheng. There was no one who dared to challenge him unprovoked.
That man is definitely worthy of being ranked in the top thirty. It was apparent that no top-class genius wanted to challenge him at the moment. The risk was simply too great and there was no need to do something like that so soon.
The rounds of battles continued, with every battle ending with a participant reaching the top hundred. The spectators were especially excited. Everyone felt that every battle was even more interesting as many geniuses brought their hidden powers to bear on their opponents.
There were participants from the Barren State who continued to step out and fight, with every single one of them winning. Yu Sheng was the last to step out. He was deemed the strongest of the one remaining. As such, he was able to defeat his opponent without a doubt, even if he was not the one picking the fight.
When all seven participants from the Barren State were done with their respective battles, the result was all seven of them won and made it to the top hundred. With fewer and fewer participants left on the forum stage, the seven from the Barren State grew increasingly eye-catching.
With all entire nine states taken into consideration, having seven participants from one state ranked among the top hundred was not bad. If things were considered based on sacred grounds instead, there were about 30 sacred grounds remaining, and, on average, there were only three or four representatives among each. The Holy Zhi Palace of the Barren State, a place without a saint, took seven places instead.
Everyone’s attention, whoever they might have been from the nine states, was fully on the Barren State. It was something that none had anticipated.
Xihua Sacred Mountain had not anticipated such a turn of events when they invited the Barren State, nor did Zhisheng Cliffs when they went to provoke the Barren State. It made one wonder if the humility that Ye Futian had demonstrated previously when he talked to Saint Xihua was genuine.
“The nine states aside, just look at Xihua Sacred Mountain. How many legendary figures have there been who sported immense talent? If you saw any of them, you should be humble and seek their guidance instead. Who allowed you to be so insolent?!” It was something Ye Futian said to Yu Sheng when the Nine State Forum was about to begin.
Be humble and seek guidance?
Handing over a holy item if none from the Barren State is able to make it to top ten?
Is this humility?
No, that is confidence.
Everyone from the nine states was aware of that, but nobody spoke about that explicitly. No one would have made a scene with that knowledge, as that would have made the host, Xihua Sacred Mountain, look bad. Furthermore, Ye Futian’s behavior had been courteous. Everyone’s attitude towards the Barren State decided what the atmosphere was like at that time. His humility did not seem out of place back then.
If anything, it was the people of the other eight states and the mighty ones of Xihua Sacred Mountain to be blamed, for looking down on the Barren State. None from the other eight states expected things to turn out this way. Even the ones from the Barren State and Ye Futian felt surprised at how things turned out. Everyone made it to the top hundred except Zui Qianchou.
Many top-class figures who came all the way from the Barren State to witness the event felt tremendously shaken. There was no way any of them would have expected that when Ye Futian took over as Palace Lord of the Holy Zhi Palace and ventured outside of the Barren State, he and his peers would shine so brilliantly the very first time they stood on a stage outside of the Barren State.
Who would have thought something like this was possible?
Qin Zhong of Zhisheng Cliffs alone had greatly embarrassed the Holy Zhi Palace once. What was more ridiculous was that there were still those in the Holy Zhi Palace who doubted Ye Futian’s decision to allow his friends to train in the Sage Hall.
Ye Futian hardly thought much about it all. He simply thought himself to be rather lucky. With the exception of Zui Qianchou, who apparently was down on his luck, all the others had yet to meet top-class figures from other sacred grounds. The strongest Zhisheng Cliffs had to offer had also been kicked out by Yu Sheng.
But then again, such luck was something that Yu Sheng and the others had earned with their indisputable prowess. If it had not been the participants of the Barren State bringing surprise and shock to everyone present with every single battle they fought, they would not have been treated as such. In the last round, no one other than Yi Xiaoshi had been challenged. All the others from the Barren State went to challenge the participants of other states instead, allowing them to pick comparatively weak opponents. If it had not been for their impressive show of force, they would not have been thought of as such. For instance, all from Zhisheng Cliffs were stomped on and bullied like ants, and every single one of them ended up eliminated. In conclusion, luck stemmed from and was one’s own prowess.
The battles of the others continued while the Barren State participants were done with theirs. The rounds continued until all of the top hundred places were taken 80 battles later.
Countless eyes turned to the forum stage. There were only 100 people standing on the vast stage, taking their places at the nine states’ corners. By then, the number of remaining participants from the Eastern State no longer proved to be of an edge when compared to Summer State and Qi State.
The top hundred places were as such:
The Eastern State held 13 places.
Summer State held 15 places.
Qi State held 14 places.
Cloud State held 12 places.
War State held 12 places.
Feng State held 11 places.
Ocean State held ten places.
Yu State held six places.
Barren State taking seven places.
With the utter elimination of Zhisheng Cliffs, Yu State turned out to be the worst performer of all nine states, with one participant fewer than the Barren State. Summer State and Qi State, on the other hand, due to their formidable strength in general, turned out greater than the Eastern State, the host of the event. Of course, when things were considered only from the perspective of sacred ground forces, many would have been even more surprised. The Holy Zhi Palace of the Barren State had taken the most number of places of the top hundred among all other sacred grounds of the other eight states.
It was a marvelous scene to behold.
The most underestimated sacred ground, the Holy Zhi Palace of the Barren State, turned out to have the most participants among the top hundred. Other than the sacred grounds, there were only three participants from the Eastern State who were not a student of a sacred ground. Furthermore, those places were taken from by top-class geniuses of sacred grounds. Every single one of those three remaining signified the elimination of a top-class genius from a sacred ground.
That young girl, Yaya, was one of those three.
“Congratulations to all who remain.” At the moment, Saint Xihua addressed the top hundred on the forum stage from the main seat of the Eastern State. “Top-class figures of Noble Plane gathered at the Nine State Forum. Being ranked among the top hundred means that all of you are the most remarkable nobles of the younger generations throughout the nine states. There may be many who, in the future, have the right to sit at the forefront of the grandstands to witness the event.”
The people from all nine states nodded with a smile. Saint Xihua was apt with his words. Exceptional ones emerged from those top hundred and they would be qualified to be ranked on the Sage and Saint Ranking in the future.
“The Nine State Forum this year has very high standards, so much so that even I look forward to seeing the battles fought at the very end,” the Great Zhou Sacred King said with a smile. Zhou Ziyi, who was sitting behind him looked rather displeased. She was eliminated right from the very first round, defeated by Hua Jieyu. Hua Jieyu and the other six from the Barren State, on the other hand, all made it to the top hundred, which meant that she, as a princess of a sacred dynasty, paled in comparison to Hua Jieyu. She even lost to Hua Jieyu in terms of looks.
“What is more surprising is that the Barren State, which has not participated in the event for so many years, was surprisingly able to have seven ranked among the top hundred for the first time in a long time. This is truly surprising, and I guess my opinion is shared by many here,” the Sky Saint said with a smile, and others nodded in agreement. The Glass Saint added with a smile, “Indeed. No one would have thought this would have happened when the Nine State Forum began. This also proves that Xihua Sacred Mountain had been wise to invite the Barren State to participate in the event this year.”
“It was they who had proved what they were capable of,” Saint Xihua shook his head as he clarified. Everyone was able to see what was before their eyes, and that was something that even he had not anticipated. As such, he did not see fit to take credit for any of it.
