Thousands upon thousands of Sky Killing Sword Auras covered the sky, charging wildly toward Ye Mo.
At the same time, the Zhu Deity Magical Formation was unleashed once again. A layer of ice crystals formed above the Seal Text Wall, forming an indestructible defense. When the Sky Killing Sword Auras struck down on the ice-covered wall, all they did was to make a few cracks.
But the sword auras were unlimited – as the auras flew through the air, the attacks didn’t stop. Under the frightening offense, the cracks in the Ice Wall above the Zhu Deity Magical Formation grew longer and longer.
Seeing what was going on, Ye Mo’s expression remained unchanged. The Wooden Restraint activated as ray after ray of the Cage Dragon Seeds exploded from the seal. Facing the onrushing attack, that type of Cage Dragon Seed could detect the waves of the aura and instantly germinate, growing shoots and restraining the opponent.
Just as the Ice Wall was about to crack completely, the sword auras in the air suddenly stopped. Everyone saw that one of the sword auras was restrained by a tree vine.
“How is this possible? It’s been caught?”
As everyone wondered what was going on, two more seals exploded. The Earth Judgement and Sorrow Happiness Fire Dance activated simultaneously. Countless flames danced in the air, carrying the Wills of Sorrow and Happiness. As that ray of sword aura exploded wildly, a giant palm appeared in the air – the Palm of Judgement – and pressed down on that sword aura.
The four seals exploded simultaneously, turning the tables on Chu Tian.
Boom!
Two frightening palm attacks – one of Flame, one of Judgement – charged out. The sword aura was shot backward before turning back into Chu Tian. Blood flowed from either side of his mouth, and his Transcendence Golden Body was shattered.
Ye Mo, having unleashed four seals simultaneously, withdrew his Transcendence Golden Body as well. He stood on one side of the stage, panting heavily.
“Seals. You unleashed four different elemental Level-Four Ninth-Tier seals.” Anger was written over Chu Tian’s face. Ignoring his own injuries, he raised his body’s aura again and said, “Take my Hand Blade attack!”
Splash!
Unlimited strength descended from above the sky and channeled through his body, raising Chu Tian’s aura up another tier. But he didn’t reach even a tenth of his maximum strength. His aura was already too weak. Borrowing the strength of the atmosphere and channeling it through his body was already a tough feat. Arms trembling, he once again pounced at Ye Mo.
“Rising Caged Dragon!”
The Rising Dragon Pillars awoke wildly as its strength gathered bit by bit. Answering the attack with a palm strike of his own, the weakened duo fought in the air, exchanging more than fifty palm attacks.
Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam!
After countless huge explosions, everyone saw Chu Tian strike Ye Mo’s shoulder as Ye Mo struck Chu Tian in the chest.
The two of them flew backward. Chu Tian spat out mouthfuls of blood. Ye Mo’s face was pale white when he landed heavily on the ground.
“A lose-lose?”
Everyone’s eyes lit up. They had no idea that the competition would end like this.
But they all knew that Ye Mo was far from a match for Chu Tian. He was only able to turn the situation around thanks to his four Level-Four Ninth-Tier seals. But, for Ye Mo to be able to release these four seals at the same time was no easy feat either.
“A lose-lose result?”
Ye Mo, face pale as snow, channeled the Light of the Glorious Sun, healing his wounds. While the Caged Dragon Powers couldn’t be repaired, for now, he managed to struggle to his feet. “Chu Tian, you’ve lost.”
Ye Mo slowly stood up, looking coldly at Chu Tian, who was laid out on the ground.
“Ye Mo, I’ll give it to you this time!”
Chu Tian could barely muster the strength to speak. “You only managed to beat me because of those four seals. Your true strength is far below mine. While I’ve lost to you, you still won’t become a Saint. In your current state, it’ll take at least a day for you to recover your strength. It’ll be impossible for you to defeat General Bing and General Huo.”
The competition concluded with Ye Mo the last man standing. Chu Tian remained sprawled on the ground, unable to stand up.
“The first round of the competition has ended,” Elder Tao Tie announced.
“Ye Mo is the victor and has successfully advanced to the next round. Chu Tian is eliminated.”
The audience erupted in cheers, moans, and eager conversation.
Ye Mo slowly retreated, sitting to one side and starting to heal his injuries.
With Chu Tian eliminated, Liu Huo got to choose his opponent for the second round.
Li Huo slowly walked toward Ye Mo and said, “I’ll kill Taiyi Qinglian.”
“Taiyi Qinglian, I want to challenge you,” Li Huo said coldly.
“Taiyi Qinglian, Li Huo wishes to challenge you. Do you accept the challenge?” Elder Tao Tie asked.
“I reject the challenge,” Taiyi Qinglian replied calmly.
“What? You reject the challenge?”
Li Huo’s eyes widened. He was already furious because Ye Mo had defeated Chu Tian.. Wanting to take out his frustrations on Taiyi Qinglian, he hadn’t expected her to automatically admit defeat.
“Is that not allowed? Based on my current strength, I won’t gain anything even if I choose to fight with you. I might as well admit defeat now.” Taiyi Qinglian smiled gently, stepping on lotuses toward Ye Mo.
“For the second round of competition, Li Huo is victorious, and advances to the next round.” Elder Tao Tie announced and moved on to the next round of the competition.
Nian Bing picked Gao Mingkun. Gao Mingkun automatically admitted defeat as well, allowing Nian Bing to advance to the next round. Liu Qingyun picked the weakest opponent, Duan Fei, and defeated him with a single move. Last came the battle between Yan Luo and Yang Kang. While the battle was thrilling, it couldn’t compare to the battle between Ye Mo and Chu Tian. But, it was exciting nonetheless, and the final battle ended with Yan Luo defeating Yang Kang by a single move.
The contestants who managed to advance to the second round were Ye Mo, Li Huo, Nian Bing, Liu Qingyun and Yan Luo.
“The second round of competition will use the same prioritized challenging model. According to the rules of the competition, the weakest competitor will be eliminated automatically.”
After the announcement, Elder Tao Tie paused for a while before continuing, “The competition will automatically eliminate Yan Luo of the Human Dao Palace. Yan Luo, if you are not satisfied with this, you can choose whoever you would like to challenge. If you defeat him, you will become part of the top four as well.”
As Elder Tao Tie finished speaking, people looked on eagerly. With Ye Mo yet to recover to his full strength, if he was challenged now, it was extremely likely that he would be eliminated.
“Elder Tao Tie, such a rule exists?” Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber asked calmly. Such a rule was evidently disadvantageous for Ye Mo.
“Saint Ancestor, the rule was decided by the Master. It cannot be changed.” Elder Tao Tie said with a hint of admiration, “Furthermore, making Yan Luo challenge Ye Mo is already the best-case scenario. Once Ye Mo enters the semi-finals, based on true strength, any three of them would be too much for Ye Mo. Given Ye Mo’s history with the First Heaven Society, I’m afraid that they’ll just kill him.”
“Hmph, whoever dares to kill my disciple, I’ll squeeze his brain out,” Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber said coldly.
“Elder Tao Tie, the old fool, he looks like he’s trying to help us, but all he’s doing is protecting Ye Mo,” Chu Tian, who was resting off to one side, said viciously.
“Elder Tao Tie, I don’t have any grievances.” Yan Luo held his hands together as he replied. He didn’t intend to challenge Ye Mo as he recovered, instead choosing to forfeit the competition.
Ye Mo looked at Yan Luo and smiled. Even if Yan Luo was to challenge Ye Mo now, Yan Luo still wouldn’t win. Due to the specialty of the Cage Dragon Power, even without completely recovering, when it focused on one single entrance, it could still unleash Eighth Tier Transcendence Realm power.
But his opponent giving up on the chance to challenge him was naturally for the better.
