Outside the light barrier, the crowd erupted into commotion. More than a few stood slack-jawed in disbelief.
Even the bald, burly man serving as referee cast a peculiar glance at the young man before loudly announcing: "Falling Cloud Sect — Han Li wins!"
Han Li's expression didn't change as he cupped his fists toward the big man, then calmly walked out of the light barrier.
After that, two Ancient Sword Gate disciples rushed into the arena and carried out the unconscious Yao Feng, then set about trying to revive him.
At this moment, the short, stocky elder outside the arena stared wide-eyed, his face an ugly shade.
He had known from the start that there had to be something unusual about this disciple competing at such a low cultivation level. But he had never imagined that the boy would use talismans as his means of attack — and that his own prized disciple would be defeated in a single exchange. Just moments ago he had been mocking the red-robed elder, and now his face could barely recover.
An awkward expression quickly settled onto his features, his belly full of frustration, yet not a single word could he force out.
"Ha ha! Brother Duan, this disciple of yours is quite something. He went and fired off dozens of spirit-stone talismans in one go. It's a bit of a trick, I'll admit, but activating so many Fire Bullet Talismans simultaneously — that takes real effort to practice. An ordinary disciple could never handle it so smoothly." Elder Fu, having watched Han Li's match inside the light barrier, let out a surprised laugh.
"Nothing special. This disciple of ours happens to be a talisman craftsman, so using talismans in combat is perfectly natural. Of course, that he was willing to spend so many at once — even I was a bit surprised," the red-robed elder said with studied nonchalance, all the while secretly savoring the sour expression on Jiang Yun's face.
"Hmph! He just happened to have a lot of talismans. Now that everyone knows his trick, your disciple certainly won't get past the next round," Jiang Yun muttered resentfully.
"Is that so?" The red-robed elder chuckled and said nothing more.
"However, the way your disciple rushed forward — that looked like one of the mundane world's body-lightening techniques. Otherwise he couldn't have caught Junior Nephew Yao off guard so quickly," said the green-robed scholar, glancing at Han Li as the latter returned to the Falling Cloud Sect's ranks. He nodded without the slightest hint of displeasure.
"Fellow Daoist Bai noticed as well! This disciple of ours was once a rogue cultivator, so his skills are a bit... eclectic. Please excuse the sight!" The red-robed elder showed a touch of surprise.
"There's nothing to excuse. I myself once took an interest in the martial arts of the mundane world and studied them a little. Although such mortal techniques are useless against high-level cultivators, if a Qi Refining disciple applies them cleverly, they can add a good measure of strength. Besides, your disciple's execution was remarkably polished — it looked like he'd been through real combat before. Our sect's disciple lost fair and square." The scholar spoke with a smile.
While the high-ranking cultivators of the three sects chatted at their ease, the arena's referee had already been replaced by the gray-robed elder of the Falling Cloud Sect. He announced in a flat voice: "Second match — Hundred Arts Academy's Ruan Tianci versus Ancient Sword Gate's Zhou Xu."
At his words, one young man stepped out from each of the two sects. They exchanged courteous bows and cupped their fists, and at the elder's command of "Begin," both began forming hand seals and released their magical artifacts, clashing together in midair.
The Core Formation cultivators of all three sects promptly set aside the previous match and focused their attention on this one.
Perhaps influenced by Han Li's earlier bout, these two disciples fought noticeably more cautiously, making the spectacle rather dull and tedious for the onlookers.
In the end, the Ancient Sword Gate's sword cultivator proved the superior of the two, breaking through his opponent's artifact defenses and claiming victory.
The following match pitted the Falling Cloud Sect against the Hundred Arts Academy…
And so the first round of competition continued, taking a full two days before every pair had fought once.
The sword cultivators of the Ancient Sword Gate were genuinely formidable — no exaggeration.
Apart from Han Li and a scant few others, every disciple from the other two sects who faced an Ancient Sword Gate opponent found themselves at a clear disadvantage, falling one after another.
This outcome finally put the grin back on Elder Jiang's face, as though he had exhaled a long-held breath of frustration.
Fortunately, the Core Formation cultivators of the Hundred Arts Academy and the Falling Cloud Sect's red-robed elder had anticipated this well in advance. Though their pride took a hit, they managed to keep it off their faces, affecting an air of indifference. In sheer composure, they far outshone the short, stocky elder.
In the second round, Han Li's opponent was a Qi Refining stage female disciple from the Hundred Arts Academy whose face was full of heroic spirit.