According to the rules, anyone currently engaged in a challenge could not be selected by other challengers.
So, hoping he'd be picked by someone else and forced off the challenge stage — that wasn't realistic either.
"Does this guy know some kind of sorcery? I refuse to believe that a mere 'Azure Nether Life and Death Seal' could be that powerful. Nobody can stop him?"
"I'm skeptical too, but so what if it is sorcery? In an arena match, the winner rules. If you think you can do better, get up there."
Truth be told, the martial world was strange like that. In the beginning, when worldly martial artists like Jiang Chen showed up in the Xuanling Zone, they were met with nothing but cold looks, contempt, and outright hostility.
Yet, as his dazzling twenty-victory streak unfolded, something unexpected happened — many sect disciples had quietly become his supporters.
The strong were revered. In the world of martial arts, respect was ultimately earned through strength.
The third person Jiang Chen had challenged — a disciple of the Flowing Cloud Sect — chuckled smugly: "Comparing this and that, it seems like I actually performed the best. At least after fighting this monster, I still walked away in one piece."
The shameless fellow was patting himself on the back, and the people around him nearly threw up.
Everyone knew the guy had just gotten lucky. Jiang Chen hadn't even bothered to hit him properly. The so-called "walking away in one piece" was nothing more than the result of putting on a convincing act of submission the moment he stepped up — which was why Jiang Chen hadn't bothered to beat him hard.
Still, these were thoughts people kept to themselves. Nobody said them out loud.
Just as all the martial artists were holding their breath, wondering how many consecutive victories this worldly prodigy would rack up, Jiang Chen voluntarily stopped — after twenty-five wins.
It wasn't that Jiang Chen was running out of energy or couldn't keep going. He simply felt that with three months for the selection trials, doing everything at once would make the rest far too boring.
So, knowing when to call it quits, after securing twenty-five consecutive victories, Jiang Chen halted his challenges.
His withdrawal let everyone else breathe a collective sigh of relief. At least today's torment was over.
According to the rules, once he stopped challenging, he wouldn't get another opportunity to challenge today.
He could only wait to be challenged himself.
When Jiang Chen stepped down from the stage, Consort Dan felt a swell of pride. What was a true genius? This was a real genius!
Compared to Jiang Chen, those so-called sect geniuses were nothing but cowards hiding behind a fierce facade.
Before Jiang Chen had shown his power, every last one of them had looked down on worldly martial artists, treating them like ants.
But once Jiang Chen unleashed his strength, those same so-called sect geniuses turned pale and panicked, terrified of being selected to face him.
The stark contrast between their behavior before and after made Consort Dan think even less of these so-called sect geniuses.
Jiang Chen, however, was perfectly calm. These martial artists, assigned to the Xuanling Zone, were limited to this level — third-rate even within their sects.
From the very beginning, when Jiang Chen had come to participate in the selection trials, his target had never been these martial artists. It was just that the rules required it. Starting from the worldly ranks, he couldn't exactly leap straight to the Heavenly Spirit Zone.
The Xuanling Zone was merely a stepping stone on his ascent. Jiang Chen hadn't even broken a sweat.
"Brother Panshi, beautiful work!" Consort Dan held out her palm and slapped it against Jiang Chen's in celebration.
Jiang Chen chuckled and asked, "How did you do?"
Consort Dan giggled: "Three wins and one loss — far from your impressive tally. Brother Panshi, you've really saved face for us worldly martial artists. From now on, our lives should get a little easier. They won't look down on us anymore."
Being looked down on or not — Jiang Chen couldn't have cared less. He hadn't come here to care about other people's opinions.
The other worldly martial artists, meanwhile, were shamelessly sidling up to Jiang Chen one by one, congratulating him and clearly trying to align themselves with him.
Jiang Chen had never had any interest in forming cliques, and as for the character of these worldly martial artists, apart from this little Xiao Fei, he genuinely didn't much like any of them.
So, when they approached him, he didn't refuse their overtures, but he wasn't especially warm about it either. He offered a few perfunctory words, then sat cross-legged and focused inward.
That afternoon, Jiang Chen was drawn as a defender and went up to the stage once more. He won decisively again.
By the end of the day, Jiang Chen wasn't drawn again.
As Lord Fang made his announcement, the first day of competition finally came to a close.
The combat intensity on this first day had been immense. Across one hundred arenas, a full five thousand battles had taken place! That meant each arena had averaged roughly fifty fights.
"Brother, I'm Liu Wencai of the Wanling Sect. Tonight, I'm hosting — come by my courtyard for a few drinks? Courtyard A-7, Number Seven."
A Wanling Sect martial cultivator with strange patterns tattooed on his face approached Jiang Chen, accompanied by several lackeys, and extended a warm invitation.
Consort Dan smiled faintly, watching the scene unfold. She knew that because of Jiang Chen's monstrous performance, people had already started trying to recruit him.
Jiang Chen's principle had always been simple: treat me with respect, and I'll treat you with respect in return.