Chapter 660: The Top Four

After the round of sixteen had been decided, the battles on the third day grew even more fierce.

Almost every clash would be a frantic bloodbath. On this day, even Saint Realm powerhouses were no longer protected—they were certain to face each other head-on.

Sure enough, Jiang Chen drew a Saint Realm opponent: a Saint Realm genius from the Xiaoyao Sect.

This person bore a certain resemblance to Wei Qing. His name was Wei Gong, and while his temperament was similar to Wei Qing's, his strength and cultivation were clearly far superior.

That said, however strong he was, he still wasn't as powerful as Wang Han.

After exchanging blows with Jiang Chen for a brief while, Wei Gong proved to be a pragmatist. Knowing that if he pushed the confrontation any further, he would only come out worse for it, he simply chose to forfeit.

It was obvious that Wei Gong understood perfectly well that he stood no chance against this "Mu Gaoqi." Wei Qing had been handled with ease—how could he, Wei Gong, fare any better?

With that, Jiang Chen advanced smoothly into the quarterfinals, his progression utterly effortless.

Shen Qinghong's luck at the draw held up nicely—he was matched against a peak Ninth Level Origin Realm opponent, and his path forward remained clear.

Ling Bi'er also maintained her streak of favorable draws, once again facing a peak Ninth Level Origin Realm genius.

After a grueling battle, she narrowly scraped through, advancing to the quarterfinals as well.

It was worth noting that among the round of sixteen, eleven were Saint Realm geniuses and only five were peak Ninth Level Origin Realm. Ling Bi'er was one of those five, meaning that out of fifteen possible opponents, she had only a four-in-fifteen chance of drawing an Origin Realm fighter.

And yet she had pulled it off.

Once the results of the round of sixteen were finalized, an extraordinary situation emerged: among the eight quarterfinalists, Dan Qian Palace occupied four seats!

The Great Sacred Hall held only three, with the remaining spot going to Lin Hai, the top genius of the Northern Depths Sect.

The Saint Realm geniuses from the Xiaoyao Sect had been thoroughly unlucky—one had drawn the strongest fighter, Xiang Qin, and the other had drawn Jiang Chen. Both were eliminated.

The quarterfinalists: Xiang Qin, Yue Baize, Lang Jiuling, Mu Gaoqi, Shen Qinghong, Jun Mobai, Ling Bi'er, and Lin Hai.

The Great Sacred Hall's three representatives were no surprise.

What astonished everyone was Dan Qian Palace's four. Mu Gaoqi, the dark horse, went without saying. Shen Qinghong and Ling Bi'er had essentially stumbled into the quarterfinals on the strength of their draws alone. And those favorable draws had only been possible because the Holy Sword Palace had withdrawn.

If the Holy Sword Palace hadn't pulled out, there wouldn't have been so many Origin Realm fighters filling out the round of sixteen. Those lucky draws would never have materialized.

All things considered, Dan Qian Palace's luck was phenomenal.

Still, Dan Qian Palace's Jun Mobai had delivered a performance that caught everyone off guard. He had gone toe-to-toe with and eliminated Yuan Yuan, the top genius of the Sacred Ape Clan from the Great Sacred Hall.

Although the Sacred Ape Clan's top fighter wasn't especially formidable in combat, losing to a newly ascended Saint Realm genius from Dan Qian Palace was still considered something of an upset.

As a result, the list of eight left many people stunned. No one had predicted that the quartfinals would see Dan Qian Palace—a Fourth-Rank Sect that had been counted out from the very beginning—emerge as the biggest winner of all.

People recalled how the Great Sacred Hall had been dead set on restoring the Myriad Phenomena Empire, strutting about as though they were certain to claim the championship of the Grand Tournament.

Clearly, things weren't going according to that script.

This dark horse, Dan Qian Palace, had burst onto the scene and now appeared poised to rival the Great Sacred Hall itself.

Many couldn't help but wonder: had all of the Great Sacred Hall's painstaking maneuvering been for nothing, simply clearing the path for Dan Qian Palace?

After all, everyone had voted in agreement. If the Imperial Seal and the National Dragon Seal were discovered, then the champion of the Grand Tournament—the foremost genius on the Myriad Phenomena Hidden Dragon Rankings—would take custody of both artifacts.

Originally, everyone had assumed that the Great Sacred Hall's Xiang Qin would claim the top spot without contention. But now, the picture was far more complicated.

The most formidable challenger, Wang Han, had indeed withdrawn—but in his place had emerged an even more fearsome Mu Gaoqi.

Mu Gaoqi's strength was unfathomable. His trump cards had yet to be fully revealed. Whether Xiang Qin could withstand his challenge was anyone's guess.

So the current state of affairs could be summed up in one word: chaos.

Total chaos. No one could predict who would triumph.

The competition continued.

The draw for the round of eight deciding the top four sent a ripple of tension through the crowd.

Clearly, the bracket drawn at this stage would determine the semifinal matchups.

The first name pulled was Ling Bi'er's.

As soon as her name appeared, the other fighters silently prayed for the draw to land her in their bracket.

But this time, fortune favored someone from within Dan Qian Palace itself—Jun Mobai was matched against Ling Bi'er.

Next, Lin Hai's name was drawn, and his luck ran out. He was paired against Xiang Qin of the Sacred Elephant Clan. This sent Tianming Shangren of the Northern Depths Sect into a fit of frustration, thumping his chest in anguish. How desperately he had wished for Lin Hai to draw Ling Bi'er, the sole Origin Realm fighter, so that Lin Hai could be ushered into the top four.

But it was not to be.

Then the name "Mu Gaoqi" was drawn once more. His opponent was Lang Jiuling of the Sacred Wolf Clan.