After the battles of the Rising Star Rankings, followed by two consecutive rounds in the Genius Rankings, Jiang Chen's martial cultivation talent had been thoroughly recognized throughout all of Liuli Royal City.
In the third round of the draw, Jiang Chen was once again matched against a scion of a powerful clan. The moment the young man learned his opponent was Jiang Chen, his face fell.
His cultivation level was actually slightly inferior to Murong Qiu's—and facing such a dominant Pill King Zhen, he knew full well that defeat was inevitable.
He didn't dare act too boldly on the arena, conducting himself with great politeness and courtesy. Seeing this, Jiang Chen understood that the man simply wanted to lose with some dignity.
So Jiang Chen didn't make things too embarrassing for him. Without hurting his opponent's pride, he dragged the fight out for about a quarter of an hour before finally claiming victory.
Three rounds in a row passed like this, and aside from the first round being somewhat interesting, Jiang Chen felt he'd gained very little from the battles in the last two rounds.
However, the knockout format was extremely harsh. Though the matches were quite dull, Jiang Chen never dropped his guard.
The defining feature of a knockout tournament was the possibility of sudden elimination. If you weren't careful and drew a powerful opponent, you could be knocked out early.
While Jiang Chen didn't believe anyone in this Genius Rankings could defeat him, he wouldn't let himself become complacent or underestimate his opponents.
After three rounds, the competition entered a brief rest period.
Eternal Heaven Capital had originally arranged for three of their geniuses to ambush Jiang Chen during the Genius Rankings. But ever since witnessing his overwhelming destruction of Xiao Paohui, they'd grown somewhat hesitant.
Of the three they intended to send, two were clearly inferior to Xiao Paohui in both strength and talent. The remaining one was, at best, on par with Xiao Paohui.
Under these circumstances, it wasn't that they lacked the ability to fight. But the risk was obviously enormous.
Their only advantage was that, from the shadows, they'd already observed Pill King Zhen's techniques and had a rough idea of what divine abilities he possessed. That would make it easier to respond in battle.
But there were plenty of unfavorable factors as well. Pill King Zhen had so many techniques—who knew what else he might have hidden?
Of course, it was still the knockout stage, and every opponent was drawn randomly. Only in the later ranking battles would they potentially encounter each other.
Eternal Heaven Capital was unwilling to give up. They issued orders to their three geniuses: without revealing their identities, they were to probe Pill King Zhen's trump cards as thoroughly as possible.
Even if they couldn't ultimately defeat or kill him, they had to learn everything they could about him.
The prerequisite, of course, was to ensure their own survival.
After the brief rest, the fourth round began. This time, Jiang Chen drew an independent cultivator. The man was clearly of a wild and defiant temperament—he knew Jiang Chen was powerful, but he refused to surrender without a fight. After a bitter struggle, he was still mercilessly swept off the arena.
Jiang Chen showed restraint. For opponents who weren't trying to kill him, he didn't strike with lethal force—he didn't even allow them to get hurt.
After four rounds, only eight hundred contestants remained in the Genius Rankings.
Two more rounds of matches would whittle the field down to two hundred, and then the ranking battles would begin.
When the results of the fifth round's draw were announced, Jiang Chen couldn't help but laugh ruefully.
His opponent this time was someone he knew—Ji Zhongtang of the Panlong Great Clan.
Though Jiang Chen and Ji Zhongtang weren't close, they were on nodding terms and had crossed paths several times before.
And Jiang Chen actually found Ji Zhongtang's character rather admirable—at least more to his liking than that Young Master Liuxiang.
When Ji Zhongtang drew Jiang Chen, far from being dismayed, his eyes blazed with brilliant light. He was younger than both Third Young Master Ji and Young Master Liuxiang, yet his cultivation had already reached the ninth level of the Saint Realm, even if he hadn't broken through to the half-step Emperor Realm as they had.
For someone his age to have reached this level, he was unquestionably a genius among geniuses.
The pity was that Ji Zhongtang was devoted entirely to martial cultivation. He had little interest in anything else. His family's grand affairs, his status as the clan's heir—none of it particularly excited him.
He was a man who was supremely loyal to the martial dao, who had absolute faith in the martial dao.
Standing on the arena, Ji Zhongtang's eyes blazed with a fierce, wild light. "Pill King Zhen, to be honest, Zhongtang originally thought your martial talent was rather ordinary. Only later did I discover that your talent in the martial dao is in no way inferior to your talent in alchemy. Meeting an opponent like you is Zhongtang's good fortune. In this fight, I will give everything I have to defeat you—and I ask that you do the same. If you can beat me, Zhongtang won't hold it against you."
Jiang Chen laughed heartily. "A fine man! A good fellow! Since that's the case, let's both give it our all and put on a spectacular show for everyone."
Ji Zhongtang grinned. "Just what I was thinking."
With that, his body surged forward like a wild horse freed from its reins, hurtling straight toward Jiang Chen.
As he charged, his aura blazed like a rainbow. With a flick of his hand, a broad, massive sword materialized, and he brought it crashing down toward Jiang Chen with the overwhelming force of a strike meant to cleave heaven and earth.
The attack was simple and domineering—the famous "Panlong Sword Technique" of the Panlong Great Clan.
The Panlong Sword Technique was bold and sweeping. Once unleashed, it was like an ancient dragon coiling through the sky, every move carrying ferocious power.
Ji Zhongtang's martial path was clearly of the fierce and forceful variety.