When facing an exceptionally strong opponent, there was absolutely no point in fighting with everything you had in this final round. Even if you burned through all your energy, you still wouldn't win. And even if they gave you a chance at revival afterward, you might not be able to seize it.
When facing an exceptionally strong opponent, the wisest choice was to concede defeat. Conserve your strength and wait for the revival opportunity.
Though this approach might not be the most honorable, it was the most rational choice.
At least, that was what Wei Jie was thinking right now. Of course, he was also hoping in his heart that he wouldn't be matched against an especially powerful opponent.
But as it often went in life, things rarely turned out the way you wanted.
The more you feared something, the more likely it was to come.
Wei Jie's name was drawn, and his opponent's name was pulled out immediately after.
Wei Jie versus Pill King Zhen!
Wei Jie had actually been matched against Pill King Zhen!
This dramatic draw caused an uproar throughout the arena. Everyone found it unbelievable.
After all, it was just too much of a coincidence. There were still four hundred people participating in the final round's draw, yet somehow it produced a matchup between Wei Jie and Jiang Chen!
What kind of fate was this?
Pill King Zhen was, in name at least, still a guest pill king serving the Wei family. And Pill King Zhen's fame had begun with his rise through the Wei family.
This battle was between a host and his guest pill king.
If it had been the Pill King Zhen who had just arrived in the Liuli Royal City, no one would have favored him.
But now, not a single person was betting on Wei Jie.
Even Wei Jie himself could only laugh bitterly. His father, Wei Tianxiao, also shook his head in resignation. He had already guessed what Wei Jie's choice would be.
Faced with this inescapable draw, the only thing Wei Jie could do was concede defeat. He had enjoyed good luck through the first five rounds, but this final draw dealt him a crushing blow.
However, the one small consolation was that his opponent was Jiang Chen. Since Jiang Chen was certain to make it into the top thirty, this meant that even after losing to Jiang Chen, Wei Jie would still have one revival chance.
As long as he seized that revival opportunity, making it into the top two hundred was still very much within reach.
When word spread that Wei Jie was conceding defeat, many families with poor relations to the Wei family secretly scoffed. They thought the Wei family was truly shameless.
Conceding against their own guest pill king — as the hosting family, the Wei family was simply giving up without a fight.
Jiang Chen had actually considered doing the Wei family a favor by conceding himself. But with Wei Jie's level of strength, he clearly wouldn't be able to make it into the top thirty on his own.
If Jiang Chen conceded instead, Wei Jie wouldn't even get a revival chance down the road.
So it still had to be Wei Jie who conceded.
Because Wei Jie conceded, what should have been a tense and nail-biting sixth round became a lighthearted affair for both him and Jiang Chen. They could simply sit back and watch the other matches unfold.
Wei Jie had long regarded Jiang Chen as something close to a god. Conceding to Jiang Chen didn't embarrass him in the slightest — in fact, he felt secretly relieved. What he feared most was drawing an opponent only slightly stronger than himself. That kind of matchup forced you to fight desperately to win.
And if you couldn't pull off the win, you wouldn't even get a revival chance.
So for Wei Jie, this result was absolutely not the worst outcome.
By comparison, Young Master Ji San's luck in the final draw wasn't bad at all. He happened to draw a scion from one of the great clans. Though the opponent was also at the ninth level of the Saint Realm, the gap between him and Ji San, who was half a step into the Emperor Realm, was still quite significant.
Of course, the sixth round wasn't without its fierce clashes.
Among the independent cultivators, the prodigy Sun Yu Xiaosheng — who had performed impressively during the formation screening — secured a narrow victory. Having fought his way through the rounds, he had become a major dark horse among the independent cultivators.
This time, however, he drew a scion from one of the great powerhouses — Miao Suo of the Lingzhi Great Clan.
Jiang Chen had seen Miao Suo before. The first time he visited Peacock Sacred Mountain, Ji San had taken him to meet a woman, and they had encountered Miao Suo along the way.
The relationship between Ji San and Miao Suo was clearly not a friendly one.
The Lingzhi Great Clan, to which Miao Suo belonged, ranked among the top six of the twenty-eight great clans in the Liuli Royal City. As a result, Miao Suo himself ranked comfortably within the top fifteen — perhaps even the top ten — among all the clan scions.
One was an elite among the clan heirs; the other, a formidable dark horse from the independent cultivators.
A clash between these two was naturally a major draw.
Jiang Chen scanned through the matchup board and identified several bouts worth watching. Among them, the fight between Miao Suo and Sun Yu Xiaosheng particularly caught his interest.
Jiang Chen had watched Sun Yu Xiaosheng during the formation screening and had given this seemingly carefree, devil-may-care fellow a bit more attention since then.
Miao Suo might be a standout among the clan scions, but that didn't necessarily mean he could overpower Sun Yu Xiaosheng.
Though Jiang Chen couldn't fully see through Sun Yu Xiaosheng's background, one thing was certain — this man had definitely received guidance and training from a great master.
That much was evident from his bearing alone.
Of course, Jiang Chen could also tell that Sun Yu Xiaosheng might genuinely be an independent cultivator. Because there was something about him that carried the unmistakable traits of one.