Indeed, as the cheers from the audience grew louder, Fang Yuâs sword techniques suddenly accelerated.
"What is this?!"
Cun Lixinâs heart jumped, and by the time he thought about parrying, it was already too late.
He could discern the trajectory of Fang Yuâs sword techniques, and predict where the next strike would fall.
But his body couldnât keep up with the opponentâs speed of attack.
Fast!
Too fast!
Consciousness and seasoned Sword Dao experience allowed him to anticipate the opponentâs sword techniques in advance, yet the gap in strength meant that even with such an advantage, he couldnât evade the offensive.
Hiss!!
A flash of the swordâs shadow, and Cun Lixinâs chest bore a new wound.
Wincing in pain, Cun Lixinâs movements slowed by a half beat, allowing Fang Yu to suddenly close in, placing his sword against his neck.
"Youâve lost." Fang Yu spoke.
"..."
Cun Lixin looked up at Fang Yu, his expression complicated.
This guy obviously had strong abilities, but the swordsmanship he used was so rough, truly... bizarre.
"If we were fighting to the death, that strike of yours wouldnât necessarily have been at my neck."
Leaving these words behind, Cun Lixin voluntarily walked off the arena.
It seemed like everyone felt that in this kind of competition, winning or losing didnât really show oneâs ability.
Winning was just dancing within the rules, not truly strong enough to convince others wholeheartedly.
Fang Yu didnât say anything; winning was enough for him.
As for raw strength, he had 20,000 blood points at his disposal, letting others hit him all they wanted; he could grind them down with his sheer health pool.
Swirling his sword into a flourish, Fang Yu sheathed his blade.
Amidst the cheering of the crowd, under the watch of Hei Ao and Zuo Lv, he jumped off the stage.
"Done! Secured the top two!"
Zuo Lv came up to congratulate him while Hei Ao just curled his lip.
"You fight so hesitantly, just wait and see how I battle!"
Hei Aoâs words went in one of Fang Yuâs ears and out the other; he didnât take them seriously at all.
Soon, the next fight began.
Hei Ao promptly took the stage.
Fang Yu, however, turned his attention to Hei Aoâs opponent.
If there were no surprises, Hei Ao would be his final opponent on the arena.
But if an unexpected turn occurred, his opponent would be this one in front of him now.
[Yun Xieshi: 955/955.]
It turned out to be a woman.
She wielded a pair of Daggers nimbly dancing on her fingertips, seemingly quite skilled.
In her light black attire, she moved as agilely as an assassin in the darkness, her garments fluttering with the wind.
Step!
Yun Xieshi made her move, charging straight at Hei Ao.
But Hei Ao seemed to have anticipated this, immediately responding.
The two figures quickly moved about the stage, exchanging over a dozen moves in quick succession.
Yun Xieshi appeared to have a slight upper hand.
But she hadnât realized that engaging with Hei Ao, any physical contact, in fact, meant she was at a disadvantage.
That guyâs Cultivation Technique could suppress and seal abilities once it made contact with the body, ridiculously strange.
Sure enough, Yun Xieshi soon felt something was off, but by the time she attempted to fight with her full strength, she had already lost the initiative and was kicked off the stage by Hei Ao.
"You!"
Yun Xieshi glared furiously at Hei Ao, listening to the cheers of the people around her; she stamped her foot and turned to leave.
"Stray dog."
Hei Ao certainly displayed the victorâs demeanor convincingly.
Without leaving the stage, Hei Ao immediately turned to Fang Yu below.
"Come up, the next contest will be between you and me!"
He was eager to begin.
Fang Yu was unreserved as well, and jumped straight up.
"You said before, you would give me the Day Ice Sword design drawings, does that still stand?"
"Of course, I have no interest in the prize of the second arena."
That settled it.
Boom!
The loud beat of the drum signaled the start of the match.
Hei Ao had just started to charge when he saw Fang Yu turn around and leap off the stage.
"I surrender."
What?!
Hei Ao immediately halted, completely dumbfounded.
What does this mean, Iâve fought so hard to get to the end, and now you wonât fight me??
He glared angrily at Fang Yu, but the latter just shrugged his shoulders.
"You said it yourselfâremember to give me my reward, alright?"
If he could get benefits without fighting, naturally there was no need to fight.
Besides, fighting against a battle maniac like Hei Ao would be exhausting to death, and if things turned serious, this guy wouldnât stop.
Fang Yu considered that with his capabilities, he could very well draw out Hei Aoâs true skill, which would be problematic.
"You!"
Hei Ao glared furiously at Fang Yu, but it was Zu Lv who made peace from the side.
"Enough, thereâs still the third platform to fight on. Itâs actually quite good if you save your energy for that."
She, like Fang Yu, didnât really care about winning or losing; she was just there for the reward.
"Hei Long! Hei Long! Hei Long!"
The crowd around started chanting Hei Aoâs masked nickname, and the atmosphere finally soothed Hei Ao a bit as he enjoyed these admiring gazes.
Tap, tap, tap.
Just then, a person wearing a white veil, came from a distance, holding in their hands what was unmistakably the prize for the platform.
[Li Chunyan: 1000/1000.]
Fang Yu narrowed his eyes.
Is this person from the organizers?
They look pretty average in strength.
Li Chunyan wore a white veil, concealing her true face, but judging from her lovely figure, she probably wasnât bad-looking.
She first went to Hei Ao, handing over the prize.
It was a set of design schematics.
Then she gestured for Fang Yu to come over.
Fang Yu stepped onto the platform, and only then did she pass over the reward.
It was a piece of flesh-colored Ancient Mushroom Meat, looking a bit like moldy white mushroom flesh.
"A rare medicinal crafting ingredient, you can directly consume it too, but the effect wonât be as good. Unfortunately, itâs probably not very useful for you, ideally suited for those who have just stepped into Martial Arts and are establishing their foundations."
As soon as Fang Yu got down from the platform with his reward, Zu Lv immediately explained it to him.
"If you had gotten the third-place reward, the Manlian Pill, that could raise your cultivation a bit. It would be more helpful for Martial Artists at our level, but only slightly more so. As I said, the rewards from the second platform donât really appeal to us much."
I see...
Fang Yu carefully stored the Ancient Mushroom Meat, planning to have Ding Hui help refine it into medicine for consumption later.
Though Zu Lv had said so, that was just the perspective of a genius like her.
For an ordinary Martial Artist like himself, the Manlian Pill was probably considered a good thing.
Didnât you see how everyone else was eyeing the platformâs rewards, eyes practically popping out?
Their health points were all at the level of grass-tier Martial Artists.
After the rewards were distributed, the competition on the second platform was finally over.
Whatâs left was the most important third platform.
That is, the ranking rewards Hei Ao and the others were eager for!
Bang.
At this point, Hei Ao also jumped down from the platform.
"Here."
He gloomily stuffed the schematics into Fang Yuâs hands.
"Not even fighting a bit, you coward!"
Hei Ao seemed to be still angry about what had just happened. Fang Yu patted his shoulder.
"During the third platform, you can fight however you want; there will be plenty of opponents."
Hei Ao glared at him and didnât say a word.
Out of options, Fang Yu helplessly glanced at Zu Lv, then picked up the Day Ice Sword blueprints to have a look.
He found that the blueprints really lived up to what Zu Lv and the others had said before.
Not only did they require a lot of materials, but the crafting process was also very complex and cumbersome, not something that could be crafted just by finding any person.
This item was indeed rare, because even if someone got the materials, they would need someone with decent forging skills to make it.
Fang Yu carefully put away the blueprint, planning to gather some materials and craft the Day Ice Sword after this was over.
Although itâs only a broken sword, it seemed quite useful, practically a Divine Weapon already.
"Letâs go, to the third platform."
Suddenly, Hei Ao next to him spoke up.
Fang Yu looked up, only to realize that the crowd around had already started to shift their positions.
All attention had shifted from the champion of the second platform to the exciting third platform.
After all, compared to the limited contact on the second platform, the third platform was the real battlefield.
The various accumulated battles would only appear on the third platform.
Fang Yu didnât dawdle but followed Hei Ao and Zu Lv to the third platform.
Then, he noticed that the losers from the previous platforms had all gathered here early on.
And some of them were giving him looks that were a bit off.
They planned to regain their dignity on the third platform.
Too bad...
Fang Yu grinned.
If he really let loose, he was... fearless of anyone.