The two of them were evenly matched on the combat platform at first, but once Hou Shaojie used the Fierce Tiger Possession Body Strengthening Technique, his physical body broke through to the Middle Stage of Void Refining, and his opponent started to lose ground, falling further and further behind.
In the end, Hou Shaojie knocked his opponent off the platform with a single punch and claimed victory.
"Not bad at all!"
After stepping down, Hou Shaojie was met with a smile from Lin Changâsheng.
"Barely scraped by!"
Hou Shaojie wiped the sweat from his forehead as he spoke.
He had to give it his all just to beat a Celestial Pride List genius at the Early Stage of Void Refining, while Lin Changâsheng seemed to breeze through his fightsâclearly revealing the huge gap in their cultivation.
With Hou Shaojieâs win, a good number of sect elders set their sights on him as well.
After all, beating a genius from one of the Immortal Realmâs top ten powers meant his future potential was limitless.
If they could manage to win him over, itâd be nothing but good for their sects.
Unfortunately, Hou Shaojie didnât accept, planning instead to see which major sect Lin Changâsheng would join in the end; if possible, he wanted to go with him.
...
Soon, the fifty battles came to an end.
Since there were two draws, 52 people advanced in total.
"Next up is the challenge round. Whoever steps onto the platform can pick their own opponent. The one chosen can accept or surrender!"
The Refining God Sectâs Grand Elderâs voice rang out again.
This made Lin Changâsheng curl his lips into a faint smile. He knew he had to challenge Liu Chengfeng from the Blood Robe Sect. If the guy decided to surrender, fine, but if not, there was only one way outâdeath.
Just as Lin Changâsheng was about to move, Zhou Qibai from the Piaomiao Sect was the first to leap onto the combat platform.
Looks like the kid isnât dumbâhe knows thereâs an advantage in being first to pick.
After all, you can choose a weaker opponent, which makes it a lot easier to win.
Once the weaker ones get picked, you might have to face someone stronger than you.
"Jiang Jun from Jiulong Sectâdo you dare accept my challenge?"
Zhou Qibai had gone straight for a Jiulong Sect disciple at the Late Stage of Divinity Transformation.
Pretty much everyone who had advanced was at least at the Late Stage of Divinity Transformation or higher.
Choosing to fight someone at Late Stage Divinity Transformation? Winning would be a piece of cake for Zhou Qibai, since he had Middle Stage Void Refining cultivation.
"Piaomiao Sect are shameless! A Middle Stage Void Refining disciple challenging someone only at Late Stage Divinity Transformation?"
"Exactly! No shame! As one of the Immortal Realmâs top ten powers, he should challenge geniuses from those top ten sects!"
"Seriously, Piaomiao Sect has perfected the art of being shameless!"
...
As soon as Zhou Qibai called out the Jiulong Sect discipleâs name, a wave of cursing swept over him.
But Zhou Qibai couldnât care less. As long as he won, thatâs all that mattered.
With no choice, the Jiulong Sect disciple could only go up to face him.
As expected, this Jiulong Sect disciple didnât survive more than three moves before suffering a crushing defeat at Zhou Qibaiâs hands, flying off the platform with blood spewing from his mouthâZhouâs strikes were just as ruthless.
Elders around the platform all frowned at the sight.
"Thank you for letting me win!"
After winning, Zhou Qibai hopped off the platform right away to avoid the scolding.
Lin Changâsheng seized the moment and jumped up onto the combat platform as the second challenger.
If someone else picked Liu Chengfeng first, that would be a real loss for him.
Lin Changâshengâs gaze locked directly onto Liu Chengfeng.
"Blood Robe SectâLiu Chengfeng, do you dare accept my challenge?"
Lin Changâsheng looked at Liu Chengfeng and shouted.
Liu Chengfeng was fuming. His fatherâs killer was right in front of himâif he didnât stand up now, what difference was there between him and a coward?
"You bastardâ"
Ignoring his injuries, Liu Chengfeng cursed through clenched teeth and staggered to his feet.
"Chengfeng, your injuries havenât healed yet. Donât fight! Just give up, okay?"
The Blood Robe Sect elder tried to persuade him.
But at this point, Liu Chengfeng was consumed by vengeance and, not saying a word, vaulted onto the combat platform.
"Beast! You killed my fatherâtoday youâll pay for his blood with yours!"
As soon as he spoke, Liu Chengfeng summoned his blade. With a blood feud like this, how could he possibly back down from Lin Changâsheng?
As his last word fell, Liu Chengfeng swung the blade, slashing straight at Lin Changâsheng.
Whooshâ
A razor-sharp sword aura ripped through the air, heading straight for Lin Changâshengâs throat.
Lin Changâsheng didnât budge an inch. He didnât even look like he planned to lift a finger, just coldly watching the sword aura barrel toward him.
"Is he insane? Sword auraâs not forgiving! If he gets careless and gets killed, itâs not worth it!"
"Yeah! This is ridiculous. No matter who youâre facing, you shouldnât be this cocky. How could he not even look like he wants to defend?"
"If he gets badly hurt by a Divinity Transformation disciple, thatâd be a huge embarrassment!"
"Pride comes before the fall!"
The nearby elders and disciples all felt a jolt when they saw Lin Changâsheng do nothing at all.
Lin Changâshengâs cultivation was a whole great realm above his opponentâs.
But even so, this was just arrogance!
But before people could react, just as the sword aura was about to land on Lin Changâshengâ
A shield wreathed in green light shimmered to life in front of Lin Changâsheng.
Clangâ
The shield was unbreakable, stopping Liu Chengfengâs sword aura cold.
This was the Divine Shield.
"What the..."
Liu Chengfeng could hardly believe it. Heâd gone all out, and the guy brushed his attack off like it was nothing.
Refusing to give in, Liu Chengfeng let out another roar and unleashed his strongest move: the Blood Rain Sword Technique.
Countless sword shadows turned into blood-red raindrops, cascading down on Lin Changâsheng.
Bang, bang, bangâ
Sword auras hammered the Divine Shield in front of Lin Changâsheng, sending out waves of impact, but none of them could break the shield.
"My turn!"
Seeing that Liu Chengfeng had been humiliated enough, Lin Changâsheng decided it was time. If he held back any longer, Liu Chengfeng might just surrender.
In a flash, he slammed out a palm and unleashed the Gods World Destruction Palm.
Countless palm imprints rushed toward Liu Chengfeng.
"Chengfeng, dodgeâ!"
The Blood Robe Sect Seventh Elder saw Lin Changâsheng make his move and realized immediately that the force was far beyond what Liu Chengfeng could take. He shouted in warning.
But it was already too late to escape.
Lin Changâshengâs palm strikes were so dense, they werenât the least bit inferior to the Blood Rain Sword Technique. Dodging simply wasnât an option.
"Celestial Extinction Sword Shield!"
Seeing there was nowhere to run, Liu Chengfeng could only swing his blade, sending out a sword qi shield in front of himself for protection.
But that sword qi shield crumbled like tissue paper the instant it met Lin Changâshengâs attack.
Boomâ
With a crash, Lin Changâshengâs palm prints shattered Liu Chengfengâs sword qi shield. The remaining palm strikes hammered into Liu Chengfeng, caving in his chest and shattering his bones.
Bangâ
He was sent flying, coughing up blood in midair.
When he hit the ground, he was just barely clinging to life.
The rest of the palm imprints slammed into the Battle Platform Shield, sending out ripples, as if they might break the whole grand array.
Thatâs how fearsome a strike it was.
"Chengfengâ!"
The Blood Robe Sect elder immediately leaped onto the combat platform to check Liu Chengfengâs injuries.
Liu Chengfeng raised his hand as if to say something, but died before he could utter a word.
"He...he got killed with a single palm?"
"If you canât win, just donât fight! Getting yourself killed is a waste!"
"Yeah! Those two clearly had a grudge. You really think they were going to hold back?"
"Things just got complicated. I doubt the Blood Robe Sect will let Lin Changâsheng off the hook!"
The surrounding elders and disciples kept up their chatter as soon as Liu Chengfeng fell.
Some thought Lin Changâshengâs strike was too lethal; others called Liu Chengfeng unbearably stupid.
He knew he couldnât win, and still forced himself to fight? Thatâs just asking to die!
After Liu Chengfengâs death, a primordial spirit flew from his body and was stored by the Seventh Elder in a white jade bottle to nourish.
"You animal! How could you be so ruthless? Iâm not letting you off for this!"
The Blood Robe Sect Seventh Elderâs fury boiled over. At this point, he was too angry to care about the tournament. Primordial power surged within him, ready to strike Lin Changâsheng dead on the spot.
"Iâd like to see if youâve got what it takes."
But before he could even launch an attack, a cold voice came from behind Lin Changâsheng.
Gu Shan stood not far away, arms folded across his chest, watching like one would a clown.
This elder was merely at the Integration Stage. How could he hope to be a match for someone in the Mahayana Stage?
If Gu Shan wanted, he could crush this guy with just one hand.
Once the Blood Robe Sect elder saw Gu Shan had Lin Changâshengâs back, he realized there was no chance he could kill him here. Reluctantly, he backed down.
"Fine. Today, the Blood Robe Sect admits defeat. But weâll settle this another day!"
The Seventh Elder spat out the words and quickly left with Liu Chengfengâs corpse.
This yearâs Celestial Pride List was a disaster for the Blood Robe Sectânot only did they fail to make a name for themselves, they wound up the laughingstock of everyone. Why stick around just to get mocked?