The fact that there would be prime elders observing the battle with divine sense caused all of the competitors’ eyes to shine brightly.
“If I can attract the attention of a prime elder, maybe I could be accepted as an apprentice….”
“I definitely need to put everything on the line in this battle!” Almost immediately, murderous auras sprang up from the disciples on both sides.
Bai Xiaochun was the only one who simply stood there blinking.
“Prime elders. That’s the same rank as my Master, right? So they’re my Sect Uncles….” Bai Xiaochun couldn’t help but feel proud of himself. His ranking in the sect really was a bit too high. After a moment of thought, he resolved to go visit his Sect Uncles after the Chosen battles were over.
It was at this point that Sect Leader Zheng Yuandong swished his sleeve, causing a sphere of light to fly out into the middle of the battle arena. It quickly split up into twenty-two pearls, which then flew out to Bai Xiaochun and all of the other competitors.
Bai Xiaochun looked down at the pearl in his hand. “Eleven?”
He peered out of the corner of his eye to see if he could spot what number Shangguan Tianyou and the others had gotten, only to find that they were keeping them hidden.
At this point, a cold voice suddenly rang out from the balcony above. It was not Zheng Yuandong, but rather, Ouyang Jie from the Hall of Justice. “The first battle will take place between the disciples holding pearls number one and two. Please step forward!”
In immediate response, a gaunt young man flew out from among the north bank disciples. His expression was cold and arrogant, and his appearance provoked a cheer from the north bank disciples. Although he wasn’t one of the five great Chosen, he was still quite famous.
As soon as he stepped onto the battle arena, he called out, “Liu Yun of the north bank!”
In response, Shangguan Tianyou suddenly flew out. “Shangguan Tianyou of the south bank!”
He stood there, expression icy, looking like an unsheathed sword. Even the words he spoke seemed to make everything colder.
Of course, as soon as Shangguan Tianyou stepped forth, the Outer Sect disciples from the south bank exploded into loud cheering.
The gaunt young man’s face flickered; he had never imagined that the first person he would face would be the most famous Chosen from the south bank. Expression unsightly, he took a deep breath and then waved his hand, causing the air around him to distort. At the same time, a huge python appeared, accompanied by an acrid blast of wind. After the python coiled up, it rose nearly three meters into the air.
However, in almost the exact same moment that the young man’s wild beast appeared, and before he had time to do anything else, Shangguan Tianyou took a single step forward, his face completely expressionless. Suddenly, he vanished, and when he reappeared, he was right next to the gaunt young man, a sword in his hand, which he placed against the young man’s throat.
“You lose,” he said.
A cold feeling washed over the gaunt young man, and an expression of shocked disbelief filled his face as he turned slowly to look at Shangguan Tianyou. He knew instantly that he was no match for this opponent. How could he ever have imagined that he would lose so quickly? Head bowed, he collected his giant python and left the arena.
“We already won the first battle! Hahaha! The south bank is definitely going to win this time around!”
“Elder Brother Shangguan can definitely contend for first place!”
The south bank side of the arena was in an excited uproar. As for Bai Xiaochun, he stood there blinking. He hadn’t been able to see exactly what Shangguan Tianyou had done, but he could see that he was definitely beyond ordinary when it came to power.
Furthermore, two of the streams of divine sense from the prime elders began to pay closer attention to Shangguan Tianyou.
The north bank disciples were dumbfounded.
“Was that a minor teleportation? Impossible!! What cultivation base does he have? That couldn’t possibly have been teleportation!”
“It was void magic. This guy… definitely deserves to be known as the south bank’s number one Chosen. Even with a Qi Condensation cultivation base, he can actually use void magic!”
The other competitors from the north bank looked on with flickering expressions. Beihan Lie’s eyes flickered somberly. The Gongsun siblings and Xu Song all had thoughtful expressions.
Only the black-robed Ghostfang simply remained in place, his eyes closed.
Before the crowd could calm down, Ouyang Jie’s cold voice once again cut through the noise. “Second battle!”
From among the north bank Chosen, a rather pudgy young man stepped out. Smiling broadly, he seemed completely innocent and harmless.
“Xu Song of the north bank,” he said to the disciple emerging from the ranks of the south bank.
His opponent was not Lu Tianlei or one of the other famous Chosen. He was from the group of secretive disciples who had only unleashed his power in the qualifying round. He had a long face, and wasn’t very good-looking, but he was aware that the person he was facing was one of the north banks’ five great Chosen.
“Zhou Feng of the south bank,” he said. Taking a deep breath, he began to rotate his cultivation base. Performing an incantation gesture, he summoned a flying sword. However, before he could send it flying out, a derisive gleam appeared in Xu Song’s eye, and he pushed his hand out in front of him.
Rumbling could be heard as a rift opened up directly above Zhou Feng. Then, cracking sounds could be heard as a gigantic crocodilian beast lunged out with lightning speed and gobbled him up in a single bite.
His flying sword lost its connection to spiritual power, and clattered down onto the ground.
“Fighting against Archway Peak disciples and ignoring the air above your head? How very disappointing.” Chuckling, Xu Song turned and walked out of the arena. When he waved his hand behind him, his beast opened its mouth and spat the unconscious Zhou Feng out in front of the stunned disciples of the south bank.
Unsightly expressions could be seen, and a few gasps rang out. As for Lu Tianlei and the other Chosen, their hearts trembled.
In sharp contrast, the north bank disciples were cheering loudly.
Bai Xiaochun was shaken at how terrifying the north bank people were. Their control over beasts was horrifyingly advanced.
Soon, the third battle began. The competitor from the north bank was one of their five great Chosen, Gongsun Wan’er. When she saw that her opponent from the south bank wasn’t Zhou Xinqi, but rather one of the other random disciples, she looked a bit disappointed. Waving her hand, she had her seven-colored phoenix spit out a seven-colored mist.
When the seven-colored mist enveloped the south bank disciple, he suddenly seemed to go insane. Howling in rage, he began to strike wildly around him, as if fighting an invisible opponent. A moment later, he simply passed out.
From beginning to end, all Gongsun Wan’er did was wave her delicate hand. Afterward, she floated off out of the arena. The crowds from the south bank looked fearfully over at the north bank disciples, clearly shaken.
“The only people who can fight Chosen are other true Chosen.” The south bank disciples looked over at Shangguan Tianyou, hope shining in their eyes. Quite a few also looked at Bai Xiaochun the same way.
Bai Xiaochun immediately lifted his head high and stuck his chest out. Inwardly, though, he was terrified by what Gongsun Wan’er had just done.
“That wench is even more incredible than Zhou Xinqi,” he thought, his mouth going dry.
Next, the fourth battle began. Lu Tianlei flew out into the arena, surrounded by flickering lightning. His opponent from the north bank was the young man in the black robe who hadn’t opened his eyes the entire time. At long last, his eyes opened, and he walked calmly out into the arena.