He had been fighting in duels for years, but this was the first time he had encountered an opponent who hid like a turtle in a shell. However, he wasn’t willing to give in yet. He had joined the competition with the express purpose of taking 3rd place. Staring at Bai Xiaochun with bloodshot eyes, he furiously roared, “Get out from behind that shield!”
Bai Xiaochun wasn’t scared at all by this young man, so he didn’t have any reservations about staying behind the shield and shouting, “If you’re good enough, why don’t you come on inside!”
Strange expressions appeared on the faces of everyone in the audience as they looked at Bai Xiaochun, not sure whether to laugh or cry. The gaunt young man was so angry that blue veins popped out on his forehead as he clenched his jaw. Finally, he bit his tongue and spit out a mouthful of blood. When it landed on his wooden sword, the entire thing turned the color of blood.
Discussion immediately broke out in the audience.
“Blood Spirit Magic!”
“For him to use that magical technique shows that he really has been driven to madness!”
The blood-colored wooden sword moved even faster than before, and emitted double the pressure. Blood-colored light spread out in all directions as it shot toward Bai Xiaochun.
A boom rang out as the wooden sword pierced a full three inches into the shield. Rumbling could be heard as it tried to pierce further, but failed. In fact, because too much force was being exerted, cracks began to spread out over the sword.
A moment later, a pop could be heard as the entire wooden sword… shattered into pieces, which slowly floated down to the ground.
The gaunt young man’s eyes went wide, and blood sprayed out of his mouth. His spiritual energy was vastly depleted, his magical item destroyed, and he was so furious simply passed out.
As Li Qinghou watched the scene playing out, his face grew increasingly unsightly. Chuckling wryly, Elder Sun stepped forward, signalled for people to come carry the gaunt young man away, and then declared Bai Xiaochun the winner.
“Ah, he let me win!” Bai Xiaochun said as the shield light around him faded away. Looking very solemn, he puffed his chest out and clasped his hands behind his back, looking every bit like a Chosen. As for the gaunt young man, as he was being carried off, he apparently heard Bai Xiaochun’s words, regained consciousness, coughed up another mouthful of blood, and then passed out again.
Clearing his throat, Bai Xiaochun turned to Elder Sun and clasped hands. Then he flicked his sleeve and walked out of the arena.
The Outer Sect disciples who had come to watch the competition took everything in fairly well. At most, they had strange looks on their faces. As for the contestants, they were looking at Bai Xiaochun with very unsightly expressions.
That was especially true of the people who had already won their respective matches. When they compared the gaunt young man’s current condition with Bai Xiaochun, they couldn’t help but feel the need to be on guard.
The competition continued, and soon the rest of the matches were completed. Of the original twenty participants, half had been eliminated to produce the current top 10.
That included Du Lingfei, Chen Zi’ang, and Bai Xiaochun, who stood there, chin jutted out, looking around at his fellow top 10 competitors. Inwardly, he was saying, “All I have to do is win one more match and then I’ll have succeeded!”
Seeing hope right there in front of him, he felt quite excited.
Elder Sun looked over the ten contestants, his gaze lingering on Bai Xiaochun for a moment before saying, “The top 5 will now be selected. Would the ten of you please step forward to select your marbles.”
This time, Bai Xiaochun scrambled to be first in line, and pulled out a marble with the number two written on it. Afterward, he immediately turned to study his fellow competitors.
It didn’t take long for everyone to draw a marble, after which Elder Sun announced that the first two fighters were to begin their match. Bai Xiaochun was joined by a burly, muscular man who, upon seeing who he was fighting, began to laugh loudly.
“Other people might fear your defenses, but I don’t care at all about them. I’m also adept with defense, so let’s just wait and see which of us two can hold out for longer!” Laughing, the man slapped his bag of holding to produce a shield. After imbuing it with some spiritual energy, the shield grew larger and began to emit a yellow glow which completely surrounded the man.
The man wasn’t done yet, though. Roaring, his flesh and muscles expanded, and he even grew a few inches taller. The entire scene was quite shocking.
“I can’t believe its Body Forging magic!”
“That little shield looks familiar. Don’t tell me it’s the Dawnlight Shield! That things costs 9,000 merit points!” Everyone was shocked, and as for Bai Xiaochun, his brow was furrowed.
When Elder Sun saw what was happening, he nodded his head slightly, eyes shining with a look of praise. Turning to Li Qinghou, he said, “This kid is Li Shan, fifth level of Qi Condensation. He’ll be a difficult opponent, as he was born with Godly power, plus cultivates Body Forging magic. Not only is he incredibly strong, he also excels in defense.”
Li Qinghou nodded slightly, then looked over at Bai Xiaochun.
Bai Xiaochun was studying the burly man’s transformed body, and the shield he had. He recognized the shield from his visit to the treasure Pavilion, and although he wasn’t sure exactly how many merit points it cost, his frown deepened.
Everyone watching the competition seemed very interested to find out what was going to happen, especially the other disciples in the competition, who were clearly pleased to gloat in the misfortune of others.
“That fair-skinned disciple sure got unlucky.”
“Well, he got super lucky before, that’s all. Now that he’s facing a powerful opponent like this, he’ll naturally get beaten back into place.”
As the audience discussed the developments, the burly man smiled viciously and then began to stride rapidly toward Bai Xiaochun.
“There’s nothing you can do. I beat the last disciple I fought without even drawing a weapon. My fist is the most powerful magical technique I have!”
The man sped up, causing a wind to blast out. As he closed in, Bai Xiaochun’s eyes glittered and he suddenly waved his finger, causing his little wooden sword to fly out from his bag of holding.
Without the slightest pause, it shot out in front of Bai Xiaochun toward the burly man.
As it slashed toward him, sword qi built up for dozens of meters around the sword, causing rumbling sounds to echo out.
The burly man’s face fell, and his scalp was tingling so hard it felt like it might explode. His eyes widened as an intense sensation of crisis washed through him. Without the slightest hesitation, he fell into retreat. Roaring, he waved both hands, sending his shield out to block the sword.
A boom rang out as the wooden sword and the little shield slammed into each other. However, the shield didn’t do anything to even slow down the wooden sword. It was blasted apart, and the wooden sword continued on toward the burly man.
The man’s face was filled with shock; even if he were capable of dodging faster, it would do no good. The flying sword was on him in the blink of an eye, causing an icy wind to buffet his face.
“I concede!” he shouted without hesitation, his voice rising by a few octaves as he fell to the ground.
A buzzing sound could be heard as the wooden sword stopped just in front of the man’s forehead, then turned and flew back into Bai Xiaochun’s bag of holding.
Bai Xiaochun blinked, also somewhat shocked by the wooden sword. Before, he had only practiced with it, and had no idea it was so powerful. And that was before he even began to utilize Lightness-in-Heaviness.
After looking up in thought for a moment, he jutted his jaw out, folded his hands behind his back, and looked coolly at the burly man.
The man’s face was pale white, and yet he still didn’t seem to want to back down. Crawling to his feet, he glared at Bai Xiaochun and said, “Using the power of magical items doesn’t count as winning! I don’t accept this as being a defeat!”