Chapter 41: Let Him Advance!
"Bastard! How dare he hit the Young Master so hard! I'll go kill him!" One of the Golden Core Stage experts from the Ge family shouted angrily and was about to rush up.
Ge Xiong quickly shouted sternly, "Stop! This is a competition! It's a fact that Tianming is not as skilled as him. Don't disgrace our Ge family! Besides, this person's background is unknown. Don't provoke him lightly, or we might bring disaster upon Tian Du."
In the pavilion above, Liu Yuntian frowned and said, "This boy named Ling Zhan, his strikes are truly ruthless!"
Below the stage, as Ling Zhan passed by Xiao Chen, Xiao Chen glanced at the arrogant Ling Zhan and asked coldly, "Don't you think your words just now were too much? This is just a competition, was it necessary to hit so hard?"
Upon hearing this, Ling Zhan glanced at Xiao Chen, who was speaking to him, and sneered, "Too much? It's not too much for the weak. How else will the weak have the motivation to train hard? If they don't work hard, no one will pity them." After saying that, he left.
"No one will pity you if you don't work hard." Xiao Chen repeated Ling Zhan's words, for some reason finding them quite reasonable.
As Ling Zhan passed by Su Gutian, Su Gutian shouted angrily, "Ling Zhan, don't let me draw you, or I'll definitely teach you a harsh lesson!"
"Su Gutian, one of the top three geniuses of Tian Du. Too bad you're not qualified. I won't even consider you, because you're not my opponent at all. Defeating you would be as easy as pie." Ling Zhan sneered and then glanced at Liu Feng, still sneering, "Liu Feng has some qualifications."
"You!" Su Gutian was furious and couldn't help but want to attack.
"Gu Tian, don't be impulsive!" Liu Feng quickly stopped him, his eyes also filled with anger as he looked at Ling Zhan.
The competition continued, and two hours later, it was finally Su Gutian's turn to take the stage. His opponent was in the early stage of Fasting Stage.
Whether it was due to Ling Zhan or some other reason, as soon as Su Gutian took the stage, he unleashed all his power, giving his opponent no chance. He launched a frenzied attack, and within two minutes, using his formidable strength, he defeated his opponent. The crowd cheered excitedly.
After another two hours, the first round of the competition finally ended. Exactly 100 people had participated, and 50 were eliminated, leaving 50 to draw lots for the next round.
"This time I drew red number 13." Xiao Chen smiled slightly, looking forward to facing a stronger opponent, otherwise, it wouldn't be much of a challenge.
After the drawing, and once the referee had registered the names, he announced loudly, "The first match of the second round: blue number 1, Ling Zhan, against red number 1, Pang Yunshan."
"Oh? That guy actually drew number 1! And he's the first to take the stage!" Xiao Chen laughed, his gaze shifting to Ling Zhan at the top of a distant pavilion. At this moment, Ling Zhan stood at the highest point of the pavilion.
"What? My opponent is Ling Zhan? No way! Even Ge Tianming was beaten so badly by him. I'm doomed! I'm no match for him at all. Going up is just asking to be beaten." Pang Yunshan immediately panicked, thinking of how miserably Ge Tianming was beaten, and he was filled with fear.
"Pang Yunshan's opponent is him? It's over. There's no need to fight. Pang Yunshan is definitely going to lose!"
"This guy is really unlucky, running into such a terrifying opponent! He's bound to lose!"
"Phew! Good thing it's not me facing him, or I'd be eliminated!"
The onlookers all felt sorry for Pang Yunshan, who had encountered such a formidable opponent. They sighed and shook their heads, with no one having any hope for Pang Yunshan.
"Whoosh!"
Ling Zhan's figure slowly floated down from the top of the pavilion, landing steadily. Seeing Ling Zhan's appearance, the spectators felt fear. Although he was just a boy, Ling Zhan's strength was definitely outstanding among the crowd. The weak would always fear the strong.
"Go for broke! Lose or not, I'll give it my all!" Pang Yunshan, annoyed by Ling Zhan's arrogance, said as he leaped onto the stage.
"No need to come up! At the mere early stage of Fasting Stage, I can't be bothered to fight you!" Ling Zhan said coldly, waving his hand and sending out a burst of purple energy.
"Boom!"
Just as Pang Yunshan was leaping onto the stage, still mid-air, he was hit by the purple light and sent flying off the stage with a loud crash.
"Too arrogant! Not even allowing him to step on the stage! This guy!" The young participants in the competition were furious.
"This guy is too arrogant! Looking down on people like this! Damn it!" Su Gutian's face turned red with anger.
The onlookers were also enraged by Ling Zhan's actions. The competition was meant to inspire the younger generation of Tian Du to train hard, but it was now being insulted by Ling Zhan. They gritted their teeth in anger, glaring at Ling Zhan.
"Xiao Chen, I'm getting more and more fed up with that guy. Too arrogant! Too presumptuous! I can't wait to beat him up myself! I'm losing my patience! It's driving me crazy!" The Ancient White Tiger transmitted its voice angrily, unable to contain its fury at seeing such an arrogant human for the first time.
Xiao Chen's face also turned angry. Although he had seen arrogant people before, he had never seen someone as arrogant as Ling Zhan, who disregarded others' dignity entirely!
"I will definitely teach him a harsh lesson!" Xiao Chen vowed angrily, his fists clenching tightly.
"Ling Zhan! You violated the rules! I haven't even started the match yet! You are not allowed to make a move! If you continue, I can cancel your qualification at any time!" The referee shouted immediately.
Ling Zhan spread his hands and sneered, "I should have joined the adult group. Maybe there would be some opponents there. Facing these weaklings, there's not a single opponent worth fighting. It's too disappointing. I don't even want to bother. Cancel my qualification if you want, I don't care."
Hearing this, the referee couldn't help but look at the three family heads above, seemingly seeking their approval. At this moment, Liu Yuntian stepped forward angrily and said, "Ling Zhan, you violated the rules of the competition. I will now..."
Before Liu Yuntian could finish his sentence, Liu Feng interrupted him, his face filled with extreme anger, and an astonishing aura burst out. He shouted, "Let him advance!"
Liu Yuntian looked at Liu Feng with a complicated expression. He naturally understood Liu Feng's current mood. Not only he understood, but everyone present knew Liu Feng's feelings at this moment. As a genius of Tian Du, he was now being insulted by an unknown boy. Insulting individuals was one thing, but now he was insulting the symbol of Tian Du's competition!
This was something he could not tolerate, so he had to personally defeat Ling Zhan to prove that they were not inferior to Ling Zhan, and were even stronger!
Ling Zhan looked at Liu Feng, ignoring Liu Feng's anger, and sneered, "You will regret your decision, and you will lose the title of Tian Du's number one genius."
The entire place fell silent, everyone looking at Liu Yuntian. After a while, Su Wanlin spoke calmly, "Patriarch Liu, let him advance. The children have their own dignity and honor. They are the future of Tian Du. Do not crush their confidence."
Liu Yuntian, hearing this, found it reasonable and then announced, "Ling Zhan wins."
Ling Zhan glanced at Liu Feng and sneered, "You have no chance of winning!" After speaking, he flew to the top of a pavilion, assuming an air of superiority.
"Too infuriating! Liu Feng, I know your cultivation has reached the Golden Core Stage. If you face him, you must teach him a harsh lesson!" Su Gutian said angrily, almost exploding with rage.
Liu Feng replied seriously, "I'm not confident I can defeat him. Although I have reached the Golden Core Stage, it was due to the elixirs my father bought with a large amount of crystals from the Tianyue Continent. I haven't comprehended the flying skill yet. His previous battles were not his full strength, and they already put great pressure on me."
"Is Ling Zhan really that strong? Can't any of the younger generation in Tian Du defeat him? This is infuriating!" Su Gutian exclaimed, unwilling to believe it.
"The next match: blue number 2, Qin Bao, against red number 2, Xue Ren."
"The next match: blue number 6, Han Liang, against red number 6, Bai Yifei."
"..."
As time passed, match after match ended. The winners were extremely excited, while the losers were disappointed and sad. Soon, it was Xiao Chen's turn to take the stage.
"The next match: blue number 10, Ding Jiu, against red number 10, Xiao Chen!" The referee announced loudly.
Hearing his name, Xiao Chen leaped gracefully onto the stage, his face calm, and his dark pupils filled with determination.
"So his name is Xiao Chen." Watching Xiao Chen step onto the stage, Ling Zhan, in the pavilion above, muttered to himself, seemingly paying some attention to the boy who had spoken to him earlier.
"Xiao Chen is up!" Su Gutian said, unable to gauge Xiao Chen's cultivation level and feeling very curious.
"Hey? Isn't this the boy who threw his opponent off the stage before? This kid is interesting!"
"Haha! The funny guy is on stage! Let's see how strong he really is!"
"Xiao Chen, go for it!" Mo Yan shouted excitedly, clapping continuously for Xiao Chen.
"I hope this opponent won't be too weak!" Xiao Chen smiled wryly, looking forward to his opponent stepping up.
The experts in the pavilion, including the three family heads, all wore serious expressions because they couldn't discern Xiao Chen's specific cultivation level, which surprised them.
"Blue number 13, Ding Jiu! Please step onto the stage!" Seeing that no one was coming onto the stage for a long time, the referee repeated the call.
"Could Ding Jiu be eating something?"
"No way, right? He's already so fat. If he eats more, what's the point of training? What's the point of competing?"
"Here he comes! Here he comes! Wait for me!" At this moment, a chubby boy ran quickly towards the stage while eating roasted chicken!
Seeing this, Xiao Chen was dumbfounded and smiled bitterly, "No way? My... my opponent is him? Late stage of Heart Movement! No way? I'm too unlucky, not encountering a single expert?"