Tyrant Sky Martial Soul

Chapter 780: Chapter 780 Ling Xiao Makes an Appearance_1

After the second-round elimination, the top fifty contenders were decided, and they received the title of ”Earth Spirit”, enjoying a status equivalent to a baronet in the Sacred Dynasty. The rewards were richer, and they would reap even more benefits in the future.

In the third round of the competition, the fifty Earth Spirits were divided into two groups, still aiming to whittle down to ten contenders advancing from each group.

These were the top twenty, who would receive the title of ”Tianjiao”, a status equivalent to a count in the Sacred Dynasty.

During the fourth round of competition, the twenty Tianjiaos adopted a point system for ranking, competing to determine the Sixth Young Master of the Holy Dynasty, as well as the champion of the Martial Arts Festival.

The process might sound rather simple, yet, because most competitors were of similar strength, the first three elimination rounds were indeed exceedingly brutal.

Everyone was unwilling to lose, which meant they had to give their all.

As a result, it was not only the strength of these young warriors under scrutiny, but also their intelligence.

Sometimes, one must abandon battles that need to be abandoned.

But determining which battles can be abandoned and which cannot, is not an easy judgment to make.

”Alright, the rules have been read. Please go to the presiding platform to collect your group numbers,” announced the chief referee, infusing his voice with Heavenly Origin Power and prompting all competing disciples to stand up.

They lined up to draw their group numbers.

”Group ten, I wonder what that signifies,” said Ling Xiao, glancing at his number and speaking to the fellow Moon Hua Sect disciples competing.

”I’m in group two,” Lan Yu’er also got her number.

”I’m in group four,”

”I’m in group six,” said Dai Yuling and Leng Hao, both with numbers different from Ling Xiao’s.

This could only be described as good luck—none of the four had been placed in the same group.

Joshua Long drew group seven, different from the numbers of the others from the Moon Hua Sect.

All five went to report to the referees in charge of their respective groups and were set to compete on different Martial Arts Platforms.

Interestingly, in group ten, Ling Xiao encountered a familiar face, Yan Lie Huo, whom he had competed with in the preliminary round.

There were no grievances between the two of them.

Yet, Yan Lie Huo harbored some disbelief towards Ling Xiao.

In the previous preliminary round, Yan Lie Huo hadn’t taken Ling Xiao seriously because he was the fifty-first contender, barely missing out on the top fifty.

”So be it, since we’ve been placed in the same group, let me take a good look at just what level this ’first-day genius’ of the preliminaries can truly reach!” Yan Lie Huo said with a smile, moving aside to wait.

The group matches began quickly. Ling Xiao did not bother watching the other groups, for the initial battles were likely uninteresting. The real excitement would come with the ranking matches of the top twenty, which would truly be thrilling.

In group ten, the battles had already begun. The first to step onto the platform were two martial artists at the Half-step Celestial level, exerting ninety percent of their strength.

Their abilities were on par, making the fight incredibly tough. After a prolonged struggle spanning over a hundred moves, the battle finally came to an end.

One fighter won by a margin of a single move.

It seemed the earlier battles all followed this pattern; however, when Yan Lie Huo took the stage, the situation changed completely.

One move!

Merely a single move!

Yan Lie Huo didn’t even need to wield his Red Flame Spear.

It wasn’t that his opponent was too weak, but rather that he was too strong.

Ling Xiao noticed that Yan Lie Huo had mastered the use of the Red Flame Spear thoroughly. Not only that, but his cultivation level had significantly improved as well.

Compared to his strength in the True Demon Forbidden Land, the man had become at least twice as formidable.

Even the referee of group ten nodded repeatedly, thoroughly satisfied with Yan Lie Huo’s performance.

”This boy ranked 51st in the last Martial Arts Festival finals, and this time it looks like he has a chance to go even further, not bad, not bad.”

Yan Lie Huo proudly looked towards Ling Xiao.

But he found Ling Xiao wasn’t paying any attention to him, instead, his gaze was somewhere else.

Ling Xiao was scheduled to appear later in the tenth group, so he took this opportunity to pay attention to the matches of a few people he was interested in.

Among the Moon Hua Sect, the first to make a move was Leng Hao.

Leng Hao was now an 80% power Half-step Celestial, while his opponent was a 90% power Half-step Celestial.

In terms of cultivation level, Leng Hao was inferior to his opponent.

However, the fight was drastically different from their cultivation levels.

Leng Hao also took only one move to send his opponent out of the Martial Arts Platform, the opponent probably didn’t even see how he made his move.

Seeing this, Ling Xiao was not surprised, but the referee for Leng Hao’s group was somewhat astonished, ”I thought Moon Hua Sect only had one Ling Xiao, but it turns out this Leng Hao is not bad either, becoming the first martial artist to easily win a challenge beyond his level since the start of the competition.”

Pleased, Ling Xiao nodded and then turned his attention elsewhere.

Dai Yuling also easily defeated her opponent.

Lan Yu’er won with ease as well.

Seeing this, he couldn’t help but heave a sigh of relief.

He was very confident in his own strength, but after all, both Dai Yuling and Leng Hao had insufficient cultivation levels, and the contestants in this final were no pushovers.

To have an opening victory was quite good indeed.

”Quick, look, it’s Dai Yaoling from Spiritual Medicine Manor making her move, she might be the strongest among those who have appeared so far.”

”That’s right, Dai Yaoling was ranked in the top ten of the last Martial Arts Festival, a pity that she didn’t advance to become one of the Six Young Masters of Holy Dynasty.”

”Her opponent isn’t weak either, ranked 31st in the last Martial Arts Festival; they should be able to hold on for some time.”

No sooner had this person finished speaking than the battle on the Martial Arts Platform had come to an end.

Dai Yaoling simply blew a breath, and her opponent lay on the ground unconscious.

”Good heavens! Is this the strength of the top ten? It’s too strong! Just a breath was enough to defeat the opponent.”

The many young disciples watching were somewhat agape.

A martial artist who ranked 31st in the last festival, his cultivation level must have reached near-perfect Half-step Celestial by now, but against Dai Yaoling, he was so easily defeated.

What’s more important is that Dai Yaoling clearly had not exerted her full strength.

”It seems that the top ten from the last festival are terrifyingly formidable. Coming up against them is truly tragic for other martial artists.”

The crowd shook their heads incessantly, in their eyes, not only the Six Young Masters of Holy Dynasty, but also the disciples who ranked in the top ten of the last Martial Arts Festival, were much more powerful than those that came after.

They could even be said not to be on the same level at all.

”Dai Yaoling? Dai Yuling!”

Ling Xiao silently recited the name of this girl.

He always felt Dai Yuling had a past she could not bear to look back on, the names of these two girls were so similar, and they even looked somewhat alike. To say they didn’t know each other, he definitely wouldn’t believe it.

As for Dai Yaoling’s strength, he was not particularly concerned.

His only opponent was Holy Son Ji Mingkong, besides him, other people simply didn’t matter to him.

It’s not that he was arrogant, but it was just bullying for someone with the Heavenly Man Realm’s cultivation level to go up against Heavenly Pulse Warriors.

If he were to lose, he might as well find a block of tofu to crash into and die.

”Ling Xiao, Wang Si Ru, come to the stage!”

Although he wanted to watch a little longer, upon hearing his own name, Ling Xiao gracefully made his way onto the platform and looked at his opponent.

Wang Si Ru was a mature-phase Heavenly Pulse Warrior, very strong, ranked 42nd in the last Martial Arts Festival.

His weapon was a Curved Moon Blade.