Chapter 106: The Intense Selection Tournament

Seeing the crowd’s enthusiasm surge, the city lord raised a hand to quiet them.

He spoke again. “The rules of the selection match are simple. Anyone under twenty may take part. One hundred people will fight at a time, in a free-for-all. In the end, the ten who remain on the platform will be considered to have passed.”

After a brief pause, he continued, “Those who wish to compete, come here and line up. One hundred at a time will go onto the stage, so no one need rush. As long as you meet the rules, you may enter the competition. Very well, the selection match begins now.”

As soon as the city lord finished speaking, a great rustling arose as numerous young masters rushed forward. Under the organization of the city lord’s guards, they formed orderly lines.

Liu Feng and the other two did not hurry to line up. Instead, they wanted to observe the proceedings first.

At that moment, the first group of one hundred ascended the arena. None of them attacked immediately; all watched the surrounding movements with keen attention.

Boom!

One person suddenly struck first, sending an opponent flying from the platform.

With that opening blow, the arena instantly descended into chaos. Everyone began attacking the people beside them.

Bang, bang, bang!

As they exchanged blows, the sounds of fists and feet colliding rang out incessantly. From time to time, someone would be knocked off the arena, crying out in unwilling frustration.

An hour later, only ten people remained on the platform. They jumped down and registered their names at the administration desk.

“The arena really is a mess. Some people are unlucky. They may be strong enough, but once a crowd targets them, they can only be forced to lose,” Zhao Jun said as he watched the battle unfold.

“That can’t be helped. Sometimes luck matters more than strength,” Zhao Bochao sighed as well.

“That only means they are not strong enough. If they were truly formidable, one person alone could handle all their opponents.”

Just as Liu Feng and the other two were discussing this, a cold and proud voice suddenly reached their ears.

The three looked toward the source and saw an ordinary-looking young man passing by them, heading toward the line for the selection competition.

“Who is that? Why does he speak with such arrogance?”

“He is one of the top young masters of Leaving Heaven City, ranked among the top three.”

“He is Su Yu of the Orthodox Cloud Academy. I heard he has already reached the fifth level of the Yin-Yang Realm. That is a realm many senior masters have never attained.”

Before Liu Feng and the others could say anything, they heard the surrounding crowd discussing him.

“This person is indeed rather conceited,” Zhao Jun said with some displeasure.

“Still, his strength is truly formidable. It seems there are no young masters in our South State City who have reached that level,” Zhao Bochao said frankly.

Liu Feng remained calm and said lightly, “When the young masters of the four nations gather, there will surely be experts beyond expectation.”

After a pause, he added, “We have watched long enough. It is time to line up and prepare for the competition.”

Hearing Liu Feng’s words, Zhao Jun and Zhao Bochao both nodded.

The three of them then walked toward the place where competitors were lining up. By the time they arrived, there were already over a thousand people there. The three were split into three separate lines.

After two more rounds of matches, it was Zhao Jun’s turn.

He followed the others and walked onto the arena. A short while later, everyone in his group had reached the platform.

“The competition has begun. Zhao Jun should count as one of the stronger ones in that group,” Zhao Bochao said to Liu Feng while watching.

After observing for a moment, Liu Feng said, “Zhao Jun can indeed rank in the top ten among them. The only question is how good his luck will be.”

While Liu Feng and Zhao Bochao were speaking, Zhao Jun on the arena had already run into trouble.

His opponent was a tall young man wielding a huge battle axe, and the youth launched a ferocious assault against Zhao Jun.

Zhao Jun also drew out the Golden Scale Spear. With the long spear in his hands, he moved like a flying dragon, the golden spear light constantly colliding against the tall youth’s battle axe, leaving fine cracks upon the blade.

“You’re only able to fight me this long by relying on your weapon advantage. If you have the skill, let’s fight without weapons,” the tall youth said angrily as he saw his weapon on the verge of being ruined.

A faint smile appeared on Zhao Jun’s face when he heard this. “I have the advantage of a weapon, so of course I’ll use it. Otherwise, if I lose, who am I supposed to reason with?” With that, he increased the pace of his attacks.

The tall youth was immediately driven back step by step. In the end, with a thunderous crash, Zhao Jun shattered the other’s battle axe and kicked him off the platform.

“Zhao Jun is still holding back, and he’s already made it into the top twenty. If he keeps this up a little longer, he’ll pass the selection match,” Zhao Bochao said when he saw Zhao Jun defeat another opponent so easily.

“That’s because he hasn’t met a truly strong opponent yet. Look at this one with the saber; he’s quite strong. If Zhao Jun doesn’t show more of his real ability, he may not win so easily,” Liu Feng said gravely as he watched Zhao Jun fight a youth wielding a blade.

“Indeed, this saber user is quite strong,” Zhao Bochao, who had been relaxed moments ago, suddenly grew tense as he saw Zhao Jun engaged in a rapid exchange with the blade-wielding youth.

At that moment, Zhao Jun knocked the young man’s long saber aside and immediately swung the shaft of his spear in a horizontal sweep toward him.

Whoosh.

The spear shaft cut through the air and reached the saber-wielding youth in an instant.

“Slash!”

The youth shouted fiercely. Holding the saber in both hands, he brought it down at full speed. Like a white ribbon of light, the long blade flashed down like lightning and struck the golden spear shaft.

Clang!

A deafening metallic collision rang out, and both men were forced back a step by the impact.

“Good. Your strength really is strong enough to deserve my ultimate move,” the saber-wielding youth said, stopping his figure as admiration appeared on his face.

“Your strength is strong as well. I’ll have to go all out too,” Zhao Jun said, his expression turning serious.

“Extinguishing Slash!”

The saber-wielding youth roared. True energy surged wildly from within him and poured entirely into the blade. Instantly, a massive saber-light took shape, carrying a sharp and piercing edge as it shot forward at lightning speed toward Zhao Jun.

“Violent Piercing Strike!”

Seeing the incoming blade light, Zhao Jun bellowed as well. Gripping his spear with both hands, he unleashed his own furious true energy, gathering it all at the spear tip.

The long spear let out a buzzing hum. A dazzling golden radiance burst forth, like the edge of a divine weapon, stabbing toward the enormous saber-light with thunderous force.

Boom!

The spear light and saber light collided, erupting in a tremendous blast. A savage wave of air swept outward, forcing the nearby combatants to retreat continuously.

At the same time, a figure was hurled backward and crashed off the arena.

“Someday, I will defeat you,” the saber-wielding youth said, looking at Zhao Jun on the platform, his face filled with determination.

“Very well. I’ll be waiting for your challenge at any time,” Zhao Jun replied, looking at him.