Chapter 44: Chaotic Battle of a Thousand Men

Hearing Ling Xiao's words, Ling Feng's face instantly turned ashen. He hadn't expected that Ling Xiao would be content with looking down on Ling Ziran, but that he would actually dare to look down on him like this!

"Fine! We shall see!"

Ling Xiao gave a faint smile and said nothing more, continuing instead to complete his own matches.

In the next three matches, his opponents all voluntarily surrendered, allowing him to easily secure a hundred-match winning streak.

"Congratulations to Number 9588, Ling Xiao, for being the only one to achieve a hundred-match winning streak and successfully advance to the thousand-person shortlist!"

Advancing to the thousand-person shortlist meant entering the Elite Hall; he was no longer a bottom-tier disciple.

This drew the envy of countless people.

By this time, it was getting late, but there was still light left. While others were still competing, Ling Xiao quietly left the arena.

In his view, the only people currently capable of posing a threat to him were Ling Yixue, Ling Yihang, and the members of the Genius Hall.

Since none of them had appeared yet, he figured it was better to just go home and get some good rest.

Before heading home, he made a trip to the Medicine Hall.

"What's wrong, little guy? Were you eliminated? The competition should still be ongoing, shouldn't it?"

Inside the Medicine Hall, Ling Xiao coincidentally ran into Ling Jiu and another middle-aged man, who was presumably Ling Feng's father.

It was Ling Jiu who spoke, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It's Ninth Lord. I achieved a hundred-match winning streak and advanced ahead of schedule."

Ling Xiao cupped his hands in greeting, then spoke indifferently before heading upstairs to find his Martial Uncle at the Medicine Hall.

He left Ling Jiu and Ling Feng's father standing there in awkward silence.

"Hahaha, Ninth Lord, this kid used to bully your Ling Chong quite a bit. We can't let him keep jumping around like this, can we?"

After a moment, Ling Feng's father suddenly said with a laugh.

"Hmph, it's fine that he advanced. Iron Hand will deal with him."

"That's not necessarily true. Perhaps our Feng'er will eliminate him first."

The two clearly still held Ling Xiao in contempt, believing that either Ling Tiehand or Ling Feng could easily defeat him.

While they were chatting, Ling Xiao had already collected three Gangqi Pills and left.

Ling Xiao didn't want these two to see him, otherwise, he would invite unnecessary trouble, so he exited through the back door.

Upon returning home, Ling Xiao ate some dumplings handmade by his grandfather and then entered the training room to begin his cultivation.

He swallowed one Gangqi Pill.

By the end of the night, the Gangqi in his third meridian had reached ninety percent.

With only the final ten percent remaining, he should be able to break through soon.

However, since there were matches today, he left the remaining two Gangqi Pills in the training room and departed to participate in the competition.

It was said that yesterday's matches lasted until well past midnight to finally determine the final thousand participants.

After all, such duels were merely "chickens pecking at each other"—not much of an interest.

Aside from highlights like Ling Xiao, everyone else was mediocre. It made more sense to finish quickly so the more exciting duels could proceed.

The next day, the nine hundred-plus advancing disciples, along with ten seed players, gathered at the competition plaza.

Ling Xiao was looking forward to today's duels.

After yesterday's day of combat, he had clearly noticed that his practical combat experience had improved significantly, and his cultivation level had also increased to a certain extent.

This proved that such battles were definitely beneficial to him and not a waste of time.

"Today! All one thousand of you here are disciples qualified to enter the Elite Hall! However, in today's competition, most of you will be eliminated, leaving only a few to participate in the finals!"

"I will now read the rules of the competition..."

The rules for the semi-finals were quite different from the preliminaries.

It was divided into two stages.

In the first stage, the thousand participants were divided into ten groups of one hundred people each.

Then, these hundred people would be placed on the grand arena simultaneously. Only the final ten remaining in each group could advance to the second stage.

It was what was known as a melee!

The higher-ups had their reasons for this arrangement.

A martial artist cannot be strong only in one-on-one combat.

They also need to learn self-preservation during a melee!

Hearing about this first stage, Ling Xiao smiled.

Because this stage held no difficulty for him whatsoever.

He didn't even need to strike; he could simply use his agile movement techniques to evade attacks. After all, the real challenge lay in the second stage.

Ten people would be selected from each group, making a total of one hundred people who would be ranked via a points system. The top ten with the most points would advance to the final stage.

By then, he would certainly encounter Ling Feng, Ling Yixue, Ling Yihang, and the others; that would be a true battle of attrition.

Therefore, during this first stage, he intended to avoid exerting unnecessary effort as much as possible.

Once the rules were read, Ling Xiao was assigned to the tenth group. The strongest in his group was the tenth-ranked Ling Fei.

He was the same person who had previously been defeated by Ling Xiao in a contest of lightness skills.

As soon as the match began, the situation became somewhat subtle. Whether it was a prearranged agreement or not, the other ninety-nine people actually launched an attack on Ling Xiao simultaneously.

"Is that even allowed?"

"Ling Xiao really has offended a lot of people!"

"It's not about offending; it's likely that people are jealous and don't want him to advance further."

"What can be done? Even Ling Yihang, or even Ling Feifan, probably wouldn't dare claim they could remain undefeated against these ninety-nine people."

"What can be done? Nothing! It's a pity, but it looks like he's really going to be eliminated."

Although many people felt anxious for Ling Xiao and thought this was quite unfair, as long as no rules were broken, no one could say anything.

However, the scene that followed left these people both shocked and delighted.

They saw Ling Xiao sitting cross-legged in mid-air, approximately twenty meters high, and he was actually able to maintain that position for fifteen minutes.

After fifteen minutes, he landed, only to instantly soar back into the air.

Forget attacking him—others couldn't even touch the hem of his clothes.

Ling Fei had originally intended to take advantage of the numbers, but seeing this, he gave up immediately.

Only a fool would contend with such a monster.

"Heavens, what kind of lightness skill is this? To be able to hover in mid-air for nearly fifteen minutes!"

"I don't know. Is there such a technique in the Library Pavilion?"

"The 'Cloud-Soaring Steps'!"

In a dark corner, Ling Jiu slammed his fist violently against a wall.

He hadn't expected that even though he had forcibly snatched the "Cloud-Soaring Steps" and the "Bull Demon Technique" from Ling Xiao, neither his biological son nor his godson could practice them.

He had played the villain but gained nothing; it was a self-defeating move.

That was one thing.

But seeing Ling Xiao actually master the "Cloud-Soaring Steps," he nearly spat blood against the wall.

The reason everyone had targeted Ling Xiao was because he had been working behind the scenes.

In the end, it had turned into a joke.

About an hour later, nine hundred of the thousand participants were eliminated, leaving only the final one hundred.

Ling Xiao was among the ones who passed through most easily, though Ling Yihang, Ling Yixue, Ling Feng, and Ling Tiehand also didn't have to exert much effort.

This was because very few people dared to attack them.

Since ten people could remain, anyone who attacked these individuals first would likely be the first to be eliminated. Anyone with a brain wouldn't do such a thing.