Chapter 45: Frost Divine Palm

"Rest for half an hour! You are free to move about!"

After the first stage concluded, there was a half-hour break.

Ling Xiao ate a little something and then focused on recovering his Gang Qi.

Half an hour later, the second stage of the competition began.

There were one hundred participants. Everyone started with 0 points; winning a match earned three points, a draw earned one point, and a loss resulted in zero points.

The top ten ranked participants by total points would advance to the finals to compete against the disciples of the Genius Hall.

"The competition begins now!"

At the Chief Judge's command, the martial artists grew tense.

Because the matchups for these hundred participants were completely randomized, anyone could face anyone.

The competition utilized twenty martial arts stages running simultaneously.

Generally speaking, every disciple would have to engage in ninety-nine duels.

In other words, they had to fight every single one of the other ninety-nine people.

Therefore, attempting to evade matches was largely meaningless; some simply felt that encountering experts later would at least allow them to maintain their fighting spirit. Otherwise, a loss would inevitably crush their morale.

"Number 24 versus Number 98!"

"Number 6 versus Number 11!"

...

As the Chief Judge announced the matchups, the martial artists leaped onto the twenty stages one by one.

"Number 9588 versus Number 57!"

With twenty stages operating at once, the pace was incredibly fast. It was soon Ling Xiao's turn to appear.

His opponent was a chubby little boy at the third level of the Martial Vein.

"Hehe, Senior Brother Ling Xiao, I'm just telling you upfront—from now on, you're my idol!"

The chubby boy gave a cheeky grin and actually turned around and jumped off the stage.

He surrendered!

In truth, this was quite normal. There had been voluntary surrenders in previous matches, and the reasoning was simple.

When facing an opponent it was absolutely impossible to defeat, rather than fighting forcefully and wasting True Qi, it was better to simply concede.

In any case, losing didn't deduct points.

But winning could earn you three points.

Many people calculated this math very clearly.

Ling Xiao was not surprised. During the previous Ten Thousand People Competition and the subsequent thousand-person melee, he had accumulated quite a bit of popularity.

Furthermore, he had easily defeated Ling Ziran, who was at the peak of the third level of the Martial Vein and used advanced martial arts.

Anyone with a modicum of self-awareness would not attempt to clash head-on with him.

The pace of the competition was rapid.

This was because the matches were time-limited.

If a battle could not be resolved within fifteen minutes, the judging panel could declare a result.

Otherwise, if two people of equal strength fought, they might go on for days and nights without a winner, which would be a massive problem.

Soon, Ling Xiao encountered his second opponent.

She was a female disciple.

She was quite beautiful, especially her eyes, which had a soul-capturing quality that rivaled Ling Yu's.

However, in terms of strength, she was still a step below Ling Yu.

"Brother Ling Xiao, just let me win this one. How about a draw? I'll be your girlfriend, okay?"

If it had been anyone else, they might have truly been bewitched by this woman.

Looking at the crowd below, the majority of the male disciples had hearts in their eyes, which showed just how effective she was.

Compared to Ling Yu's ability to seduce, she was not lacking in the slightest.

Unfortunately, because of what had happened with Ling Yu, Ling Xiao had developed a natural aversion to beautiful women.

Moreover, the fact that this woman made such a request had already made him feel disgusted.

"Bull Ox Strength!"

Without a single word of nonsense, he struck out with a single palm, blasting the girl off the stage.

He felt like he would vomit if he looked at her for even a second longer.

"You! You beast! You have no sense of romance!"

The girl sat on the ground wailing loudly, causing the male disciples to glare at Ling Xiao with hostility.

"That's too much! She's a girl, after all. How can he be so violent!"

"Exactly! Don't cry, beautiful! I'll go up there and teach that kid a lesson in a moment!"

"Keep dreaming. You can't even beat Ling Ziran, and you think you can fight Ling Xiao? You're talking big enough to reach the heavens!"

Clearly, not everyone thought Ling Xiao was in the wrong.

Amidst the crowd, Ling Xiao had gained a group of steadfast fans.

This was the benefit of strength!

"Number 9588 wins, cumulative 6 points!"

The referee quickly announced the result.

"This boy is a talent to be molded. Even female charms cannot sway him; he is bound to achieve greatness in the future!"

The members of the judging panel held Ling Xiao in high regard.

The competition continued.

Ling Xiao's points continued to rise.

His opponents either chose to forfeit or were sent flying off the stage by a single strike.

To avoid trouble, Ling Xiao did not hold back much.

He wanted to warn those who lacked self-awareness not to provoke him.

He intended to conserve his strength to make it easier to face opponents who could actually pose a threat.

"I can't tell... just how far Ling Xiao's strength has reached. I feel like he's still hiding his true power!"

More and more people felt that it was impossible for Ling Xiao to only know basic martial arts; he must have learned others and was simply keeping them hidden.

Expectations for him grew higher and higher.

After finishing his own matches, Ling Xiao did not forget to observe the battles of Ling Yihang, Ling Yixue, and Ling Feng.

In his view, only these three could pose a threat to him.

"Number 2 versus Number 4!"

Hmm?

Hearing this, Ling Xiao hurriedly looked toward the sound.

Sure enough, on one of the stages, Ling Yixue and Ling Tieshou were standing.

Ling Tieshou currently ranked fourth in the Elite Hall.

Ling Yixue ranked second in the Elite Hall.

"A duel between second and fourth place! Now this is going to be exciting, hahaha!"

Many people crowded around; such a battle was a rare sight.

Ling Xiao naturally did not want to miss such a spectacular duel, so he drifted over. He still had some time before his next match, so he might as well watch the excitement.

To be honest, he had never seen Ling Yixue fight.

Today might be a feast for his eyes.

By the time he arrived, the battle had already begun.

"Ninth Style of the Giant Spirit Palm!"

From the very beginning, Ling Tieshou pressed forward relentlessly, showing no mercy.

A terrifying surge of True Qi actually manifested behind his body as the phantom of a giant, a display of power that was utterly shocking.

Ling Yixue, on the other hand, maintained a cautious stance. She did not rush to attack, instead relying on her agile movement to evade.

To Ling Xiao's slight surprise, Ling Tieshou's strength was much greater than when he had encountered him during registration.

His moves were more powerful and his execution more skillful.

He was fully exerting ninety percent of the power of an advanced martial art.

In other words, his "Giant Spirit Palm" had reached a state of near-perfection, though he had not yet entered the Transcendental Realm.

In a simple horizontal comparison, the current Ling Tieshou was even slightly more formidable than Li Xingyun had been at the Dragon Subduing Mountains.

Of course, Ling Xiao didn't know if Li Xingyun's strength had increased since then.

"Ling Tieshou, your strength is not weak, but unfortunately, you are no match for me!"

A moment later, Ling Yixue began her counterattack.

As she spoke, the surrounding air seemed to freeze instantly.

Her palms were stained with a strange white color, looking like gloves woven from snowflakes.

"The advanced martial art, 'Ice Palm'!"

Someone recognized the technique Ling Yixue was using.

"It is said that to master the 'Ice Palm,' one must frequently be in environments of ice and snow. Senior Sister Yixue must have endured a great deal of hardship."

"Hardship is certain. I heard she often goes to the family's ice cellar to practice alone. But once the 'Ice Palm' is mastered, it is terrifying."

"Indeed. Anything it touches can be frozen. It truly is a fearsome advanced martial art. Ling Tieshou is in danger."

Among the spectators, there were also experts. They might not recognize Ling Xiao's "Cloud Soaring Steps," but they could recognize any martial art found within the Library Pavilion.