Chapter 38: The Elimination Match

This was destined to be a restless night.

Countless members of the Ling clan were rubbing their hands in anticipation, secretly preparing to seize the perfect opportunity to leap over the dragon gate.

The high-ranking members of the Ling clan were also closely monitoring everything.

This was exactly the effect they wanted.

Only under such an atmosphere could the most outstanding disciples truly be born.

The bugle call for battle had been sounded!

The brave warriors were sharpening their blades!

...

The following morning.

At the competitive plaza.

Although the sky had not yet fully brightened, many people had already gathered there.

There were excited disciples of the Ling clan who hadn't slept well all night, as well as mid-to-high-level clan members who had arrived early to prepare the grounds.

Ling Xiao, on the contrary, was a relatively late arrival.

He had, in fact, enjoyed a good night's sleep.

By the time he reached the plaza, the sky was bright, and he noticed that all the top ten disciples of the Elite Hall were already present.

Furthermore, all the disciples ranked below tenth in the Genius Hall had also arrived.

However, these people had only one target: Ling Yihang, and at most, Ling Yixue.

After all, in their eyes, only these two posed a threat to them.

Ling Xiao let out a yawn and leaned against a stone wall to observe the situation in the competitive plaza.

There were roughly dozens of martial stages.

He didn't count them carefully, but with so many participants, these stages were a necessity.

Especially during the elimination stage, with nearly ten thousand people competing, without these stages, there would be no telling when the matches would end.

The martial stages were all constructed from special materials; unless one possessed Astral Qi and their moves were exceptionally violent, it was quite difficult to break them.

The so-called elimination stage was actually meant to select the top ten from among the Elite Hall and the bottom-tier disciples.

These ten would then be mixed with the hundred disciples of the Genius Hall for the true grand competition.

The logic was simple: the disciples of the Genius Hall were too strong; most of the disciples in the Elite Hall and the bottom tier were simply no match for them.

If everyone were mixed together from the start, it would be a waste of the Genius Hall disciples' time.

Ling Xiao looked toward those dozens of Genius Hall disciples.

As expected, they all possessed peak third-layer Martial Vein strength and had all condensed Astral Qi.

However, the degree of their Astral Qi condensation varied.

The weakest had only condensed twenty percent Astral Qi in their first Martial Vein.

The strongest had already condensed fifty percent Astral Qi in their third Martial Vein.

Of course, this was only because people like Ling Feifan had not yet arrived; otherwise, these fellows' strength would likely be even more terrifying.

Most of the Genius Hall disciples appeared quite relaxed, as there were simply too few people in the Elite Hall and bottom tier who could pose a threat to them.

At this moment, they were pointing and gesturing, critiquing the disciples of the Elite Hall and the bottom tier.

"I heard our Hall Master say that the quality of the Elite Hall disciples this session is quite good. I expect five or six of them might pose a threat to our Genius Hall disciples."

"I think it'll only be Ling Yihang and Ling Yixue; the rest aren't worth mentioning."

"True. That guy Ling Yihang has already been ranked eleventh on the stone wall leaderboard. He has defeated several of our Genius Hall disciples in a row and might even pose a threat to Young Master Feifan."

"Hmph, what does Ling Yihang matter? Only I can defeat Young Master Feifan!"

Suddenly, a coarse voice rang out, and a man actually leaped from dozens of meters away directly onto the spectator stands.

"Ling Zhan!"

"It's Ling Zhan, ranked fourth in the Genius Hall!"

This man's arrival was incredibly flashy.

Combined with his existing fame, it triggered waves of excitement among the crowd.

Ling Xiao also looked toward this Ling Zhan.

He was nearly two meters tall, his body extremely robust, and he seemed to be filled with terrifying power; his muscles were nothing short of frightening.

In reality, this was all superficial. When Ling Xiao used his Mountain and River Martial Soul to analyze the guy, his brow furrowed involuntarily.

He was actually at the fourth-layer Martial Vein, and his Astral Qi was condensed to ninety percent of his third Martial Vein!

As expected of the fourth rank in the Genius Hall—this was incredible!

Ling Xiao couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. If the fourth rank was already like this, what would the top three be like?

He had long known that the Genius Hall disciples were terrifying, but seeing Ling Zhan in person still brought a sense of shock.

"Below the Four Young Masters, it's people like Ling Yun, Ling Shuang, and Ling Zhan. One could say they are at the level of 'quasi-Young Masters'!"

"Quasi-Young Masters... sigh, we can't even catch up to the quasi-Young Masters, let alone the Four Young Masters of Sky Peak City."

"Ling Feifan, Ling Yun, and Ling Shuang probably haven't arrived yet. They likely have little interest in these Elite Hall battles."

"Yeah, it's just that this Ling Zhan enjoys the excitement. Otherwise, given his status, there's no need for him to come."

Ling Yihang, who was sitting on a stone stool eating, merely gave Ling Zhan a faint glance, his expression unreadable.

He continued to lower his head and eat.

Ling Yixue's expression was slightly grim.

Ling Feng and Ling Tieshou looked even more dejected.

Facing this Ling Zhan, they had no possibility of victory.

Ling Xiao clenched his fists.

"The stronger the opponent, the more interesting it is!"

To be honest, since obtaining the Mountain and River Martial Soul, he had never fought with his full strength.

After comprehending "Cloud Soaring Step: Dragon Transformation" and "Ox Demon Technique: Qi Condensation," he had even failed to truly exchange blows with anyone.

Even against Ling Tieshou, he had only been dodging.

"If I start taking this seriously, I'll even scare myself. I wonder how far I can go before breaking through to the fourth-layer Martial Vein?"

"Alright, quiet down! The annual grand competition elimination stage is about to begin. We will select the top ten from among the ten thousand Elite Hall and bottom-tier disciples!"

A voice filled with majesty and dominance rang out.

This person was likely a high-ranking member of the Ling clan presiding over the Elite Hall, though Ling Xiao didn't recognize him.

As the competition began, everyone fell silent.

Selecting ten people out of ten thousand—this was truly going to be a brutal competition.

Of course, even if one didn't make the top ten, as long as their ranking entered the top thousand, they could remain in the Elite Hall.

So, despite the large number of participating disciples, everyone's purposes and goals were different.

Some simply wanted to enter the top thousand.

Some wanted to secure a ranking within the Elite Hall.

And some wanted to use this grand competition to enter the Genius Hall.

"Now, the first round of matches begins. Listen carefully to your numbers, then enter your corresponding martial stage. If you do not appear within the allotted time, you will be considered to have forfeited."

The competition format was actually very simple: single-elimination matches, one-on-one duels. The loser leaves, and the winner stays.

The format would only change once the number of participants was reduced to one thousand.

According to the rankings on the stone wall, these thousand people would be divided into ten groups, and the arrangement of these ten groups would follow a serpentine pattern.

For example, the first-ranked Ling Yihang would be in the first group, the second-ranked Ling Yixue would be in the second group, and so on, until the twentieth-ranked disciple was placed in the tenth group.

The benefit of this was obvious: it allowed the strongest disciples to stay until the end and avoid meeting each other prematurely.

Each of these ten groups contained one hundred people, and ultimately, one person from each group would advance to the finals.

That would be the stage where they faced the disciples of the Genius Hall.

However, that would be a matter for after the thousand remained.

For now, among these ten thousand people, except for the top ten seeded players who did not need to participate, everyone else had to fight their way through match after match.

(End of Chapter)