The ancient city of Qingzhou.
The clear sky was cloudless.
Hundreds of thousands of cultivators surrounded the venue of the Sword Dao Meet.
Everyone couldn’t help but stare at Ye Ping who was in the ring.
Although Wang Minghao was less competent, the fact that he could go through eight rounds and make it to the top four, he obviously wasn’t mediocre or ordinary.
However, Ye Ping was obviously far more popular than Wang Minghao.
Above the ring, Wang Minghao quietly watched the cultivators who were surrounding it.
There were already tens of thousands of cultivators who were spectators.
Almost everyone was cheering for Ye Ping.
At this moment, Wang Minghao didn’t sneer or feel any contempt.
It was because he knew that the best way to shut them up was to defeat Ye Ping.
All of a sudden, Wang Minghao couldn’t help but wonder what Ye Ping would look like after being defeated by him.
‘He should seem very interesting, right?’
He smiled confidently.
In the middle of the ring, Ye Ping couldn’t help but frown.
The reason being, he acutely noticed that Wang Minghao’s expression was very similar to Li Changye’s.
All of a sudden, Ye Ping couldn’t help but speak up.
“Fellow Daoist, do you know Li Changye?”
Initially, Ye Ping didn’t want to ask about it as he was afraid that he would accidentally cripple the other party. If he did, wouldn’t that be embarrassing?
Hence, he hurriedly asked to see if Wang Minghao knew Li Changye.
“Li Changye? Who’s that nobody? I don’t know him at all.”
Standing above the ring, Wang Minghao initially didn’t want to answer Ye Ping’s question, but since he was being watched by many, he felt that he would leave a bad impression on others if he pretended to be aloof. Hence, he answered calmly.
Hearing Wang Minghao’s voice, Ye Ping finally heaved a sigh of relief.
He was afraid that Wang Minghao might know Li Changye.
However, some people started murmuring among the crowd.
“Ah, what a strong sword intent.”
“Huh? You haven’t even drawn the sword yet? And there’s sword intent? Are you trying to fool me?”
“I’m not fooling you. Look at that guy behind, he’s already vomited blood. Isn’t that sword intent strong enough? We might not have gotten hurt by the sword intent because our realm is high, but this Fellow Daoist is too weak and so started vomiting blood because of the sword intent.”
The few of them chatted leisurely and couldn’t help but turn around too.
Not far away, there was indeed a man with a flushed face and blood flowing from the corners of his lips. He seemed extremely frustrated and upset.
He was Li Changye.
He was overwhelmed with anger.
It was fine that he had been humiliated by Ye Ping, because he had at least really lost to him.
However, he didn’t expect this guy to humiliate him by calling him a nobody.
‘A nameless nobody?’
‘Says you.’
‘You come from a family of nobodies.’
‘Your name is Wang Minghao, right?’
‘Okay, I will remember your name. When the sword trial is over, I’ll kill both of you! Ahhh! Both of you must die!”
Standing among the audience, Li Changye clenched his fist, his gaze fixed on Ye Ping and Wang Minghao.
At this moment, the elder’s voice sounded too.
“The sword trial for the top four begins.”
At this moment, nobody dared to blink, for fear that they would miss a scene.
Clang!
Wang Minghao drew his sword at this moment.
Ye Ping did so too.
The two men exchanged glances.
Ye Ping’s voice sounded again.
“Fellow Daoist, you really don’t know Li Changye? Fellow Daoist Li?”
Ye Ping continued to ask.
He wasn’t being long-winded by Wang Minghao’s expression that was really too similar to Li Changye’s.
He was really afraid of killing someone again.
“Since I said I don’t know him, I really don’t know him. What are you asking so many questions for?”
Wang Minghao was a little perplexed.
‘What are you being so inquisitive for? We’re having a sword trial now, not a nagging session. Hurry up and attack, do you think you’re very impressive? Do you think you’re the only person who knows the Four Thunder Sword Technique? if you still don’t attack, you will…’
Boom!
While Wang Minghao was criticizing Ye Ping in his heart… terrifying explosive sounds of thunder sounded.
It was followed by incessant sword momentums that swarmed over like waves.
In an instant, Wang Minghao raised his hand and his body then seemed to have been struck by lightning, as if a prehistoric beast had slammed into him.
A trail of blood formed an arc in the air.
No one saw when Ye Ping’s sword appeared.
In fact, no one except Wang Minghao knew how powerful that sword was.
However, they knew that it would be hard to resist it.
Bang!
In the next moment, Wang Minghao fell hard onto the ground.
His eyes were filled with shock and disbelief.
He had prepared himself for this for a long time.
He thought that he would definitely win.
To his surprise, he was actually defeated by a cultivator with no reputation at all.
‘This doesn’t make sense.’
‘I didn’t even get to use my damned Great Sun Demon Subduing Sword.”
Wang Minghao’s brain was buzzing as thoughts ran through it.
Before he could ponder over it for any longer, he blacked out.
At this moment, all the onlooking cultivators were also flummoxed.
They knew that Ye Ping was ferocious and overpowering.
However, they saw another side of him again today.
‘Is this the sword momentum that a cultivator in the Qi Refinement realm can produce?’
‘Even a Foundation Establishment realm cultivator can’t take this.’
The elders who were watching the battle looked at each other, unclear of how strong Ye Ping was. However, the only thing they knew was that any other Foundation Establishment realm cultivator would end up suffering the same fate.
At this moment, there was complete silence.
The tens of thousands of people were silent.
After a while, the cultivators slipped into confusion.
‘I spent so much money on an entry ticket just for this?’
‘I thought that there would be intense battles between experts.’
‘Yet, it was full of instant defeats?’
‘Is Ye Ping too fast or are we too weak?’
“Ye Ping wins the trial for the final four of the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet.”
After a moment, the referee was the first to recover from the shock.
He swallowed his saliva, and his voice was slightly shaky.
‘This… is a little too exaggerated, isn’t it?’
Wang Minghao had broken through eight rounds in a row, and everyone had also witnessed his strength. Yet, he was defeated by Ye Ping.
‘How did such a demon come out of Qingzhou?’
‘What is the Qingyun Dao Sect? Is it too late to join?’
In the ring.
Looking at Wang Minghao, who had been blasted away, Ye Ping slipped into confusion too.
This time, he really didn’t give his all.
‘I even gave him a head start, but why did this happen?’
‘Didn’t they say that it’s a battle of hidden experts?’
‘Where are the hidden experts?’
‘Where did they go?’
Ye Ping’s eyes were full of confusion.
However, no matter how confused he was, the first match for the top four was over.
Now, they could only pin their expectations on the second match.
They wanted to watch a battle between experts, not a prodigy abusing a good-for-nothing.
Finally, someone from the crowd spoke up.
“That’s it?”
“I thought it was going to be some kind of battle between experts. Wang Minghao is too useless.”
“Had we known earlier, they might as well have let me go. We’re going to lose anyway, it doesn’t matter who takes on the battle.”
“Damn it, I bet on Wang Minghao’s victory. It seems that he’s still a good-for-nothing after all, just like that Li something.”
“Li Changye.”
“Yes, yes, yes, Li Changye. He was boasting and bragging in Full River Restaurant at first and called himself the best in Qingzhou, claiming that he would go on to eventually become the best in the Ten Nations. Yet, he was defeated as soon as he stepped up. That’s hilarious.”
“Actually, you might have misunderstood what he meant. Maybe, he meant the best at losing. Hahahaha.”
“Yeah, too many people like bragging these days, I wonder who they learned it from.”
“Let’s just wait for the next match, I hope it won’t disappoint me too much.”
The people started discussing.
Initially, the discussion was considered normal and Li Changye, who was in the corner, had his spirits lifted when he saw Wang Minghao being sent flying by Ye Ping with a single strike of his sword and falling onto the ground while vomiting blood.
However, after hearing the discussion of the onlooking cultivators, he couldn’t help but become flushed.
He wasn’t feeling ashamed but enraged.
However, among tens of thousands of cultivators, a Confucian cultivator was quietly watching everything.
He was holding a roster in his hand.
He wrote the word ‘Ye Ping’ on the first page of the roster and also drew a cross after it.
It was the book of “Must-Kill Persons” belonging to the Fiendcelestial Cult, and all the people whose names were on the roster were the main target of the hunt. Those that had a cross marked after their names would mean that there was a greater urgency to kill them.
The Confucian scholar quietly shifted his gaze onto Ye Ping and waited for the next battle.
“The second bout will begin two hours from now.”
At this moment, the elder’s voice sounded again.
All of a sudden, the commotion ceased.
Hearing that the second bout would begin in two hours, the crowd was filled with anticipation again.
The round for the top four ended.
Ye Ping left the ring.
He went to the resting area of the Sword Dao Meet and looked around, only to realize that Su Changyu was nowhere in sight. Instead, Li Yu was waiting for him there.
“Where’s Eldest Senior Brother?”
Ye Ping asked Li Yu curiously.
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen Uncle-Master all day. I thought he was with you.”
Li Yu was also full of doubts.
While Ye Ping was bewildered, some people started talking.
“He’s here, he’s here, Sikong Jiantian is here.”
“Sikong Jiantian is coming.”
“Oh my god, Sikong Jiantian really came? I’ve lost the bet for sure.”
“I’m going to go bankrupt this time.”
The voices attracted the attention of countless people.
In the main ring.
Sikong Jiantian stepped onto the void like an aloof immortal, clad in a white robe. He looked dashing and unrestrained.
The appearance of Sikong Jiantian instantly garnered numerous comments.
Ye Ping and Li Yu immediately went onto the viewing deck.
They were staring at Sikong Jiantian who was in the middle of the ring.
However, they didn’t see Su Changyu’s figure for a long time.
In the ring, Sikong Jiantian had an indifferent smile and his vanity surged.
Although he was already far different from what he used to be, who wouldn’t want to be in the limelight?
On the surface, Sikong Jiantian was nonchalant, but deep down, he was continuously sizing up the cultivators in the audience.
Among the audience, the Confucian scholar quietly took out the book of “Must-Kill Persons” and drew three crosses after Sikong Jiantian’s name.
Time passed little by little.
Fifteen minutes.
One hour.
Two hours.
It was time for the next bout of the Sword Dao Meet.
However, Su Changyu was nowhere to be found.
“Su Changyu isn’t frightened, is he?”
“That can’t be. I doubt Senior Su would run away out of fear.”
“Was Su Changyu hired by the banker?”
“That’s very likely.”
“What nonsense are you spouting? Senior Su will definitely come here. He might have encountered a slip-up along the way.”
There were endless discussions.
On the viewing deck.
Ye Ping and Li Yu frowned one after another.
They didn’t know where Su Changyu had gone.
However, at this moment, a peach blossom petal suddenly appeared above the venue.
Everyone was bewildered.