Chapter 95 The Immortals League Competition

Time passed very quickly. Three days were soon over. Early morning, as the first rays from the sun shone into the imperial palace, the entire palace resounded with gong and drum strikes. Musical instruments were played. Led by two contingents, each with a thousand soldiers, even noblemen and court officials got out of their sedans to see the warriors off by foot.

The venue of the Immortals League Competition was not the palace, but 9 kilometers away east, at a place named the Wind Floating Platform.

When the wind and the clouds rose, ten thousand heroes would acknowledge allegiance!

At the Wind Floating Platform laid out of green stone, 64 flags fluttered noisily in the air. There were many colors: red, blue, green and indigo. Each bore a green dragon, white tiger, red sparrow, black tortoise or other totem.

The Qing State sects were already waiting. On the high platforms sat the Qing State ambassador on one side, and the Zhou Emperor, Empress, Third Prince and Princess Xuanyue on the other, together with several officials.

Beyond these two high platforms, an army made up of several thousand men stood guard. Beyond this army were onlookers: commoners of the White Cloud City and other sectless cultivators.

The warriors were all in high fighting spirits. Although the Zhou State had won several times in succession, rumor had it that the Qing State had sent out many young superiors from the Heaven and Earth Lists to participate this time. Earlier, Xiao Chen had heard from Gu Hanxuan that Yu Yifeng would not be here. Although the Jade Qing Sect was in the Qing State, they were only concerned with destroying demons and upholding the Way. They had never been involved in the two states' disputes.

This placed the Zhou State in a great advantage. After all, Yu Yifeng was ranked 11th on the Heaven's List. If he had taken part, no young Zhou cultivator could rival his eminence.

This was also a good thing for Xiao Chen. After all, he could not fight Brother Yifeng finally, could he? Now, all he hoped for was that None-flower Dust's attendance was a mere rumor. Otherwise, even had he employed the Fuxi Zither strings, he might not take him down.

The wind surged and the clouds rolled on. The battle drums were struck thunderously. The presiding officers from both sides started to examine today's competitors, making sure they had not taken any illegal pills.

The rules of the Immortals League Competition were very simple. The competitors fought three rounds and the side that won two won the overall competition. One round was held every day; the competition would be held for three consecutive days. During each round, the states would send out eight contestants to fight and eliminate their oppositions on the spot.

Every competitor had two chances to compete. If they competed in the first round, they must choose between the second and the third day's competition. If a competitor lost in the first round, he would have no chance to participate in the next.

There were a total of eight duels in each round. The winner of the first duel could stay on to compete, or step down to take a rest. Even if that winner lost the next duel, he could still take part in another round. In short, the last person left standing on the platform won for his camp.

The arrangement of the Teal Jade Sect was for Xiao Chen to compete on the first day. He ought to be able to win easily. Then, with his divine zither, he would take part in the third. Gu Hanxuan and Chu Lingjiao had higher cultivations. They would take part in the second day's competition. If they won, they would compete in the third too.

After finishing examining the competitors, a Core Forming Realm Cultivator stepped up onto the Wind Floating Platform and pointed his sword at the heavens. A swift and fierce Sword Qi soared toward the sky, breaking through the cloud layers and scattering down many drops of golden rays. This signified the beginning of the first round.

Two human figures flashed and leapt onto the Wind Floating Platform at the same time. After cupping their fists in respect, they started to execute their most lethal moves.

Xiao Chen surveyed the place from under the platform. He discovered three familiar figures from the Qing State. One was Ling Yingfeng, whom he fought originally at the Skygale Sect. The next was Qian Yeli. The third, surprisingly, was Ouyang Yu.

Presumably, they were representing the Skygale Sect. Yet from where they stood, they appeared not to be the first day's competitors. Hence, he should not need to face them in today's battles.

Liu Fenghuang squeezed past the crowds, a fruit bowl in her hands filled with peeled mandarin oranges and peeled apples. She reached his side and said with a grin, "Junior Brother, give your best later!"

Xiao Chen turned back his head and smiled at her, nodding. Liu Fenghuang answered, "Taste these. I peeled them myself." Xiao Chen smiled lightly. "Thank you." He was just about to take a mandarin orange when he discovered a shadow streaking over from the corners of his eyes. He pulled her over and they leapt to one side.

"Peng!" went a thud. The place they had stood on was almost ruptured by a competitor flying down from the platform. The fruits on Liu Fenghuang's plate were all scattered. She glared at the platform and cried loudly, "What on earth!?"

Immediately, however, her voice was drowned by uproarious cheers. The competitor remaining on the platform was from the Zhou State, so the person thrown down onto Xiao Chen must have been a Qing State competitor. As he clambered up embarrassedly, Liu Fenghuang crashed the plate on his head. "How tiresome! Must you fall here of all places?"

The man shrieked hideously and passed out.

The scene had been taken in by the Qing State. A few cultivators started to yell. "Hey, what are you people doing!" To forestall any unnecessary trouble, Xiao Chen pulled Liu Fenghuang and dashed away into the crowds.

The second and third duels were won by the Zhou State as well. There were eight persons remaining from the Zhou State, but only five from the Qing. They won on their first strikes and had a massive advantage. For a short moment, everyone from the Zhou State was jubilant. The smile on Yu Wenji's face became more radiant.

However, no soldier wins all the time. In the next three hours or so, the situation shifted. Only two were left from the Zhou State, while the other four were from the Qing. Yu Wenji started to knit his brows in deep worry. Xiao Chen walked over to Liu Yunzheng and signaled that perhaps he ought to go up for the next duel.

Liu Yunzheng had already recovered from his injury. He motioned for him not to be tense. As long as he won his first duel, even had he lost the subsequent ones, he could still take part in the third day's competition.

A tense and fierce battle ensued. The Zhou State lost again, but managed to exert the opposition's energy quite a bit. Right now, only Xiao Chen had not fought someone from the Zhou side. Liu Yunzheng nodded at him. "Go." Liu Fenghuang also said, "All the way, Junior Brother!"

Xiao Chen spoke no more. He nodded slightly and leapt up to the platform. Right now, he was the only competitor from the Zhou State, while there were four from the Qing. Few people were now optimistic about their chances, and they all shook their heads and sighed.

Yu Wenji's face also clouded with gloom. Princess Xuanyue whispered at his ear, "You don't need to worry too much, Father. Perhaps Young Master Han might win."

Over at the Qing side, Ouyang Yu saw him and gasped. "How come this man is here?" Both Qian Yeli and Ling Yingfeng by his side were equally perplexed, but they were not as surprised.

Xiao Chen cupped his fists slightly to show his respect. "After you." Although this opponent had the middle stage strength of the Foundation Building Realm, he had exerted his inner strength too much in his earlier duels. Xiao Chen was confident he could win.

The man said no more and with a wave of his arm, sent two streaks of fierce Qi blade over. Xiao Chen stood on his tiptoes and took off several meters into the air. He aimed the Cyan Dragon Roars at his earthbound opponent. The dragon roars resounded instantly throughout the heavens and the earth. The other man quickly mobilized his True Energy to ward off the blow to one side. The floor tiles started to splinter, strewing small pebbles. He failed, however, to notice the sudden attack from Xiao Chen from mid-air.

With a loud loud, Xiao Chen kicked the man's lower jaw. The man started to stumble backward for almost 20 meters. Shocked gasps arose from outside the platform. "Might he be a Realm 2 martial artist?"

Martial arts were divided into Realm 1, Realm 2, Realm 3, Realm 4... they were equivalent to the Qi Refining Realm, Foundation Building Realm, Core Forming Realm, Nascent Soul Realm. Most people nowadays are Taoist cultivators, making ancient martial artists even more mysterious. Xiao Chen's speed and palm style just now did in fact greatly resembled an ancient martial artist's.

Cheers began to break out unceasingly from under the platform. Even Yu Wenji gave a loud cheer. Xuanyue frowned and said to herself, "Why did his palm style just now so resembled our sect's highly accomplished Dragon Roars?"

The man opposite him wiped the trace of blood from the corner of his mouth. He stared at Xiao Chen coldly. Suddenly, he mumbled an urgent chant incantation. Countless dazzling Sword Radiances hurtled in from all directions, trying to hack Xiao Chen. The wind surged and clouds rolled, the sword radiance hurt the eyes. Xiao Chen knew he could not pit his True Energy with his opponent's. He started executing the Immortal-override Steps, leaving behind a streak of illusionary shadows, re-appearing before the man out of nowhere.

The man had previously suffered a setback and was now wary. His feet shuffling, his body shifted backward 20 meters. Yet Xiao Chen did not go after him. Instead, he kept moving fingers to cast a spell, chanting incantations. Suddenly, six light columns soared into the sky, trapping the man within a formation.

"An Array Formation! An Array Formation! This man can set up an Array Formation instantly!" Shocked gasps did not cease to be heard from outside the platform. Yu Wenmu, the Third Prince, narrowed his eyes. "An instant formation? How interesting. But a formation can only trap an opponent within and will exert True Energy. It is flashy but useless. What good is it?"

At times, Xiao Chen executed mysterious, powerful ancient martial arts, at times Taoist magic spells. He gave one the sense of being unfathomable. The man was trapped within the formation. Although he could no longer suffer any injury and seemed almost to gain an advantage, being trapped did not look good. He tried hitting out at the formation points to release its True Qi to break free.

Xiao Chen smiled lightly and repeated his chant incantations, moving his fingers. Nine red light columns appeared inside the six light columns. It was the Nine Yang Extreme Heat Formation, a fire-style attacking formation. The company started to gasp again. "A formation within a formation! A formation within a formation!"

Trapped inside the man realized that serious trouble was at hand. Yet it was already too late. With a resounding boom, the nine red light columns instantly exploded. Since they were surrounded by the Sixfold Trap Formation, their True Energy could not be released. The man would have to withstand all the extreme heat.

When the smoke and dust had gradually dissipated, he could be seen collapsed within a pile of rubble, his skin almost completely incinerated. Had Xiao Chen injected more True Energy in just now, he would have perished.

Two cultivators immediately flew up to the platform and supported him down to undergo treatment. Loud cheers erupted from the Zhou side, naturally. This fight was far more exciting than the previous few. The Teal Jade Sect's spirits had been roused. "Did you see that? Our Junior Brother Han can beat an opponent even without using the divine zither."

Liu Yunzheng's eyes narrowed slightly. Formerly, he did not overly question Xiao Chen's origins. It wasn't anything strange for someone to acknowledge another master with skills from a previous one. Yet now, it looked like this Han Chen had too much to hide.

An old man stroked his beard, smiling on the high platform. He spoke to the sides. "It doesn't look like cultivation skills of the Teal Jade Sect. Can anyone tell me which sect his cultivation skills hailed from?"

"Can't tell."

When the rousing cheers had faded away from all sides, two figures streaked up and landed on the platform. Xiao Chen asked nonchalantly, "Are you fighting me together?"

The rules of the competition stipulated that the remaining competitors could not fight an opponent together. One said, "Junior Brother has indeed open my eyes just now. I'm sure you will not object?"

Xiao Chen thought that although these two were only in the early stages of the Foundation Building Realm, they had not exerted any True Energy earlier on. They might be more troublesome to dispatch than the first. He said, "It doesn't matter. Two of you can strike together first, Senior Brothers."