C24

In the middle of Eastsea City's Martial Arts Practice Grounds was an enormous battle stage with a height of a hundred meters. The entire battle stage was made of the hardest bluestones and even after dozens of years of erosion and thousands of fierce battles, the entire battle stage was still completely undamaged.

Xue Long raised his head arrogantly, as if he didn't care about anyone else. He, He Yu, Fang Ruyu, and the other young elites from the TianChu Martial Academy, accompanied by the Patriarchs of the three great families, stepped onto the central platform.

At this moment, there were only eight people standing on the extremely wide central battle stage. It appeared unusually empty.

Xue Long crossed his arms in front of his chest and slightly closed his eyes. He didn't say a single word, as if he was waiting for someone.

As for He Yu, Fang Ruyu and the other three young elites, they glanced arrogantly around the training field. Their eyes were filled with disdain, as if no one among the hundreds of thousands of people in Eastsea City was worthy in their eyes.

All the people on the central platform were caught in the eyes of the hundreds of thousands of people nearby. Therefore, the first round of discussions had begun.

"Why are you so arrogant?"

"Yesterday, it was that group of people that were defeated by the Grand Princess's sword strike. Are they trying to escape?"

"I wonder where their pride came from!"

"If the Grand Princess was so arrogant, I'd have to endure it. The third level of the Celestial Phenomenon Mirror can reverse the fifth level of the Celestial Phenomenon Mirror. This kind of heaven's pride level expert does indeed have the right to be arrogant, but as the loser, why is Xue Long so arrogant?"

Due to the momentum of the TianChu Martial Academy, the citizens of Eastsea City only dared to whisper amongst themselves. However, if the whispers of several hundred thousand people were gathered together, it would create a terrifying sound wave!

There were no surprises. The eight people on the central platform could clearly hear the sounds of discussion coming from all around them.

The expressions of He Yu, Fang Ruyu, and the other three young elites instantly turned cold.

Last night, the reason why he was humiliated in the Lan Clan was because of the peerless genius Chu Qingcheng from the Lan Clan. Yet now, she was being mocked by a bunch of ordinary citizens. What was this?

As for Xue Long, the leader of TianChu Martial Academy's forces who came to Eastsea City, she found it hard to bear. After all, he was the one who was reversed last night, and the one who was defeated by someone two levels lower than himself was also him!

"Shut up!" Xue Long suddenly opened his eyes and shouted in a deep voice. His voice was mixed with a trace of spirit energy and could clearly be heard by everyone. It could even shock a person's soul.

For a time, the central square, which had hundreds of thousands of people gathered, descended into a strange silence.

The surroundings quieted down, and Xue Long's expression finally eased up a bit.

Xue Long growled again. "Xia Xing, are you here?"

"I'm afraid he won't dare to come." He Yu laughed coldly, "Instructor Xue, it's fine if Xia Xinghe doesn't show up. But if Xia Xinghe really does show up, then let's follow the plan and make him die a graveless death."

Xue Long did not respond to He Yu's words and only nodded his head lightly. Then, Xue Long once again infused his Spiritual Qi into his voice and shouted in a deep voice, "I am Xue Long, one of the eight great instructors of the TianChu Martial Academy. Now, I will officially announce the commencement of the TianChu Martial Academy's admissions examination."

"There are three stages to this exam. Those who pass these three stages will be able to join the TianChu Martial Academy."

"There are no rules or restrictions to the assessment. The victor is the king and the loser is the bandit. Life and death are determined by fate."

"Now, let's begin the first stage, the preliminary auditions."

"Those who want to join the TianChu Martial Academy can go on stage now."

The moment Xue Long's words landed, countless figures jumped onto the stage from all directions of the central battlefield … Although this group of people had just taunted the academy, in reality, they still wished to become members of the academy. After all, there were plenty of cultivation resources, countless secret arts, and a path that led to the heavens!

With a cold gaze sweeping across his surroundings and seeing thousands of rogue cultivators wildly jumping onto the platform, Xue Long couldn't help but sneer. His smile was filled with contempt and ridicule.

"Earlier, he mocked our TianChu Martial Academy. In the blink of an eye, he impatiently wanted to join us. How laughable." The sneer on He Yu's face grew wider as she looked at the surrounding competitors with an even more mocking gaze.

"This is human nature." On Fang Ruyu's beautiful face, there was no change in her expression, only endless killing intent.

"The saying that the strong are revered is an immutable truth. No matter how strong Chu Qingcheng is, she still hasn't done anything to our TianChu Martial Academy, let alone a mere Xia Xingchen." Xue Fei laughed mockingly, "I am looking forward to Xia Xing's arrival soon. The best thing is that after being beaten by us, he will join our TianChu Martial Academy just like that group of people."

"Xia Xinghe, do you really dare to come? Without the protection of Chu Qingcheng and the mysterious fourth-level Celestial Phenomenon Mirror, he is nothing but a lowly ant. Not to mention, the trap that we prepared specially for him allowed Chu Qingcheng and that Celestial Phenomenon Mirror to have no chance to interfere. The boorish Lu Han sneered.

While He Yu and the other two were conversing with each other, the side of the fighting stage was already filled with rogue cultivators who were participating in the Tianchu Martial Arts Academy assessment, as well as the young elites from the great clans of Eastsea City.

"He Yu, I'll leave the test to you." Xue Long didn't even bother to look at the examinees. He turned around and walked towards the row of seats below the dueling platform. As he walked, he said to He Yu, "You will personally take the third stage of the examination."

"Understood, Instructor Xue." He Yu nodded at Xue Long, then swept his eyes over the thousands of contestants gathered on the platform. He said proudly, "The first stage of the exam is very simple. You all have to find opponents on this stage, and as long as you can win five contestants without losing, you can step down from the stage to find me."

After throwing down those words, He Yu and the others floated down the stage and appeared beside Xue Long.

The thousands of contestants on the battle stage were all stunned for a split-second when they heard the rules of the first stage …

If he were to randomly choose an opponent, he would be able to advance to the second round after five consecutive victories?

Although the rules were simple, the hidden meaning was multiple!

First of all, this was a test of a participant's eyesight and analytical ability. If one wanted to win five consecutive victories, the easiest way was to find and defeat someone weaker than themselves in the shortest amount of time!

In terms of numbers, a win streak of five people meant that only one out of six would be able to advance. If one person could win three matches and lose the fourth match, then the person who could advance would be equivalent to eliminating eight people!

It had to be said that this sort of competition was truly cruel. In a single round, there would only be a few hundred people remaining, or even less!

After a short period of confusion, many of the participants on the stage had already understood the crux of the matter. Immediately, a giant free-for-all battle began, and it was even unable to accommodate so many people who were fighting at the same time. Many of them had already chosen to fight below the stage!

The entrance examination was in full swing, but Xia Xinghe, who was the focus of attention of the entire city, still did not appear in the central square.

At this moment, Xia Xinghe was leisurely walking out of the Lan family ancestral hall. From the looks of it, he had just finished his closed door cultivation …