Chapter 4025 - Consecutive Challenges

The 30 seeded participants were called to step forward so the unseeded participants could challenge them. Needless to say, the unseeded participants would only choose to challenge those they were sure they could defeat. It would be detrimental to them to challenge someone stronger after all.

“Unseeded participants have to issue their three challenges consecutively. If you feel you can’t defeat your opponent, you can surrender to conserve energy and avoid injuries. This will ensure you’ll be in good condition during your following challenges. As soon as you surrender, I’ll step in to stop your opponents from making another move,” Lin Dong Lai said, “Now, I’ll give the unseeded participants tokens to decide the order of the challenge. As for the 30 seeded participants, please step forward and stand in front of the people of your respective forces to make it easier for the unseeded participants to challenge you.”

Subsequently, Duan Ling Tian and the other seeded participants moved into position.

Duan Ling Tian and Yang Qian Ye stood in front of the people from the Pure Yang Sect. There were two seeded participants from the Pure Yang Sect, after all.

Wanqi Hong also moved into his position in front of the people of the Wanqi clan. He was the only seeded participant from the Wanqi clan.

At the same time, Lin Dong Lai also tossed the tokens out. After all the unseeded participants obtained their tokens, he said, “Now, the participant with the number one, please come forward and issue your challenge. If you win, you’ll take the place of your opponent and become a seeded participant. After that, you’ll have to win three challenges to secure your ranking. However, as a new seeded participant, you can choose to refuse challenges on the first day.”

Duan Ling Tian and the other young disciples had long heard about this from the elders of their respective forces so they were not surprised.

The participant, who obtained the number one, flew out. He was a prodigy from a clan in the Consonance Mansion. His strength was quite decent. During his last fight, he defeated his opponent within ten moves. Although he was not famous in the Seven Mansions since there were many more talented than him, he was also somewhat famous in the Consonance Mansion.

After a while, this prodigy from the Consonance Mansion challenged a seeded participant from the Divine Morning Mansion who was also somewhat famous in the Divine Morning Mansion.

In the beginning, the two participants seemed evenly matched, but in the latter half of the fight, the seeded participant from the Divine Morning Mansion gained the upper hand. After 50 moves, the seeded participant from the Divine Morning Mansion won, successfully defending his ranking. Based on the fight this time, it was clear that the seeded participant from the Divine Morning Mansion had held back in the previous rounds.

“He’s quite smart. In fact, he could’ve defeated his opponent much sooner. However, to conserve energy, he dragged the fight out and used a little more Divine Energy to defeat his opponent after that. He’ll be able to easily recover the Divine Energy he expended after this with a pill. With that, he’ll be in peak condition for his next challenge.”

Many people could see through the intentions of the seeded participant from the Divine Morning Mansion. This tactic was something one would only gain through experience.

Meanwhile, the unseeded participant from the Consonance Mansion wore a gloomy expression on his face. He had assumed the person he challenged was on par with him at most; he was rather certain of his victory. To his dismay, he discovered his opponent had been hiding his strength. He had used up about 30 to 40% of his energy during this fight. Although he was not seriously injured, he was still affected and would not be in peak condition for his next fight.

Lin Dong Lai looked at the participant from the Consonance Mansion and said expressionlessly, “You have to challenge your next opponent within seven and a half minutes.”

The unseeded participant’s expression turned even gloomier upon hearing this. Since he had to issue his challenge consecutively, he had no time to recover his energy at all. He was at a huge disadvantage. After a moment, he asked, “Elder Lin, based on what I’m told, if I give up my second challenge, I’ll be given 15 minutes to rest before I have to challenge an opponent again, right?”

Lin Dong Lai nodded. “That’s right. Do you want to give up your second challenge in exchange for a 15-minute break to rest and recover?”

“Yes,” the unseeded participant from the Consonance Mansion said decisively. Then, without waiting for Lin Dong Lai to speak again, he sat cross-legged before he took a divine pill and began to recover his strength as much as he could.

Lin Dong Lai did not say anything and waited quietly.

At the same time, the others discussed among themselves as they waited.

“He’s quite smart.”

Many people praised the participant from the Consonance Mansion. After all, if he had issued a challenge immediately after losing his first challenge, he would undoubtedly be at a great disadvantage. Not only would he most probably lose his second challenge, but he would also likely lose his third challenge due to a chain effect. It was the best choice for him to give up his second challenge so he could recover his strength. With this, he had a higher chance of winning his third challenge.

“I’m glad I didn’t have to go first. At least, I learned something from this first fight. It’s better to conserve as much energy as we can during the first challenge. Unless we’re certain of our victory, it’s not worth going all out,” a prodigy from the Feudal Lord Mansion said with a sigh.

Someone smiled bitterly and countered, “It’s useless. What if your opponent is doing the same? For example, that seeded participant from the Divine Morning Mansion didn’t use his full strength, letting that unseeded participant from the Consonance Mansion think they were on par with each other. The unseeded participant from the Consonance Mansion was fooled; he thought his victory was certain so he went all out. That was when his opponent revealed his strength and dealt him a blow.”

“That’s right. This tactic is not completely reliable. It depends on your luck as well, and you have to have very good judgment.”

“I agree. In my opinion, it’s best to fight as though it’s your last challenge. The most important thing is to pick the right person to challenge!”

“Yes. Who knows if the person you challenge previously hid their strength? In any case, I think that seeded participant from the Divine Morning Mansion had already revealed his full strength earlier. If you’re confident, you should challenge him. There shouldn’t be any more surprises from him.”

“Those who are confident about challenging him should do it as soon as they can. After all, he can only be challenged for another two more times.”

“Hey, is it possible for a seeded participant to collude with unseeded participants? What if a seeded participant manages to convince three weaker unseeded participants to challenge him? After winning three challenges, his ranking would be secured!”

“It’s possible to do, but I don’t think anyone will do such a thing. After all, if one were caught, one would be disqualified immediately. The high-ranking officials here aren’t stupid. They’ll be able to see through such a trick easily.”

“That’s right. I don’t think such a thing had happened before in the history of the Seven Mansions Feast. No one would take such a risk unless they want to be disqualified.”

“Apart from that, there are also factors that make this trick hard to pull off. Take the seeded participant from the Divine Morning Mansion for example. Since he was challenged by the first unseeded participant, the second to the tenth unseeded participants won’t be able to challenge him. After he’s challenged by one of the unseeded participants with numbers from eleven to twenty, the 21st to 30th unseeded participants won’t be able to challenge him. This means, even if he manages to convince unseeded participants to help him, those unseeded participants will have to be in the right order.”

“Indeed, it’s not realistic. Moreover, how could a participant willingly give up just to help another participant?”

“That’s right, that’s right. All in all, this trick is useless and unrealistic. There are huge consequences as well. With so many intermediate Emperors of Gods around, the trick will be seen through in just an instance.”

There seemed like there were many loopholes, but it was truly not easy to exploit the loopholes. Moreover, the consequences were heavy, and no one dared to take the risk. Hence, in the history of the Seven Mansions Feast, such a thing had never happened.

…

15 minutes later.

The unseeded participant from the Consonance Mansion rose to his feet. His eyes shifted to a prodigy from the Feudal Lord Mansion.

The prodigy from the Feudal Lord Mansion was very famous in the Feudal Lord Mansion, and he also had a slight bit of fame outside of the Feudal Lord Mansion.

The two participants did not waste time and began to fight. It did not take long for the seeded participant from the Feudal Lord Mansion to defeat the unseeded participant from the Consonance Mansion. The seeded participant from the Feudal Lord Mansion had also hidden his strength in the previous rounds. In fact, he was even stronger than the first participant that the unseeded participant from the Consonance Mansion had challenged. Even if the unseeded participant from the Consonance Mansion was in peak condition, he would still be unable to defeat the participant from the Feudal Lord Mansion.

For this reason, the participant from the Consonance Mansion was not dissatisfied when he left the battlefield. After all, it was not surprising that he lost when the gap between their strength was rather wide. Apart from that, the two opponents he challenged were the two he was most confident about defeating. He did not expect the duo to have hidden their strength. He was not confident about defeating any of the other 28 seeded participants. As such, he was convinced of his defeat.

Based on this, it could be seen that the Profound Jade Mansion had taken special care when selecting the 30 seeded participants.

The defeated participant from the Consonance Mansion thought to himself, ‘I wonder if anyone dares to challenge the two participants that the Divine Morning Mansion and Underworld Mansion spent all their efforts cultivating? If it were not for the reveal earlier, I actually planned to challenge both of them….’

In fact, many unseeded participants shared the same thought as him. Initially, they all planned to challenge the Autumn Leaves Sect’s Luo Yuan and the Yuwen clan’s Tuo Ba Xiu when Lin Dong Lai first announced their names. Needless to say, once Lin Dong Lai exposed the fact that the Divine Morning Mansion and the Underworld Mansion had given all their resources to the duo, everyone dismissed the idea of challenging the duo. Moreover, Lin Dong Lai also said the duo was comparable to Duan Ling Tian. They knew they were no match for Duan Ling Tian so how could they be a match for the duo?

…

After a while, the unseeded participant, who drew the number two, was called to step forward. Unsurprisingly, he did not challenge Luo Yuan or Tuo Ba Xiu. Even so, he failed to defeat his first opponent. Similar to the first unseeded participant, he gave up his second challenge to recover his strength, and he also failed his third challenge.

The third unseeded failed to win his challenges as well. In fact, the first seventh unseeded participants all failed their challenges.

However, things became more exciting when the seventh unseeded participant, who was from the Feudal Lord Mansion, stepped forward. To everyone’s surprise, he challenged Tuo Ba Xiu from the Underworld Mansion’s Yuwen clan. Most importantly, Tuo Ba Xiu was someone all the top forces in the Underworld Mansion cultivated; he was the person whom Lin Dong Lai said was comparable to Duan Ling Tian!

When Tuo Ba Xiu flew out, the seventh unseeded participant looked at Tuo Ba Xiu with an anticipatory expression as he said, “Tuo Ba Xiu, after listening to Elder Lin praising your strength, I really want to see your strength for myself!”