"En." Li Lin nodded lightly. Among the disciples from various sects gathered here, Li Lin did not dare to be careless; these people were all strong contenders among the younger generation.
Time passed by, and after a while, the grand tournament of the Three Sects and Four Gates finally began under the watchful eyes of millions.
"Buzz..." From somewhere above the square, a huge buzzing sound of a bell came, and the noise around it abruptly stopped, immediately bringing silence.
Hearing this bell, Gu Jianfeng from the Heavenly Sword Gate slowly stood up, his eyes sharp as he looked around the square. At this moment, all eyes, whether near or far, were fixed on the small platform extending into the square.
The gaze fixed on the people on this platform was filled with fervor and awe. Those on it were giants in their own right, the targets everyone aspired to pursue.
"Ladies and gentlemen..." Gu Jianfeng looked around the lower space and spoke softly. His voice was not loud, but it echoed in the space as sound waves: "The triennial meeting of the Three Sects and Four Gates has begun once again, this time in our Heavenly Sword City. Now, I declare the Three Sects and Four Gates tournament officially open."
"Boom..." The entire space burst into enthusiastic cheers, waves of sound rolling in.
Watching the cheering crowd, Gu Jianfeng smiled slightly. After a moment, he said, "The disciples prepared for the first match, please come down. Someone will arrange for you to find your opponents. Everyone, give your best effort. Let me see how high the strength of our younger generation can reach."
"Whoosh whoosh..." As Gu Jianfeng's voice fell, among the seven young men and women from the Heavenly Sword Gate, Yuan Ruolan and four men were the first to leap down, their Qi bursting out from beneath their feet, touching the ground lightly, their bodies gracefully falling from the sky like leaves in the wind.
This height was more than thirty meters off the ground, but these five people landed in the center of the square with incredible lightness and beauty, undoubtedly showcasing their extraordinary strength and immediately winning enthusiastic applause from all around.
"Whoosh whoosh..." Following that, disciples from other sects, under the guidance of their elders, also lightly touched the ground with their Qi and leaped down, each with their own graceful and light movements, landing inside. Among them, Li Lin caught a glimpse of Lan Ling from the Myriad Beasts Sect and the young man in white, also among them.
"Li Lin, you, Hong Ling, and Han Feng have all practiced the Floating Light and Glimpsing Shadow technique. Perform well and don't tarnish the name of our Yunyang Sect." At this moment, Li Lin heard Yun Xiao Tian's voice transmission.
"Little thief, let's go down." After Yun Hong Ling spoke, Zhao Qinghai, Qu Daojue, Han Feng, and others were also ready. Five figures, under the watchful eyes of millions, leaped down.
In mid-air, as Qu Daojue and Zhao Qinghai were descending, Li Lin, Yun Hong Ling, and Han Feng suddenly erupted two visible streams of Qi from their feet, creating vortexes. With the power of these vortexes, their bodies momentarily did not fall but moved forward parallel to the ground, as if performing a feat only possible for martial generals, standing in the air.
Then, the three of them leaped forward, with Yun Hong Ling taking the lead. Her body, like a leaf in the wind, elegantly and lightly drifted down. Her tight-fitting clothes outlined her enticing curves, her beautiful posture like that of a fairy.
At the same time, Li Lin and Han Feng turned in mid-air, each performing a 720-degree spin down, bringing a whirl of air with them, their robes fluttering elegantly, and then landing one on each side of Yun Hong Ling.
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"Good..." This entrance by the three immediately won extremely enthusiastic cheers. Among the spectators, there were indeed some who knew the goods.
"Master Yun, your Yunyang Sect's Floating Light and Glimpsing Shadow technique is really not simple, very exquisite. If your Yunyang Sect doesn't make it into the top three this time, you can compensate one of the three sets of high-grade Xuan-level martial arts you lose with the Floating Light and Glimpsing Shadow technique, how about that?" Myriad Beasts Sect's Sect Master Yin E said with a light smile.
"Ha ha, we'll know the result in five days. Sect Master Yin, don't be too hasty." Yun Xiao Tian replied with a light smile, very satisfied with the performance of the three, managing to practice the Floating Light and Glimpsing Shadow technique to such a level was indeed not easy.
"Speaking of which, the Yunyang Sect's Floating Light and Glimpsing Shadow technique is really good. These three disciples have also reached a certain level of mastery, exquisite control of Qi and space. The Yunyang Sect's disciples this year are indeed very talented." Di Ling Sect's Sect Master Ou Yang Xuan Ying said.
Behind a group of elders and protectors, Li Wushuang looked at the just-performed young man in green robes below, a beautiful smile appearing on her gorgeous face. This young man was no longer the weak boy from the Li family who needed her protection. Now, he has become her haven.
On the square, from a passage, twenty-one figures leaped up again, their strong Qi shaking the space as they descended. All twenty-one of them were disciples at the level of martial generals.
Li Lin glanced over these twenty-one people, according to what he knew, they were all outstanding young talents from other forces. The rules of the Three Sects and Four Gates tournament allowed those who submitted a scroll of Xuan-level martial arts to participate.
These twenty-one people also included several women in tight-fitting clothes, with quite hot figures, all around twenty-four or twenty-five, twenty-two or twenty-three years old.
Li Lin glanced over them and did not recognize anyone, so he did not pay further attention.
"Whoosh..." Three figures landed beside the now fifty-six participants, all from the Heavenly Sword Gate, including an elder with the cultivation of a martial general, short black hair, and a red robe.
Two were dressed as protectors, their cultivation seemingly having broken through to the martial general level, probably at the first or second level.
Among the three, the Heavenly Sword Gate protector on the left was holding a half-meter-sized jade box with a fist-sized hole on it.
"All participants, listen carefully. During the competition, you can use full strength but must not deliberately kill. Those who deliberately kill will be executed by the tournament. The standard for judgment will be made by me and all the strong from the Three Sects and Four Gates. If the opponent admits defeat, you must not continue to attack. The match is won if the opponent is unable to fight back or verbally admits defeat. During the match, you cannot let protective beasts or beast mounts help. Myriad Beasts Sect disciples can only use their life-linked beasts, and other beasts cannot be summoned. Is that clear?" The red-robed elder from the Heavenly Sword Gate said.
"Clear." The fifty-six participants responded in unison. They had already learned these rules from their sect elders. Since it was a draw, it was possible to face a fellow sect member, and they could switch places with the next number if needed until everyone was properly matched.
"Then come forward for the draw." After the red-robed elder spoke, the Heavenly Sword Gate protector holding the jade box moved in front of everyone.
Participants one by one reached into the jade box and pulled out a jade token. When Li Lin looked at the token he drew, it was number eight. He glanced at Yun Hong Ling's token, which showed number sixteen.
"Find your designated area according to the number." After everyone had drawn a token, the red-robed elder spoke again.
"Whoosh..." A flurry of figures, with Qi flashing beneath their feet, began searching for their designated areas. The vast square had already been marked by the disciples of the Heavenly Sword Gate with twenty-eight areas. Those who had drawn tokens only needed to find their numbered area to meet their opponent.
"Li Lin, I'm going first." Qu Daojue said to Li Lin and then leaped away.
"Little thief, be careful." Yun Hong Ling said softly, her Qi flashing beneath her feet as she searched for her area.
Watching the surroundings, Li Lin's Qi flashed under his feet, and he soon found his designated spot, a wide area marked with the number eight.
"Whoosh..." As Li Lin's figure just landed, a figure glided down, holding a token in hand, which was also number eight.
"Yuan Ruolan, a tri-element martial artist." When Li Lin's gaze fell on the figure that had arrived, he frowned slightly. He had not expected his first opponent to be the Heavenly Sword Gate's tri-element martial artist, the inscrutable Yuan Ruolan.
At this moment, Yuan Ruolan also seemed not to have expected her first match to be against another tri-element martial artist, and her beautiful eyes slightly furrowed.