As Yàn Lìqín finished giving everyone information, a master stepped out onto the arena grounds. Projecting his voice using qi, he made it as loud as if one were yelling into a microphone.

“Attention, everyone! Quiet down, it’s time to explain the second round of the tournament!”

He didn’t need to say another word of it. People, both the audience and the participants, were too excited to get to the next round of action. Hence, they wouldn’t give the announcer any reason to stall. Everyone fell silent.

“Thank you. The second elimination round will begin shortly. I’m here to explain the round and its rules to you all. The second elimination round will be a large-scale, free-for-all battle.”

As he said this, several array masters entered the grounds and began dissembling the smaller arrays and creating one large one.

“There are still many of you left, so we will continue until only sixteen contestants remain. An opponent is out of the fight when incapacitated, thrown into the walls of the array, or forced to surrender. As always, no killing and no outside interference of any kind. Fighting as an individual is encouraged but not required. All who made it past the first round enter the grounds within the next ten minutes.”

The explanation was short, but that’s because this round was simple. Survive until you are one of the last sixteen standing. Yàn Lìqín didn’t have a strategy for this round. He believed they were strong enough to win without one. So he gave some encouraging words, then sent them into the arena.

On the arena grounds, all the remaining participants were gathering. The Yellow Qilin students recognized some people Yàn Lìqín had told them to look out for. Yù Quán was looking around, surveying the competition, when he locked eyes with one of them. He was tan, almost brown, bald, and exceptionally muscular and lean. He had red tattoos on the right side of his head, going around the eye and traveling down the right side of his body. It was some design, but it didn’t seem to have any meaning.

When they locked eyes, they both felt a sense of rivalry. They didn’t know why since this was their first time meeting, but all they knew was that they would always oppose each other. But there was no hate or malice, just an overwhelming competitiveness. They both nodded to each other. From the moment he had seen his build, he knew who he was. Zhēn Lì, the itinerant cultivator.

Suddenly, both felt weird and instinctively looked in the same direction. There, they both locked eyes with another man. He was average in size, skinny, and pale. He had medium-length hair that was combed back and strong facial features. When he met the gaze of the two, he looked at each one and then gave a wide grin. Yù Quán and Zhēn Lì felt a different feeling than before.

Between them, they felt some type of natural rivalry. But, when seeing this man, they felt fated hatred.

From his clothes, Yù Quán could guess that he was from the Flying Cloud Sect, and the phenomenon with Zhēn Lì, he assumed this guy could only be strong. It was likely that this was Tiān Zhēbì. Yù Quán and Zhēn Lì both snorted and turned away from him. Tiān Zhēbì shrugged in response and turned back to his fellow disciples.

Some groups were making plans, some were getting ready and into stance, and some were even leisurely chatting. Not everybody seemed to take this seriously. Little did they know that several legends would be born here today. Sleeping dragons and crouching tigers were among them.

“Participants, read yourselves! Three… two… one… begin!”

The instant the announcer finished speaking, countless techniques flew through the air. Yù Quán and Zhēn Lì had charged at each other at full power, wanting to see who would come out on top. But, all the other people whom the Yellow Qilin students were told to watch out for, and even the rest of the Yellow Qilin students themselves, were still. If an attack came near them, they would block or evade, but otherwise, they stood still and silent.

Yù Quán each exchanged a blow, landing a blow on the other’s torso.

Bang, Bang!

They both slid back several meters. Stalemate. Yù Quán was surprised. This was an itinerant cultivator of a similar realm, and he could match him with strength and qi alone. Even then, it likely wasn’t all of his qi, or even a lot of his qi, in one blow. On the other hand, Yù Quán didn’t use much qi but activated the [Yellow Qilin Dance] and the Murderous Flame when he charged. It could be said that while Zhēn Lì had more strength, Yù Quán had more means, resulting in a tie.

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As they were about to attack again, Yù Quán was called to by Liàng Píng. “Wait!”

Yù Quán stopped. He turned to Liàng Píng, who was shaking his head, and Ren Changming and Yin Mengxia, watching the others standing still. Yù Quán hadn’t quite caught on, but he knew something would happen. He swiftly returned to his fellow disciples and got ready.

Buzz~

In an instant, all the people who weren’t taking action charged out. The Zhēn Lì and Yù Quán stood back, not understanding what would happen. Several loud sounds were heard, qi was flying left and right, and dust was kicked up, covering the grounds. When the dust cleared, tens of people had been blown out of the array, with only seventeen remaining. All the people Yàn Lìqín had told them to watch out for were here, as well as two from the Supreme Wolf Sect, two from the Hēi Family, and two from the Flying Cloud Sect. A total of seventeen people were left. Yù Quán finally understood. While the strong could fight the strong, not only would they have a lower chance of winning, but it would give the weak a chance to sneak attack and overwhelm them. So, the strong avoided each other and went for the weaker people, hoping to deal with the strong later. But if all the strong were thinking this way, what did it mean? It meant that all the weak would be targeted, and only the strong would be left. Yù Quán and Zhēn Lì were too busy competing to realize it.

Now, they were at another standstill. No one wanted to make the first move in fear of being taken advantage of by the next. This went on for tens of seconds before the announcer reminded them.

“Only sixteen can continue on to the next round; there are still seventeen competitors!”

This made the competitors a bit more anxious. Obviously, what was most important was the amount of placements in the top five. Even if you didn’t win the top spot, as long as you won most of the places, you would have proved your strength and earned a large sum of resources. There were weaker people still in, but their stronger sectmates were protecting them for this reason.

Another tens of seconds go by, and right when the tension had hit the breaking point, and some people were about to act, Zhēn Lì sucked his teeth.

“Tch~ I’ll forfeit.”

Everyone was dumbfounded. This cultivator was stronger than a decent number of people still in. What made him want to give up?

“Are you sure?” the announcer asked.

Zhēn Lì had already begun walking out of the array, waving his hand. “I’m an itinerant cultivator. Most of the people left are in groups and the ones who aren’t weak. Some may go after the weak, but several were probably eyeing me. I might as well step out myself.”

When everyone heard this, they all understood. Some were strong enough to take the risk of taking out the weaker group members, but others weren’t. So, they would probably go after someone who wasn’t in a group or no longer had anyone with them. Qing Shuaizhi and Wu Shou were well-known talents who were the favorites for first place in the tournament. Who would go after them? Instead, they would go with one of the weaker ones, Yin Qiuyue or Zhēn Lì. Yin Qiuyue wasn’t as great at attacking, but her defense and evasion were good. Who would try taking her out the game? That only left Zhēn Lì. Zhēn Lì picked up on this, so he naturally decided to step down and save himself from the trouble of being bombarded.

“Zhēn Lì has surrendered. The second round of elimination is over!”

Cheers ran through the crowd; some sucked their teeth and whined from losing bets, and others jumped for joy after winning small and large bets. But, most of the forces were serious. Not because they were worried for their disciples; they were pretty confident. What made them serious was that the Yellow QIlin Academy had four members make it into the next round, more than any other group. And they had just seen some of Yù Quán’s ability in his clash with Zhēn Lì. If one of them could match Zhēn Lì, what about the others?

…

Yù Quán

Realm: Body Tempering Realm

Stage: 1st Level Skin Tempering

Main Cultivation Art: [Stolen-eyed Mùmùlián Body](Level 3)

Strength: 550 Catties

Qi: 1150/2060 wisps

Mùmùlián Core: 6/100

Strange Fire: (Level 2)Murderous Flame(x1)

Techniques:

[Mùmùlián Eye Stealing](Level 3)

[Mùmùlián Eye Refining](Level 3)

[Murder Mantra](Level 1)

[Yellow Qilin Dance](Level 1)

Attributes:

[Strange Fire: Murderous Flame]

[Star Gazing Eyes](Level 1)

[Top-Quality Mortal Avarice Eyes](Level 1)

[Top-Quality Mortal Avarice Eyes](Level 1)

[Top-Quality Three-Finned Boar Aggression Eyes](Level 5)

[Top-Quality Three-Finned Boar Aggression Eyes](Level 1)(x2)

[Top-Quality Five-Finned Boar Aggression Eyes](Level 1)

[Low-Quality Blue Wolf Ferocity Eyes](Level 1)

[Low-Quality Winged Watcher Awareness Eyes](Level 1)

[Low-Quality False Dragon Pride Eyes](Level 1)