“What?! You must be mistaken, referee. I had that!” Meng Wu complained to the referee, with a wronged expression.

The young man glanced back at Meng Wu and shook his head.

“No, you would’ve definitely gotten seriously injured just now if I didn’t intervene.” He then gave Long Yi an appreciative nod. “This young man has managed to truly make that technique his. It is apparent he didn’t just follow a cultivation manual and has explored new possibilities.”

“What do you mean? Wasn’t that just a more powerful version of the Qi attack that he had been employing throughout the match? Just that extra power he put into it wouldn’t have beaten me!”

The referee surveyed their surroundings and found the spectators in the stands all dissatisfied as well, so he made sure his next words were well projected.

“No, that last attack was entirely different. It may have looked like one cohesive strike, like all the other ones, but he managed to separate his attack into multiple parts. If you tried to block that with your sword, it would’ve only blocked a tiny section of it. The rest would’ve gone around your sword and severely injured you.”

While the referee loudly explained the technique, Li Lang couldn’t help but sigh upon seeing his friend’s trick being exposed to everyone.

“Well…the more observant people already realized, but did he really have to reveal the trick like that? Now his future contestants know what to watch out for. The surprise factor is entirely out now.”

“H–he does have to p-pacify the crowd.”

The referee didn’t dwell on the technique Long Yi used for long, as he knew he had already spoken too much. He quickly urged the two contestants to exit the stage and called out to the next participants.

Like that, the trio were reunited, and they collectively spectated the other matches together. Particularly, they kept a close watch on Bai Yuchen. The man had lost a duel against Wei Ping six months ago due to his overconfidence, so the trio was still wary of him.

The same trick was unlikely to work again and Li Lang would be in for a hard match if he made it through the first round.

The saving grace was that the participants in this tournament were all around the same cultivation. While demonic cultivation allowed one to progress, disregarding aptitude, it still took time. It also had its disadvantages with the techniques affecting the mind, taking a toll on the body, and being resource-intensive. The most talented disciples from rich organizations wouldn’t be participating in such a public event. Coupled with the fact the youth section was for those fifteen and under, all the participants were in the middle stage of Energy Gathering.

It was one of the main reasons the trio felt confident about their chances of entering the top sixteen. Both of the opponents Wei Ping and Li Lang were facing in the first round were also in the fourth stage, and they had been practicing regularly against Long Yi, who was in the fifth stage.

The eight ongoing fights all went by at varying paces, and before everyone knew it, it was Li Lang’s turn.

“Li Lang, we meet again. Hopefully, you don’t run away this time,” the boy immediately taunted as soon as they took the stage.

“Have we met…?” Li Lang scratched his cheeks as he dug through his memories. “Oh, you’re one of the people accompanying that Shu guy in the artifact space!”

“That’s Senior Sheng Haoran for you! And I am Lu Weizi, the one who will defeat you. Remember it!”

Li Lang didn’t bother to respond as he watched the referee approach them.

“Enough talking. You both know the rules. Get in your position. Let the fight begin!”

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The match suddenly started for the two young cultivators and Li Lang didn’t hesitate. He charged to close the distance while his opponent immediately sent out several Qi attacks from range.

“I know your tricks! I dare you to concentrate all your Qi away from your defense.” Lu Weizi said as he kept up his unrelenting assault.

It had long been exposed that Li Lang won his previous match against a Qi beast by focusing all his Qi on an all-out attack. Lu Weizi knew that was the most threatening move his opponent had. That was why his plan was to keep him at bay with ranged attacks, so he couldn’t afford to use an all-out attack.

However, Li Lang hadn’t been only working on his Qi control throughout the last six months. The trio had all rented new techniques at the Bloodwave Conclave bazaar and honed them to the best of their abilities throughout this time. Li Lang was no different, and he had selected a Qi art as well. It was hard to resist the allure of gaining a new way to utilize Qi now that he was in the middle stages of Energy Gathering.

Contrary to what most young cultivators chose though, Li Lang did not select an offensive Qi art. Instead, he picked a utility skill that was similar to what he had once encountered.

While dodging and parrying his opponent’s attack, Li Lang began to channel his Qi as he had done in practice. The Qi gathered within him and, on reflex; he began to let his Qi flow according to the cultivation manual he had read.

When he first practiced Qi arts, he found they were divided into two major categories. Elemental and non-elemental. When he tried to investigate Long Yi’s Terra Moon Slash out of curiosity, he was surprised to find that his knowledge of the elements did not help him with the technique whatsoever.

The elemental techniques required some understanding of their element. That understanding wasn’t scientific knowledge, but to feel that element and bond with it. It was something akin to muscle memory that had to be built over time, which was why Li Lang gave up dabbling in several techniques at once.

He picked a Qi art that was primarily of the fire element because he believed increasing his fire affinity could assist him in his alchemy as well.

It only took him two seconds to finish invoking his new technique. Torrents of smoke began to emanate from Li Lang’s palms, and it quickly consumed a good portion of the arena he was fighting in.

“Look over there! That entire arena is engulfed in smoke!”

“Interesting. A young cultivator actually practiced a utility technique instead of flashy attacks.”

“I can’t see anything…What’s so good about it?”

“You don’t understand. Fighting isn’t just about who has the stronger move. There are many factors to it, and this smoke is like adding another variable. With the practitioner prepared to employ it, his opponent is now fighting in an unfavorable environment. Look, he’s caught so off guard he’s stopped sending out Qi attacks.”

The smoke inevitably drew a lot of attention from all the spectators. The powerful and experienced cultivators among the crowd were able to employ various means to see through it, but Lu Weizi didn’t have such capabilities.

He quickly found himself consumed by the smoke, severely limiting his vision. He even began sweating, as he knew an all-out attack could be coming at any moment from any direction.

Meanwhile, Li Lang was completely unaffected by this smoke. The creator of the Veiling Shroud Qi art wasn’t stupid enough to not account for its practitioner suffering from the very thing it produced. In fact, the smoke was like a part of Li Lang, where he could feel everything within it, including the referee.

Once he made sure his opponent had stopped attacking, Li Lang instantly capitalized on that. He was in the dark while Lu Weizi was in the light. That meant he had a huge advantage, being able to choose when to strike.

Li Lang lurked around his opponent and thrust out his spear in a probing strike.

Lu Weizi reacted violently to the attack. He instantly gathered all of his Qi to defend against the strike, as he thought Li Lang had done the same. When Lu Weizi realized how weak the attack was, he became agitated and wanted to retaliate. Unfortunately, he didn’t get a chance as Li Lang melded back into the cover of the smoke.

The cycle repeated itself as Li Lang continued to harass his opponent, while Lu Weizi could only utilize all his Qi in fear of an all-out attack.

The experienced spectators all let out a sigh at the scene.

“It’s over. He’s just being played around with by now.”

“It can’t be helped. This Lu Weizi is truly too green, but this should be a valuable lesson for him. A cultivator needs to be flexible and be prepared for all types of situations. Only children solely focus on offensive techniques.”

As the audience had suspected, Lu Weizi soon tired himself out as he expended his reserve of Qi. Sensing his sluggish movements, Li Lang intensified his attacks until he finally unleashed an all-out attack to finish his foe off.

“Winner, Li Lang!”

Good, one more match.

By the time he descended from the stage, he found his two companions staring off against Bai Yuchen.

And here’s my next opponent…