On the second day, the morning light bathed the training grounds of the City Lord's estate.
With the open trials of the previous day having settled, the list of the ten challengers who successfully broke through had been finalized, and the eyes of the entire venue were focused on the arena.
Among the ten challengers, the two beauties of humble origin, Su Qinghe and Liu Daoyao, were firmly on the list.
One was a rogue sword cultivator and the other was a saber cultivator from a minor clan. Relying on their Houtian Ninth Layer strength, they had won consecutive matches all the way to secure their qualification to challenge, making them the most watched contestants of humble origin in the venue.
Disciples of the four major families claimed four spots, with Ye Yin among them, while the other three came from the Li, Wang, and Jiang families—all of whom were family elites who had missed out on being designated as seeds.
The remaining four spots were taken by geniuses from mid-sized families across Baiyun City.
Once the ten challengers arrived, they stood on one side of the arena.
According to the tournament rules, each person had one choice to select any of the ten seeded contestants for a duel on stage. If they won, they would replace them and become a newly promoted seed.
The spectator stands on the high platform were bustling with noise. Many people stared at Su Qinghe and Liu Daoyao, full of anticipation for these two geniuses of humble origin to challenge the noble family seeds and break the monopoly of the four major families.
Su Qinghe held her iron sword with a calm expression. Liu Daoyao touched the broadsword on her back, a thick battle intent flashing in her eyes.
In the seeded contestants' area, the ten individuals, including Ye Chen, Li Wanxi, Wang Lingyue, and Jiang Chenxiao, waited quietly.
Some were calm and composed, while others were secretly on guard against those two Houtian Ninth Layer girls of humble origin.
Ye Ling stood in the corner with a relaxed posture, looking forward to someone challenging her.
The ten challengers stepped forward in turn to select their opponents.
The first to step up was a genius from a mid-sized family. Standing before the stage, his gaze swept back and forth across the ten seeds, calculating his options in his mind.
Li Wanxi, Wang Lingyue, and Jiang Chenxiao were all the leaders of their respective clans, genuine Houtian Ninth Layer experts who were not to be trifled with.
Ye Ling's combat strength was bizarre, capable of crushing the Ninth Layer with her Seventh Layer cultivation, making her someone he absolutely could not touch.
After filtering through them, the one with the lowest cultivation among the seeded contestants was Ye Chen.
He had heard that Ye Chen had previously defeated Ye Ling, but rumors outside claimed that the battle had dragged on for a long time before a victor was decided.
Perhaps Ye Ling had been in poor condition that day, allowing Ye Chen to win by luck.
Having made up his mind, this peak Houtian Eighth Layer sword cultivator cupped his hands and called out, “I choose to challenge Ye Chen!”
As soon as he spoke, the spectator stands erupted.
“This guy is clearly picking on the weak!”
“He sees that Ye Chen is only at the Houtian Seventh Layer and thinks he's an easy target.”
In the seeds' waiting area, Ye Chen, who had been resting with his eyes closed, opened them, his lips curving slightly.
He had been treated as an easy target. Without wasting any words, he gripped his sword, leaped forward, and landed lightly on the arena.
The master of ceremonies quickly stepped onto the stage and loudly announced the start of the first round of the challenge matches.
Dressed in a green robe, the challenger unsheathed his long sword, a cold light flashing.
Unleashing his peak Houtian Eighth Layer cultivation to the fullest, his sword moves were steady and experienced. He unleashed his family's ultimate technique right from the start, thrusting straight toward Ye Chen's chest.
Yet, Ye Chen still only revealed a Houtian Seventh Layer aura. With agile movement, his sword tip casually tapped and drew lines, easily deflecting the opponent's offensive.
The challenger attacked more than a dozen times in a row, every strike missing. His sword energy was entirely deflected by the arena's formation, making him grow more and more anxious as he fought.
Finally, gritting his teeth, he slashed down with all his might.
Just as the blade was about to reach him, Ye Chen's wrist flicked, and his sword light surged forward, precisely striking the weakest point of the opponent's blade.
Clang!
With a crisp ring, the challenger's long sword flew out of his hand, and he was jolted backward several steps, his blood churning.
In just a few moves, the victor was decided.
The challenger turned pale and lowered his head in surrender, his wishful thinking thoroughly shattered.
After Ye Chen easily secured the first victory, the remaining challengers took turns stepping up to choose their opponents.
No one dared to provoke the three leaders—Wang Lingyue, Li Wanxi, and Jiang Chenxiao. Instead, they chose seeds like Ye Fei, Ye Ling, Li Yanran, Wang Zifeng, and Jiang Chengyu.
The results were entirely without suspense. Although these challengers had fought their way out of over two hundred participants, they were still not enough to match the ten seeds.
Every match ended quickly without any struggle, as they were all easily crushed by the seeds.
The consecutive quick victories thoroughly proved one thing: not a single person selected as a seed by the City Lord was mediocre, and each was significantly stronger than the martial artists from the open trials.
By this point, only Su Qinghe and Liu Daoyao had yet to make their move. Everyone's eyes were fixed on these two girls of humble origin, curious about whom they would choose.
With the previous challengers suffering consecutive defeats, the atmosphere in the arena grew extremely heavy.
Finally, it was the turn of the next challenger, the rogue cultivator Su Qinghe. As a fellow sword cultivator, her gaze subconsciously fell upon Ye Ling, who was sitting quietly in the corner.
She really wanted to test her skills against this swordplay genius who could crush a Ninth Layer expert with a Seventh Layer cultivation.
But Ye Ling had never truly revealed her hand, and her true strength was unfathomable.
Su Qinghe knew in her heart that she would likely lose. She only had one opportunity to challenge, so she could not afford to be impulsive.
She weighed her options among the five seeds who had already fought—Ye Fei, Ye Ling, Li Yanran, Jiang Chengyu, and Wang Zifeng—and ultimately chose Wang Zifeng.
In her view, none of these five were her match. For now, it was best to secure a safe victory to enter the third day's ranking matches; there would be plenty of opportunities in the future to spar with Ye Ling and the other leaders.
Having made up his mind, Su Qinghe raised her voice and said, “I challenge Wang Zifeng.”
Wang Zifeng, the Wang family seed who was called out, tensed up and leaped onto the arena with his sword.
No one dared to underestimate this battle. Su Qinghe was an eighteen-year-old Houtian Ninth Layer rogue cultivator who had stunned the entire venue during the open trials yesterday.
As an elite seed of the Wang family, Wang Zifeng was also at the Houtian Ninth Layer. He had been polished by famous masters of a noble family since childhood, possessing a solid foundation and orthodox cultivation methods.
The master of ceremonies shouted, “Begin the match!”
Wasting no words, Wang Zifeng unsheathed his long sword, cold light layering upon itself. The orthodox swordplay of the Wang family was orderly and sharp, balanced in both offense and defense, as layers of sword nets pressed toward Su Qinghe.
Every strike was steady, precise, and heavy, carrying the methodical discipline polished by noble family cultivators over the years, aiming to crush the wild style of a humble background with orthodox martial arts.
Dressed in plain clothes and holding her ordinary iron sword, Su Qinghe fully unleashed her Houtian Ninth Layer aura.
She possessed no exquisite, ultimate techniques; all her moves were forged through traveling alone in deep mountains and fighting life-and-death struggles. She did not care for aesthetics, only for breaking moves and defeating the enemy.
With comparable cultivations and matching momentums, the two instantly locked in close combat.
The clashing of blades was as dense as rainfall, ringing continuously. One was orthodox and enduring, fighting steadily, while the other was erratic and sharp, specifically seeking out weaknesses.
After a dozen or so exchanges, they were evenly matched.
The more Wang Zifeng fought, the more alarmed he became. He had originally thought that with his noble family resources and orthodox martial arts, he would easily suppress a rogue cultivator of humble origin within the same realm.
But once the fight began, he realized that Su Qinghe's swordplay was incredibly difficult to deal with.
Her predictions were accurate, and her deflections were swift. She could always lightly deflect his force at the peak of his strikes and launch counterattacks through the gaps in his moves.
After dozens of rounds, Wang Zifeng's spiritual energy consumption grew larger and larger. His sword moves began to stiffen, and his transitions between offense and defense lost their fluidity.
Meanwhile, Su Qinghe, who had undergone long and bitter training in the wilderness, possessed endurance and resilience far exceeding those of noble family disciples. Her breathing remained steady, and the battle intent in her eyes burned even brighter.
Seizing the moment when Wang Zifeng withdrew his sword to catch his breath, Su Qinghe's figure suddenly surged forward, her iron sword sliding rapidly along his blade.
Shring!
With a single strike, she broke through his sword stance. Wang Zifeng's wrist shuddered, his web of thumb and forefinger turning numb. His long sword was knocked aside, and his sword stance collapsed entirely.
Before he could even steady himself, the tip of Su Qinghe's sword had already stopped right before his throat, the sharp wind biting cold.
The match was decided. Wang Zifeng froze on the spot, staring at the blade before him, his face darkening before he finally lowered his hands and surrendered.
In a duel between two Ninth Layer cultivators of the same realm, after dozens of rounds, the rogue cultivator of humble origin, Su Qinghe, had defeated the orthodox seed of the Wang family in a head-on battle.
The entire venue erupted in an uproar, and everyone was deeply moved.
Previously, the challengers had all been crushed by the seeded contestants. Now, a dark horse rogue cultivator had forcibly snatched a victory from a noble family seed, completely breaking the undefeated record of the seeded contestants.
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