The first round of duels had concluded, with the winners advancing to the top five bracket and the losers falling into the bottom five.
According to the tournament rules, the top five and bottom five would compete in separate round-robin stages. Each contestant would face the other four in their respective group, and the final rankings would be decided based on their total points from victories.
After the contestants rested for a brief moment, the announcer loudly declared the start of the top bracket's round-robin matches. The top five geniuses took turns stepping onto the stage to face one another.
The first duel featured Ye Ling facing off against Li Wanxi, who had just defeated a formidable opponent.
Having just secured her first victory, Li Wanxi was in peak condition. Gripping her long whip, she leaped onto the stage.
Her figure was slender, clad in simple yet elegant martial arts attire. As her spiritual energy poured into the pitch-black long whip, it uncoiled fluidly. Shadows of the whip interwove continuously, sweeping in all directions like a dark tide.
The Li family's whip technique was agile and tricky. Having trained bitterly since childhood, she had already reached Mastery. Unleashing her full strength, she created layers of whip nets that sealed off all of Ye Ling's paths of advance and retreat.
Yet Ye Ling stood her ground, completely motionless. Facing the sky full of encroaching whip shadows, she lightly flicked her wrist. The Breeze sword slipped from its scabbard, tracing a faint green light as she thrust it forward casually.
The sword light was condensed and simple, its landing point perfect. It precisely pierced through the layers of whip nets, and the tip of the blade lightly tapped the body of the whip.
A clever force traveled down the whip. Li Wanxi felt a massive tremor course through her arm. Her spiritual energy instantly fell into chaos, and her long whip nearly slipped from her grasp. She stumbled back several steps involuntarily, completely stripped of her ability to strike again.
With a single move, the battle was decided. Li Wanxi's expression was filled with disbelief. She had never expected that the continuous whip technique she had poured all her strength into could not even withstand a single strike from her opponent.
The announcer declared loudly, “Ye Ling wins!”
Ye Ling slowly sheathed her sword. Her expression was calm as she composedly walked back to the waiting area.
Following her effortless victory over Li Wanxi, Ye Ling went on to face the remaining three formidable opponents one after another.
Against Liu Daoyao's domineering saber momentum, Ye Ling shattered her move with a single sword strike, securing an easy victory.
Facing Su Qinghe's sharp swordplay, Ye Ling neutralized it with ease, claiming yet another win.
At the end of just three rounds of matches, Ye Ling stood undefeated with three consecutive wins, firmly holding the top spot on the scoreboard. She had completely dominated every single opponent, leaving the entire audience in awe.
On the other side, Ye Chen's performance was equally astonishing.
Over the course of three round-robin matches, Ye Chen defeated the top three geniuses—Li Wanxi, Liu Daoyao, and Su Qinghe—one after another. Cutting a path through his opponents, he also achieved a perfect record of three wins and zero losses.
Under the five-player round-robin format, everyone's matches had concluded, leaving only one final showdown.
The only two who had not yet faced each other: Ye Ling versus Ye Chen.
This match would be the championship battle of this Baiyun City ranking matches.
Whoever claimed this final victory would be crowned the absolute number one of the preliminary ranking matches.
Waves of astonished gasps swept through the crowd.
“Absurd! This is absolutely absurd!”
“The first and second place of this Baiyun City's sect selection actually both belong to the Ye family!”
Before the tournament, everyone had assumed that the battle for the top spot would be a fierce contention among the major clans.
No one could have predicted that the ones who would ultimately ascend to the peak and sweep the top two spots would be the two young geniuses of the Ye family.
The members of the Li, Wang, and Jiang families had complex expressions, their faces filled with disappointment and reluctance.
The top geniuses of their respective clans had been reduced to mere background foil, forced to watch as the Ye family claimed all the glory.
On the other hand, the Ye family's spectator area had already erupted into a frenzy of cheers.
The family head, the elders, and all the clansmen were flushed with excitement. Standing tall and proud, their hearts were filled with pride and glory.
Continuous praise and cheers echoed without end. Everyone knew that after today's battle, the Ye family's reputation would resound throughout the entirety of Baiyun City.
Atop the stage, the atmosphere was solemn.
On one side was Ye Ling, who had dominated every opponent, remained undefeated, and possessed unfathomable depth.
On the other side was Ye Chen, who grew stronger with each battle, had secured three straight victories, and possessed extraordinary talent.
The clamor from the high platform gradually quieted down as everyone's gaze locked onto the center of the stage.
Holding her Breeze sword, Ye Ling quietly looked at Ye Chen opposite her, her voice calm.
“I knew a long time ago that only the two of us would be standing at the very end of the sect selection.”
A hint of surprise flashed in Ye Chen's eyes upon hearing this, and after a moment, he slowly nodded.
“Is that so? What a coincidence, I had the exact same thought.”
He tightened his grip on his long sword, his expression solemn and sincere.
“To be honest, every time I face you, I never feel entirely confident. The pressure you exert far surpasses anyone else.”
“In this final battle for the championship, I will pour out all my strength and hold absolutely nothing back.”
The moment his words fell, the aura surrounding Ye Chen on the stage underwent a sudden and drastic transformation.
His cultivation aura, which was originally at the Houtian Seventh Layer, surged violently, clearly revealing his true realm—it was actually the Houtian Eighth Layer.
No one had expected that Ye Chen, who had been fighting and winning all along, had been deliberately suppressing his realm the entire time.
On the high platform, the City Lord, who was seated and watching the matches, suddenly narrowed his eyes, a look of clear surprise appearing on his face.
With his profound cultivation, he had seen countless geniuses of the younger generation within the commandery. Yet, despite watching the entire match, he had failed to see through Ye Chen's true realm from beginning to end, having been completely kept in the dark.
He murmured softly, “No wonder this boy's combat strength far surpasses those of his level, and he has steadily suppressed his opponents in every battle. So he possesses an aura-concealing cultivation method.”
Aura-concealing cultivation methods were extremely rare, definitely not something a common family's martial library would possess. This was enough to show that Ye Chen had encountered significant opportunities, and his foundation far exceeded everyone's imagination.
On the stage, Ye Chen's battle intent surged to the heavens. His gaze was as sharp as a blade as he looked at Ye Ling opposite him.
“In this battle, I will go all out! No more holding back!”
Ye Ling quietly watched Ye Chen as his aura surged. Her expression remained calm, without the slightest hint of surprise in her eyes.
Without even moving, Ye Ling suddenly released the aura she had been keeping tightly reined in.
A similarly majestic surge of spiritual energy burst forth, revealing her cultivation level to also be at the Houtian Eighth Layer.
As it turned out, Ye Chen was not the only one hiding his cultivation—Ye Ling had been doing the same all along.
Ye Chen's expression turned grave. Without another word, he executed his movement technique at Great Perfection. His figure became elusive as he flickered forward, launching a fierce offensive directly at Ye Ling.
Pouring all of his Houtian Eighth Layer spiritual energy into his sword, each of his moves was ferocious and aggressive, aiming to quickly break through her defense.
Ye Ling executed the Flowing Cloud Movement Technique at Great Perfection. Her figure shifted like drifting clouds, her advances and retreats ethereal and unpredictable as she effortlessly evaded wave after wave of fierce attacks.
Holding her Breeze sword, she composedly countered his moves with the Star-Moon Sword Technique. The sword light scattered in patterns, continuously parrying and neutralizing Ye Chen's attacks.
The two figures locked in a high-speed duel on the stage. Ye Chen relied on his movement technique to maneuver around, maintaining a relentless close-quarters assault.
Ye Ling's Flowing Cloud Movement Technique was flawless. She always managed to slip away in the tightest of spaces, and her Star-Moon sword light lingered like silk, firmly controlling her opponent's rhythm.
Their weapons clashed in a rapid succession of crisp ringing sounds, exchanging over a dozen blows in the blink of an eye.
Unable to break through despite his prolonged offense, Ye Chen's aura gradually grew impatient, and a subtle flaw appeared in his movement technique.
Seizing this opening, Ye Ling funneled all her spiritual energy into her long sword, fully unleashing the Star-Moon Sword Technique at Great Perfection.
The sword light condensed like the moon. The blade pierced through the air in a sudden thrust, tearing straight through all of Ye Chen's defenses and stopping a mere inch from his chest.
Ye Chen froze and withdrew his stance. His expression was downcast as he let out a soft sigh. “I didn't expect your Star-Moon Sword Technique to have already reached Great Perfection.”
Sheathing his sword, he took a step back and cupped his hands. “I lose.”
Ye Ling sheathed her sword and gave a slight nod, offering no further words.
The announcer declared loudly, “Ye Ling wins this match, securing first place in Baiyun City's sect selection!”
Below the stage, thunderous applause erupted.
The Ye family members cheered to high heaven, while the members of the Li, Wang, and Jiang families had no choice but to admit that the Ye family had indeed produced two extraordinary figures in this generation.
As Ye Ling stepped down from the stage, Qin Fuyue waved to her from the crowd, her eyes curving into crescent smiles.
Ye Ling nodded slightly in response.
The rankings for the top five were officially settled. Ye Ling took first, Ye Chen second, Li Wanxi third, Liu Daoyao fourth, and Su Qinghe fifth.
After their own round-robin matches, the bottom five also decided their final standings: Ye Ling was sixth, Wang Lingyue seventh, Jiang Chenxiao eighth, Ye Fei ninth, and Li Yanran tenth.
With this, the Baiyun City sect selection tournament had completely concluded.
The top ten contestants would represent Baiyun City and head to Heishui Commandery to participate in the final selection, competing for entry into the four major sects.
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