Yang Jing withdrew his gaze and looked up at the towering, majestic Azure Qilin Platform.
The platform's blue-black stone walls still bore fist and palm impressions left by past contests. As the wind swept over them, it seemed to carry the clash of weapons and thunder of warhorses from bygone battles in the arena.
He held his breath and focused, quietly awaiting the strength assessment.
He had already looked into the rules of the Azure Qilin Battle, and Lin Ziheng had explained them thoroughly as well.
Before the official arena matches, there would first be a strength assessment.
Elders from the Main Peak and stewards from the Seven Branches would oversee and judge this assessment, using the disciples' actual combat performances against exotic beasts to roughly grade and rank every contestant's strength.
The eventual matchups would also be determined by these rankings.
The first-ranked disciple would face the last-ranked disciple, the second-ranked would face the second from last, and so on.
That was precisely why Steward Zheng had solemnly warned them not to conceal too much of their ability during the assessment.
Otherwise, anyone ranked at the bottom would have to face the strongest opponent in the very first round and would most likely be eliminated outright, losing any chance to participate in the later matches.
The heart of this strength assessment was the process of fighting an exotic beast.
The elders and stewards would give a comprehensive evaluation based on the force of a disciple's punches, the agility of their movements, the finesse of their techniques, and their control over their own strength. This evaluation would directly determine their initial ranking.
In the distant crowd of spectators, two figures in azure robes stood on tiptoe, straining to see the Azure Qilin Platform, their gazes fixed on Yang Jing.
They