Facing the fervent looks from Zeng Yang and the other man, Jiang Fan smiled faintly.
"See? I told you there was no need to worry!"
Then he looked at the arbitrating cultivator, who was likewise standing there as if struck dumb.
"Can you announce the result now?"
The arbitrating cultivator jolted, his voice trembling.
"Oh—oh!"
He cleared his throat, forcibly pressed down his surging emotions, and said hoarsely, "The f-fourth round, Heaven Sect wins!"
Only then did the entire venue explode into an uproar.
"What... what just happened?"
"I didn't see that wrong, did I? Zhao Wuji, the Red Firmament Sect's second-ranked inner disciple, just died like that? Killed with a single finger?"
"What exactly is that Duan Gang from Heaven Sect? What cultivation level is he at? Mid-stage Venerable Realm? Even at mid-stage Venerable Realm, it shouldn't be possible to kill an early-stage Venerable Realm cultivator that easily, right?"
"How old is he? Could he already be at late-stage Venerable Realm? That's impossible!"
"Heaven Sect's rankings in previous years were only average. How could such a powerful disciple appear there? Even the sect ranked first would be about the same at most, wouldn't it?"
"Looks like Heaven Sect's ranking this year might have to move up a little..."
"..."
Cries of shock, doubt, and discussion swept across the entire Martial Arts Arena like a crashing tide.
In the Red Firmament Sect's viewing area, Zhao Changli's face had darkened to the extreme.
"This is impossible!"
"How could Wuji lose?"
Before the competition, he had gathered information on every Heaven Sect disciple.
According to the records, Duan Gang and the others were merely disciples Heaven Sect had conscripted from its lower sects.
They might have some strength, but compared to the core inner disciples, there was definitely still a gap.
That