Let the Boss Prepare Himself

While Yi Yun was speaking to the referee, many of the trial participants looked over. Yi Yun was already the focus of everyone's attention, so his approach to the referee drew even more attention.

They immediately realized that Yi Yun had probably gone to submit his challenge for tomorrow.

"This Yi Yun is going to break into the Earth Ranking!"

Someone excitedly remarked that Yi Yun's next match would undoubtedly be extremely exciting.

"Of course! Not only Yi Yun, Chu Xiaoran should also continue to push forward. Their strength is undeniable; they should at least be able to break into the top 2,000 on the Earth Ranking. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow."

People were talking about it, some with anticipation, others with somber expressions.

Especially those veteran trial participants ranked in the early 2000s on the Earth Ranking, none of them had any hope. Their positions were very delicate, and if they were unlucky enough to be challenged by Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran, it would be a tragedy.

Judging from today's match alone, Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran are actually about the same strength, and neither of them is easy to deal with. It will definitely not be easy for them to beat Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran!

They were older, more skilled, and had been around longer; their hard-fought victory was hardly something to be proud of.

That's putting it in the best light. If they were to lose again by accident, it would be even more humiliating.

Winning brings no benefit, and losing is even more shameful; nobody wants to be in this situation!

"I wonder who this kid is challenging..."

Many people listened intently to Yi Yun's words. The arena was quiet at this moment. With the hearing of martial artists, unless they encountered a situation like Elder Jian Ge who used his energy to block out sound, they could hear it very clearly.

At this moment, Yi Yun was still smiling. He didn't speak directly, but instead used his spiritual energy to transmit a message to the referee. "We still need to be prepared, so we don't catch them off guard..."

Yi Yun explained it this way. The referee was puzzled. What did he mean by being caught off guard? It wasn't like two armies were fighting, where they had to set up formations and such. As for martial artists, unless they were injured, they could always step onto the field.

However, seeing Yi Yun's wholehearted concern for the other party, the referee had no choice but to nod and say, "Since you insist, then fine, let's inform the other party in advance who you want to challenge again?"

The referee thought that since Yi Yun was so considerate of the opponent, the opponent's strength was probably just average.

Yi Yun probably only wants to challenge those ranked around 2100-2200 on the Earth Ranking. Most of the other trial participants think the same way. After all, Yi Yun has two more matches tomorrow. The first match will be against those ranked around 2100-2200 to solidify his ranking. The second match will be an attempt to break into the top 2000.

Yi Yun handed the completed challenge form to the referee.

The referee took the paper and his eyelids twitched immediately. "What? You want to challenge Li Hong? Li Hong, ranked 1028th on the Earthly Ranking!?"

Li Hong!?

The other trainees around were all stunned when they learned who Yi Yun's next opponent would be!

Li Hong Yi Yun, the president of the Hong Dao Society, actually wants to challenge him?

They originally thought that it would be remarkable if Yi Yun challenged someone ranked 2,000th on the Earth Ranking, but he actually challenged Li Hong ranked 1,028th!

What was he thinking!?

Li Hong and Yi Yun had a past conflict. Two months ago, Li Hong coveted Yi Yun's Glory Points and tried to cheat Yi Yun, but Yi Yun refused, thus becoming enemies—this was common knowledge.

But holidays aside, this is a ranking competition where strength determines the winner. Is Yi Yun really going to challenge Li Hong just because of a sense of pride?

Li Hong is no pushover; he is the strongest among the current two-year trial participants!

Li Hong's ranking on the Heaven Ranking has already broken into the top 1,000.

And in the rankings, it surged to 1,028th last month.

When you get close to the thousandth place on the Earth Ranking, it becomes especially difficult to improve your ranking, because those who are here are all very close to the Origin Foundation Realm, and their strength can be said to have reached the pinnacle of the Purple Blood Realm.

This includes Li Hong himself.

It's no exaggeration to say that all the strongest Purple Blood Realm warriors in the entire Tai'a Divine Kingdom are gathered in this ranking tier, making the competition extremely fierce!

Even behind Li Hong, there were several other Origin Foundation Realm martial artists whose cultivation techniques and moves were relatively poor!

The fact that someone at the Origin Foundation Realm is ranked after Li Hong demonstrates Li Hong's strength.

"The newcomer is number one, and the challenger who has completed two years of trials is number one... This is incredible!" someone exclaimed. Both are number one, and they are challenging each other across a year. This is extremely rare in Tai'a Divine City.

"Li Hong will probably break through to the Foundation Establishment stage within the next ten to fifteen days. Once he does, he'll definitely be in the top 1,000! He might even rank within the top 700 on the Earth Ranking!"

Li Hong did not break into the top 1,000 within a year.

However, after one year and one month, he achieved a ranking of 1030 on the Heaven Ranking and 1010 on the Earthly Ranking.

That's quite terrifying!

Abnormal individuals like Chu Xiaoran and Yi Yun are not something that happens every year.

"Yi Yun versus Li Hong, I feel like... Yi Yun might be a bit outmatched..."

Many people think that while Yi Yun and Chu Xiaoran's battle was exciting, they were still inferior to those ranked just over a thousandth on the Earth Ranking.

Everyone can understand that Yi Yun wanted to challenge Li Hong out of spite, but wouldn't it be even more frustrating if he got thrashed by Li Hong, or even seriously injured?

"What is Yi Yun thinking? He probably doesn't know what it means to be ranked one thousandth on the Earth Ranking... Or perhaps he has some hidden strength?"

"Hiding his strength? He's only at the mid-stage of Purple Blood, what strength could he possibly have to hide? Could it be that he's also cultivated to the Pre-Origin Foundation Dharma Aspect? That's impossible, he's been doing menial tasks since he came to Tai'a Divine City, he hasn't gone out to hunt wild beasts at all!"

People found it incomprehensible, feeling that Yi Yun's challenge to Li Hong was simply asking for trouble.

Although Li Hong had bullied Yi Yun before, he had also been tricked by Yi Yun. Now, Li Hong was looking for trouble with Yi Yun, but Yi Yun had delivered himself right to his doorstep.

At this moment, a few people were sitting in a corner of the arena; they were members of the Hong Dao Society.

They were furious when they heard that Yi Yun was about to challenge their guild leader!

"Who does this kid think he is!"

"Why don't you take a good look at yourself? Just because you got first place among the newcomers, you think you're invincible? You're asking for it!"

Seeing Yi Yun's arrogance, daring to publicly declare his intention to challenge their leader, the group was filled with righteous indignation.

But thinking about it, this might not be such a bad thing. Since Yi Yun is so stupid as to deliver himself to their boss's doorstep to be beaten up, they should make good use of him. Not only should they beat Yi Yun into a pig's head, but they should also trick Yi Yun again!

Yes, let's trick him!

They had been terribly tricked by Yi Yun before. A bunch of brats lined up to hit Yi Yun with bricks. Not only were they hit, but they also had to give Yi Yun a large amount of Dragon Scale Rune. Just thinking about those Dragon Scale Rune made their hearts bleed!

"Let's go tell the boss right away!"

The underlings immediately understood. Li Hong wasn't there. Li Hong had missed the rookie competition these past few days because he had no interest in watching others steal the spotlight. Especially this afternoon, when Yi Yun appeared and made a name for himself, even if Li Hong were present, he would have to leave early. Otherwise, seeing Yi Yun steal the show would make him feel terrible.

"Brothers, let's take this opportunity to trick Yi Yun. We need to get the boss ready in advance."

The one who spoke was a thirteen-year-old boy who had previously lost a large amount of Dragon Scale Rune to Yi Yun.

People who lose a bet often think about trying to win it back with another gamble.

This is the gambler's mentality, a mentality that is unacceptable, but few people can pull back from the brink at this point.

"That's right, the boss isn't exactly rolling in money either. We need to prepare for tomorrow's match in advance and make Yi Yun pay back everything he won!"

Hong Dao Society lost a fortune gambling, and Li Hong was now penniless. His underlings thought that Li Hong had to make a big bet with Yi Yun and win it all back at once. The so-called "preparation" was simply to prepare the bets in advance.

This is also why Yi Yun announced his challenger for tomorrow in advance. If he suddenly said he wanted to challenge Li Hong tomorrow, it would be too rushed. Li Hong so poor, how could he come up with a decent wager?

But now that it's been discussed, Li Hong has time to prepare. With his connections, he can definitely procure something.

Yi Yun kept his last trump card to himself from beginning to end, a card he intended to use to trap Li Hong.

Several henchmen stood up, glancing at Yi Yun with either resentment or a sinister grin, their expressions seemingly saying, "Kid, you just wait!"

They quietly left the arena and then rushed to inform Li Hong to prepare for tomorrow's battle.

Unfortunately, Yi Yun's earlier message to the referee, "Let the opponent prepare in advance," was transmitted using his internal energy, so these underlings didn't hear it. Otherwise, these immature teenagers might have figured out something amiss...

[I'm really sorry to tell you all, but actually... I've caught a cold again, and it's been two days. I was hoping it would flare up at the beginning of the month, but it's too cold at home, and the air conditioner can only cool. Southern winters are freezing; my fingers are stiff even while typing. When I was on a business trip, I stayed in a hotel with the air conditioning on, and it didn't bother me much. But coming home, the temperature change is drastic, and I really can't handle it. It's also because I've been sleeping on irregular hours lately, which has weakened my immune system. This cold isn't serious yet, so updates shouldn't be missed, just getting later and later. I'm letting you all know in advance so you're mentally prepared if it gets worse... so please be gentle with your criticism then... +_+]

...(To be continued~^~)