The Yunzhou Martial Arts Tournament Begins

On the fifteenth day of the third month of the fifth year of Chengping, Yuncheng was bustling with activity early this morning, as today marked the start of the National Martial Arts Tournament.

Jiang Liu also got up early and had breakfast with Murong Yin. They then went together to the arena outside the East District Gate. Murong Yin had already reported Jiang Liu's name.

The process of the Martial Arts Tournament is very simple. All the top-ranked forces in Yunzhou have the right to make recommendations. By "top-ranked", we mean forces with at least one Minor Grandmaster.

Both local forces and forces headquartered in other states have the right to make recommendations. Disciples of the three sects do not participate in the Martial Arts Tournament.

Therefore, the number of people who sign up for the Martial Arts Tournament can tell how many forces have more than Minor Grandmaster. When Jiang Liu heard this requirement, he became even more suspicious of the three sects' purpose. This was clearly a name-calling tactic!

Jiang Liu didn't care about him; he was only thinking about getting first place in Yunzhou and seeing what the reward would be.

Before long, Jiang Liu and Murong Yin arrived with the crowd at the arena outside the East District.

In the center stood a large arena, surrounded by ten smaller arenas. Ten spectator stands were also set up, reserved for the ten Grandmaster from Cloud City to oversee the tournament.

The Martial Arts Tournament is held over two days, and the rules are very simple and clear.

On the first day, whoever lasts the longest in the ten smaller arenas will be one of the ten winners. A single-elimination system will be used; losing a match disqualifies you from the competition. After fighting three consecutive matches, you can apply for a break and have someone else take your place as the new champion.

The second day of the duel saw the ten champions compete on the grand stage to determine the final rankings of Yunzhou. The single-elimination system was used, with matches drawn by lot.

Many people in the audience were discussing it, and the most frequent topic was who would come in first place.

"Is the Yun family sending their eldest son Yun Tianlan, to compete? Can he win first place?" the voice asked curiously.

"You're overthinking it. The eldest son of the Yun family is only an eighth-rank official. It's not even certain that the Yun family will send him to compete. How can he possibly win first place?" the voice said disdainfully.

"Then Xiahou Yi, the Holy Maiden of the Sun Moon Sect, is a ninth-rank official. Will she participate in the battle?" The man finished speaking and chuckled ambiguously twice.

"Xiahou Yi? Will she participate in the battle?" After saying this, the man looked around as if searching for Xiahou Yi.

"Who will the Feng Family send to fight this time?"

"No word has come out yet, but Feng Qijia is out of the question!"

"Forget about that good-for-nothing, what happened to Pang Li?"

"I heard that's no good either. I didn't expect Xiahou Yi to be so ruthless! He took out several people in one go!"

"Which faction's disciples are more famous this time?"

"Did you hear the rumors that circulated before the Ascension Tower?"

You mean that Jiang Liu?

"Hmm! I heard that Jiang Liu rides a Beast King as his mount!"

"What? The Beast King as a mount? Are you sure it's the Beast King?"

"That's for sure. Many people saw him outside the South City. They didn't know it was Jiang Liu at first, but later many people saw him enter the Ascension Tower. Murong Yin personally came out to greet him, and that's how everyone found out!"

"So that's how it is. Is that Jiang Liu the one Jia Lou challenged on Hundred Flowers Street before?"

"That's the one!"

"Didn't Jiang Liu say he was Feng Family Feng Yue's fiancé? How did he get involved with Murong Yin?"

"Only the parties involved know the truth, but according to rumors from Ascension Tower, Jiang Liu is also Murong Yin's fiancé!"

"What? Jiang Liu is the fiancé of two beauties, Murong Yin and Feng Yue?"

"No wonder, but to be able to ride Beast King is a bit scary! Who is Jiang Liu? Is he a disciple of the Exotic Beast Valley?"

"Nonsense! Have you ever heard of someone who isn't a disciple of the Exotic Beast Valley using Exotic Beast as a mount? And this is Beast King! That's equivalent to one of our Grandmaster!"

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces immediately showed expressions of envy.

Hearing the whispers about them, Murong Yin gave Jiang Liu a charmingly disdainful look.

Jiang Liu could only pretend not to know and continue listening to the discussions around him.

As time went on, more and more people gathered, and soon the area around the arena was packed with people.

Before long, a large group of people flew in from the sky, led by ten Grandmaster, followed by a group of Minor Grandmaster from various forces.

Before long, the ten Grandmaster took their seats on the viewing platform. The three in the middle were the elders of the three sects, and the rest were the Old Ancestor of the Feng Family, the Ancestor of the Yun Family, the deputy commander of the Martial Prohibition Hall, the Crafting Saint, the leader of the Five Poisons Sect, the valley master of the Exotic Weapon Valley, and the master of the Yunzhou Ascension Tower.

The Minor Grandmaster from various factions who followed behind dispersed and returned to their respective faction's ranks.

After waiting a while, the three sect elders nodded to each other, and then Bo Ye, the elder of Haotian Sect, stood up, exuding the pressure of Grandmaster that enveloped the entire venue, and the entire venue immediately fell silent.

"The battle for Yunzhou's spot in the Martial Arts Tournament of the Realm is now officially beginning! The last time to go on stage today is before 9 PM. Anyone who does not go on stage by the time limit will be considered to have forfeited."

"If the reigning champion remains on stage for more than half an hour without being challenged, the champion is deemed to have successfully defended their title and will receive a spot!"

"In the arena, fists, feet, swords, and knives have no eyes; life and death are the responsibility of the fighters. One may concede defeat, but once conceding defeat is confirmed, one may not continue to attack."

As soon as Bo Ye finished speaking, someone eagerly jumped onto one of the small arenas. Then, another Minor Grandmaster jumped onto the arena.

Then, nine more Minor Grandmaster jumped onto nine other small arenas. These Minor Grandmaster only maintained order when the challengers conceded defeat; they wouldn't care even if someone was killed if the challenger didn't concede.

The audience erupted in uproar, "Whose company is this? Are they afraid of losing too late?"

"It's just one match anyway, so what's the difference between losing early or late? Should we just forfeit?"

"That's true!"

Before the first person could even speak, someone else jumped onto the same ring as him.

Then he clasped his hands in a fist salute and said, "Li Luo of the Black Dragon Gang, please give me your guidance!" He released his aura, revealing the presence of a Seventh Rank Martial Practitioner.

"Wang Sheng of the Flying Tiger Gang, please enlighten me!" Wang Sheng returned the greeting with clasped hands. After speaking, he also released his aura, revealing himself to be Seventh Grade.

Immediately, the two on the stage began to fight back and forth.

When the crowd below saw that both of them were Seventh Rank Martial Practitioner, they immediately lost interest. Judging from their fighting style, they were afraid they would fight until dark. Were they just stalling for time?

Meanwhile, people began jumping onto the other arenas one after another.

Suddenly, everyone exclaimed, "Is that Xiahou Yi?"

A red figure flew in from afar. When it got closer, everyone could see that Xiahou Yi was dressed in a red gauze robe, looking very elegant. She exuded a sense of holiness mixed with allure.

Xiahou Yi flew directly onto an empty small arena, stood there, revealing the aura of Rank 9 Martial Practitioner. She didn't say anything, but just looked at the crowd below the stage with a charming smile.

After waiting for a long time, no one went up to challenge them.

The disciple sent by the Moonfall Sect coldly stared at Xiahou Yi. If it weren't for the sect leader's repeated instructions to ensure that he could secure a spot, he would have loved to immediately go up and fight Xiahou Yi.

He then turned his head away from Xiahou Yi and leaped onto another arena.

The audience gasped in surprise, "Is that Han Kesong from the Moonfall Sect? I heard he's also a ninth-rank!"

"Two ninth-rank cultivators have already gone up? Will the rest be taken up by ninth-rank cultivators?"

"That's hard to say, let's keep watching!"