Drawing Lots

After speaking, Great Elder Su Qian glanced at the faces of the contestants and shook his head helplessly.

The Strong Ranking Tournament has been held countless times since its inception. Every time it's held, someone gives this kind of reminder, but during the actual competition, everyone fights desperately to advance further. Therefore, Great Elder Su Qian is already used to the expressions on the faces of the crowd below.

"Sigh," Great Elder Su Qian sighed, then addressed the crowd, "Since that's the case, let's begin! The rules are the same as before: everyone draw lots to determine their opponents."

After speaking, Great Elder Su Qian waved his sleeve lightly, and instantly, a large wooden barrel appeared on the stone platform beside him. Inside the barrel were many bamboo skewers, and a black cloth covered part of the barrel.

"There are fifty Lottery Stick inside the wooden barrel, divided into red and blue, with twenty-five Lottery Stick of each color. Each Lottery Stick has a number from one to twenty-five on it. The person who draws the blue lot with the same number as the red lot is the opponent." Great Elder Su Qian briefly explained the rules of the lottery. The rules were exceptionally simple, so everyone present understood them.

"Alright, let's begin the draw now!" Great Elder Su Qian announced formally, seeing that no one had any doubts.

After Great Elder Su Qian finished speaking, the contestants proceeded in an orderly fashion to the stone platform, drew bamboo slips from the wooden bucket, and announced their numbers. After being registered by the staff, they stepped down from the stone platform. Then, another person stepped forward to draw their own number.

As everyone finished drawing their lots, Lin Ming went to the stone platform and began to draw his Lottery Stick. Seeing Lin Ming start drawing lots, those who had already drawn lots but had not yet determined their opponents began to worry.

After all, Lin Ming defeated Lei Qian, Five-Star Dou Spirit, when he had just entered the Dou Ling realm. Now, after two years, Lin Ming's cultivation is at least at the high-level Dou Ling stage. At this level, apart from Zi Yan, no one else present dares to say that they feel no pressure facing Lin Ming.

"Number eight!" After the Lottery Stick number was announced, most people breathed a sigh of relief, but one person looked worried.

Seeing the man's worried expression, several people nearby said with a hint of schadenfreude, "Lei Qian! It's alright. You've already lost once, so losing again won't make a difference."

"Hmph! Even if Lin Ming wants to defeat me Lei Qian, he'll have to pay a price." Lei Qian said, his face ashen, in the face of others' ridicule.

After two years of cultivation, Lei Qian's cultivation level reached the Eight Star Dou Spirit level, and his ranking on the Strong Ranking also rose to twenty-first.

Lei Qian had planned to break into the top fifteen of the Strong Ranking. But who would have thought he would encounter Lin Ming in the very first round?

In the last battle between Lin Ming and Lei Qian barely saw any injuries on Lin Ming's body. Such a blow was considerable for Lei Qian.

Now, after two years, Lin Ming's cultivation level has reached sixth place on the Strong Ranking, revealing him as Eight Star Dou Spirit. This is the same cultivation level as Lei Qian.

Now, with both of them at the same Eight Star Dou Spirit cultivation level, Lei Qian knew in his heart that he could not possibly defeat Lin Ming. Therefore, what Lei Qian just said was that Lin Ming would have to pay a price to defeat him.

In Lei Qian's mind, even if he couldn't defeat Lin Ming, he wanted to injure Lin Ming during their fight, thereby affecting Lin Ming's subsequent matches.

After announcing his number, Lin Ming walked away from the drawing area, leaving it to the next person to draw lots.

After Lin Ming left, the next person came to draw their own Lottery Stick. Before long, only one person remained who hadn't drawn a lot.

At this moment, the most heartbroken person in the arena is the one who is now facing off against the last person.

There are a total of 25 pairs, and 24 pairs already have their opponents. It's no surprise that the remaining person's opponent is the last person who hasn't drawn their last Lottery Stick yet.

Facing this person whom no one wanted to confront, even though the opponent hadn't been officially announced, this person already knew who the opponent was and was mentally cursing all sorts of gods and Buddhas, wondering why they had been given this chance to die.

No matter how unwilling she was, what had to happen had to happen. Zi Yan slowly walked to the stone platform, reached into the wooden bucket and took out the last Lottery Stick, then announced the number on it.

"Number One!"

As Zi Yan's childish voice rang out, the last person, who still held a sliver of hope that the Number Plate had been wrong, began to feel utterly hopeless.

After everyone had drawn lots to determine their opponents, Great Elder Su Qian's gaze swept across the entire hall, he nodded slightly, and his aged and majestic voice resounded throughout the hall.

"Now that the draw is complete, let's prepare for the game! Number one stays, and the Number Plate of you can return to your positions."

After Great Elder Su Qian finished speaking, everyone except Zi Yan and another person who was lost in despair left the scene, fearing that they might be accidentally injured by this Brute Force King.

After everyone else left, the person who had been lost in thought finally came to his senses. Once he was awake, he realized that only he and the Brute Force King remained on the field.

"The competition begins." The elder in charge of the competition shook his head and said helplessly when he saw the two people on the stage.

Even the elders themselves weren't certain they could defeat Zi Yan, let alone this little one who only had Seven-Star Dou Spirit. So the elders didn't waste any time and immediately announced the match, urging everyone to finish their battles quickly.

As the elder announced the start, the person facing Zi Yan knew there was no escape, so he said, "Senior Zi Yan, I hope you can personally take your place later."

"Oh! Alright! Then I'll throw a punch. Whether you can take it or not is up to you." Zi Yan didn't waste any time after saying that. Purple light appeared on her hand, and then she threw a punch.

"Thump!"

"Puff!"

With a thud and a cough of blood, the person who had fought Zi Yan collapsed on the stage and fainted.

Seeing Zi Yan end the fight with a single punch, the elder in charge of the competition shook his head helplessly once again. Faced with Zi Yan's brute force, not only these students at the Dou Ling stage, but even these old Dou Wang veterans wouldn't dare to withstand it.

With both opponents unconscious, Zi Yan was the obvious winner of the match. Afterwards, staff carried the unconscious individuals off the stage for treatment.

The most shocked by this competition were undoubtedly the newcomers who had just entered the Inner Academy. At this moment, these newcomers widened their eyes, feeling a sense of disbelief.

Zi Yan's match was far too easy; one punch was all it took for her opponent to pass out.

In this Inner Academy, where cultivation levels were even higher, they expected a fierce battle to determine a victor. Little did they know, the very first match they were watching would end in such a swift and decisive defeat.

At this moment, these newcomers who had just entered the Inner Academy completely believed what the senior students had said about this Little Girl being the number one on the Strong Ranking. Furthermore, they deeply imprinted Zi Yan's appearance in their minds, reminding themselves at all times that this person was someone they absolutely could not afford to offend.