Watching the Battle (Middle)
As everyone else left, the two remaining in the arena immediately focused. Their faces tightened, and a faint Dou Qi emanated from their bodies. They each drew their weapons and stared sharply at their opponents.
As the intense fighting spirit gradually filled the arena, whispers broke out again in the long-quiet stands. Some gazes instantly turned fiery and intense. This long-awaited Strong Ranking Tournament was finally about to begin.
"Bang!"
Amidst the expectant gazes of the crowd, the two finally clashed. Although their contact was brief, the clash of their weapons immediately produced sparks and a deafening roar.
As fellow members of the Strong Ranking, they all knew each other to some extent. So much so that after a moment, their powerful Dou Qi clashed again, erupting in a series of deep, resounding booms.
At the same time, as figures flashed by, the crisp sound of metal clanging and sparks flew continuously. The battle quickly ended the initial warm-up of mutual probing and entered into a real melee.
Watching the two locked in a fierce battle, Lin Ming nodded. To be honest, for two Dou Ling to fight to this extent was already quite impressive.
These are just people from the Jia Nan Academy; everyone here is exceptionally talented, which is why they can unleash such power.
As the two continued their battle, one of them eventually showed signs of fatigue. His opponent immediately noticed this and defeated him after only a few rounds, ending the first match.
Upon seeing the end of the match, there was an immediate burst of enthusiastic cheers for the winner. Great Elder Su Qian also announced the results immediately after the match concluded.
Then, amidst applause and screams, Great Elder Su Qian took out another bamboo skewer.
"The second match, number nineteen!"
As Su Qian's voice fell, a figure suddenly flashed onto the stage. The newcomer was a man, his face filled with arrogance and haughtiness.
As a dark horse whose recent popularity even surpassed Xiao Yan's, he climbed straight from outside the Strong Ranking to thirty-third place. Moreover, this guy seemed to have made a boastful statement that if given five days, he would definitely defeat even Xiao Yan, who was ahead of him. This made many people admire his boldness. However, Xiao Yan himself did not respond to this at all. He was busy with his seclusion and had no time to pay attention to these guys who had suddenly become successful.
Upon seeing this person step onto the stage, some of his fans instantly screamed. Of course, the screams were barely heard before someone choked and coughed violently. Because shortly after this person stepped onto the stage, Liu Qing, carrying Great Black Spear, also leaped down from the high platform, causing the arena to shake once again as he stood firmly on it.
Upon seeing that this person's opponent was Liu Qing, Lin Ming could only offer his silent condolences. Lin Ming seemed to recall that in the original novel, this person's opponent was Zi Yan. Now, because of him, Zi Yan had left the Strong Ranking and would not participate in the Strong Ranking Tournament, but this person's fate of being eliminated in the first round remained unchanged!
Faced with the even more domineering Liu Qing, this man naturally had little power to fight back and was defeated under Liu Qing's attacks.
The match ended without any surprises; even the time it ended was within many people's expectations.
Upon seeing the end of the match, Great Elder Su Qian immediately announced the results, and then drew a bamboo stick to announce the candidates for the next match.
The competition continued in groups, and the number of people advancing to the next round gradually increased. Of course, the number of people being eliminated also increased.
As one battle concluded, Great Elder Su Qian announced the results and immediately called for the next group. As soon as Great Elder Su Qian finished speaking, two figures in the arena sprang into action.
In the spacious arena, two figures stood facing each other. One was black, the other white, and they stood out conspicuously against the pale gray background.
"It's Xiao Yan and Bai Cheng? These two have run into each other again..."
"Hehe, this is going to be interesting. I heard that after Bai Cheng lost to Xiao Yan last time, he kept saying it was because Xiao Yan took the Dragon Power Pill. Now that they've met in a competition where taking pills is not allowed, I wonder if he can avenge his previous defeat?"
"I think it's probably difficult. Xiao Yan even defeated Cheng Nan last time he set up a challenge, and Cheng Nan is a six or seven-star Dou Ling expert, whose strength is not inferior to Bai Cheng..."
Looking at the two opponents in the arena, the sea of people in the stands immediately erupted in whispers.
Most people in the Inner Academy knew these two people who had once fought fiercely.
The last battle in the arena solidified Xiao Yan's position on the power rankings, but Bai Cheng, as the loser, suffered a significant drop in prestige. Now that they meet again, it can only be described as a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road.
Xiao Yan seemed oblivious to the whispers among the crowd. The massive Black Heavy Ruler flashed out with a flick of his wrist, and with a casual wave, a powerful gust of wind formed beneath him, scattering some dust from the ground in all directions. In contrast, his opponent, Bai Cheng, showed signs of impatience even amidst the whispers.
This shows that in their battle, Bai Cheng was already at a disadvantage even before it began.
The outcome of the battle was as expected. Although Bai Cheng wielded his spear with considerable skill, even using secret techniques to enhance his combat power, he was quickly overwhelmed by Xiao Yan, who was more composed, possessed the first transformation of the Heavenly Fire Three Xuan Transformations, and was also clad in the Green Lotus Core Flame Outer Armor. Xiao Yan then found an opportunity to strike him heavily with the Black Heavy Ruler, causing Xiao Yan to fall to the ground, spit out a mouthful of blood, and faint.
Bai Cheng fainted, and the match ended immediately. Under Great Elder Su Qian's announcement, Bai Cheng was carried off the field, while Xiao Yan, who was also exhausted, was helped off the field by Xun Er.
After Xiao Yan's match ended, several more matches were held. Then, with Lin Xiuyai's appearance, the scene suddenly became noisy again.
As the number one on the Strong Ranking, Lin Xiuyai was naturally the focus of everyone's attention. So much so that after he took the stage, some people, while cheering, also wanted to see which unlucky person would be so unfortunate as to encounter Lin Xiuyai.
However, those hoping to see Lin Xiuyai make a move in this round are destined to be disappointed. His opponent did not appear; under pressure from this second- Strong Ranking, he simply chose to concede defeat and withdraw.
Therefore, Lin Xiuyai naturally became the one who advanced the easiest, which made Liu Qing, Xiao Yan and others who wanted to test Lin Xiuyai's abilities in advance somewhat disappointed.
With Lin Xiuyai's direct victory, the first day's twenty-five matches, which lasted from morning until evening, finally came to an end amidst the lingering gazes of countless people.
Although some participants did not perform very well, the "Strong Ranking" competition was still the highest-level competition in the Inner Academy, and the exciting battles between the strong opponents amazed the spectators.