The Azure Light Competition's ring had been set up in the central plaza of the Sky Fortune Tribe.
By then, many tribespeople had gathered nearby to watch. There were plenty of young women and married women: some had come to cheer on their husbands, some to encourage the men they fancied, and others to pick out a strong, desirable husband.
The contestants queued up to register. After paying the one-hundred-Copper Coin entry fee, they could wait beneath the ring for the staff to arrange their matches.
Xian He walked casually to the back of the line.
Standing in front of him was a short, stocky strongman.
The strongman glanced back at Xian He and asked scornfully, "You're entering the Azure Light Competition too?"
"What, am I not allowed?" Xian He replied expressionlessly.
If nothing unexpected happened, contestants would be paired off according to their places in line, with odd-numbered spots matched against even-numbered ones.
In other words, the short, stocky man in front of him was very likely to be his opponent.
"You can, but I'd advise you to quit now and save yourself the hundred Copper Coins." The stocky man tried to reason with him. "Most of the contestants are White Obsidian-level martial artists. You're only Two-star Azure Obsidian. You don't stand a chance."
"How can I know that unless I try?" Xian He wasn't swayed in the slightest.
He'd come for the championship. How could he give up and run away without even entering the preliminaries?
The stocky man grew annoyed. "I try to be nice, and you throw it back in my face. Fine, do whatever you want!"
Xian He was grateful for the waterwheel he'd invented for the tribe.
But once they were in the ring, he wouldn't go easy on him.
The Azure Light Competition's champion would receive a bag of rice seeds, the runner-up a Black Iron Spear, and third place a Minor Restoration Pill.
Even the third-place prize could be exchanged for enough Copper Coins to feed his family for a whole month. For the sake of his family, he absolutely had to place!
Who asked for your advice? Xian He thought to himself.
Suddenly, he spotted a familiar figure stepping into the ring.
"Li Zhen, that lapdog, is competing too?" Xian He clenched his fists without realizing it.
He'd settle the score for Li Zhen humiliating him at the Congee Shop last time right there in the ring!
Before officially competing, contestants had to sign a death waiver. Even if they were killed in the ring, neither their opponent nor the organizers could be held responsible.
Sign it and you could compete. Refuse, and you could go cool off somewhere else!
"The Azure Light Competition won't be over in a day. There's one day for preliminaries, one for the round of thirty-two, one for the round of sixteen, one for the quarterfinals, one for the semifinals, one for the final four, and one for the grand final. The whole thing will take a week," Xian He calculated silently.
As long as he didn't run into Li Zhen before the finals, he had a chance of winning with the Thirteen Grand Protectors Horizontal Training Technique and the rewards the system kept giving him!
In the ring, Li Zhen easily knocked out his opponent with a single slap.
Afterward, he arrogantly made a throat-slitting gesture toward the contestants waiting in line.
Xian He clenched his fists, wishing he could charge up there right then and slap Li Zhen's dog brains out.
The line crept forward, and soon it was Xian He's turn to register.
He paid the one-hundred-Copper Coin entry fee, pressed his thumbprint onto the death waiver, and casually walked over to the waiting area to await his match assignment.
If nothing unexpected happened, his opponent would be the stocky man.
Once a martial artist reached White Obsidian level, changes in their muscles became less obvious. Judging by the stocky man's build alone, Xian He couldn't tell what level he was.
However, judging from his skin's luster, the man was probably Two- or Three-star White Obsidian.
"Next up, Wo Diao Chang and Ni Xue Sen! Yan Dong and Xian He, get ready!" The host's voice rang out like a great bronze bell.
Xian He's expression tightened slightly. Since arriving in the world of Demon God Record, he hadn't competed even once, so he couldn't help feeling nervous.
Yan Dong rolled his wrists and neck, not even glancing at Xian He. He looked certain of victory.
He sneered inwardly. A Two-star Azure Obsidian piece of trash—I can end this with one slap!
He was a Three-star White Obsidian martial artist, with eight hundred pounds of strength in one arm. One slap could make Xian He shit himself.
Still, it was better to leave some room for future encounters. He'd only injure Xian He, not kill him.
"Those two names in the ring are pretty weird. One's Diao Chang, the other's Xue Sen. Let's hope they don't start going at it up there." Xian He's lips curled upward, and his tension eased somewhat.
In the stands.
"I can't believe that useless Two-star Azure Obsidian, Xian He, actually dared to enter the competition. He's like an old man hanging himself—just asking to die! Hahaha!" Li Zhen couldn't help mocking him.
If he ran into Xian He, one slap would send him to meet the King of Hell—and save him the twenty thousand Copper Coins it would've cost to hire Greedy Wolf assassins.
Xiao Yang's gaze was sharp, his expression grave. "We were all fooled by him. He isn't Two-star Azure Obsidian—he's White Obsidian One-star. Look at his skin. Isn't it faintly shimmering white?"
No wonder he'd managed to kill that Five-star Azure Obsidian assassin earlier. He'd been hiding his true strength all along.
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