Day's End, Prize Tomorrow?

Dusk fell, the sun setting beyond the western hills, the evening glow beautiful.

The first day of the martial hall Grand Tournament had temporarily concluded.

On this day, some martial halls failed to defend their halls, lost their plaques, and were eliminated, leaving regrets behind.

Some martial halls won streak after streak, seizing points without pause, elated beyond measure.

And some martial halls neither gained points nor were eliminated, passing the day safely.

The joys and sorrows across the city were far from uniform.

When Shen Zhou and the others returned to the Flying Bird First Martial Hall, seeing the plaque still hanging at the entrance, they knew Tan Tong hadn't let them down.

"Zhou gege..."

Inside the martial hall, seeing Shen Zhou and the others return, Xi Mei was the first to greet them.

Shen Zhou ruffled Xi Mei's head, then looked at the others.

Tan Tong was unharmed, just weary from a full day of fierce battles.

A Dai and Wang Xiaomao had sustained minor injuries.

Xi Mei said that someone had come to challenge the hall, and A Dai and Wang Xiaomao wanted to temper themselves, so they volunteered to fight, which was how they got hurt.

Fortunately, defending the hall wasn't decided in a single match; as long as the martial hall's designated strongest defender hadn't conceded, the defense wasn't over.

With Tan Tong's Coagulation Eighth Realm strength plus the second-layer Stone Skin Realm of the Golden Body Art, he didn't flinch even against the martial artists of the Five Great Families, so the Flying Bird First Martial Hall held firm on the first day.

Tan Tong then asked, "How did you all fare today?"

San Mazi and Dongfang Pangpang immediately straightened their backs, showing off today's spoils with a hint of pride.

A full sixty or seventy golden plaques glittered before everyone's eyes.

The people of the Flying Bird First Martial Hall felt momentarily dazzled.

Wang Xiaomao exclaimed in shock, "Did you kick every martial hall in the city? How can there be this many?"

Tan Tong even spotted plaques from the Four Great Families' martial halls among them and pressed, "You challenged the family martial halls? And won?"

Then, thinking of something, he added, "You used the Taixuan Sword, didn't you?"

Without the Taixuan Sword, Tan Tong and the others wouldn't believe for a second that Shen Zhou, at Coagulation Sixth Realm, could achieve such results.

Shen Zhou didn't deny it. "Just tell me if it's impressive or not."

Tan Tong was speechless. "But the teacher said you were here to temper your martial arts. This doesn't count as tempering."

Shen Zhou argued confidently, "I did temper myself. I only used the Taixuan Sword after I tempered myself and still couldn't win."

Tan Tong: "..."

It was hard to judge.

Then San Mazi and Dongfang Pangpang chimed in together, briefly recounting the challenge process.

When they heard that all Five Great Families had been eliminated, Tan Tong and the others were struck dumb for a long while.

Finally, Tan Tong shook his head, a hint of melancholy in his voice. "In past Grand Tournaments, the final highlights were usually centered on the Five Great Families. But now, on the very first day, you've eliminated the Five Great Families and so many other martial halls. If outsiders find out, who knows what chaos will break loose."

In truth, chaos had already erupted outside.

Of the roughly one hundred thirty to forty martial halls across the city, after the first day's tally, only about forty remained—nearly a hundred had been eliminated.

The moment this number came out, the entire city was in an uproar.

Such a thing had never happened in previous years.

And most of it was Shen Zhou's doing.

Many from the eliminated martial halls said they'd left home fine in the morning, only to return at noon and find their own hall had been knocked out—where was the justice in that?

Others said they'd planned which hall to challenge, only to arrive and discover their target had already been taken down.

Thinking, fine, one's gone, let's pick another, they found the next one eliminated too—like they'd run into a ghost.

And throughout these complaints, one name kept cropping up over and over.

Because of this person, so many martial halls had been eliminated shortly after opening their doors.

That name was—Dugu Qiubai!

Then everyone grew curious.

"Damn it, who the hell is this Dugu Qiubai? Where did he pop up from? Is this guy insane, challenging that many in one day?"

"Never heard of this bastard before. Is he some secret trump card hidden by a martial hall?"

"Even more unbelievable—the Five Great Families' martial halls got eliminated too. Can you believe it?"

"What, the Five Great Families' halls are out? Who did it, Dugu Qiubai?"

"Oh, the Xu Family hall wasn't Dugu Qiubai's doing. The Xu Family must have pissed someone off, because they drew the ire of over a dozen martial halls that jointly challenged them, wore them down in a rotation, and beat their defender into the ground!"

"..."

Truly, strange things happen every year, but this year takes the cake.

Meanwhile, the gambling dens in the city that had opened betting pools for the Grand Tournament were especially lively that night.

In previous years, the most popular and highest-odds bets were always on the disciples of the Five Great Families' martial halls. But this year, a single name had suddenly emerged, overwhelming the Five Great Families' contestants and topping the popularity charts with the highest odds.

Dugu Qiubai!

When gamblers saw this name, their faces were blank with confusion, and they began asking each other.

"Who the hell is this guy? How are his odds higher than those from the Five Great Families?"

"You haven't heard yet? This guy is the dark horse of the Grand Tournament. In one day, he single-handedly eliminated dozens of martial halls across the city. His strength is unfathomable, and he's been called 'the number one under the Transformation Yuan Realm.' Even those martial halls from the Five Great Families were eliminated by him."

"What? That strong?"

For a time, the entire city buzzed with talk of 'Dugu Qiubai.'

That name rose like a comet overnight, shocking everyone in the city who was following the Grand Tournament.

That evening, many from the Five Great Families also looked into 'Dugu Qiubai,' all wanting to know which martial hall he belonged to, daring to strike against their families.

Especially the Wu Clan.

Wu Chen harbored deep hatred for this 'Dugu Qiubai' who had ruined his plans.

"That bastard better pray I don't find out which martial hall he's from. If I do, I'll make sure he never sees the light of another day!"

Wu Chen's killing intent was palpable.

The next day.

No matter how lively the city became, the sun rose as usual.

Inside the Flying Bird First Martial Hall.

Wang Xiaomao and the others had already learned of the previous night's commotion. It was their first time hearing Shen Zhou's alias, and when they looked at him today, their gazes were all a bit strange.

"'Dugu Qiubai'?"

Wang Xiaomao shook his head as he circled Shen Zhou, clicking his tongue repeatedly. "Even though the facts are right in front of me, it's still hard to believe that a name as flashy and cool as 'Dugu Qiubai' came from this guy Shen Zhou. And does his personality even match 'Dugu Qiubai'?"

Dongfang Pangpang and the others shook their heads in unison.

To be fair.

Anyone hearing 'Dugu Qiubai' would immediately think of a cold, aloof, peerless powerhouse. But Shen Zhou's flippant, unreliable demeanor clashing with that name felt like forcing eggs and potatoes to stir-fry together.

It just felt awkward no matter how you looked at it.

Shen Zhou rolled his eyes at them. "You guys are just jealous, envious, and green with envy over my talent!"

Everyone: "..."

Finally, A Dai stepped in to break up their idle banter and said seriously, "Zhou Boss, since you already kicked so many martial halls yesterday, can we take a break today?"

A Dai's meaning was that Shen Zhou had caused too big a stir yesterday, and he wanted him to lie low for a while.

Besides, the Grand Tournament preliminaries lasted three days. At the pace of previous years, plenty of martial halls would still remain after three days, and then rankings based on points would determine the top sixteen.

But this year, if Shen Zhou went out kicking again today, he feared there might not be any martial halls left to enter the second round.

Shen Zhou, however, said, "Isn't it good to keep kicking? Our goal from the start was to win. If we can take out all the opponents in the first round, that saves a lot of trouble. We can finish early and get back to our own business."

Everyone was stunned speechless by Shen Zhou's idea.

It sounded like he was talking about going to plant crops.

Way too casual!

But when they calmed down and thought it over, it actually made some sense.

San Mazi and Dongfang Pangpang, always eager to watch the world burn, immediately agreed with Shen Zhou's plan, deciding to finish everything in one day and collect the prize tomorrow.

A Dai and Wang Xiaomao didn't know how to argue, so they silently went along.

Only Tan Tong looked mournful as he said, "I really came here to hone my martial arts, but with them doing this... will I even have any opponents to train against?"

At that moment, he missed his senior brother Tang Shan and the others, wishing they were here.

Unfortunately, the Grand Tournament rules stated that once the competition began, Hall Masters could not remain in the martial halls, to ensure fairness and impartiality.

In the end, the decision was made: Shen Zhou would continue taking San Mazi and Dongfang Hongyu to challenge halls, aiming to finish everything in one day.

Splendid Martial Hall.

Du Shuisheng had twin blades tucked at her waist, long hair falling down her back, and wore a fitted cyan outfit—neat and sharp.

Early in the morning, as soon as the doors opened, she and the Splendid Martial Hall disciples stayed inside, with her seated upright on a grand armchair, calmly waiting for challengers to arrive.

Unlike the situation yesterday, Splendid Martial Hall wasn't very strong. Du Shuisheng herself was only at the peak of the Coagulation Eighth Realm, so after the competition started yesterday, she had simply guarded the hall while sending other disciples out to attack and earn points.

Her fellow disciples had done decently, even managing to snatch two tokens by luck.

Originally, Du Shuisheng felt that while entering the top sixteen would be a struggle, she was confident she could at least keep the hall from being easily eliminated.

But last night, after hearing about Dugu Qiubai's deeds, she had a premonition that she would eventually become his next target.

"Whoever you are, if you want to eliminate my Splendid Martial Hall, you'll have to ask my Water-Fire Twin Blades first!"

Du Shuisheng's expression was resolute.

At that moment, at the entrance, bathed in the light spilling through the door, a figure carrying a broad iron sword on his back stepped first across the threshold of Splendid Martial Hall, followed closely by two companions.

Du Shuisheng looked up and saw that the newcomer was a slightly dark-skinned, sturdy young man. Though his qi and blood were not dense, his brows and eyes radiated an unparalleled confidence.

The people inside Splendid Martial Hall immediately tensed as if facing a great enemy.

Du Shuisheng also rose from her armchair, her hand instinctively pressing down on her twin blades. Then she heard the opponent announce himself.

"Dugu Qiubai, here to challenge!"

Du Shuisheng's body trembled, her expression stern.

He had come, after all.