Eight into Four, Arena Battle

The third day of the tournament.

Early in the morning, Flying Bird First Martial Hall received a notification letter from the City Lord's Mansion.

After San Mazi got the letter, he gathered everyone and read it aloud: "Due to irresistible circumstances, the preliminary selection of this tournament has ended early. Tomorrow, the eight-to-four elimination round will be held at the East City Gate. We hope your esteemed martial hall will arrive on time to participate..."

The content was brief, just a few words, but the meaning left everyone baffled.

Tang Shan and the others were there too.

Yesterday, they'd learned from Tan Tong that Shen Zhou had nearly finished off all the martial halls in a single day, planning to collect the prize tomorrow. They couldn't sit still any longer and rushed to the martial hall to keep watch.

They were afraid of causing any trouble and were about to go find Shen Zhou when they saw him leading San Mazi and Dongfang Pangpang back.

At that moment, the martial hall staff were stunned. Tang Shan even thought Shen Zhou had moved so fast that he'd kicked through every martial hall in just one morning.

Later, Shen Zhou explained that they'd been stopped mid-challenge and directly advanced to the top eight, which finally let Tang Shan and the others breathe a sigh of relief.

But today, the tournament had taken another unexpected turn.

It wasn't the top sixteen competition, but rather the eight-to-four round.

"This... what does 'irresistible circumstances' mean?"

Tang Shan and Meng Gang were baffled for a moment.

Shen Zhou thought it over and said, "Maybe there's a problem with the tournament format."

San Mazi said, "Could it be that everyone's scared of us, so a lot of people proactively conceded?"

A Dai spoke up then, "Is it possible that we eliminated too many martial halls, plus the others fought each other, and... they couldn't scrape together a top sixteen, so they had to change it to eight-to-four?"

"..."

Everyone was stunned at his words.

You know what?

Now that you mention it...

That possibility was huge!

Everyone looked at Shen Zhou in speechless exasperation.

It was this guy who nearly wiped out the entire Citywide Martial Hall Tournament in two days.

If he'd actually pulled it off, how awkward would the City Lord's Mansion and Flying Bird Academy have been!

Well, actually, it was already pretty awkward.

Finally, Pei Dahai clasped his hands together and looked at Shen Zhou with a pleading expression. "Junior apprentice brother, tomorrow's tournament—let's not stir up trouble, alright? Let's just compete properly. If you cause more trouble, us senior brothers really can't take it!"

Chen Xu and the others nodded in unison.

By now, they were already starting to regret inviting Shen Zhou to participate.

Shen Zhou would finish his matches, dust himself off, and go back to being the Qin Family head, but their martial hall still had to survive in the city.

Seeing them all acting like they couldn't handle anything big, Shen Zhou could only say helplessly, "This was your request. If we end up losing first place, don't blame me!"

Pei Dahai quickly replied, "Won't blame you... absolutely won't!"

While Flying Bird Martial Hall was stunned by the sudden change in the tournament, the people of Flying Bird City were also shocked and guessing at the reason.

When they learned that it was all because 'Dugu Qiubai' had 'killed' too ruthlessly, causing too many martial halls to be eliminated and making it impossible to fill the top sixteen, the city was left dumbfounded.

This explanation was completely unprecedented, unheard of.

Thus, 'Dugu Qiubai' became even more famous, and this year's Citywide Martial Hall Tournament blew up in popularity.

That day, the weather was clear and bright, with a gentle breeze.

A massive arena had been set up early yesterday at the East City Gate.

Paved with bluestone, the platform was hard and sturdy, fully capable of handling fights between martial artists below the Transformation Yuan Realm.

And early in the morning, the East City Gate was already packed with spectators, a sea of people, shoulder to shoulder.

"It's just an eight-to-four round, why are there so many people? Was it like this in previous years?"

Among the crowd, Flying Bird First Martial Hall had arrived early and secured a good spot below the stage. Seeing so many people around, Shen Zhou was a bit surprised.

Tang Shan and the others had been keeping an eye on outside news since yesterday. At his words, they smiled bitterly. "The reason this eight-to-four round is so lively is mostly because of you."

Shen Zhou was surprised. "Because of me?"

Pei Dahai took over the explanation. "In previous years, the eight-to-four round wasn't this crowded, because everyone knew the final champion would definitely be one of the five great families. But this year is different. The five families' martial halls were eliminated early, and then you suddenly appeared as a dark horse. Now everyone wants to see just what kind of mysterious figure you are, capable of doing something like this and making the tournament change its rules for you."

"..."

How did I suddenly feel like a celebrity?

Then Shen Zhou remembered something and asked, "Did the Qin Family Martial Hall advance?"

San Mazi answered, "They advanced. That kid Qin Mingshu fought, won against three halls, and got into the top eight. Talk about good luck, huh?"

"..."

Everyone was speechless again.

Three minutes to advance to the top eight—that shows just how brutal this elimination round is.

While they were talking, the people from the other seven martial halls, the city lord's estate, and Flying Bird Academy all arrived as well.

Once everyone was gathered, the city lord went up on stage, gave a brief speech, and then announced the rules for the top-eight to top-four arena battle.

The rules were simple.

The eight martial halls would draw lots for pairwise matchups.

The matched halls would compete in a defense-style format.

Each hall would send three people. One side defends the stage, the other attacks. During the match, a wheel battle format was allowed—meaning the victor could stay on stage and take on the next challenger until all three opponents were defeated. The last person standing on stage would be declared the winner.

After the rules were announced, the eight halls began drawing lots to determine their opponents.

Flying Bird First Martial Hall drew an opponent called 'Wind Thunder Martial Hall.'

Hearing that name, Tang Shan and the others said they'd never heard of it. It seemed this hall hadn't been famous before, and making it into the top eight this time was probably more due to 'riding on' Shen Zhou's coattails.

After all, he was the one who had eliminated so many other halls.

"Since the opponent isn't that strong, let Hongyu go first for the match, with Tan Tong as the main force. If it really comes down to someone even Junior Brother Tan Tong can't handle, then Junior Brother Shen Zhou steps in," Tang Shan quickly set the strategy.

Shen Zhou didn't mind. He felt it was best if he didn't have to act at all.

Otherwise, even if he went up, it would all end with one sword strike—that would be a bit dull.

Tan Tong and the others had no objections either.

Soon, the matches began.

The first bout was between Qin's Martial Hall and Overlord Martial Hall.

On Qin's side, Qin Mingyue was also sitting in command. To play it safe, they first sent up a disciple from Qin's Martial Hall to test the opponent's strength.

As for Overlord Martial Hall, it wasn't famous either. Their advancement this time was also thanks to Shen Zhou, so when the two sides clashed, the Qin family held the greater advantage.

Soon, three matches ended.

Qin Mingshu closed things out for the Qin family, taking all three matches without any suspense.

After the Qin family finished, it was Flying Bird First Martial Hall's turn.

Dongfang Pangpang went up without any surprises.

Aside from Shen Zhou and Tan Tong, this guy was the strongest among the academy disciples.

"Pangpang, go for it!"

"No pressure, just do your best."

"'Dongfang Wudi,' crush them!"

The hall members cheered for Pangpang.

Dongfang Hongyu puffed out his chest and said, "Just watch and see."

Soon, both sides were in position.

Pangpang's opponent was a Coagulation Ninth Realm martial artist, around thirty years old, with a steady aura—clearly a tough nut.

Fortunately, the hall members didn't expect Pangpang to achieve much; it was all about gaining experience and participation.

So the fight began quickly.

Pangpang didn't disappoint either. Three minutes into the match, he struck first, threw a flurry of wild punches, and when he saw they didn't even tickle the opponent, he conceded on the spot.

Boos came from the audience.

The Flying Bird First Martial Hall members gave Pangpang a thumbs-up and even praised him: "Well done!"

Dongfang Pangpang pouted and explained, "What do they know? I'm conserving my strength, waiting to challenge those Flying Bird Academy guys."

Everyone saw through his bravado but didn't call him out.

After that, Tan Tong stood up and walked toward the arena.

Without any extra chatter, as soon as the gong sounded for the match, both sides moved at once.

Tan Tong's punches had no flashy moves—straightforward, fierce, and unstoppable.

His opponent happened to be the same type of martial artist, also walking the body-tempering path.

So when they fought, it was fist to flesh, every strike landing with sound, instantly igniting the atmosphere of the entire arena.

"This guy from Wind Thunder Martial Hall is pretty tough. Did they send out their strongest disciple first?" Shen Zhou muttered, seeing that Tan Tong couldn't gain any advantage after a while.

Everyone knew Tan Tong's strength—Coagulation Eighth Realm peak, plus the Golden Body Art's second layer, Stone Skin Realm at great completion. Such combat power should have easily handled an ordinary Coagulation Ninth Realm disciple from a common martial hall, yet the opponent was trading blows evenly with Tan Tong, neck and neck. That level of strength was rare among non-aristocratic martial hall disciples.

Tang Shan nodded and said, "The opponent has a very solid foundation. If he's a seed disciple of the hall, then having this kind of strength isn't surprising."

The crowd continued watching.

Boom, boom, boom...

In the blink of an eye, Tan Tong exchanged over a hundred punches with his opponent. By the end, both were battered and bruised, yet neither gave up.

At this point in the fight, it was no longer about strength—it was about who could endure more.

Fortunately, Tan Tong's body refinement was superior. Relying on the thick-skinned resilience of the Stone Skin Realm, he eventually wore his opponent down and sent him crashing to the platform.

"You're too kind!"

After catching his breath, Tan Tong cupped his fists toward his opponent as a gesture of respect.

Though a hint of reluctance lingered in the other's eyes, he genuinely admired Tan Tong's skill. He returned the fist salute and stepped off the platform.

Seizing the moment before the next opponent took the stage, Tan Tong quickly regulated his breathing. This bout had drained him considerably.

Before long, the second disciple of the Wind Thunder Martial Hall stepped onto the platform.

He was an ordinary-looking man with an ordinary build—the kind you'd lose sight of the moment he vanished into a crowd.

But as soon as he was on stage, he said to Tan Tong, "You're no match for me. Surrender now. My real opponent is him... Dugu Qiubai!"

With those words, he suddenly turned his attention to Shen Zhou, who was standing below the platform.

Shen Zhou was taken aback. He looked up, and his gaze met the man's.

In that instant, Shen Zhou saw blazing battle intent in the other's eyes—and perhaps a faint, barely perceptible hint of... killing intent?