Martial Arts Competition Begins

In the early morning, as the sun began to rise, the morning mist had yet to dissipate.

Inside the room, Su Mo sat cross-legged, eyes closed, a powerful aura surging around him.

Su Mo was attempting to break through to the Eighth Layer of Qi Cultivation.

A few days ago, he had reached the peak of the Seventh Layer of Qi Cultivation, and for the past three days, he had been trying to break through the bottleneck.

After a long while, Su Mo opened his eyes, a hint of helplessness flashing within them.

He still hadn't broken through.

His cultivation had been advancing too rapidly recently. After devouring a large amount of essence blood in the Youfeng Mountain Range, he had surged directly from the Peak Qi Refining Fifth Layer to the peak of the Seventh Layer of Qi Cultivation.

The rapid ascent in his cultivation had also made his foundation less solid, making it difficult to break through again in a short period.

However, even though he was at the peak of the Seventh Layer of Qi Cultivation, he was comparable to someone at the Eighth Layer of Qi Cultivation.

Coupled with his physical body possessing the strength of eight tigers, even a martial artist at the Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation would not be his match.

Today's Martial Arts Competition, he was determined to win first place.

Leaving the room, and bringing Xi'er along, Su Mo and his family members followed the elders of the clan towards the City Lord's Mansion.

The location for this Martial Arts Competition was precisely the City Lord's Mansion.

The Linyang City City Lord's Mansion was located in the northern part of Linyang City, covering a vast area. The entire mansion resembled a small imperial palace, majestic and imposing.

The mansion's main gate was five meters high, cast from fine steel, no less impressive than the city gates.

At this moment, a large crowd was pouring into the City Lord's Mansion. These people were from various forces in Linyang City, all invited by the City Lord's Mansion to witness the Martial Arts Competition.

"Quick, look, the Su family is here!"

The arrival of the Su family members immediately caused a stir in the crowd.

"Look, that's Su Tianhao, a hot favorite to win this Martial Arts Competition."

"The one beside him is Su Hai, also very strong, second only to Su Tianhao."

The topic of discussion among the crowd was none other than Su Tianhao and Su Hai, the two strongest disciples in the Su family.

Just then, another group of people walked over from a distance.

This group was none other than the Wei family.

"Haha! Su Hong, your Su family will be utterly defeated in this Martial Arts Competition."

Wei Wankong, the Patriarch of the Wei family, approached and spoke.

"Wei Wankong, competitions rely on true skill, not just talk!"

Su Hong glanced at him and sneered.

"Hmph! Then we shall see!"

Wei Wankong snorted coldly.

Beside Wei Wankong was a young man in purple. This young man bore some resemblance to him.

This young man was Wei Wankong's eldest son, Wei Rufeng.

Wei Rufeng's gaze swept over the Su family members, finally settling on Su Mo.

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Wei Rufeng lifted his foot and walked directly in front of Su Mo.

"En?"

Su Mo raised his eyebrows and glanced at him.

"Ant, you'd best pray you don't run into me during the competition, otherwise, you'll wish you were dead."

Wei Rufeng's lips curved into a smile as he spoke menacingly.

"Presumptuous! Wei Rufeng, how dare you..."

Su Hong, seeing Wei Rufeng threatening his son right in front of him, immediately roared in anger, but before he could finish, Su Mo interrupted him.

"Wei Rufeng, I'll say the same thing back to you!"

Su Mo's eyes narrowed slightly, and he spoke coldly.

Wei Rufeng's lips curled into a mocking expression. He then turned his gaze to Su Tianhao, a fighting spirit flickering in his eyes.

"Su Tianhao, you are the only one in the Su family qualified to fight me. I hope you don't disappoint me!"

Wei Rufeng's face was full of arrogance, his words brimming with confidence.

"Hmph! What big talk, Wei Rufeng. I've long wanted to experience the high-level skills of your Blazing Sun Sect!"

Su Tianhao sneered, his fighting spirit also surging.

Wei Rufeng was a disciple of the Blazing Sun Sect, which was also one of the four major sects in the Tian Yue Kingdom, with a comprehensive strength not inferior to the Heavenly Origin Sect.

"I'll be waiting for you!"

With that, Wei Rufeng turned and strode towards the City Lord's Mansion.

The Wei family members also entered the City Lord's Mansion.

"Tianhao, what's your confidence level against Wei Rufeng?"

The Su family's Third Elder asked.

"It's about fifty-fifty,"

Su Tianhao continued, "However, the City Lord's daughter, Lin Qiong, also shouldn't be underestimated. Both of them are my opponents for the championship this time."

Everyone nodded. In this Martial Arts Competition, only these three had reached the Peak Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation.

It seemed like a fierce battle was about to unfold.

Immediately after, the Su family members also walked into the City Lord's Mansion.

Within the City Lord's Mansion, the massive training ground was incredibly vast, easily accommodating ten thousand people without feeling crowded.

At this moment, in the center of the enormous training ground, a huge square battle stage had been erected.

Simultaneously, around the battle stage, grandstands were built in the four cardinal directions: east, west, north, and south.

The northern, eastern, and western grandstands were already filled with people, representing the City Lord's Mansion, the Wei family, and the Su family, respectively. In front of the members of these three families were ten young disciples with extraordinary auras.

As for people from other minor forces, they were not qualified to sit in the grandstands and were all located below them.

"Look, that beautiful young girl is the City Lord's daughter, Lin Qiong."

Someone pointed towards the northern grandstand. At the very front of the young disciples there stood a slender young girl in a blue dress, with exquisite features.

"She's so beautiful! And her talent is amazing, reaching Peak Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation at just seventeen years old."

"Indeed! The championship for this Martial Arts Competition will basically be decided among these three: her, Wei Rufeng, and Su Tianhao. There's no suspense!"

"..."

The discussions from the crowd below were incessant.

On the southern grandstand, only a few people were seated.

In the center sat a stunning woman with a captivating figure and a charming face, drawing frequent gazes from her surroundings.

This woman was the Purple Gold Pavilion's Pavilion Master, Luo Huan.

Su Mo stood on the eastern grandstand and looked at Luo Huan, feeling quite surprised.

It seemed the City Lord's Mansion didn't dare to slight the Purple Gold Pavilion at all. The Purple Gold Pavilion's background was indeed immense!

Perhaps sensing Su Mo's gaze, Luo Huan turned her eyes and looked towards him, a seductive, charming smile playing on her lips.

Su Mo quickly averted his gaze, not daring to look any further. This was a captivating enchantress.

At this moment, on the northern grandstand, the City Lord Lin Sheng, tall and with a stern demeanor, stood up.

He surveyed the crowd with a slight smile and announced loudly, "Today, for the Linyang City Martial Arts Tournament, I, Lin Sheng, welcome everyone to my City Lord's Mansion. I won't waste any more time with pleasantries. Let the competition begin!"

With that, Lin Sheng nodded towards the Su and Wei families and sat back down.

A middle-aged man beside Lin Sheng stepped forward and leaped onto the central stage.

This middle-aged man was the City Lord's Mansion's steward, Lin De.

"This Martial Arts Competition will have a total of thirty participants, and it will be conducted using a knockout system. For the sake of fairness, everyone will now come up to draw lots."

Lin De held a box of wooden slips and called out loudly, "These thirty wooden slips have only fifteen numbers. Those who draw the same number will be opponents."

Upon hearing this, all the participating disciples stepped forward to draw lots.

Su Mo also walked forward and drew a wooden slip.

He drew the last number, which was number fifteen.

After everyone had finished drawing, Lin De announced loudly, "The Martial Arts Competition now begins. The two contestants with number one, please remain on the stage. Everyone else, please wait below."

The two contestants with number one were a Wei family disciple named Wei Cheng, who had a Qi Cultivation Level Seven cultivation, and Su Hai.

"I concede," Wei Cheng said, raising his hand dejectedly.

Su Hai won without a fight.

No one mocked Wei Cheng. He was only at Qi Cultivation Level Seven, while Su Hai was at the early stage of Ninth Layer of Qi Cultivation. There was no need to even compete; it would only be inviting humiliation.