Gathering Opponent Intel

"Hello, I have collected five wooden tokens."

Li Yun handed the five black wooden tokens to the staff member.

The staff member took the tokens and began to verify the numbers against the roster in their hand.

After confirming everything was correct, they brought out a new token, which featured more intricate patterns than the ones from the preliminary round.

"Take this, and let me inform you of the rules for the second round tomorrow. It begins at the Hour of the Dragon and ends before the Hour of the Rooster. Within this timeframe, the referee will randomly draw opponents. The winner receives a wooden token and may rest for one hour. Finally, the six participants with the most wooden tokens will advance to the final stage."

Li Yun took the semi-final token and nodded. "Understood, thank you for the information."

This competition was truly simple and brutal. The preliminary round was likely a five-to-one elimination, the second round would narrow it down to six, and the third round would conclude the entire event. It was nothing more than a makeshift operation.

Having successfully advanced, Li Yun did not leave the arena but instead went to find Zhuo Yong, taking the opportunity to observe the strength of the other participants. He was particularly interested in Su Xue and Ma Chen. If the intelligence he had just purchased was accurate, then to win first place and obtain the Blood Ginseng, these two were undoubtedly obstacles that would force him to reveal his hidden strength. He feared it would be difficult to defeat them without going all out. Weren't there supposed to be few people who had achieved minor success in their fighting styles? How did he manage to run into all of them?

After wandering around, he finally found Zhuo Yong at a ring near the exit. It just so happened that Zhuo Yong had just defeated his opponent with a "Fierce Tiger Pounces on Prey" and was stepping down with his token. "Junior Brother Li, I've collected five tokens. How about you?"

"Congratulations, Senior Brother. I just finished collecting mine as well."

"Good, then I'll go exchange mine for the qualification to advance."

"Understood."

After Zhuo Yong exchanged his token, he heard that Li Yun wanted to find Su Xue and Ma Chen, so he decided to go along and take a look.

Li Yun and Zhuo Yong circled the arena and, before long, found the two of them near the ring in the southeast corner. Su Xue stood in the crowd wearing simple clothing, while Ma Chen had his shirt open, revealing large, muscular pectorals. The two were surrounded by a group of martial artists like stars surrounding the moon, their gazes fixed on the ring. Li Yun and Zhuo Yong moved closer as well.

"Go, Zhang Xiaorui! Let the Wild Ox Martial Hall see the power of our White Crane Martial Hall!"

"Go, Yu Lihui! Let the White Crane Martial Hall see the power of our Wild Ox Martial Hall!"

"..."

The two sides argued until their faces were red, though Su Xue and Ma Chen, who were at the center, did not speak. They were simply watching the ring intently, observing their own junior sister and senior brother. Li Yun had frequently inquired about the situation between the martial halls in the Outer City recently, so he had some understanding of the matter. These two families often vied for first and second place in previous years; they were old rivals. As for the Subduing Tiger Martial Hall, he heard they were only relegated to third place because their head senior brother was absent.

"Begin."

Seeing that both sides were ready, the referee on the ring gave the order to start the fight. The referee's voice caused the crowd below to fall silent, and they began to watch the match seriously.

Li Yun's gaze also shifted to the ring. The next moment, he felt a reflexive sting in his nose and a churning in his stomach. It was that woman with the foot odor, codenamed A62. However, she was now dressed in a full set of black martial attire and appeared to have cleaned herself up. Her opponent was a massive, muscular man over eight feet tall. Looking at the woman's slender frame, one would feel that if she took a punch, she would end up in a miserable state. However, in the Body Tempering Realm, one did not judge by physique, but by blood and energy. As the two surged with blood and energy, they felt roughly equal to Li Yun.

This was the perfect opportunity to observe the fighting styles of the two martial halls.

Yu Lihui made the first move, charging straight toward Zhang Xiaorui.

Zhang Xiaorui remained calm; her figure suddenly sank as she used White Crane Touches Water to slide three feet to the side.

While dodging the charge, her right leg snapped out like a nimble snake, ankle taut, kicking toward Yu Lihui's knee with a whistling sound that tore through the air.

Thud.

A muffled sound echoed.

Yu Lihui merely let out a grunt, his knee bending slightly before he held his ground, shouting in a rough voice:

"Are you scratching an itch for me? Put some effort into it!"

Yu Lihui was thick-skinned and fleshy, his blood and energy shielding his body, allowing him to take the kick head-on.

Taking advantage of the moment Zhang Xiaorui retracted her leg, he swept his left arm out, his fist whistling through the air, forcing her to retreat repeatedly.

Zhang Xiaorui's footwork was agile; as she twisted and turned, shadows of her legs wove together, striking at the man's vital points—ankles, shins, and knees—one after another.

Yu Lihui blocked them all.

The ring was not large, and knowing his own lack of agility, Yu Lihui fought steadily and surely.

Gradually, he forced Zhang Xiaorui into a corner.

Zhang Xiaorui tried to break out several times, only to be forced back by Yu Lihui's brutal fists.

As the space grew smaller, Zhang Xiaorui found less and less room to unleash her leg techniques.

"Hah!"

Spotting an opening, Yu Lihui lunged forward, his iron fist striking upward.

With nowhere left to dodge, Zhang Xiaorui had no choice but to turn and jump off the ring.

Rather than being knocked off the stage, it was better to step down herself and retain some dignity.

With Zhang Xiaorui defeated, the disciples of the Wild Ox Martial Hall immediately erupted in cheers.

"Haha, your White Crane Martial Hall is no good."

"Exactly, exactly."

"..."

The disciples of the White Crane Martial Hall flushed with shame and retorted:

"Don't get cocky. Junior Sister Zhang hasn't been in the hall for long. Once you face Senior Sister Su, you're sure to lose."

"Exactly, exactly."

"..."

Li Yun had no interest in listening to them bicker.

Happening to see the wooden plaques at the waists of Su Xue and Ma Chen, he knew they had already advanced and would not be stepping onto the stage again, so he left with Zhuo Yong.

From what he could see, the fighting styles of the two martial halls were much like the information he had gathered.

One favored brute force, while the other preferred using footwork to find an opening for a lethal strike.

As for more detailed intelligence, he would only know once he had actually fought a match himself.

The two continued to roam the arena, observing and broadening their horizons.

It was indeed as the Sharp-Mouthed Skinny Guy had said earlier: the ones with the overall advantage were the martial hall disciples.

However, they also spotted a very strong non-martial hall disciple.

This person's blood and energy were full, thick, and robust.

His leg techniques were sharp and his strikes seasoned; one look was enough to tell he was not someone to be trifled with.

Inadvertently, the two locked eyes.

The moment that man met Li Yun's gaze, the corners of his mouth curled into a faint, almost imperceptible smile, and his eyebrows arched slightly, carrying a hint of... mockery?

Li Yun generally didn't make enemies, so why was this guy taunting him?

Looking closely at the man's features—sharp brows and eyes, a high-bridged nose—he searched his memory, but no one matched.

"What are you looking at?"

Zhuo Yong raised a hand and patted Li Yun.

Facing Zhuo Yong's question, Li Yun shook his head, secretly noting the matter in his heart:

"Nothing, where were we?"

"Talking about placing bets."

Zhuo Yong stepped half a pace closer, lowering his voice with a hint of excitement:

"The Wild Wolf Gang has set up a betting pool just like every year. You can bet on who makes the top six—isn't this just free silver?"

Hearing Zhuo Yong say this, Li Yun was also delighted.

The money he had previously obtained was almost all spent.

Buying a house, Blood Replenishing Powder, the medicinal herbs for Crispy Bone Soup...

He only had about ten taels of silver left on him. He had originally planned to wait until after the tournament, once he had cultivated Bright Force, to go earn more money.

Now that there was an unexpected windfall, he naturally had to seize it.

"Senior brother, will the Wild Wolf Gang refuse to pay out?"

"Usually not; they aren't in the business of one-off deals."

As it turned out, the two of them had been happy for nothing. The odds for Li Yun, Su Xue, and Ma Chen were a pathetic one in ten thousand.

After discussing it, the two decided to bet on Zhuo Yong.

After signing the Meat Trade Contract, Zhuo Yong had received quite a bit of funding, and his blood and energy had increased significantly.

His fist technique was not far from reaching minor completion.

As long as he didn't run into three seeded players in a row, his chances of advancing were very high.

However, in the end, Li Yun still didn't place the bet.

Although Zhuo Yong had a sixty or seventy percent chance of advancing, it didn't even reach a ninety percent win rate.

It was still too risky.