The Top Six

Zhuo Yong died right before his eyes, but for Li Yun to say he was devastated would be a lie.

However, there was indeed a sense of sorrow, a feeling of empathy for one of his own kind.

The two had gotten along reasonably well, and if the opportunity arose, Li Yun would certainly avenge him.

Zhuo Yong's corpse was carried away.

Li Yun returned to the drawing of lots to continue the matches.

In the subsequent bouts, it was hard to tell whether Li Yun's luck was good or bad.

He did not encounter a single disciple from the Inner City factions.

On the other arenas, the fighting became increasingly vicious.

From time to time, someone was carried out.

The sky gradually darkened.

"Clang~"

The sound of the bronze gong echoed throughout the venue.

It signaled that the time for the second round of matches had ended.

Everyone's gaze turned toward the scoreboard on the high platform.

Body Tempering Realm: Su Xue, Ma Chen, Li Yun, Tang Feng, Wang Xiuyuan, Lin Fan.

Bright Force: Fan Yang, Huang Mingjie, Wang Junrui, Lin Qiming, Jiang Tianxiang, Zhu Daqi.

In the Body Tempering Realm, the Outer City and Inner City each held half the spots.

In the Bright Force category, however, only Zhu Daqi remained.

In this round, the various martial halls of the Outer City had suffered a humiliating defeat.

Bai Yu and Hou Wei could barely contain their rage; the Bright Force seed players from both their halls had been beaten into critical condition.

Among the top six in the Bright Force category, not a single person belonged to their own martial halls.

Compared to the gloom hanging over the martial halls, the heads of the five Inner City factions were beaming with joy.

Not only had they severely suppressed the momentum of the Outer City factions, but they had also crippled quite a few promising talents.

The people they brought were all elites; even when they lost, they conceded early whenever the opponent tried to land a lethal blow.

Therefore, there were no casualties, only a few minor injuries.

"Tsk, tsk~"

Shi Tao suddenly spoke up, his voice not particularly loud:

"Your Outer City disciples really aren't very durable, are they?"

Bai Yu's expression turned as dark as water.

This competition had been held several times before without any real danger, so he had allowed all the disciples in his hall to participate.

Gaining more combat experience was always a good thing.

Consequently, in the second round, his White Crane Martial Hall had the most disciples participating.

And they had suffered the most casualties.

As if he didn't see Bai Yu's ugly expression, Shi Tao continued to speak to himself:

"Today's matches were truly spectacular~

The Outer City disciples were so 'fearless of death' that it made my blood boil. I truly look forward to seeing more 'good shows' in tomorrow's finals."

Seeing that Shi Tao was about to continue his mockery, the head of the Huang Family, Huang Junchi, stepped forward to smooth things over.

Huang Junchi was genuinely afraid that this loose-lipped fellow Shi Tao would cause the two sides to come to blows.

That would deviate from their plans:

"I see that everyone is exhausted today and in no mood for idle chatter.

Why don't we all head back to rest and recover our strength, then gather again tomorrow for the finals to decide the victor, how about that?"

After speaking, without waiting for the various hall masters to respond, he gave a wink.

The heads of the Wang, Lin, and Jiang families understood and offered their farewells one after another:

"Everyone, see you tomorrow."

Shi Tao flashed a wide grin, followed behind them, and left.

After the five of them departed, only the masters of the various martial halls remained on the high platform.

One of the Dark Force hall masters cupped his hands in a salute:

"The three hall masters, the people from the Inner City are coming on aggressively and have already resorted to lethal force today. I fear tomorrow's finals will be even harder to handle. Our martial hall disciples have suffered heavy losses and morale is low. What should we do next?"

"If we don't settle this score, then from now on..."

The other masters on the high platform raised their eyes, their gazes casting in unison toward Fu Huaixing and the other two.

Someone couldn't help but chime in under their breath:

"That's right, the three masters, you must make a decision."

"If things go on like this, our martial halls won't be able to stay open."

Seeing that Bai Yu and Hou Wei remained indifferent, Fu Huaixing stood up and raised his hand in a calming gesture.

The surrounding inquiries quieted down.

"Everyone, please remain calm and hear me out."

The crowd's gazes converged on him, and even Bai Yu and Hou Wei looked up.

"The situation has not yet reached the point of no return.

In the Body Tempering Realm, our odds of winning are high.

However, the Bright Force level is somewhat troublesome.

Although my disciple Daqi has reached the ninth resonance of Bright Force, it is unlikely he can stand alone against several Bright Force experts from the Inner City.

But..."

Because when this competition was set up, no one had even considered today.

The third round uses a system where the top six are determined by random drawing, and then those who are dissatisfied may issue challenges.

The winner stays, the loser leaves.

It is simple and brutal.

"Don't forget, tomorrow's competition isn't just about Body Tempering and Bright Force.

There is also the contest of Dark Force!"

The crowd seemed to wake from a dream:

"Right, how could we forget that!"

"Hmph, tomorrow I will make the Mountain Gang pay the price for beating my disciple to death."

"..."

Compared to the Outer City, the Inner City has one more master at the Transformation Force level on the surface.

The reason they hadn't made a move earlier was due to two reasons, one large and one small.

One of the minor reasons was that there are far more Dark Force martial artists in the Outer City than in the Inner City.

The worried expressions of the various masters eased slightly as they dispersed.

Only the three Transformation Force masters remained...

The crowd began to disperse from the entire arena.

As Li Yun followed the flow of people walking out, a slightly plump middle-aged man wearing a padded jacket walked up to him with a smile:

"May I ask, are you Li Yun of the Subduing Tiger Martial Hall?"

"And you are?"

"I am Fang Yubin, one of the stewards of the Huang Family in the Inner City. I have come to inquire on behalf of the young lady."

Huang Shengnan.

Li Yun remembered her; she was quite generous.

The taste of the Blood Ginseng was excellent.

"You are too kind, please speak your mind."

"I wonder if Brother Li would be willing to accept sponsorship from the Huang Family: one two-year-old Blood Ginseng every year and ten taels of silver every month.

Of course, if you condense Bright Force, the benefits will naturally be even better."

Li Yun felt a pang of regret; the terms were truly excellent.

Clearly, the other party was certain that he would be able to cultivate Bright Force soon.

Unfortunately, Li Yun was no fool; accepting sponsorship from the Inner City at a time like this was risky.

"I wonder what the Huang Family expects to get from me in exchange for this sponsorship?"

"No, the Huang Family values your talent. If the Huang Family ever faces trouble in the future, it would be enough if you could provide some support."

Looking at Fang Yubin's smiling expression, Li Yun cupped his fists in a salute:

"Many thanks to Miss Huang for her high regard, but may I have a few days to consider this?"

Do pies really fall from the sky?

Li Yun wasn't entirely sure, but at a juncture like this, he certainly couldn't agree.

"No matter. Should Brother Li change his mind, you may seek out the young lady at any time."

Hearing Li Yun's refusal, Fang Yubin's expression remained unchanged; he exchanged a few polite pleasantries before taking his leave.

As if they had all agreed beforehand, the Wang, Lin, and Jiang families also sent people to win him over.

Each offer was better than the last.

Well, now Li Yun could roughly guess what they were after.

It likely had something to do with tomorrow's final.

He had originally only intended to show off a little and secure the Blood Ginseng, but now, inexplicably, he had become one of the... key pieces on the board.

After these factions left, other wealthy households came forward to recruit him.

Head of security, guest advisor, venue overseer...

Li Yun politely declined them one by one.

"Junior brother, you've swept the Body Tempering Realm arena today; you're quite the hot commodity~"

Hearing that lecherous, teasing voice, Li Yun didn't even need to turn around to guess who it was.

Lu Kuan.

Lu Kuan threw an arm around Li Yun's shoulder, raised his eyebrows, and said with a grin:

"Take a guess—what kind of sponsorship terms did I manage to secure for you?"