The Top Six

Zhuo Yong had died right before his eyes. Li Yun's supposed grief-stricken anguish was all an act.

Still, he couldn't help feeling a little kinship with him.

The two of them had gotten along well enough. If he got the chance, Li Yun would avenge Zhuo Yong.

Zhuo Yong's body was carried away.

Li Yun returned to the drawing and continued competing.

In the matches that followed, Li Yun couldn't tell whether his luck was good or bad.

He never once faced a disciple from an Inner City faction.

On the other rings, the fights grew increasingly perilous.

Every so often, someone had to be carried away.

The sky gradually darkened.

"Clang—"

The gong rang out across the grounds.

The second round was over.

Everyone turned to look at the scoreboard on the elevated 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.

The Body Tempering Realm finalists were evenly split between the Inner and Outer Cities.

But Zhu Daqi was the only one from the Outer City in the Bright Force group.

The Outer City's Martial Halls had suffered a humiliating defeat this round.

Bai Yu and Hou Wei were barely able to contain their anger. The two Martial Halls' top Bright Force contenders had both been badly injured.

Not one of the top six in Bright Force belonged to their Martial Halls.

While gloom hung over the Martial Halls, the heads of the five Inner City factions beamed with delight.

They had not only crushed the Outer City factions' momentum but also crippled quite a few promising young fighters.

Their own people were all elite. Even when they lost, they had surrendered before their opponents could land a dirty blow.

So no one had been killed or seriously injured; only a few had sustained minor wounds.

"Tsk, tsk."

Shi Tao suddenly spoke, his voice quiet.

"Your Outer City disciples sure can't take a beating."

Bai Yu's face darkened like a storm cloud.

This competition had been held several times without incident, so he had let all the disciples in his hall take part.

More combat experience could only be a good thing.

That was why White Crane Martial Hall had sent the most disciples into the second round.

And suffered the most casualties.

Shi Tao acted as if he hadn't noticed Bai Yu's expression and continued on his own:

"What a splendid competition today~

Those Outer City disciples were so 'willing to lay down their lives'—it got my blood racing. I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's finals and more 'good shows.'"

Just as Shi Tao looked ready to keep taunting them, Huang Junchi, head of the Huang Family, stepped in to smooth things over.

He was worried that Shi Tao would keep running his mouth until the two sides came to blows.

That would throw their plans off course.

"I can see that everyone is exhausted from today and not in the mood for idle chatter.

Why don't we all head back and rest, then meet again tomorrow for the finals and settle who's stronger? What do you say?"

Without waiting for the Martial Hall heads to respond, he shot them a meaningful glance.

The heads of the Wang, Lin, and Jiang Families caught on and took their leave one after another.

"Until tomorrow, everyone."

Shi Tao grinned broadly and followed them out.

After the five of them had left, only the Martial Hall heads remained on the platform.

One Dark Force Martial Hall head cupped his hands in salute.

"Three Hall Masters, the Inner City factions came on strong today and have already resorted to killing. Tomorrow's finals will be even harder to handle.

Our Martial Halls have lost many disciples, and everyone is on edge. What should we do now?

If we don't get even, then from now on..."

The other Hall Masters looked up in unison, turning their eyes toward Fu Huaixing and the other two.

Someone couldn't help voicing his agreement.

"Exactly. Three Hall Masters, please decide what we should do."

"If this keeps up, our Martial Halls won't be able to stay open much longer~"

Seeing that Bai Yu and Hou Wei remained unmoved, Fu Huaixing rose to his feet and raised a hand to quiet them.

The questions around him fell silent.

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

All eyes turned to him. Even Bai Yu and Hou Wei looked up.

"The situation hasn't become irreparable.

We have a good chance in the Body Tempering Realm.

But the Bright Force division will be tricky.

Daqi may have reached the ninth ring of Bright Force, but he can't take on several Bright Force experts from the Inner City by himself. He'll be like a lone tree facing a storm.

However..."

When they had arranged the competition, they had never expected things to come to this.

In the third round, the top six would draw lots to determine their rankings. Anyone dissatisfied could challenge another contestant.

The winner moved up; the loser moved down.

It was straightforward and brutal.

"Don't forget, tomorrow's matches won't just be in Body Tempering and Bright Force.

There will also be a showdown in Dark Force!"

The others came to their senses, as if waking from a dream.

"Right! How could we forget that?"

"Hmph. Tomorrow, I'll make the Mountain Gang pay for killing my disciple."

"..."

The Inner City had one more Transforming Force expert than the Outer City, at least on the surface.

There were two reasons they hadn't acted earlier, one major and one minor.

One of the lesser reasons was that the Outer City had far more Dark Force fighters than the Inner City.

The Martial Hall heads' worried expressions eased a little, and they dispersed.

Only the three Transforming Force Hall Masters remained...

People began leaving the competition grounds.

As Li Yun followed the crowd toward the exit,

a slightly plump, middle-aged man in a cotton coat approached with a beaming smile.

"Excuse me, are you Li Yun of Subduing Tiger Martial Hall?"

"And you are?"

"I'm Fang Yubin, one of the Huang Family's stewards in the Inner City. I'm here at Miss Huang's request to ask you something."

Huang Shengnan.

Li Yun remembered her. She had been quite generous.

The Blood Ginseng had tasted wonderful.

"Please, what did you want to ask?"

"Would you be willing to accept the Huang Family's support? One two-year-old Blood Ginseng each year, and ten taels of silver each month.

"Of course, if you manage to develop Bright Force, the terms will be even better."

Li Yun felt a pang of regret. The offer was genuinely good.

They were clearly confident he would develop Bright Force soon.

But Li Yun wasn't a fool. He couldn't accept support from an Inner City faction at a time like this.

"May I ask what the Huang Family wants from me in return?"

"Nothing. The Huang Family values your talent. If the family ever runs into trouble, all we ask is that you lend a hand if you're able."

Seeing Fang Yubin's genial smile, Li Yun cupped his hands in salute.

"Please thank Miss Huang for thinking so highly of me. Could I have a few days to consider it?"

Did windfalls really fall from the sky?

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

"Of course. If you change your mind, you can visit Miss Huang anytime."

Hearing Li Yun decline, Fang Yubin's expression didn't change. He exchanged a few polite words with Li Yun, then left.

As if they'd arranged it beforehand, the Wang, Lin, and Jiang Families also sent people to recruit him.

Each offer was better than the last.

Well, Li Yun could now more or less guess what they were after.

It probably had something to do with tomorrow's finals.

He had only wanted to make a modest name for himself and win the Blood Ginseng. Somehow, he'd become... one of the key pieces on the board.

After those factions left, other wealthy households came to court him.

Head of security, honored guest, venue guard...

Li Yun politely turned down every offer.

"Junior Brother, you swept the Body Tempering Realm ring today. You're quite the hot commodity~"

At the sound of that lecherous teasing, Li Yun didn't even need to turn around to guess who had come.

Lu Kuan.

Lu Kuan slung an arm around Li Yun's shoulders, raised his brows, and said with a grin,

"Take a guess what kind of support I managed to get you?"