Victory and Bye

The two stepped onto the arena.

This immediately drew enthusiastic cheers and shouts from the audience below.

One was the youngest genius boy, while the other was one of the rare beautiful female contestants in this competition, so they naturally attracted considerable attention.

At the officials' platform.

Instructor Zhu stood beside Li Linliu, smiling as he introduced him. "That young man is Chen Fan, the youngest disciple of our White Cloud Martial Academy. He's only thirteen!"

Li Linliu nodded with a smile. His sharp gaze made Chen Fan seem vaguely familiar.

However, he had only caught a hurried glimpse of Chen Fan a few months ago.

The current Chen Fan had long since shed the image of that skinny boy. He had grown much stronger, and both his height and features had changed, so Li Linliu did not recognize him at once.

He merely smiled and nodded. "He looks quite presentable. What a fine young talent!"

Though Chen Fan was young, his immature face carried a touch of delicate refinement and handsome grace. He was quite pleasing to the eye!

Instructor Zhu nodded. "For Chen Fan to make it this far shows just how gifted he is. Unfortunately, he comes from an ordinary family and is still too young... This is probably his limit."

Several prominent figures from Flying Spirit County's martial arts world nearby also cast curious looks their way.

They had more or less heard about a disciple attaining enlightenment on the arena during this competition, so they found it intriguing.

Li Linliu narrowed his eyes. "For a genius from an ordinary family to make it this far is no easy feat. Whether or not he wins again, we should focus on nurturing him..."

At Chen Fan's age, reaching his current rank was already an exceptionally rare accomplishment, one worth the White Cloud Martial Academy paying a certain price to cultivate.

The bronze gong suddenly rang out!

The referee shouted loudly, announcing the official start of the match.

Li Wen's eyes were full of curiosity as she looked at Chen Fan across from her. With the manner of an older sister, she said, "Are you really not even fourteen yet? You look more like fifteen or sixteen to me."

Chen Fan simply strode forward and struck out with his palm!

Although Li Wen was beautiful, he treated her entirely like a wooden post.

The girl's footwork was light, and she was incredibly fast.

Yet before Chen Fan, she still seemed somewhat outmatched.

If she had faced an ordinary boy her age, he would inevitably have blushed and hesitated. Unfortunately, she had encountered Chen Fan.

In another setting, Chen Fan would not have minded chatting with a pretty girl about ideals and life, but now was not the time!

Chen Fan attacked with incredible speed, his martial arts fierce and swift.

"So fast!"

Li Wen narrowed her long eyes and hurriedly raised her arms to block, crossing them in front of her chest.

With a slap.

The girl lost her balance and staggered backward.

Chen Fan quickly pursued her and sent out several more palm strikes. He was practicing the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm again, hoping that if he entered a true combat state, he might naturally achieve another breakthrough.

The girl truly deserved her place among the top thirty in the county. She was powerful, and her strength even surpassed that of every opponent Chen Fan had faced before.

Unfortunately, no matter how formidable she was, her vital energy and physique were still far inferior to Chen Fan's!

Chen Fan could take ten hits without issue, but as long as the girl was struck once, it would affect her.

The two exchanged over a hundred moves in succession, yet Chen Fan never felt much pressure.

This girl was actually far stronger than Zhang Feihong, but she was not as reckless and unrestrained as Zhang Feihong.

When facing stronger opponents, he instead felt even less pressure. Chen Fan was somewhat helpless as well. Seeing that he could gain nothing useful from the girl, Chen Fan's attacks grew sharper.

The girl's stamina was failing. She felt exhausted and gasped for breath!

Some disciples below the arena felt indignant and began cheering Li Wen on.

There were even far more male disciples cheering than female ones!

Listening to the increasingly loud cheers for Li Wen around him, Chen Fan showed no embarrassment and did not hold back in the slightest.

He kept pressing forward!

Slap!

After only a few more moves, he struck Li Wen's shoulder with a palm while she was panting heavily, her strength nearly exhausted.

The blow sent her tumbling to the ground!

"What a beast!"

Someone below the arena cried out miserably.

Yet Chen Fan paid no attention. He actually stepped forward again, raising his palm to strike Li Wen as she lay on the ground!

A hint of helplessness flashed through Li Wen's eyes as she abruptly raised both hands. "I concede!"

Whoosh!

Chen Fan's palm stopped precisely in midair.

After a slight pause, he cupped his fists. "You let me win, Senior Sister Li."

Li Wen snorted, shot Chen Fan a sidelong glare, and got to her feet.

The referee shouted loudly:

"Chen Fan of the White Cloud Martial Academy wins!"

Li Wen's face flushed red as her long eyes glared at Chen Fan. "Hmph! I have a first-rate foundation. If my true art were not still being cultivated and had not finished transforming, so that my strength was not much greater yet, I definitely wouldn't have lost to you!"

Then she jumped off the arena in a huff.

Chen Fan's breathing remained even. He did not care in the slightest what the woman had said, merely smiling faintly before turning to cup his fists at the referee and walk off the arena.

"Damn it! That kid is acting way too cool..."

"He has no gentlemanly manners at all!"

"What's so impressive about bullying a girl like that?"

Naturally, the audience below discussed the match heatedly.

It was mainly because Chen Fan's victory seemed to have depended heavily on his greater stamina!

In theory, martial artists should not distinguish between men and women, but in reality, people were instinctively more sympathetic toward female martial artists.

Yet in truth, Li Wen was not weak in the slightest. Being able to cultivate a first-rate manual, there were not many like her in all of Flying Spirit County. Her talent was already among the very best!

As Su Qingyang and Lin Mo watched Chen Fan win another match, their expressions turned bitter. Listening to the discussions around them, their hearts were filled with bitterness and envy.

Both of them were straight men and did not care whether Chen Fan had shown grace.

What did it matter if his opponent was a female disciple? Winning was what mattered most!

Unlike the ordinary spectators, however, the hall masters and instructors seated in the honored section all saw Chen Fan's extraordinary qualities!

Li Linliu smiled, holding a white jade fan. "Though Chen Fan is young, his strength is quite decent."

The others all echoed his sentiment.

"The White Cloud Martial Academy truly has many talented disciples!"

"This kid is not bad. He probably has an unusual constitution. Looking at his condition, his stamina has not been fully exhausted yet. It seems his true limits are not merely this!"

Every hall master was at least a fifth- or sixth-realm martial arts expert.

What they valued was not the distinction between men and women, but genuine displays of talent!

Li Linliu narrowed his eyes, suddenly turned back, and quietly said to Instructor Zhu, "When you see Chen Fan later, tell him this for me: if he can advance another step in the later rounds, I'll give him a great gift!"

The following matches ended quickly.

Chen Fan also noticed that the few powerful seeded contestants he knew of had, by sheer coincidence, all avoided facing one another!

"The Flying Tiger Sect, as the organizer, is meddling again..."

Chen Fan understood, but did not care.

As expected, Yan Lincu, Feng Yuancheng, and the others all won with ease in the following matches. That dandy Yu Xingzheng from the Four Symbols Sect was also exceptionally powerful; even Chen Fan was not necessarily confident he could defeat him.

The top fifteen had been decided!

At this point, aside from Chen Fan, there were still three White Cloud Martial Academy disciples remaining.

What puzzled Chen Fan, however, was that although there were indeed quite a few Internal Breath martial artists with solid foundations among the top fifteen, not a single one of the White Cloud Martial Academy disciples competing had fully mastered the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm!

Even Feng Yuancheng, the strongest among them, was merely close to major mastery, only one step away!

"Could it be that talented Internal Breath martial artists who have mastered the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm simply disdain participating in this exchange? Or is there another reason?"

Even if they were only one in a hundred, there should still be people who had mastered the White Cloud Pine-Crane Palm before turning eighteen, right?

Among the Internal Breath martial artists from the other martial academies, there were those who had mastered first-rate manuals or begun cultivating true arts.

After all, Feng Yuancheng was nearly done mastering two first-rate manuals!

Chen Fan had entered the academy only recently, so there were many things he did not understand.

Then the drawing for the second round, from fifteen down to eight, began. Chen Fan was unbelievably lucky and drew a bye, advancing without a fight and coasting straight into the top eight!

This stroke of luck caused another uproar of discussion among the audience below.

After all, the spectators had already considered Chen Fan one of the weakest among the top fifteen.

He merely had sufficiently strong comprehension.

Bao Tianyou and the others cheered in delight, happy for Chen Fan.

Sometimes, the result mattered far more than the process. There was an enormous difference between being one of the top eight disciples under eighteen in Flying Spirit County and being one of the top fifteen!

Below the arena, Su Qingyang and Lin Mo looked at each other, their faces full of speechlessness and envy.

After the drawing, several hall masters chatted at length.

Teng Bo, the Flying Tiger Sect's hall master, smiled at the arena. "Chen Fan not only has good comprehension, but also good luck. It seems he is destined to become a formidable figure in the martial world."

Li Linliu looked at Teng Bo and smiled as he nodded, a subtle look in his eyes.

"His luck really is quite good..."

As the organizer of this martial gathering, the Flying Tiger Sect had conveniently separated several seeded contestants during the top-thirty draw. There was clearly some manipulation behind the scenes!

And this time, during the draw from fifteen to eight, the person who advanced early happened to be Chen Fan, regarded by the group as the weakest among them. That was certainly no coincidence either!

The Flying Tiger Sect's hall master laughed heartily. "Chen Fan is not yet fourteen, yet he has charged straight into the top eight of this martial gathering. No matter the reason... I doubt I'll forget this competition for many years to come!"

Everyone present was shrewd, and they quickly understood his meaning.

This both gave the White Cloud Martial Academy some face and added a touch of legend to this martial gathering.

It would also attract more public discussion and attention.

After all, someone had to draw the bye!

Gao Yi, the Four Symbols Sect's sect master, could not help saying, "If we can let those people in Yan Capital City see the glory of our Flying Spirit County and make them value us more, perhaps our Flying Spirit martial arts world will produce a few more people who can enter the 'Martial Academy' in the future..."

In truth, Yan Capital City would never care about what happened in some county town. No matter how legendary this martial gathering was, it had no real significance.

Still, from a certain perspective, Chen Fan's luck really was quite good.

Instructor Zhu, beside Li Linliu, felt even more awkward. He had intended to find Chen Fan after the draw and tell him that if he advanced, he would receive a gift from the hall master.

But after the draw, Chen Fan had advanced directly!

He could not help turning his head and quietly asking, "Hall Master, are you still giving Chen Fan that 'gift'?"

Instructor Zhu had originally planned to tell Chen Fan after the draw, but he had not expected Chen Fan to advance immediately once the drawing was over...

Li Linliu paused slightly, then could not help pausing again.

Half an hour later, the remaining matches officially began.

Feng Yuancheng, Ge Yuantong, Yan Lincu, and a powerful seeded contestant from Cold Plum Pavilion all advanced successfully!

Yan Lincu in particular had abundant vital energy and a powerful physique. The strength he displayed became increasingly formidable.

Watching Yan Lincu's performance and his seemingly inexhaustible vital energy, Li Linliu and the others clicked their tongues in amazement!

"This Yan Lincu has such abundant vital energy and formidable strength. Could he have already reached the level of an ordinary sixth-realm martial artist, with a flawless body and endlessly circulating vital energy?"

"If that is truly the case, then once this boy cultivates a true art, he likely will not encounter another threshold before the sixth martial arts realm. He will advance smoothly all the way!"

"With his vital energy and recovery ability, among first-rate foundation martial artists at the third realm or below, he will probably be unmatched. He could exhaust his opponents to death through sheer endurance!"

The vital energy Yan Lincu displayed was no longer merely abundant. It circulated endlessly in cycles, making him draw even more attention.