Bang! A figure was struck clear off arena nine and landed heavily on the ground, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth as he clutched his chest in pain. His fellow disciples behind him hurried over to help him away.
Gu Rong stood on the platform with a hint of smugness on his face, looking down at his opponent.
"He defeated his opponent in just five exchanges." Gu He nodded in satisfaction.
With that, Gu Rong had also entered the top hundred. In the second round of the Main Trial, these hundred contestants would once again be paired from opposite ends of the rankings to determine the top fifty. Then, on the third day, the contests would narrow them down to the final twenty-five. The examiners would assess their combined performances in the initial trial and Main Trial to select twenty Martial Provincial Graduates, with the other five serving as reserves.
In other words, they had to defeat their opponents as quickly and flawlessly as possible in all three rounds of the Main Trial. The final twenty-five would then be ranked by combining those results with their mounted archery and pressure-resistance performances from the initial trial. The top twenty would be selected, while five would serve as reserves, ready to fill any vacancies if something happened to those ahead of them. Of course, that was unlikely. In practice, being a reserve was almost the same as being eliminated.
By the time the first round of the Main Trial had ended and the top hundred had been decided, it was already noon. After eating the dry rations and drinking the water they had brought, the contestants could rest and meditate for a while, but they were forbidden from taking any elixirs to ensure the contests remained fair.
Thus, anyone injured