Hundred Sects Tournament · Golden Core (2)

The matches proceeded one after another. Some ended swiftly; others dragged on through protracted struggles. The victors were elated, the defeated dejected. Countless gazes intersected—admiration, regret, scrutiny, calculation... all played out on those small arenas amid shifting light and surging spiritual power.

Shen Yuxi's gaze swept calmly across the many arenas. He generally spared unfamiliar faces only a brief look, offering a cursory appraisal; familiar ones drew a few more glances as he weighed their performances.

Many disciples of the Profound Heaven Sect had entered this tournament, and the teachers and fellow disciples of their respective peaks naturally watched them closely. His gaze finally settled on an arena in the southeastern corner, where Zhou Wan stood.

Zhou Wan was a spell cultivator who had entered the Dao through literature. Her bearing was gentle and serene, and the Green Jade Brush in her hand shone with a lustrous glow. At first glance, it looked less like a weapon than an elegant ornament from a lady's chamber.

Her opponent was a burly man wielding twin metal maces, a body cultivator whose path emphasized raw, domineering strength. He had already reached late Golden Core, and his aura was fierce. Stillness against motion, softness against force—the contrast between them was striking.

The bell announcing the match had barely faded when the body cultivator gave a low roar. Earthen-yellow light flared around his twin maces as he charged like thunder, intent on overwhelming finesse with strength and ending the fight quickly.

His judgment was not entirely wrong. As everyone knew, eight out of ten spell cultivators fought at range. Giving Zhou Wan enough time to deploy her spells would be unwise for a close-combat body cultivator. Conversely, once he closed in, she would have too little time to cast and could only fall onto the