In the crowd below the arena, Kong Yan rested with his eyes closed. His ranking was neither high nor low, sitting just above fiftieth place, and he had only climbed that far by frantically amassing points afterward.
With Kong Yan's reputation, no one was foolish enough to challenge him.
Now, hearing someone mention him, Kong Yan opened his eyes in irritation and looked toward the arena.
He saw Qin Hao and a genius from the Eastern Splendor Continent preparing to fight.
Kong Yan paused. "Someone's actually challenging Qin Hao? Is he stupid?"
Meanwhile...
Kong Yan was not the only one. Ji Ziqi, not far from him, opened her eyes as well.
Ji Ziqi and Kong Yan were both geniuses of the Ten Directions World!
Coming from the same world, they naturally knew each other. They had sparred plenty of times, too, though Kong Yan had been thrashed by Ji Ziqi every time.
"You lost to the Setting Sun Sword Swordsman?" Ji Ziqi's voice was cool, carrying a faint pride born of confidence in her own strength.
"The Setting Sun Sword Swordsman does have some skill." At her words, Kong Yan's face flushed with displeasure. "But you needn't worry about him. He can't threaten you. Shi Tingyan, on the other hand—you should watch out for him."
Kong Yan had fought Qin Hao and lost, but even so, he still did not believe Qin Hao had the strength to rank among the Top Ten.
The one he truly feared was Shi Tingyan!
His fight with Qin Hao had at least taken some time, and they had been fairly evenly matched. But against Shi Tingyan... Kong Yan had felt hopelessly outmatched.
Ji Ziqi nodded slightly. She stopped watching the arena and turned her gaze toward several people nearby.
Those people...
They were none