Sword Pool City, Central Plaza.
On the middle of three Arenas.
The middle Arena covered the largest area and was the grandest of the three.
At the center of the Arena, Wang Xuan sat cross-legged, his face cold and his expression tinged with impatience.
Nearly two hours had passed.
Qin Hao still had not appeared!
Across the plaza, discussion roared. The clamor threatened to lift the entire square off the ground.
"What's going on? Qin Hao still isn't here. Don't tell me he knew he was no match for Wang Xuan and ran away early."
"Surely not. Qin Hao doesn't strike me as someone who'd flee without a fight."
"His time is almost up. If Qin Hao doesn't appear, he'll lose his chance to compete in the Sword Pool Tournament for good. Everyone gets only one chance."
"Maybe something held him up?"
The crowd whispered among themselves. Nearly two full hours had passed since Wang Xuan won his fiftieth match, yet Qin Hao still had not appeared.
With Qin Hao's three-day rest period almost over, people could not help wondering whether he truly dared not fight Wang Xuan and had left Sword Pool City early.
In the crowd, Fang Ming and Lu Yuan listened to the discussion, sneers rising to their lips. Fang Ming said with a disdainful laugh, "Brother Lu, looks like you were right. Qin Hao's nothing but a clown jumping around on a beam. Compared with Brother Wang, he's nothing at all."
"Wasn't that obvious?"
Lu Yuan stood with his hands behind his back. "You know what kind of man Senior Brother Wang is. He reached thirteenth on the Hidden Dragon Ranking last year. He's rarely made a move since, but his strength has long since reached another level."
"It's just a shame about those two