Many disciples whose strength was close to Jian Tie's looked on in disbelief.
Jian Tie had lost far too quickly. Hardly any time had passed between his entry into Lu Ren's Ten-Thousand Dao Pillar and the moment he was blasted back out.
That meant he had fallen without putting up much of a fight against Lu Ren.
Disciples from the various Primordial Clans quickly crowded around him.
"Jian Tie, what happened?"
"How did you lose so fast?"
Questions came at him from every side.
Jian Tie climbed to his feet, his expression dark as could be.
He looked at the rankings. His name had already fallen out of the top hundred. His fists clenched, his eyes filled with frustration.
"Damn it!"
Jian Tie gritted his teeth. "That Lu Ren has Dao-Shedding Stage combat power!"
The crowd around him shook at his words.
"What? Dao-Shedding Stage combat power?"
Disbelief was written across the faces of many disciples whose strength was comparable to Jian Tie's.
The Realm-Locking Stage stood between the Domain-Transformation Stage and the Dao-Shedding Stage.
Even among prodigies with Primordial Battle Bodies, few could cross such a vast gap.
And Lu Ren had only an Ordinary Battle Body.
"Believe it or don't!"
Jian Tie said coldly, "The first round is over. If you don't believe me, go challenge him in the second!"
With that, Jian Tie fell silent.
His defeat had cost him any chance of entering the second round.
He had been safely ranked eighty-first, enough to advance.
But to knock Lu Ren out of the top hundred, he had willingly dropped in rank, only to lose to Lu Ren instead.
This time, he had picked up a stone only to smash his own foot.
In the distance, the five Daoists looked no less startled.
"Even Jian Tie lost?"