"These guys sure can ramble!" Lin Yu felt a headache coming on as he watched the group still introducing themselves. When would he finally get to see the exciting clashes he wanted?
But seeing how utterly uninterested the people from the Supreme Sword Sect looked, it seemed his rewards still weren't generous enough!
"No matter. If the rewards don't catch their eye, I'll add a punishment!" Lin Yu immediately made his decision.
With that, Lin Yu lightly clapped twice. In an instant, the people who had just been exchanging pleasantries were separated into pairs!
Several invisible barriers rose simultaneously over the earthen-yellow arena. The barriers were transparent; they could only see what was happening on the other side, but couldn't lend a hand.
At the same time, a somewhat mechanical voice rang out in the cultivators' minds again: "You have one hour to determine a winner. Otherwise, you will be stripped of one level of cultivation!"
At these words, everyone's expression changed drastically except Chen Xiaoxian's.
Stripped of one level of cultivation!
This punishment was no joke. It was especially terrifying for cultivators already at the peak, only half a step from the next realm, and those who had just entered a realm.
Among them, Ye Wenqiang was an early Spirit Condensation Realm cultivator. If he lost one level of cultivation, he would probably fall straight out of the Spirit Condensation Realm!
At this thought, the bitter smile on Ye Wenqiang's face deepened. The master of this Primordial Hall really did have a way of handling things.
Seeing that the heaven's chosen of those major sects didn't care much about the so-called "mysterious prize," he had turned around and introduced a punishment like this!
Even for those heaven's chosen, a drop in realm would cause unavoidable losses!
But what made it hardest for Ye Wenqiang to smile now was seeing his opponent.
His opponent was none other than Chen Xiaoxian, whom he had just spoken with!
Nearly fifty places separated them!
"In that case, Brother Xiaoxian, let's get started as soon as possible. We'll be in trouble if we can't settle this within an hour," Ye Wenqiang said.
"You might not care, but if my cultivation gets stripped away, I'll drop straight from the Spirit Condensation Realm to the Qi Sea Realm. I've finally gotten a chance to fight an expert. It would be awful to gain no experience and lose a realm instead!"
"Then I'd truly have nowhere to cry."
He was a rogue cultivator. Every bit of progress in his cultivation had been hard-won, steeped in hardships beyond words.
Yet Chen Xiaoxian's expression barely changed. His expression hadn't changed when the announcement came either.
"It's fine. I ain't ever cultivated a day in my life. I just naturally ended up like this!" After saying that, Chen Xiaoxian proudly patted the bulging muscles on his arm. "I'm real strong!"
From the look of him, he seemed quite proud of his strength.
Ye Wenqiang was speechless. Was this the legendary humblebragging?
Wouldn't he be letting him down if he didn't turn into a lemon, sour with envy?
Ye Wenqiang said nothing more to Chen Xiaoxian. He cupped his fist in his other hand and saluted him.
The sword in his hand left its sheath in an instant, and Ye Wenqiang shouted, "Snow Wave Sword Art!"
Sword intent surged forth, frost spreading everywhere it passed. Even the earthen-yellow arena froze slightly.
During his earlier fight with Ling Yunxiao, Ye Wenqiang hadn't even had time to use this move before defeating him. Yet Ye Wenqiang didn't let down his guard, staring unblinkingly at Chen Xiaoxian a short distance away.
Chen Xiaoxian seemed a little dazed as he watched the spreading frost approach. His ox-like eyes wide, he even foolishly gave Ye Wenqiang a thumbs-up.
"Brother, you're pretty awesome!"
But no sooner had Chen Xiaoxian finished speaking than the surging waves of snow engulfed him.
Humming sword intent converged on Chen Xiaoxian's location. Even Ye Wenqiang, who had unleashed it, could hardly believe the sight before him.
"Hum... hum... hum..."
A series of shattering sounds rang out. Chen Xiaoxian hadn't even done anything, yet the sword intent had already shattered!
Ye Wenqiang stared dumbfounded at the scene before him. The strike he had poured all his strength into hadn't even shaken Chen Xiaoxian in the slightest!
He had long known that positions on the Eastern Wasteland Heaven's Chosen Ranking represented the differences between cultivators, but he had never imagined the gap could be this enormous!
There truly were people beyond people, and heavens beyond heavens!
Ye Wenqiang let out a long sigh and cupped his hands to salute Chen Xiaoxian again. "Brother Xiaoxian, though there's a gap between our cultivation levels, your strength has astounded me. I willingly concede! I've lost!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a faint yellow light shone around Ye Wenqiang. In the blink of an eye, he was back in Cloud Firmament City below the arena.
Meanwhile, the matches continued on the earthen-yellow arena.
Inside the Primordial Hall, Ye Yan watched Chen Xiaoxian standing there looking somewhat bored, his eyes filled with indescribable curiosity and scrutiny.
With the previous increase in his permissions, Ye Yan's discernment had also grown stronger. Naturally, he had seen clearly during the fight just now that Chen Xiaoxian truly hadn't moved at all.
He had effortlessly shattered Ye Wenqiang's sword intent with nothing but the strength of his physical body!
Although Ye Wenqiang's sword intent couldn't be considered top-tier among the younger generation, any cultivator who could enter the Eastern Wasteland Heaven's Chosen Ranking, even in last place, was certainly no fraud.
"System, deduce Chen Xiaoxian's detailed data!"
"Ding... deducing data... deduction complete!"
A series of notification tones sounded, and an image resembling a scroll appeared before Lin Yu's eyes, clearly displaying Chen Xiaoxian's information.
[Name: Chen Xiaoxian] [Age: Nineteen] [Realm: Peak of late Spirit Condensation] [Bloodline: ... (Insufficient permissions, cannot display) (Unawakened!)] [Cultivation method: ... (Insufficient permissions, cannot display)] [Special abilities: ... (Insufficient permissions, cannot display)] [Future deduction: ... (Insufficient permissions, cannot display)] ...
Unlike what was displayed on the Eastern Wasteland Heaven's Chosen Ranking, this deduction regarding Chen Xiaoxian was clearer and more precise. Yet most of the results were "... (Insufficient permissions, cannot display)." In the end, Ye Yan learned only the most basic information: his name, age, and realm.
"This Chen Xiaoxian seems extraordinary." Lin Yu couldn't help smacking his lips. The data before him was more than enough to show that.
However, Lin Yu's Primordial Hall had only just begun developing, and many of his permissions were still basic, so it was understandable that the results couldn't be displayed.
"Ah, I could even deduce that Valley of Devouring and Cloud-Soaring Saint King's Tomb before, but now I can't deduce Chen Xiaoxian's data!" Lin Yu said helplessly.