“Next, a half-hour break, free movement!”
After the first phase ended, there was a half-hour rest period.
Ling Xiao ate something and then focused on restoring his gang qi.
Half an hour later, the second phase of the competition began.
One hundred people, each starting with zero points, winning a match earned three points, a draw one point, and a loss zero points.
The top ten in the final points ranking would advance to the finals to compete against the Genius Hall disciples.
“The matches begin now!”
With the chief referee’s command, the martial artists grew tense.
Because these hundred-person matchups were entirely random, anyone could face anyone.
The competition used twenty martial stages running simultaneously.
Generally, each disciple would have to fight ninety-nine matches.
That meant facing every one of the other ninety-nine.
So avoiding fights wasn’t very meaningful, though some thought delaying encounters with the strong would at least keep their morale intact.
Otherwise, losing would surely dampen their spirits.
“Number 24 versus Number 98!”
“Number 6 versus Number 11!”
…
As the chief referee called out the matchups, the martial artists took to the twenty stages in turn.
“Number!”
With twenty stages running at once, the pace was incredibly fast, and soon it was Ling Xiao’s turn.
His opponent was a chubby third-level Martial Vein fighter.
“Hey, Senior Brother Ling Xiao, I came up just to tell you, you’re my idol from now on!”
The chubby guy grinned, then turned and jumped off the stage.
He surrendered!
This was hardly unusual, there’d been voluntary forfeits in earlier rounds, the logic was simple.
When facing an opponent you absolutely couldn’t beat, rather than fighting pointlessly and wasting true qi, it was better to just give up.
After all, losing didn’t deduct points.
Winning, though, earned three points.
Many people calculated this very clearly.
Ling Xiao wasn’t surprised, through the ten-thousand-person competition and the thousand-person melee, he’d built up quite a following.
Plus, he’d easily defeated Ling Ziran, a peak third-level Martial Vein fighter using advanced skills.
Anyone with a shred of self-awareness wouldn’t challenge him head-on.
The matches moved quickly.
Because there was a time limit.
If a fight wasn’t settled within a quarter-hour, the referee team would decide the outcome.
Otherwise, evenly matched fighters could drag on for days without a victor, which would be a hassle.
Soon, Ling Xiao faced his second opponent.
This was a female disciple.
She was good-looking, especially her eyes, which could captivate, rivaling Ling Yu’s charm.
But her strength was a bit weaker than Ling Yu’s.
“Brother Ling Xiao, how about letting me have this one, a draw maybe? I’ll be your girlfriend, okay?”
If it were anyone else, they might’ve fallen for her seduction.
Judging by the crowd below, most had hearts in their eyes, showing just how skilled she was.
Her ability to entice was no less than Ling Yu’s.
Unfortunately, after the Ling Yu incident, Ling Xiao had a natural aversion to beautiful women.
Plus, her proposal disgusted him.
“Barbarian Bull Strength!”
Without a word, he struck with a single palm, sending the girl flying off the stage.
Looking at her even once more would make him sick.
“You! You beast! No sense of romance!”
The girl sat on the ground, wailing loudly, drawing glares from the male disciples toward Ling Xiao.
“Too much, she’s a girl after all, so violent!”
“Yeah, beauty, don’t cry, wait till I get up there and teach that guy a lesson!”
“You? Bragging again, you couldn’t even beat Ling Ziran, and you think you can take Ling Xiao? You’re full of hot air!”
Clearly, not everyone thought Ling Xiao was wrong.
Among the crowd, he’d gained a solid group of fans.
That’s the perk of strength!
“Number 9588 wins, accumulating 6 points!”
The referee quickly announced the result.
“This kid’s got potential, even feminine charms can’t sway him, he’ll go far!”
The referee team held Ling Xiao in high regard.
The competition pressed on.
Ling Xiao’s points kept climbing.
His opponents either forfeited.
Or got blasted off the stage in one move.
To avoid trouble, Ling Xiao didn’t go easy.
It was a warning to those lacking self-awareness not to provoke him.
He wanted to conserve strength for opponents who could actually threaten him.
“Can’t tell, just how strong is this Ling Xiao? It feels like he’s still hiding something!”
More and more people suspected Ling Xiao didn’t just know basic martial arts, he must have learned others.
He was just keeping them under wraps.
Expectations for him grew higher.
After finishing his matches, Ling Xiao didn’t forget to observe Ling Yihang, Ling Yixue, and Ling Feng’s fights.
In his eyes, only these three posed a threat.
“Number 2 versus Number 4!”
Hm?
Hearing this, Ling Xiao quickly looked over.
Sure enough, on one stage stood Ling Yixue and Ling Iron Hand.
Ling Iron Hand, currently ranked fourth in the Elite Hall.
Ling Yixue, ranked second.
“Second versus fourth, now this is getting exciting, haha!”
Many crowded over, such battles were rare.
Ling Xiao wouldn’t miss such a thrilling matchup either, so he drifted over, his next fight was still a while off, perfect time to watch the action.
Truth be told, he’d never seen Ling Yixue fight.
Today might be a feast for the eyes.
By the time he arrived, the fight had already started.
“Giant Spirit Palm, Ninth Form!”
Ling Iron Hand came out aggressive, holding nothing back.
Terrifying true qi formed a giant’s shadow behind him, its sheer power awe-inspiring.
Ling Yixue took a wait-and-see approach, not rushing to strike, just dodging with nimble footwork.
What slightly surprised Ling Xiao was that Ling Iron Hand was far stronger than when they’d met during registration.
His moves were more powerful and executed with greater skill.
He was unleashing ninety percent of an advanced skill’s potential.
In other words, his “Giant Spirit Palm” had reached great completion, just shy of perfection.
For a simple comparison, Ling Iron Hand now was a bit stronger than Li Xingyun from the Hidden Dragon Range back then.
Of course, whether Li Xingyun had improved since, Ling Xiao didn’t know.
“Ling Iron Hand, you’re strong, but sadly, not my match!”
After a moment, Ling Yixue counterattacked.
As she spoke, the air around her seemed to freeze.
Her palms took on a strange white hue, like gloves woven from snowflakes.
“Advanced skill, ‘Frost Palm’!”
Someone recognized Ling Yixue’s technique.
“They say to master ‘Frost Palm,’ you have to train in icy, snowy conditions often, Senior Sister Yixue must’ve endured a lot.”
“Endured for sure, I heard she often trained alone in the family’s ice cellar, but once mastered, ‘Frost Palm’ is terrifying.”
“Right, it can freeze anything it touches, a truly fearsome advanced skill, Ling Iron Hand’s in trouble.”
Among the spectators were some sharp ones, they might not recognize Ling Xiao’s “Soaring Cloud Steps,” but they knew the library’s skills well enough.
