“Er…” Lin Xiao paused for a moment. A strange smile appeared on his face.
Yan Huashu’s expression darkened at once. He said, “It can’t be this coincidental, right?”
“Of course!” The corners of Lin Xiao’s mouth curved into a smile. Yan Huashu’s face immediately turned completely stiff. How could he be so unlucky to draw this guy again?
Three rounds in the same group, and it was someone he could not beat. This was simply too unlucky.
To lose without even stepping onto the stage. Who could be as unfortunate as him?
“No!” Lin Xiao finally finished his sentence.
“You…” Yan Huashu had the urge to beat Lin Xiao up badly, but unfortunately he could not win.
Still, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
Although the overall strength in this round was higher than the previous one, it was still much better than encountering Lin Xiao. That would mean losing a match without even fighting.
“I’m on battle platform number one!” Lin Xiao said as he turned and flew towards the side of battle platform number one.
Yan Huashu also set off and flew towards battle platform number two.
At this moment, the others also flew towards their respective battle platforms.
Lin Xiao saw a young spiritual controller from Lingchi Island flying straight towards him.
The youth was named Linghu Junhua. Apart from An Miao, he was the top genius disciple of Lingchi Island in terms of combat power. At only twenty-eight years old, his cultivation was at the early seventh-grade spiritual power realm. However, his combat ability allowed him to fight across two levels.
He was almost at the point of sweeping through mid seventh-grade spiritual controllers.
In the previous match, he had encountered a very strong opponent and was forced to use an Explosive Pill.
At the same time, he used the Explosive Pill as a deterrent.
In reality, he was not the one who used the Explosive Pill in the first round. Many people had simply associated the first-round Explosive Pill user with him.
As one of the top young geniuses of Lingchi Island, Linghu Junhua naturally admired An Miao. Therefore, upon seeing Lin Xiao, he was filled with hostility.
“I never expected to draw you in the same group. Although you represent a spot from Lingchi Island, in this match, you will definitely be eliminated. So I will not give you a bye either. I really want to see just how much strength this seed contestant spot that An Miao gave you actually has!” Linghu Junhua spoke calmly, but his words already showed clear hostility.
Lin Xiao frowned slightly. It seemed the people inside Lingchi Island really had quite a lot of internal struggles. They clearly represented the same faction, yet so many of them held opinions against him.
“An Miao is not someone just anyone can approach casually.” In the end, Linghu Junhua added another sentence.
Only then did Lin Xiao fully understand. It was not just factional struggles. It was also because of An Miao.
A peerlessly talented beauty indeed attracted bees and butterflies. Wherever she went, a crowd of men surrounded her.
“I’m very sorry. She chose to approach me, not you!” Lin Xiao replied straightforwardly.
“You!” Linghu Junhua’s calm face immediately sank. He said in a deep voice, “You’re courting death!”
“With just you, it’s not enough!” Lin Xiao shook his head. “For An Miao’s sake, I won’t kill you!”
Linghu Junhua’s face turned livid with anger. He no longer had his earlier composure.
“Hmph, this is a spiritual power battlefield. Do not think that just because your vital energy is strong, you can look down on everyone!” Linghu Junhua snorted coldly. His eyes already revealed thick killing intent. A mere wandering cultivator who was not even a disciple of Lingchi Island actually dared to disregard him like this.
“If you hadn’t said that, I would have forgotten. No wonder An Miao chose to approach me.” Lin Xiao smiled faintly.
“You!” Linghu Junhua was choked with rage.
Whoosh! At that moment, another woman in white clothes flew over. She had a jade-like beauty and an ethereal, otherworldly temperament.
“Tantai Xin!” Linghu Junhua frowned slightly.
This was a young genius from the Tantai family, at the mid seventh-grade spiritual power realm. She could be said to sweep through mid seventh-grade spiritual controllers, but her combat power was also extremely strong. She was one of the people he greatly feared.
After all, his own spiritual power was only at the early seventh-grade realm.
“Quite lucky. I ended up in a group with two youths.” Tantai Xin said coldly. She had the appearance of an ice queen.
“Hahaha, ending up in a group with three juniors. I’m even luckier.” At this time, an old man in wind robes, close to fifty years old, flew over with a laugh.
Soon after, another middle-aged man and a black-clothed old man entered the stage.
The six people on battle platform number one had all gathered.
Hiss! Hiss!
At that moment, the wind-robed old man and the black-clothed old man both released mid seventh-grade spiritual power cultivation. Powerful mental pressure enveloped the entire area.
Clearly, the two were showing off to them, or rather, showing off to each other.
In this round, there were six people. Each had four matches. One person could get a bye.
Therefore, they did not want to pick the strongest opponents. They feared an unexpected strong-versus-strong matchup that could lead to a loss.
Releasing pressure was deliberately showing off. It was to make strong opponents avoid choosing them and to make others choose someone else instead.
This way, they could observe the strength of others and start by picking the weaker ones.
The wind-robed old man and the black-clothed old man were actually treating each other as rivals.
Both pressures were not weak, but clearly the black-clothed old man’s mental power was stronger.
This caused the wind-robed old man to frown involuntarily.
Lin Xiao’s gaze also fixed on the two. The black-clothed old man was named Qi Mo. From start to finish, he looked like he could not be bothered to speak. He was a seed contestant from Youzhou.
The wind-robed old man was from Minzhou, named Zhou Quanming.
“Minzhou?” A trace of hostility rose in Lin Xiao’s heart. After all, he had fought Xiao Zihao. The spiritual controllers from Minzhou might seek revenge for the Xiao family or try to get close to them.
Of course, this was only Lin Xiao’s first impression. Whether it was true or not, he could not judge yet. It depended on the other party’s actions.
If the other side really wanted to avenge the Xiao family, then he would not hold back.
If not, then they could compete normally.
Feeling the powerful auras of the two, Linghu Junhua and Tantai Xin could not help but frown. Their faces showed wariness.
This round was indeed not easy to fight.
“Nothing impressive!” At that moment, another middle-aged man suddenly spoke indifferently. Immediately after, a vast mental pressure surged out. It made everyone feel an immense mental oppression.
“Seventh-grade advanced spiritual controller!”
Everyone’s brows jumped. They looked at that middle-aged man in disbelief.
A seventh-grade advanced spiritual controller? How were they supposed to fight then?
“We absolutely cannot choose this Murong Dian first!” The group all secretly thought to themselves.
Lin Xiao also had the same thought in his heart. After all, he only had sixth-grade advanced spiritual power cultivation. With all his methods, he still had a chance against mid seventh-grade spiritual controllers. But against a seventh-grade advanced spiritual power cultivator, it would be very hard to say.
He never expected that their group would produce a seventh-grade advanced spiritual controller.
However, even if he did not choose the other side, whether the other side would choose him was another question.
After all, he was quite a prominent figure now. The number one genius of the nine provinces. Many people wanted to step on him to climb higher.
At this moment, Lin Xiao’s gaze swept over the other battle platforms. Apart from Yan Huashu on battle platform number two and Tantai Wenjun on battle platform number five, there were no other people who left a deep impression.
But in this round, various experts would probably start to surface.
“Battle platform number one, everyone show your draw numbers!”
At that moment, the referee above battle platform number one spoke loudly.
Lin Xiao raised the bamboo slip in his hand that said “Group One, Number Five”. At the same time, he looked at the others’ slips. Number one was Linghu Junhua, number two was Zhou Quanming, number three was Murong Dian, number four was Qi Mo, number six was Tantai Xin.
Lin Xiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the first one to go up was not the seventh-grade advanced spiritual controller Murong Dian.
Linghu Junhua and Zhou Quanming, if nothing unexpected happened, one of them would definitely choose him.
As long as he revealed some of his trump cards, if Murong Dian did not have special hostility towards him, he probably would not choose him.
The others thought the same way.
“Now, number one goes up to choose an opponent. The match begins.” The referee immediately announced loudly.
“Mu Haoran, you didn’t expect this, right? I’m number one.” Linghu Junhua turned his head and sneered coldly at Lin Xiao.
“Don’t tell me you don’t dare to choose me.” Lin Xiao smiled. Relatively speaking, in this group, Linghu Junhua should be his best choice.
