“Write down your sect and name, then return the lot,” the referee announced.
The twelve youths inscribed their details with their fingers and handed the bamboo lots back to the referee.
After reviewing all the lots, the referee loudly declared, “The four drawn into the rankings are: Jian Wuqu from the Ling Sword Sect, Yue Lizi from the Burial Sect, Chen Long from the Gun Dragon Sect, and Xie Yun from the Evil Sect.”
“The specific rankings for the top fifteen challengers are as follows.”
“First place, Lin Xiao.”
“Second place, Li Renchou.”
“Third place, Sheng Li.”
“Fourth place, Yin Mu.”
“Fifth place, Zi Ling.”
“Sixth place, Huyan Ziru.”
“Seventh place, Zi Long.”
“Eighth place, Ling Hu.”
“Ninth place, Li Luo.”
“Tenth place, Ping Tianhao.”
“Eleventh place, Wu Shixun.”
“Twelfth place, Jian Wuqu.”
“Thirteenth place, Yue Lizi.”
“Fourteenth place, Chen Long.”
“Fifteenth place, Xie Yun.”
After carefully announcing the top fifteen rankings, the referee continued, “The challenge order is as follows: Number one, Ji Shengchong from Hundred Rivers Sea; number two, Li Yu from Golden Pavilion Hall; number three, Yao Yan from Nine Heavens Sect; number four, Mai Shen from Cloud Artifact Tower; number five, Mo Li from Demon Sect; number six, Ren Jinghua from Absolute Blade Sect; number seven, Ming Rui from Nether Sect; number eight, Jia Yi from Myriad Phenomena Pavilion.”
“Now, the first challenge opportunity begins. Number one, Ji Shengchong, will challenge first.”
As the referee’s voice fell, the crowd watched as a youth stepped forward two paces, exuding the aura of a Second Martial Lord, his presence quite impressive.
“This Ji Shengchong from Hundred Rivers Sea looks formidable. I wonder who he’ll choose?”
“With three challenge opportunities per person, choosing too late might waste chances, but choosing too early could lead to injury. I think he’ll pick someone high in the rankings but not among the very top.”
“No one will pick the last four who were drawn into the rankings. The other eleven have shown their strength in the previous round, so Ji Shengchong should choose the opponent most suitable for himself.”
…
Amid the flurry of speculations, everyone saw Ji Shengchong point at Li Renchou and say, “I challenge him, Li Renchou, ranked second.”
A commotion erupted among the crowd. Ji Shengchong’s first choice was Li Renchou, second in the preliminary ranking conference?
Was his strength truly that formidable, or was he trying to outsmart Li Renchou’s illusion techniques?
However, the crowd was generally not optimistic about Ji Shengchong.
After all, the illusion techniques Li Renchou displayed in the second round were simply too powerful.
“Brother Ji will surely defeat him,” Li Yu from Golden Pavilion Hall thought to himself, full of confidence in Ji Shengchong. “In terms of pure combat strength, Brother Ji and I aren’t the top in this group, but that time we encountered an illusion array attack in the ruins gave us the ability to counter illusion techniques.”
“Li Renchou’s illusions may be strong, but as long as we endure and attack his true body, we can defeat him. If both of us beat Li Renchou, we can temporarily rank in the top three. In this round, no matter how they push, they can’t squeeze us out of the top fifteen.”
As Li Yu pondered, Ji Shengchong and Li Renchou had already stepped onto the stone platform.
Ji Shengchong deliberately approached Li Renchou, who did not avoid him. The two stood only two or three zhang apart.
“Brother Ji, please,” Li Renchou said with a calm smile, gesturing towards Ji Shengchong.
“Please,” Ji Shengchong replied with a slight bow, immediately employing his tactics.
However, in the crowd’s view, both stood motionless, their expressions unchanged from before.
After some time, Ji Shengchong’s mouth opened, and a mouthful of blood spurted out.
“Defeated. Ji Shengchong lost to Li Renchou.”
“I thought he had some skill, but he lost so easily and dared to challenge Li Renchou.”
“This Ji Shengchong really brought it upon himself.”
…
Scornful voices arose, the crowd filled with disdain.
They had thought Ji Shengchong had some special ability to challenge Li Renchou, but he turned out to be nothing special, spitting blood after just a short while.
To them, Ji Shengchong had no real skill and was merely trying to outsmart the illusion techniques.
If Li Renchou’s illusion attacks were so easily countered, how could he have secured second place in the preliminary ranking conference?
Li Yu was slightly stunned. Ji Shengchong had actually lost to Li Renchou’s illusion attack.
Could Li Renchou’s illusions be so powerful that even Ji Shengchong couldn’t handle them?
“You…” Ji Shengchong said in disbelief, “I lost.”
With that, he walked off the platform in frustration.
“Thank you,” Li Renchou smiled, unconcerned, and stepped off the platform.
“Challenge failed. Next, Li Yu from Golden Pavilion Hall,” the referee’s voice rang out.
Li Yu nodded to the referee and then sent a mental message to Ji Shengchong, who was approaching, asking, “Brother Ji, what happened?”
Ji Shengchong shook his head helplessly and replied via mental message, “In reality, I was already fighting him, but I was defeated by him.”
“But your body didn’t move at all,” Li Yu said, puzzled.
“That’s what I realised when I came to my senses. On the platform, I thought I had temporarily broken free of his illusion attack and was attacking him, engaging in combat. But in reality, I was trapped in an illusion, and my fight with him was just part of his illusion attack,” Ji Shengchong replied.
“Oh?” Li Yu’s brows furrowed slightly. “If that’s the case, I’ll keep in mind that even after breaking free, it’s still an illusion, and I’ll break free again to attack him.”
“Be careful. This Li Renchou is not simple,” Ji Shengchong warned.
Li Yu nodded and then announced to the referee, “I choose to challenge the second-ranked, Li Renchou.”
A uproar broke out among the crowd.
Ji Shengchong had lost to Li Renchou, and yet Li Yu was challenging him again. Was something wrong with his head?
Or had Li Yu learned something from Ji Shengchong, truly possessing a way to counter him?
“Having been challenged consecutively, you may choose to rest. Li Renchou, do you wish to rest?”
The referee asked Li Renchou.
“No need,” Li Renchou shook his head, smiling as he stepped onto the platform.
Li Yu also stepped onto the platform and said first, “Brother Li, please.”
With that, Li Yu moved his feet, rushing towards Li Renchou immediately.
“Please,” Li Renchou smiled again, his body shifting slightly to the side.
Everyone saw Li Yu charge a few steps past Li Renchou’s side, then his aura weakened, and he stood motionless, falling into a daze.
After a while, a mouthful of blood spurted from Li Yu’s mouth, and his aura became listless.
“I still lost,” Li Yu said unwillingly, turning to walk off the platform.
“Thank you,” Li Renchou gave a faint smile, unperturbed.
“What happened? What did you encounter?” Ji Shengchong asked curiously via mental message.
Li Yu, with a mournful expression, replied via mental message, “Just as you said, but after charging out, I focused my mind to remind myself it was fake. My ‘illusion body’ disappeared, and my consciousness returned to my main body to attack again. This time, I thought it was real and fought him, only to lose. When I came to my senses, I realised I hadn’t moved at all.”
Ji Shengchong was shocked. “How is that possible? Could it be a double illusion? That’s too terrifying.”
“It’s that strange. No wonder Sheng Li lost to him. Challenging Li Renchou is worse than challenging Lin Xiao. Let’s just wait for others to suffer,” Li Yu replied helplessly via mental message.
Of course, Li Yu’s failure didn’t spare him from the crowd’s scorn, who saw him as another overconfident fool.
But Li Yu ignored it all.
“Challenge failed. Next,” the referee’s voice rang out again.
The next was number three, Yao Yan from the Nine Heavens Sect.
The crowd watched as a robust, imposing youth stepped forward, his gaze immediately locking onto Lin Xiao.
