18: Five people defending the arena?

The five arenas stood like five giant beasts, entrenched in the center of the Martial Arts Field. Light screens rippled, isolating the platform masters from the challengers below, creating an atmosphere so heavy it felt like it could drip water.

The top five platform masters had varying expressions. The core five people of the first-ranked 'Five Elements Courtyard' were calm and composed, as if the arena was already theirs. The lone wanderer Lin Feng held his long sword in his arms, resting with his eyes closed, indifferent to everything around him. Chen Jian's gaze was cold, occasionally sweeping toward Wen Youyi below the stage with a hidden killing intent. The fourth-ranked 'Thick Earth Courtyard' and fifth-ranked 'Lingxi Courtyard' appeared slightly nervous; they had become the most likely targets to be overtaken in the eyes of most challengers.

"The challenge begins!" an Elder commanded.

After a brief silence, someone immediately lost their patience and leaped onto the arena!

The challenges were mainly concentrated on the fourth and fifth arenas, as well as the second arena of the lone wanderer Lin Feng. Clearly, everyone wanted to squeeze the 'soft persimmons' first.

The battle erupted instantly!

The roar of spiritual energy collisions, the explosions of Spells clashing, the crisp clanging of weapons, and the shouts and screams immediately resounded throughout the plaza. The light screens fluctuated violently from time to time, reflecting the figures engaged in fierce combat on the stage.

Wen Youyi and The core five people did not act rashly. Like calm onlookers, they stood at the edge of the crowd, carefully observing every battle.

"Thick Earth Courtyard's defense is very strong, but their offensive methods are singular. If we wear them down, the chances of winning are high."

"Lingxi Courtyard's movement is flexible and their coordination is good, but their main attacker is a bit impatient."

"Lin Feng... his sword is too fast. That Qi Refining Fourth Layer Peak who went up couldn't even last three moves."

Wen Youyi commented in a low voice, his brain working like a high-speed processor, analyzing each platform master's characteristics, weaknesses, and level of exhaustion. Zhao Iron Pillar and the others firmly remembered every word he said.

Time passed bit by bit. The fourth and fifth arenas had already repelled three or four challengers in succession. Although they successfully defended the platform, the platform masters' Qi was clearly disordered, and they carried injuries. The lone wanderer Lin Feng remained dominant, his sword moving like a Dragon, easily defeating two more people in a row, but he was fighting alone, and his spiritual energy consumption was substantial.

There were also challengers for Chen Jian's arena, but they were quickly dealt with by his sharp sword techniques. Clearly, he had preserved a lot of strength; his main goal did not seem to be the defense itself.

Finally, as the 'Lingxi Courtyard' team repelled another challenger, two of their members showed obvious signs of fatigue. The Disciple responsible for the main attack even made a small mistake due to impatience. Although it was minor, it was accurately captured by Wen Youyi.

"The opportunity has come!" A sharp glint flashed in Wen Youyi's eyes. "Target: the fifth arena, Lingxi Courtyard!"

"Huh? Going up now?" Zhao Iron Pillar was stunned. "They just finished a fight and are a bit tired, but it's five of us against five of them..."

"Who said we're having a fair duel?" The corner of Wen Youyi's mouth curled slightly. "Remember our strategy—we are going there to 'defend the platform'!"

After saying this, he didn't wait for the others to react and took the lead, stroking toward the fifth arena. He announced loudly, "D-7 Courtyard, Wen Youyi, along with my teammates, challenges the fifth arena!"

His voice spread clearly, drawing many gazes. Challenging at this time? And as a whole team? Many people showed amused expressions, thinking these few people from the Ding Zi Courtyard had lost their minds, trying to take advantage of the opponent's exhaustion. But no matter how tired Lingxi Courtyard was, they were still five Disciples at the third and fourth layers of Qi Refining. Were they really that easy to deal with?

The Elder on the high platform frowned. He glanced at the rules, which did not explicitly forbid team-on-team challenges, and nodded: "Granted!"

The light screen opened a portal.

Wen Youyi turned back and gave Zhao Iron Pillar and the other four a meaningful smile: "Brothers, let's get on stage and 'defend the platform'!"

Although Zhao Iron Pillar and the others were full of doubt, their trust in Wen Youyi overrode everything. The five of them quickly ascended the fifth arena!

The five people from Lingxi Courtyard had just caught their breath. Seeing Wen Youyi and his team come up together, they were first stunned, then the leading Disciple laughed out of sheer anger: "Good! Very good! I was just worried I wouldn't have a chance to settle scores with you, and now you've delivered yourselves to my door! You think we're easy to bully just because we've consumed a lot of energy? Dream on!"

Before he could finish, Wen Youyi cupped his hands toward the steward in charge of officiating below the stage and asked sincerely, "May I ask the steward, do the platform defense rules require the platform master to fight alone?"

The steward paused for a moment and subconsciously replied, "The rules only state that the platform master defends the platform; they do not limit the method."

"Thank you, steward." Wen Youyi turned around to face the five people from Lingxi Courtyard, a smile appearing on his face that seemed extremely 'punchable' to them. "Then, according to the rules, right now, the five of us from D-7 Courtyard are the challengers. And if we succeed in our challenge..."

He paused, saying each word deliberately, "...the 'platform master' of this arena will become us, the D-7 Courtyard—as a whole! If there are subsequent challengers, they will have to face the 'platform master' composed of the five of us!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the entire field went silent!

Everyone was stunned, including the Elders on the high platform and the platform masters of the other arenas!

You can play it like that?!

A loophole in the rules! This was a blatant exploitation of a loophole!

According to conventional understanding, the platform master naturally referred to an individual or a representative of a team. But Wen Youyi seized the ambiguity in the rule's phrasing and forcefully interpreted 'platform master' as 'the collective occupying the arena'!

This meant that if they won, any subsequent challenger wanting to take this arena would have to fight one against five! Or a complete team would have to challenge them!

The faces of the five people from Lingxi Courtyard instantly became incredibly ugly! They finally understood Wen Youyi's plan! This guy didn't want a 'fair' team battle at all; he wanted to kick them off and then use this loophole to use the power of five people to withstand all subsequent challengers! This was simply rogue behavior!

"You... you are shameless!" The leading Disciple of Lingxi Courtyard trembled with rage.

The crowd below the stage also exploded.

"Holy crap! You can do that?"

"This is way too much of a cheat!"

"But... the rules really don't seem to say you can't..."

"That guy from Ding Zi Courtyard, how is his brain wired?"

On the third arena, Chen Jian's face was so dark it could drip water. He realized he had once again underestimated this Wen Youyi. This guy wasn't just a bit clever; he was incredibly bold!

The Elders on the high platform looked at each other, their Divine Senses communicating rapidly. Finally, the old-fashioned Elder cleared his throat and spoke: "Where the rules are silent, we shall follow common sense and the principle of fairness. In a team-versus-team challenge, the winner shall be the defending team. Subsequent challenges must be by a team of equal scale, or the challenger may choose to fight against the many alone."

This was a tacit approval of Wen Youyi's loophole-finding behavior, but it also added a restriction, requiring subsequent challenges to be team-versus-team or for the challenger to voluntarily fight one-against-many.

But for Wen Youyi, this was enough! What he wanted was this 'team platform defense' qualification!

"Did you hear that?" Wen Youyi looked with a beaming smile at the five people from Lingxi Courtyard, whose faces were as pale as death. "Now, it's a battle for the team platform defense qualification between the five of you from Lingxi Courtyard and the five of us from D-7 Courtyard!"

He took a deep breath, his gaze instantly becoming sharp as he barked:

"Brothers, get to work! Let them see what a 'platform Assembly Line' looks like!"

Zhao Iron Pillar and the others had long been bursting with energy. Hearing this, they were like tigers descending a mountain, instantly deploying into their most familiar formation, sweeping the five members of Lingxi Courtyard—who were already mentally shaken by the rule shock—into their rhythm!

Under these circumstances, the result was without suspense.

Already significantly exhausted and caught off guard by the rule loophole, the five people from Lingxi Courtyard, under the seamless, machine-like coordination of D-7 Courtyard, only lasted for less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before being 'invited' off the arena one by one.

When the last Lingxi Courtyard Disciple was knocked off the stage by a punch from Zhao Iron Pillar, the entire Martial Arts Field was silent.

Everyone looked at the five figures on the fifth arena who, despite their low cultivation, stood straight with eyes full of determination and confidence.

Wen Youyi stood in the center of the arena, cupping his hands to the crowd below, his voice clearly reaching the entire field:

"D-7 Courtyard temporarily occupies this arena."

"Which Senior Brother or Senior Sister would like to offer guidance?"

Below the stage, there was dead silence. A team challenge? Who could immediately assemble a five-person team that they could say with certainty would win? Go up alone to fight one against five? Unless it was someone of Lin Feng or Chen Jian's level, but would they give up their own arenas to gnaw on this hard bone?

Wen Youyi and his team, through an alternative interpretation of the rules and precise timing, had actually managed to seize what seemed like the most stable seat in this brutal platform competition!

(End of Chapter)