61: Chapter 61 Martial Arts Tournament (Part 1)

The Arena in Tianqi City was truly magnificent.

Standing at the entrance of the Arena and looking up, good grief, this thing was just like a Roman Colosseum; a massive circular structure where the spectator stands alone could hold tens of thousands of people.

Banners of various guilds fluttered all around, snapping loudly in the wind.

In the center of the Arena was a massive stone slab area, covered in carved formation runes; one look and you knew it was a PK venue specifically designed by the system.

"Ergou, stop standing there like a fool, hurry up and come in."

Ye Liuli's voice came through the team channel, her tone as cold as ever, but for some reason, I felt a hint of... nervousness in it?

Heh, so the Iceberg Empress gets nervous too.

I followed the Dawn Guild team into the contestant lounge.

It was called a lounge, but it was really just a hall beneath the Arena, with stone walls on all sides and a few stone tables and stools in the middle.

Contestants from other guilds were there too; some were whispering about tactics, some were checking their equipment, and others were pretending to be calm while drinking water—their hands were shaking, brother, who are you trying to fool?

The rules for the Martial Arts Tournament were actually quite simple.

First was the guild team competition, which used a knockout format with opponents determined by drawing lots.

Winners advance, losers get kicked out.

After the team competition came the individual competition, where experts from all walks of life would duel to vie for the title of Martial Arts Alliance Leader.

The rewards for the team competition were extremely generous—the champion guild would receive the management rights to a city, along with rare skill books and a large amount of gold coins provided by the system.

Tell me, who wouldn't be envious of that?

I scanned our Dawn Guild's roster.

Ye Liuli led the team, accompanied by ten elite members: five from the Sword Pavilion, three mages, and two healers.

As for me, I was scheduled to go seventh, considered a core member.

"Listen up," Ye Liuli said, standing before us, her gaze sweeping over everyone. "The team competition is ten versus ten. You win only when everyone is defeated or the opponent forfeits. My tactical arrangement is—the first three will go up to probe and figure out the opponent's strength. The middle four are responsible for wearing them down, and the final three are the main force for finishing them off. Chen Ergou, you are seventh; you are responsible for the key breakthrough."

"Understood, Guild Master," I said, cupping my fists.

A Sword Pavilion brother named Zhao Tiezhu leaned in and whispered, "Ergou, I heard the Dragon God Temple has allied with three mid-sized guilds just to target us. Are you nervous?"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Nervous my ass. What's coming will come; what's the use of being nervous? Better to think about how to hack a few more people later."

Zhao Tiezhu chuckled. "I love that spirit of yours."

Not long after, the system broadcast sounded—

[Ding! The first round of the Martial Arts Tournament guild team competition is about to begin. All participating guilds, please proceed to the Arena and take your positions!]

We filed out and walked onto the Arena.

Good grief, the spectator stands were packed with people; it was truly spectacular.

Shouts, cheers, and jeers mixed together; it was like a wet market, but ten thousand times more exciting.

Standing in the formation, I looked around.

Opposite us were our first-round opponents—a mid-sized guild called "Flame Hall."

Looking at their levels, the highest was only level 23, and their overall strength was a cut below ours.

Ye Liuli glanced at me and nodded slightly.

The first round was no suspense.

As soon as the match started, Ye Liuli went straight in.

Her ice magic was simply unreasonable.

With a single wide-range Freeze spell, five of the opponents were instantly turned into ice sculptures, unable to move.

Then our team went up and unleashed a flurry of attacks, cutting through them like chopping melons and vegetables.

When it was my turn to enter, there were four people left on the opposing side, including their main force, a level 24 warrior named "Flame War God." The name sounded domineering, but his strength...

He charged at me wielding a giant flame sword, shouting, "Die!"

I stood still, the corners of my mouth curling up slightly.

Just as he reached me and swung his greatsword down—

Sky Breaker!

My figure instantly vanished and reappeared behind him.

Before he could react, I followed up with Moon Slash!

The two sword energies fused together, turning into a silvery-white arc of light that pierced through his back and out his chest.

[Critical Hit! You dealt 8742 damage to Flame War God!]

[Flame War God has been killed!]

One sword strike.

Just one strike.

The whole Arena went silent for a second, then erupted into deafening gasps.

"Holy crap! What skill was that?!"

"Who is that Chen Ergou? So fierce!"

"Isn't he the guy who runs a street stall? How is he so strong?"

"A fusion skill of Sky Breaker and Moon Slash? Can you even fuse those?"

I sheathed my sword and walked back to the team, expressionless.

Inside, though, heh, it felt so satisfying.

But on the surface, I had to play it cool, as if this were just a routine operation.

Ye Liuli glanced at me, the corners of her mouth slightly upturned—I bet she definitely smiled, even if it was only for a split second.

The first round, Dawn Guild won completely.

Back in the lounge, everyone was celebrating.

I took the opportunity to gulp down some water, then snuck a peek at the high seats of the spectator stands.

Long Aotian was sitting there, surrounded by a group of core members from the Dragon God Temple.

He was wearing dark red heavy armor, carrying a massive battle axe on his shoulder; his build was like an iron tower.

A level 26 Berserker, one of the top ten ruthless players in the whole server.

His face was so gloomy it looked like it could drip water.

Our eyes met, and he coldly snorted, turning his head away.

My heart sank.

This guy must be plotting something nasty.

Sure enough, when the second-round draw results came out, my heart sank further.

Second-round opponent—Iron Blood Alliance.

The Iron Blood Alliance was one of Long Aotian's allies, a guild of over a hundred people, and their strength was several tiers above Flame Hall.

Their guild leader, "Iron Battle Soul," was a level 25 Knight with extremely high defense, and he had several high-damage assassins under his command.

"This is getting interesting," I muttered to myself.

After the match started, I realized something was wrong.

The Iron Blood Alliance's tactics were too targeted.

As soon as they started, they sent two assassins to specifically target our healers, a warrior to tie up Ye Liuli, and the others attacked the weaknesses of each of our damage dealers.

For example, Zhao Tiezhu was good at melee, so they kited him to wear him down.

For example, our magic damage dealers were afraid of close combat, so they sent assassins to get in their faces.

This wasn't a tactic devised on the fly; it was more like... they already knew everyone's playstyle.

My heart sank.

Senior Brother Liu Qing.

It must be that bastard Senior Brother Liu Qing who leaked our intelligence.

As the head senior brother of the Sword Pavilion's outer sect, he knew the strength and playstyles of the Dawn Guild's core members like the back of his hand.

Once this information reached Long Aotian, the Iron Blood Alliance's tactics became obvious.

"Guild Master, the opponent came prepared!" I shouted in the team channel.

"I know." Ye Liuli's voice remained calm, but I could tell she was gritting her teeth.

This match was incredibly difficult.

Zhao Tiezhu was worn down by two opposing assassins in turns, his HP constantly dropping.

Our healers were so busy they couldn't keep up with the healing.

Ye Liuli was tied up by Iron Battle Soul and couldn't get away for the moment.

I gritted my teeth and took the initiative.

Sky Breaker!

I flashed behind an opposing mage and slashed, instantly taking off a third of her HP.

The mage screamed in fright and flashed away.

But another assassin seized the chance to sneak attack me; my back hurt, and my HP bar dropped significantly.

"Ergou, watch out!" Zhao Tiezhu roared and rushed over to block a hit for me.

I quickly drank a red potion, then stood back-to-back with Zhao Tiezhu to hold off the enemy's attack together.

We eventually won this match, but it was a brutal victory.

All ten of us were at critical health, both healers were out of mana, and Zhao Tiezhu was almost knocked out of the Arena.

Back in the lounge, the atmosphere was as heavy as a funeral.

Ye Liuli scanned us and said, "Everyone rest and recover. The next match... will be even harder."

I walked up to Ye Liuli, and we locked eyes.

In her eyes, there was worry and anger, but more than that, determination.

I understood in my heart—the upcoming matches wouldn't be easy.

Long Aotian and his gang were determined to destroy the Dawn Guild.

But so what?

In this life, I, Chen Ergou, am least afraid of being messed with.