43: Chapter 43, Second Match

Ye Yisong had wronged White-armored Squad Leader Sun Er; the order of the first round of matches was indeed arranged by White-armored Squad Leader Sun Er at will—sometimes from front to back, sometimes alternating.

It mainly depended on White-armored Squad Leader Sun Er's mood; he arranged them however he pleased.

From the second round onwards, it was out of his hands. Once the roster of winners was placed into the specific slot, the Martial Examination's System would sort these Martial Artists.

Every match would be recorded by the System for future review.

After Ye Yisong handed his admission ticket to White-armored Squad Leader Sun Er, he waited at the No. 1 martial arts arena. Before long, he saw his opponent for this match.

A child with slightly withered yellow hair tremblingly handed his No. 118 admission ticket to White-armored Squad Leader Sun Er, entered the No. 1 arena, and stood opposite Ye Yisong.

Looking at the child before him, Ye Yisong couldn't bear to make a move. The child's hair was withered and yellow, his height was under 1.5 meters, he looked malnourished, and he was dressed in rags, with holes in both his top and pants.

With an image like that, he wouldn't even need makeup; he could just set out a bowl on an overpass and start business.

Since the resurgence of Spiritual Qi in this world, people's Physique had been greatly enhanced. Not to mention Cultivators, even the one-in-ten-thousand Mortals without a Spiritual Root rarely lived such miserable lives.

Even if one's resources to Cultivate were poor, it shouldn't lead to starvation. While spiritual items were scarce, other common food was plentiful and cheap.

How did he end up living so miserably!

The child cupped his hands toward Ye Yisong and said, "Li Fan, please offer me your guidance."

As he spoke, he pulled a short sword from behind his back and thrust it straight toward Ye Yisong's face. Ye Yisong lightly shifted and dodged the strike.

"This kid has no martial ethics. I haven't even returned the salute yet, and you're already attacking?" Ye Yisong thought to himself.

Seeing how pitiful you are, I'll go a little easier on you!

A lotus flower appeared in Ye Yisong's hand, and he leisurely slapped it onto Li Fan's sword blade, sending Li Fan flying. He crashed into the yellow light of the Formation, and though he tried to get back up, he couldn't.

Li Fan lay on the ground, spat out a mouthful of blood, finally recognized reality, raised his small hand, and said helplessly, "I concede."

Ye Yisong easily secured his spot to advance. This was the main theme of the County Exam; there weren't that many Martial Master Martial Artists who didn't need Spirit Stones.

After the day's matches, Ye Yisong had a rough idea of the strength of the Martial Artists participating in this Shuinan County Martial Examination.

There were only 28 Martial Masters, seven of whom were from the Cangjiang Ye Family, and the Shuinan Ye Family also accounted for six; half of them were Ye Family members.

The Zhao Family and Li Family each had four people. Of the remaining seven, five were Martial Artists from fallen families, and only two were Loose Cultivators.

From these numbers, Ye Yisong understood that most of the resources in this world were held by various Families. It was extremely difficult for Loose Cultivators to get a share, and they often had to pay a heavy price.

He secretly felt lucky to have been born into the Ye Family. If he had ended up among the Loose Cultivators, he wouldn't even know if he had started on the path of a Martial Artist, let alone become a Martial Master.

Li Fan was merely a three-star Martial Artist, so naturally, he couldn't withstand an attack with thirty percent of Ye Yisong's strength.

In the Martial Dao, every leap from one rank to the next was a qualitative jump, and strength would triple.

If calculated numerically, the strongest attack of a Martial Apprentice was 10, while the lowest attack of a Martial Artist could reach 30, and the strongest could reach 100.

Therefore, the lowest attack of a Martial Master was 300!

For a Martial Master to fight a Martial Artist, there was no suspense; one palm was enough.

Ye Yisong returned to the Ye Family's resting area, accompanied Ye Jiesheng and Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang, eating and drinking. Being praised by Patriarch Ye Tuanzhang from time to time made him feel wonderful; who didn't like hearing others praise them?

For the next while, Ye Yisong watched the fights on the two martial arts arenas with great interest, mainly wanting to see the strength of those three formidable opponents.

The second round was significantly more intense than the first.

The first round mainly eliminated Martial Artists who were still Martial Apprentices. These Martial Artists could be said to just be making up the numbers; it was impossible for them to enter the top 100 of the Shuinan County Martial Examination.

Cases like Ye Yisong's, where a Martial Master fought a Martial Master in the first round, were extremely rare. That was just that unlucky kid Zhao Sanjian; his luck was too poor, running straight into Ye Yisong's hands.

The remaining 26 Martial Master experts all advanced to the second round.

The second round of matches was mainly Martial Artist versus Martial Artist. From the perspective of Ye Yisong's current strength, this was no different from elementary school students fighting.

Only occasionally, when two nine-star Martial Artists faced off, would Ye Yisong take a second look.

Soon, the 128 matches of this round were over, but there were still 129 numbers on the light screen—29 more than the 100 people required.

White-armored Squad Leader Sun Er said nothing more, walked straight to the center of the arena, and skillfully toggled a few buttons in the slot. The 129 numbers on the light screen began to spin once again.

Finally, 29 rows of numbers stopped in the air.

These 58 people were the Martial Artists selected by the System to compete in the second match of the second round.

To his shock, Ye Yisong saw his number again, once again honorably ranked in the first row. Damn it, is the dog System targeting me?

During his chat with the two big shots just now, he had already learned that from the second round onwards, the Martial Examination's fighting System was in control, and it was no longer White-armored Squad Leader Sun Er arranging them at will.

This was also to put the participating Martial Artists at ease. If it were manually operated, fairness would be questioned by the public, especially by those Martial Artists who lost their matches.

"No. 1 Arena, No. 34 versus No. 76."

The eleven people from the Cangjiang Ye Family had all advanced in this round, yet only Ye Yisong had to participate in a second match. It was unfair; the System definitely had a shady agenda.

Looking at the speechless Ye Yisong, Ye Jiesheng consoled him, "Good things take time. Go on."

"Yes, Father," Ye Yisong said.

With no other choice, Ye Yisong stood up and went to White-armored Squad Leader Sun Er to have his admission ticket verified. His opponent for this match had arrived at the arena before Ye Yisong and was staring straight at him.

Martial Artist No. 76 was a girl with a round, bun-like face. She was plain-looking, with a small black mole on her left cheek.

This was Ye Yisong's first time fighting a woman. In previous clan competitions, the opponents he was matched with were all men; he had never fought a heroine before.

Li Wuniang said softly, "Li Family's Li Wuniang, Young Master Ye, please offer me your guidance."

After speaking, she took a thin sword from her Storage Pouch and charged over. She unleashed three sealing strikes, as if she had a deep-seated hatred for Ye Yisong. Each sword strike was faster than the last, every move aiming for Ye Yisong's heart.

Another impolite child; this big brother hadn't even returned the salute yet.

Li Wuniang was from the Shuinan Li Family. Ye Yisong had watched her fight before; with the cultivation of a seven-star Martial Artist, her Swift Sword technique was quite impressive.

Unfortunately, it was nowhere near enough in front of Ye Yisong.

After dodging a few strikes, Ye Yisong understood her sword technique completely. It was no longer fun, so he manifested a green lotus in his hand and slapped it toward Li Wuniang.

Seeing the green lotus, Li Wuniang hurriedly retreated. The last Martial Artist who sparred with Ye Yisong was hit by this green lotus, collapsed, and lost the match.

But no matter how Li Wuniang retreated, the green lotus kept getting closer and closer to her.

Ye Yisong stood with his hands behind his back, watching Li Wuniang fly backward, and asked with a smile, "Miss Li, are we still fighting?"