89: Chapter 89 The Battle is Underway

At daybreak the next day, everyone walked out of the grotto-heaven and returned to the martial arts arena.

Relying on the high concentration of Spiritual Qi to Cultivate and rest the entire night, everyone adjusted their physical bodies and Cultivation states to the best condition.

Yesterday, the first round of the Qi Refining competition ended, and after the thirty-two thousand people finished the ten-person melee, most were eliminated, leaving only three thousand two hundred elites.

Today, the old rules were still followed: groups of ten fought on the same stage, and the last ones who survived advanced, quickly finishing the repechage and semifinals, all the way charging to the finals.

Qingming stood on the main stage and gave an order, and the protective Formations of hundreds of floating arenas were all activated, officially starting the repechage.

Those who could stay were solid powerhouses, their Moves were crisp and decisive, and no one showed mercy.

After an entire morning of rotation battles and eliminations, out of the three thousand two hundred people screened to the end, only twenty-four people were selected to advance to the semifinals.

Resting for a short moment, Ye Qingxuan cast a Butian Technique, and everyone was resurrected with full health.

The two semifinal matches followed closely, still using the rules of a ten-person melee.

After the two matches ended, the top ten players in the Qi Refining Realm stepped onto the final arena stage.

These ten people covered all kinds of Cultivation paths, including orthodox Daoist sect Cultivators, mages, Elf Race female Cultivators, and Dwarf Race stalwart men, and of course, the ones who received the most attention from the whole audience were Disciple Suyue and Lin Wei.

Disciple Suyue was at the ninth layer of Qi Refining, a Sword Cultivator. Relying on exquisite swordsmanship and ultra-fast movement techniques, cross-Realm combat was his forte.

Lin Wei took the path of pure martial arts, at the Blood Refining Realm Perfection, and served as an active-duty soldier.

He was also the son of a high-level second-in-command. Looking at his fierce fighting style like a reckless temper charging into battle Formations in the military camp, he was actually calm in mind, and every Move was solid battlefield combat skill, never blindly sending himself to death.

As soon as the final arena opened, the ten people on the stage immediately became entangled in a fierce battle.

The Elf Race female Cultivator was surrounded by wind elements, wandering back and forth with high-speed movement techniques, occasionally throwing out a few wind blades to disturb others.

The Dwarf Race stalwart man had a formidable Physical Body, holding a short axe to guard a corner. Whoever approached rashly would be directly blocked by his swinging axe, stubbornly guarding his own territory.

The remaining Daoist sect members and mages restrained each other, and the scene was chaotic yet orderly.

Disciple Suyue carried a long sword and continuously moved around, sword lights stabbing out frequently, solving several opponents in a short while.

He did not want to collide head-on with Lin Wei too early, planning to clear away the others first before having the final showdown.

Throughout the process, Lin Wei was not in a hurry to take the initiative to attack. His footsteps were firmly rooted on the arena ground, his gaze scanning the audience. Whenever anyone wanted to sneak attack him, they would be repelled by his simplest grappling or heavy strikes.

Others looked at his daring and charging military appearance, but in fact, he had a clear grasp of everyone's movements in his heart.

Not long after, the elf's Spiritual Qi was excessively consumed, and she was forced off the arena stage by two mages joining forces.

The Dwarf Race stalwart man found it difficult for two fists to fight four hands, and was knocked out of the arena boundary by the cooperation of several people.

The remaining Cultivators also successively lost and exited, and on the huge arena stage, ultimately only Disciple Suyue and Lin Wei were left standing face-to-face.

"The final match, do you want to rest for a moment?" Qingming looked at their states and asked a question.

"Many thanks, Daoist Master. My consumption is not large, no need. What about Daoist Suyue?" Lin Wei's face was not flushed and he wasn't out of breath.

"Senior Brother, I don't need it either. Fellow Daoist Lin, let's begin." Disciple Suyue also refused the rest.

Qingming glanced at Ye Qingxuan, who understood in a second, casting another Butian Technique, and both of them were resurrected with full health.

The eight eliminated people also looked at the two on the stage; they lost, but they were also convinced.

The arena instantly quieted down, and over a billion viewers in the CCTV Livestream frantically posted bullet comments.

[The two big shots are left in the finals, a Sword Cultivator fighting a martial arts expert in the army!]

[There were elves and dwarves participating before, their racial talents are really not bad, pity they didn't last to the end]

[Lin Wei looks quite fierce, wouldn't he be a brainless reckless person?]

[You're overthinking it. He is a descendant of a military big shot, having trained in the military for many years. He looks full of drive, but his brain is extremely sharp.]

Zijin Mountain——

The two leaders and the secretary looked at the live broadcast screen in the office.

The Second Elder's face showed both pride and disgust: "I didn't expect this brat to actually fight his way into the finals."

"Hmm? What's wrong, old friend, I see you're a bit proud?" The leader had a teasing look.

"Hmph, I'm looking at Xiao Lei." The Second Elder still stubbornly refused to admit it.

"Hahaha, you, you're just stubborn."

——

At this time, leaders of various foreign countries looked at the broadcasted screen from CCTV and looked at the skills of those tens of thousands of Cultivators in Huaxia, falling into complete despair.

In the past, they could still comfort themselves that Huaxia only had Ye Qingxuan, that it was Ye Qingxuan who was strong, and Huaxia just happened to pick up a bargain, but what about now?

According to the news they received, this was only a battle of the Qi Refining Stage. In their view, these were simply supermen, more than thirty thousand supermen, but in the Cultivation world, this was the weakest.

——Grand Ritual of Luotian Arena

The arena protective Formation slowly closed, isolating the outside sounds. Disciple Suyue took the lead in raising his foot and rushing forward, his long sword stabbing straight out, and three successive tricky, fast swords went straight for Lin Wei's chest.

Lin Wei turned sideways and raised his hand, easily blocking all the sword Moves, and said: "Your swordsmanship has no flaws to pick on, you just rely too much on movement techniques to pull away the distance. Once you are closed in on, the advantage is gone."

Disciple Suyue's wrist changed his Move, and the sword light bypassed the side to launch a sneak attack: "Your Realm is higher than mine, but when fighting for real, the outcome is not necessarily certain. I have practiced my swordsmanship for so long, and I won't necessarily lose to a pure Physical Body fighting style."

The livestream bullet comments immediately flooded the screen:

[The two people chat while fighting, the actual combat atmosphere is maxed out directly]

[To be honest, the Realm gap is not particularly large, it depends on whose shortcomings are exposed first]

[Aren't you a bro? The ninth layer of Qi Refining against the twelfth layer, you call this not large?]

[Indeed it's not large. Lin Wei is a martial arts practitioner who has not entered the Spiritual Orifice Realm, and his methods are not as many as a truth-realization Cultivator. If it were a truth-realization Cultivator at the twelfth layer of Qi Refining, Disciple Suyue would have been defeated long ago.]

[Makes sense!]

——On the arena

Disciple Suyue saw that the frontal sword Moves were useless, poured all his Spiritual Qi into the long sword, and bypassed to Lin Wei's waist side with movement techniques to launch a surprise attack. Lin Wei's footsteps were firmly rooted on the ground, his whole body's Qi and blood burst out fiercely, and he heavily slapped his palm on the spine of the sword.

With a crisp "clang", the huge force was transmitted along the sword body to Disciple Suyue's hand. The web of his thumb and forefinger went numb, and he stepped back twice consecutively.

Without waiting for Disciple Suyue to steady his body, Lin Wei immediately pressed close, completely adopting the close-quarters melee fighting style of the military camp, firmly locking his positioning and giving him no chance to pull away the distance and swing his sword.

Disciple Suyue could only continuously retreat and dodge, waving his sword to barely block the offensive. Sword Cultivators of the Qi Refining Stage were best at long-range containment; once they had their faces stuck, most of their skills could not be displayed.

After fighting a dozen rounds, Disciple Suyue's Spiritual Qi consumption became more and more, and his breathing gradually became rapid.

"Your Moves have no problem at all, it's just that your actual combat experience is too little."

Lin Wei said while attacking, "Arena competition is different from life-and-death combat. Really on the battlefield, the opponent will not give you a chance to repeatedly adjust your movement techniques."

Disciple Suyue gritted his teeth, urged all the remaining Spiritual Qi in his body, lit up his long sword with white light, and slashed over with his strongest sword.

Lin Wei's expression had not the slightest fluctuation, condensing his whole body's Qi and blood to throw a straight punch, without fancy Spells, only pure and thick power.

The fist and sword collided together, the dazzling sword light shattered on the spot, Disciple Suyue's Spiritual Qi was shaken to flow backward, the long sword in his hand tilted to the side, he staggered back a few steps, and no longer had the strength to launch an attack.

Lin Wei immediately withdrew his punch and did not take advantage of the danger to continue moving.

Disciple Suyue lowered his head to look at his aching wrist, openly cupped his fists and conceded defeat: "I lost. The gap in our Cultivation is not too large, and my swordsmanship can be on par with you, but I only buried my head in practicing swords, and my actual combat experience is far inferior to yours."

"Your talent is very good. If you make up for this shortcoming, it will be hard for anyone in the same Realm to be your opponent." Lin Wei responded calmly.

Large cheers sounded off-stage, and the livestream bullet comments densely covered the screen.

[Lin Wei wins the overall championship of the Qi Refining Stage, well-deserved!]

[Disciple Suyue is already very strong, losing because he hasn't experienced life-and-death actual combat]

[No wonder Lin Wei's fighting style looks fierce but not reckless, military camp training is really not for nothing]

The competition of the Qi Refining group completely ended here, and Ye Qingxuan on the clouds quietly looked at the arena, the result being the same as he expected.

The several Sect Heads on the viewing platform were also whispering.

Celestial Master Zhang said, "Disciple Suyue lost, unexpected, yet within reason."

Master Yuanxin said, "Very normal, Disciple Suyue's talent is not bad, it's just that his actual combat experience is few. Moreover, Sword Cultivators of the Qi Refining Stage cannot yet be considered true Sword Cultivators."

Wudang Sect Head Wang also followed up with a sentence, "What a pity, if I had strived for it a bit more back then, this Disciple Suyue would have been my disciple."

"Hey, Old Daoist Wang, you want to snatch a disciple from this poor Daoist?" Yuanhui was thinking about how to go back and comfort his disciple, and upon hearing Sect Head Wang's words, he turned around and rebutted.

"Amitabha, Disciple Suyue's natural endowment is also of the top-tier layer in the Cultivation world. What a pity, his Cultivation time is a bit too short."

Master Kongming sighed with emotion. After the revival of Spiritual Qi, the Buddhism sect did not take in as many geniuses like the Daoist sect. Not everyone could endure the strict precepts and rules of Buddhism.

Master Kongming now just wanted to change all the precepts of Lingyin Temple, abolishing all except the precept against lust. This way he might be able to recruit quite a few geniuses. Do not doubt him; as the successor of Daoji, he had this kind of boldness.

The arena did not pause, immediately opening the Foundation Establishment group competition.

Over three thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators had already completed drawing lots and grouping yesterday, still executing the rule of a ten-person melee.

Qingyun stepped onto the stage to host the Foundation Establishment competition, "The Foundation Establishment Stage matches will be hosted by this poor Daoist."

"Contestants enter the arena!"

With an order, all Foundation Establishment arenas opened their protective Formations simultaneously, and over three thousand Cultivators boarded the stages together to start the war.

This group of participating personnel also included truth-realization Cultivators, martial arts Cultivators, mages, and quite a few elf and dwarf contestants. Talents from all races gathered together.

"Remember, stop at the limit, begin——"

The Formation opened. The cultivation of Foundation Establishment Cultivators was a cut above Qi Refining, their Spiritual Qi was condensed and solid, and their combat thinking was even more mature.

On one arena after another, Spell bombardments, axe slashes, wind blade shuttles, and various Cultivation methods took turns appearing.

The audience in the CCTV Livestream watched with great relish, bullet comments coming one after another.

[Finally reached the Foundation Establishment match, the types of contestants are too complete, all kinds of geniuses are there]

[The ten-person melee tests comprehensive ability too much, knowing only a single fighting style makes it very easy to be targeted]

[The Foundation Establishment Stage has preliminarily entered the extraordinary, and the life level has also improved a lot. This tournament match is definitely fierce enough]

For an entire afternoon, the Foundation Establishment group eliminated people in rotation without stopping, and quite a few contestants relying on racial talents or Cultivation Technique advantages advanced all the way.

There were also contestants with unstable mindsets and insufficient melee experience who were eliminated early.

Master Yuanxin on the main stage and a group of Elders occasionally conversed in low voices, sighing that just a few months after the revival of Spiritual Qi, plus the integration of talents from all races, the overall strength of the Huaxia Cultivation world improved rapidly.

Ye Qingxuan in the high-altitude clouds overlooked the whole scene, and the strengths and weaknesses of each Cultivator were clearly visible in his eyes.

Until the setting sun gradually fell, after an afternoon of screening for over three thousand Foundation Establishment Cultivators, more than three hundred elites ultimately remained. Only needing a brief rest, the Foundation Establishment repechage would officially begin.