“Yu’er, you want to win against Qin Chu? If you really want to fight, he’ll probably just concede,” Shangshu Tianye said with a smile.
“Daughter just wants to confirm,” Shangshu Yu sat next to Shangshu Tianye, shaking his arm as she spoke.
Shangshu Tianye patted his daughter’s hand, “This little rascal is strong right now, not just because of his Bloodline Power. His Sword Spirit Realm and Saber Intent are both very profound, and he also has a strong foundation in Battle Intent. This means he’s developing comprehensively. For someone like him, unless you crush him with cultivation, it’s very difficult to defeat him. Yu’er, you should speed up your Cultivation!”
“If daughter Cultivates, will he not Cultivate? It seems I won’t be able to bully him,” Shangshu Yu said, happy that her father was praising Qin Chu.
“As he grows, this little fellow’s advantages will become more and more obvious. What did he use to defeat Shang Tiandu? That was the power of Saint Bone! Perhaps others can’t see it, but I, your father, can. Once the Saint Bone forms, his battle power will have a significant increase. After the Saint Bone forms, his Bloodline talent will slowly manifest. I, your father, want to see what heights he can reach,” Shangshu Tianye said.
Compared to the Azure Dragon Saint Clan and the Vermilion Bird Saint Clan, the White Tiger Saint Clan, Fiery Thunder Saint Clan, and Black Tortoise Saint Clan were under immense pressure.
Shang Tianhua looked at Shang Tiandu, “Tomorrow’s battle, if you encounter Shangshuchun Xie, you can fight to the death and don’t need to hold back. But if you meet that Shangshu Yu, you cannot kill her. We cannot fight to the death with the Vermilion Bird Saint Clan and then anger the Azure Dragon Saint Clan again.”
“Big Brother, don’t worry, Tiandu understands. What about encountering someone from the Black Tortoise Saint Clan, kill or not kill?” Shang Tiandu asked.
“Defeat them is enough. For now, we cannot provoke them either. Some matters, some scores, keep them in mind for now. If you can’t kill on the arena, then change the venue and kill them. You can kill them when no one is around!” Shang Tianhua said. The White Tiger Saint Clan was very passive now. Besides the Vermilion Bird Saint Clan, their old rival, they couldn’t provoke any other forces.
The Fiery Thunder Saint Clan was the same. One Vermilion Bird Saint Clan already gave them a huge headache. They couldn’t provoke the Black Tortoise Saint Clan or the Azure Dragon Saint Clan. They were allies with the White Tiger Saint Clan, so they couldn’t kill indiscriminately either.
After dawn, after tidying up, Qin Chu followed his grandfather and others to the square of Saint Martial City.
There weren’t many people left in the contestant seats, only twenty. The Vermilion Bird Saint Clan only had Qin Chu and Qin Mo remaining. Qin Mo was from a collateral branch of the Vermilion Bird Saint Clan; his grandfather was an Elder of the Vermilion Bird Saint Clan and now managed the intelligence System.
Not long after Qin Chu and Qin Mo sat down, people from other clans and Loose Cultivators also arrived.
Qin Chu tossed a jar of wine to Qin Mo, then opened one for himself, “Don’t be nervous. It’s a battle, if you can’t win, can’t you at least not lose too badly? But even if you lose, you can’t make your opponent too comfortable!”
After opening the wine jar, Qin Mo took a sip, “Young Lord, this subordinate is not that nervous anymore.”
“Haha! Actually, they are more nervous than you, because if they meet me, I will kill them!” Qin Chu said with a laugh.
Upon hearing Qin Chu’s words, the eyes of the people from the major Saint Clans turned blue with anger, because Qin Chu didn’t take them seriously, directly saying he would kill people in front of them.
“Can we sit here?” Shangshu Yu appeared beside Qin Chu, bringing Shangshuchun Xie and another member of the Azure Dragon Saint Clan.
“Why not? Senior Sister, please sit. Everyone, please sit!” Qin Chu nodded at Shangshu Yu, Shangshuchun Xie, and the others.
Shangshuchun Xie and the other Azure Dragon Saint Clan member cupped their fists at Qin Chu, then sat down.
After Shangshu Yu and the others sat down, Qin Chu looked at Shangshuchun Xie, “If we meet on the arena, I would like to experience Your Excellency’s high moves.”
“Young Lord Qin, what are you saying? Shangshuchun Xie is no match for you,” Shangshuchun Xie said.
Qin Chu smiled, “If anyone can bring me pressure, can make me feel danger, it’s only you. We have no enmity, we can spar normally.”
Shangshuchun Xie looked at Qin Chu, then nodded, “I hope there’s a chance, I hope we can meet at the very end.”
Shangshuchun Xie genuinely hoped to meet Qin Chu at the very end, so he could test how strong Qin Chu truly was; if they met halfway, then to proceed smoothly and to severely injure Shang Tiandu and Zhen Ji, he would have to concede to Qin Chu.
After Ye Ming ascended the stage, the discussions ceased.
“The next format is different from the past. In the past, it was one-on-one duels, a points System, which was too troublesome. Next, you will endure my energy pressure, and your ranking will be determined by the length of time you endure. After the rankings are established, the final challenge will take place. Contestants who are not satisfied with their ranking can challenge contestants ranked higher than themselves. Each person has five challenge opportunities, and the same person can only be challenged once. Furthermore, the challenged ranking cannot exceed your own by more than three positions. That is to say, if your initial ranking is twentieth, with five challenges, you can at most rise to fifth place, missing out on the top four. Do you all understand?” Ye Ming asked.
Qin Chu and the others all nodded, indicating they understood. This was indeed simple and clear, unlike the troublesome one-on-one duels and points System.
The enforcers of the City Lord’s Mansion brought twenty meditation cushions and arranged them in a circle on the large arena, with a grand chair in the center.
After the enforcers finished setting up, Ye Ming spoke, “I, in the name of the successive City Lords and past Sages of the City Lord’s Mansion, swear to preside over the competition for the Azure Cloud Ranking with absolute fairness and impartiality.”
After taking the oath, Ye Ming sat on the grand chair in the center, “I will remind you one more time, no helping others, no interfering with others. Violators will be expelled, and those who harm others will be executed.”
Qin Chu, who had originally thought about helping Qin Mo if possible, withdrew his thoughts. The rules did not allow for trickery.
After all twenty contestants for the Azure Cloud Ranking were seated, Ye Ming’s energy aura erupted, surging outwards. The energy was a circular impact, very even, with no biased attacks or preferential treatment.
All contestants circulated their Origin Qi energy to resist. When the energy unleashed by Ye Ming exceeded the fifth-stage Heavenly Origin Realm, some people could no longer withstand it, because among these twenty people, some were still at the Peak of the fourth-stage, not everyone had reached the fifth-stage Heavenly Origin Realm.
One after another, people couldn’t hold on and were forced back. When Ye Ming’s energy increased to the Middle Stage of the fifth-stage Heavenly Origin Realm, half of the people on the meditation cushions remained.
Ye Ming’s robes fluttered, and then his aura changed. His energy carried Concept impact, and it switched between various Concepts: Sword Intent, Saber Intent, Fist Intent, and Spear Intent were all present.
This made Qin Chu very puzzled. What Concept exactly did this Ye Ming Cultivate? Did he control all these Concepts? How much of a Genius would that require?
As the Concept arrived, Qin Chu’s Sword Intent erupted in resistance. Qin Chu then discovered that what Ye Ming was displaying was not true Sword Intent, Saber Intent… but rather an approximation. Whether it was real or fake, the pressure was substantial, wave after wave of pressure impacting in all directions.