Yang Hui was calm when he spoke, while the easy-going smile on his face made him seem as if he was watching a play, while his gaze was focused on the young man with short black hair who was standing alone at the center of the platform.
At this moment, there was only a single person who dared to stand next to Yang Hui, while the others had all kept a large distance between themselves and this future family head of the Yang family, not daring to approach too close to him.
As for that person standing next to him, he nodded his head and said calmly
''This kid could challenge anyone else among those 300 losers at the bottom of the rankings, but he looks like he intends to challenge Qiu Yun. This will be fun.''
This person next to Yang Hui was over 2 meters(6.5ft) in height, with long black hair that were reaching his sturdy back.
This young man was Yang Hui's direct subordinate, while his fame in the outer court of the Holy sect was only inferior to Yang Hui's and Qiao Min's.
He was the person ranked 3rd in the Martial Roll of Honor, Zhang Jing.
Although he didn't pay too much attention to those who were ranked below him, Zhang Jing actually knew about Qiu Yun's strength.
Not only was Qiu Yun someone who trained in both qi and body refinement, but he was also ranked 568th in the Martial Roll of Honor.
However, although Qiu Yun had a cultivation at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul and was strong in his own right, this by itself wasn't enough for someone like Zhang Jing, the person ranked 3rd among everyone else in the outer court to remember his name.
There was another reason why Zhang Jing knew about him.
It was because Qiu Yun also had a special identity... he was also a beast tamer.
Beast tamers were naturally allowed to bring their magic beasts along with them during their fights since they were considered part of their strength, and the fights in the Martial Roll of Honor tournament were no different.
Although Qiu Yun was just a peak rank 9 Nascent Soul cultivator, in the central region, the status of a beast tamer was the same as that of a powerful alchemist or a formation master expert at the same level.
Even experts from powerful families had to be courteous to powerful beast tamers.
This had made Qiu Yun extremely famous in the outer court of the Holy sect.
Thus, it was natural for people to know of his name.
At that moment, the Grand Elder had a brilliant smile as he stared at Shun Long's figure at the center of the empty platform, but he didn't actually speak, almost as if he was afraid that Shun Long would change his mind and challenge someone else.
Although the Grand Elder didn't know that Qiu Yun was a beast tamer, he had already heard from the rowdy disciples in the audience seats below him that Qiu Yun was actually ranked in the top 600.
Even though the Grand Elder had said that he would take Shun Long to the King's Palace if he managed to defeat a disciple at the top 600 and enter the peak rank 9 of the Nascent Soul before the next time the palace opens, in reality, the Grand Elder only had a faint hope that Shun Long would really challenge someone in the top 600.
''Brat, what are you looking at? Don't tell me that you really want to challenge me. Hahaha!''''
On the platform opposite to Shun Long's, the thin young man with short brown hair, Qiu Yun, looked at Shun Long and burst into laughter as he said the last sentence, but the murderous look in his eyes showed that he was only laughing from fury, while in reality, he truly felt insulted that Shun Long would dare to fight him.
Shun Long nodded his head and said calmly
''You are Qiu Yun, right? Come here then.''
The look on Qiu Yun's face froze, before it turned even uglier a moment later when he heard Shun Long's casual tone, while the disciples in the crowd were filled with excitement since Shun Long confirmed that he was really intending to challenge Qiu Yun.
Liu Mei, Xingyi, Jiang Chen, and Bai Longtian, all watched calmly as they waited for the battle to begin.
They all knew that since Qiu Yun was a beast tamer, his actual combat strength would be much stronger than normal peak rank 9 Nascent Soul stage cultivators. It was also extremely likely that he would have a peak rank 5 magic beast as well.
Qiu Yun contained the surge of anger that had bubbled inside him as he flew towards the fighting platform.
After he handed his sect identifying token to the outer court Elder responsible for the arena, Qiu Yun smiled coldly as he looked at Shun Long and said
''You knew that I'm a beast tamer and yet you still chose to fight me? Brat, are you crazy? Now even want to see what gave you this confidence.''
At this moment, Qiu Yun had already realized that since Shun Long already knew of his name, then he must also know that he was a beast tamer.
However, not only were beast tamers not weak in terms of their combat strength, but they were actually much stronger than average cultivators at the same level.
Thus, the number of people who would willingly challenge a beast tamer were very few.
Before the outer court Elder had declared for the battle to begin, Qiu Yun turned his eyes towards a certain location at the sky above the Holy sect and whistled, before a white blur shot towards the arena at an incredible speed that clearly surpassed the speed of most peak Nascent Soul stage cultivators, arriving in front of Qiu Yun in the blink of an eye, as it slowly turned its attention towards Shun Long.
Shun Long immediately recognized the magic beast that had appeared in front of Qiu Yun.
It was a peak rank 5 'Winged white tiger'.
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Author's note: We are getting a mass release of 5 chapters tomorrow (approximately 16 hours from now)