Volume Three: Rising Fame Chapter Four: Drawing Lots for the Competition

An hour passed swiftly.

Xiaocui had already stepped down from the stage. At Qing Anqi’s signal, Li Yu stood up. From both sides of the staircase, five people emerged—the very contestants who had distinguished themselves in the first round of selection.

Li Yu glanced over and immediately noticed the crew-cut youth, Qing Tiangan, who bore an evident hostility toward him. The other was a girl of an external surname, Qing Xiumin, whose entire presence radiated with the violent energy of the fire element. She, too, stood among the five.

Sensing his gaze, Qing Xiumin met Li Yu’s eyes and offered him a gentle smile.

“That’s not what Xiaocui said at all...” Li Yu murmured in some confusion, but didn’t linger on the thought. It was now time for Qing Heng’s speech.

“Seven seeded candidates, five selected from the preliminary round, making twelve in total. The rules for this selection are as follows: draw lots to determine pairings, and eliminate half the contestants in each round until two rounds have been completed. The winner of each stage will remain, with three victors in the end who will earn the opportunity to attend the Hundred Families Council!”

“I won’t repeat the rules of the martial contest: surrender, loss of ability to resist, or falling off the stage all mean defeat. No deliberate killing is allowed between clan members!”

The rules were simple. After Qing Heng finished and presided over the lot drawing, he stepped down.

“Why are you participating as well?” Li Yu asked quietly, taking advantage of the time while the stage was being reinforced and reset.

Qing Anqi pouted. “Father said every seed candidate has to take part!”

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have wanted to participate. She had intended to consolidate her cultivation and then break through to the sixth rank in one go, so she could be on par with Li Yu.

She was now at the peak of the seventh rank, just a hair’s breadth from advancing.

Li Yu was puzzled. “Didn’t they say some spots were already predetermined?” But on second thought, he guessed something must have happened within the Qing clan, prompting the sudden change.

He didn’t dwell on it. The lot in his hand remained unopened—everyone was to reveal theirs in front of the crowd at the stage, so no one knew who their opponent would be.

“You’d better hope you don’t draw me!”

Qing Yuan approached, looking down from above as he spoke.

What’s more, he no longer suppressed his spiritual energy, letting everyone sense his cultivation level.

It was unmistakably the aura of the fifth rank!

All eyes fell on Qing Yuan, filled with surprise. Most contestants on stage exhibited the energy fluctuations of the seventh or sixth rank, but here was a fifth-rank cultivator. Didn’t that mean anyone who drew him would be eliminated?

Li Yu: ??

What’s with this guy? Why is he targeting me?

Li Yu frowned. “Fine, fine, let’s see what fate decides.”

The greatest change with the fifth rank was the ability to fly, but the real core was that, regardless of element, upon reaching the fifth rank, one could draw on the spiritual power of external sources with the same attribute. This was why a fifth-rank cultivator could so thoroughly suppress those of lower rank.

Li Yu had never fought a fifth-rank opponent, but he was confident he had the means to remain undefeated.

Besides, he had a few tricks up his sleeve.

If they really came to blows, he hoped his opponent wouldn’t be too shocked!

Qing Yuan radiated a chilling aura. He had expected that revealing his cultivation would intimidate the youth before him, but Li Yu’s expression betrayed no fear.

It was as if...

In Li Yu’s eyes, he was utterly insignificant!

He had more to say, but was interrupted.

“Everyone, gather over here and prepare to take the stage.”

A soldier ran up, leading them to the edge of the arena.

“What’s this?” Li Yu asked in surprise, looking at the towering screens behind the stage, each one reflecting the events on its corresponding arena.

There were six such screens, matching the six arenas.

“All right, everyone, bring out your lots!” a judge announced.

Each person’s lot glowed with a colored light—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. The borders of the six large screens changed in response, displaying the corresponding colors.

“Now, according to your color, head to your assigned arena. Wait for the judge’s signal to begin!”

The judge left. Several people swiftly pocketed their lots.

Li Yu glanced at his own purple lot and gave Qing Anqi a word of advice. “If you can’t win, just surrender, all right?”

These martial contests were the Duke’s private concern, something Li Yu needed to fight for. Qing Anqi, on the other hand, was merely going through the motions—she had just finished a mission and needed time to consolidate her gains.

Qing Anqi held a green lot. She nodded and headed to her assigned stage.

Li Yu, still somewhat uneasy, turned back after stepping onto his own stage, just in time to see someone slowly ascending the steps across from Qing Anqi on the green arena.

Just as the figure’s head appeared, his view was blocked.

Screens rose around the periphery of each arena.

“Don’t worry. These screens don’t affect anything. They just block the sights and sounds of the other arenas, so you won’t be distracted,” the judge beside the purple arena explained, his gaze settling on Li Yu. “Focus on your own match for now.”

“Understood,” Li Yu nodded.

Just then, his opponent took the stage as well, clad in coldly gleaming armor, dragging a massive blade across the floor, gouging a deep trench behind him.

“It’s you? Not going to prepare?” Qing Tiangan said coldly. “Or do you think you don’t need to prepare to deal with me?”

“...Wait a second,” Li Yu glanced at the giant blade, then turned to the judge. “We’re allowed to bring weapons onto the stage?”

The judge was about to reply when Qing Tiangan cut in.

“Are you joking? Didn’t you know? Weapons are never restricted in martial contests. Otherwise, many people wouldn’t be able to fully demonstrate their strength.”

Who would have thought lethal weapons were allowed on stage?

Li Yu had assumed it was all about hand-to-hand skills. On the viewing platform, he’d been too busy feuding with Qing Yuan to pay close attention. Xiaocui had left early and hadn’t had time to tell him.

Still, Li Yu wasn’t discouraged. Now that he was on stage, he was in battle mode—there was no backing out.

“It doesn’t matter whether I use one or not,” Li Yu shook his head.

Qing Tiangan was a seventh-rank cultivator, not even as advanced as Qing Anqi. Although he’d spent years in the military, fighting for survival, a gap of one full rank couldn’t be bridged by martial skill alone.

Li Yu hadn’t faced a vast number of opponents, but enough—many of his instructors had sparred with him in training.

“Li Yu, are you ready?” the judge asked. Receiving a nod, he turned to Qing Tiangan. “Qing Tiangan, are you ready?”

“Yes,” Qing Tiangan replied.

“Then begin!”

No sooner had the words left his mouth—

“What right do you have to be a seed candidate?” Qing Tiangan roared, raising his broadsword and charging at Li Yu. In the blink of an eye, he was upon him.

The blade flashed coldly, swinging straight for Li Yu’s neck.

A lethal move from the start!

Li Yu’s eyes narrowed. He stepped back, deftly dodging the ferocious strike, then immediately closed the distance between them.

With a powerful shove, his strength like that of a raging bull, he rammed into his opponent—simple and direct, yet brutally effective.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Li Yu whispered to Qing Tiangan as the youth went flying.

He didn’t let up. Planting his foot on the ground, he stuck close to the dazed Qing Tiangan, giving him no chance to counterattack.

Again and again, Li Yu struck the crew-cut youth before him. There was no murderous intent in his eyes—only the determination to knock his opponent out of the match.