Chapter 197: An award of ten points
The excellent performance displayed by Feng Hao, Feng Xiaofei and Feng Yuxin had left everyone astonished. No one could've thought that Feng Yuxin might have comprehended Zhentian domain!
No one had ever imagined that the Zhentian disciples might emerge out to be so powerful!
Long Yu was as happy as he was surprised with Feng Yuxin's talent. Not only did she possess a natural talent for alchemy, she had also gained profound knowledge of Zhentian domain!
After the group of Tibetan Fire disciples and Allure disciples was sent flying out of the martial arena by Feng Yuxin, only fourteen people remained still standing inside the martial arena.
Out of these fourteen people, five were Zhentian disciples and five were Hanbing disciples. Among the remaining four, two were Qiansi disciples and two were Raining Sword disciples.
While Feng Hao, Feng Xiaofei and Feng Yuxin fought fiercely, the other disciples of Zhentian sect and Hanbing sect avoided to fight and managed to stay in the competition. This had resulted in the most unexpected outcome.
None of the allied disciples of Knife Cut sect, Tibetan Fire sect and Allure sect were to be seen inside the martial arena.
It was pointless for the Raining Sword disciples to try to eliminate the Zhentian disciples and Hanbing disciples now, for they neither had the strength nor the numbers.
The fight was nearing its conclusion!
"Attack!"
Feng Hao and is two friends chased after one of the remaining Qiansi disciples, who was soon subdued by their Zhentian charm. Next, they launched sky waves cross attack and sent that Qiansi disciple flying out of the martial arena.
However, on the other side, a fierce combat ensued.
The other Qiansi disciple had teamed up with the two Raining Sword disciples and the three of them had suddenly ambushed an unsuspecting Hanbing disciple.
Without wasting any time, the Hanbing disciple conceded the fight and left the martial arena.
It was a wise move on his part. Given the strength of those three people joining forces, the Hanbing disciple stood no chance of being able to escape their attack. Trying to fight them might have cost him his life!
Both Qiansi sect and Hanbing sect lost one person each, while all the five Zhentian disciples were still there in the martial arena.
"There's no time to wait for an opportune moment. It's now or never!"
The two Raining Sword disciples nodded to each other and rushed towards the four Hanbing disciples.
They weren't sure of being able to overpower the Zhentian disciples, but they believed they had a chance at gaining some points for their sect by eliminating the four Hanbing disciples.
If they succeeded in eliminating the four Hanbing disciples with the aid of the last remaining Qiansi disciple, there would only be eight people standing in the martial arena, and that would end the second round. That way, they all would gain two points each for their respective sects.
The fight between these three people with the four Hanbing disciples was quite fierce. Soon, both the parties lost one member each, who were so exhausted by the fight that they thought it better concede the fight than to stay there and continue fighting.
There were only ten people left in the Imperial Martial Arena now!
The second round would come to an end as soon as two more people were eliminated.
At this moment, the five Zhentian disciples came forward to help the remaining three Hanbing disciples. They released Zhentian charm and immediately suppressed the last Raining Sword disciple and Qiansi disciple.
All eight of the allied disciples attacked together and eliminated the Raining Sword disciple and the Qiansi disciple. The strategy developed by Feng Hao and his friend had worked and ensured their victory.
Neither of the Raining Sword disciple and the Qiansi disciple could have succeeded against eight people attacking at once. All they could do was to concede the fight and save their lives.
And that's what they did!
After all, one's life was more important than any competition.
Finally, there were only eight people left standing inside the martial arena - five Zhentian disciples and three Hanbing disciples.
Zhentian sect was awarded ten points, owing to the success of Feng Hao, Feng Xiaofei, Feng Yuxin and Liao Lele.
Hanbing sect also gained six points because of excellent performance of three of its disciples, and secured the third spot after Qiansi sect and Zhentian sect.
Qiansi sect had scored twelve points, which was just two more points than Zhentian sect.
The disparity would be overcome soon!
The victory of Hanbing sect and Zhentian sect in the second round had made Fang Qiaoyue's complexion unsightly. She couldn't help but wonder whether she had chosen the wrong side.
However, she was soon relieved as she looked towards the Disciples of Zhentian sect.
Although the Zhentian sect had emerged victorious in the second round, the next round was the fight of Zhenling first layer disciples.
All the seven sects carefully administered the cultivation levels of their disciples because of the seven sects' competition.
Allure sect had four Zhenling first layer disciples. Had Xin Yueya not committed suicide by throwing herself into the lake, Allure sect would've had five Zhenling first layer disciples, which would've been more than double the number of Zhenling first layer disciples Zhentian sect had.
Moreover Zhentian sect didn't have any Zhenling second layer disciples, which meant that it couldn't participate in the fourth round.
However, the Zhentian sect had two Zhenling third layer disciples, one of them being Long Yu...
Fang Qiaoyue narrowed her eyes. She knew that if Allure sect wanted to win the fight of Zhenling third layer disciples, Long Yu must be subdued right in the beginning. Otherwise, Allure sect would undoubtedly be defeated.
In addition to Fang Qiaoyue, all the other sects who tasted defeat at the hands of Zhentian sect thought the same.
No doubt, Zhentian sect and Hanbing sect had emerged victorious in the second round, but one must not forget that each round would have different number of contestants.
Would they be able to stay strong till the end?
............
Divine Valley Inn.
In spite of a grand victory in the second round, Zhentian sect was not celebrating. The disciples of Zhentian sect were pondering over something.
The disciples of Tibetan Fire sect had mercilessly attacked the disciples of Zhentian sect yet again in the second round.
It seemed as if Tibetan Fire sect was waging a war against Zhentian sect!
"I will get rid of all the Tibet Fire disciples in the next round first."
Lu Guanming's face turned ugly with anger, as he pounded his fist in the stone bench.
"We can't be negligent."
Baiyun Zhong said with poise, "In the next round, there will be at least forty contestants. Our Zhentian sect would be represented by just you and Ling Han, while there would be just three disciples from Hanbing sect to come to your aid!"
He was right.
The other Zhentian disciples were fully aware of the situation, and that's why their complexions had sunk.
Long Yu thought to himself, "Although we gained ten points in the second round, the next round is going to be almost impossible to win."
Although Ling Han and Lu Guanming were quite powerful martial experts and would be aided by three disciples of Hanbing sect, how might these five people be able to face more than thirty people at once?
"The next round is impossible to win... We have just two fellow disciples going to compete in the next round... How would we defeat Qiansi sect?"
All the disciples of Zhentian sect gloomily discussed among themselves.
"Who said there would only be two participants from our Zhentian sect?"
Suddenly, a familiar female voice caught the attention of the Zhentian disciples.
As they lifted their heads, they found out that it was actually Liao Lele, standing there, grinning from ear to ear.
"Within two days, I'll try my best to promote my cultivation level, enter Zhenling first layer and congeal a Zhenling. If that happens, I would be able to fight again, in the next round. That way, there would be not two, but three participants from our Zhentian sect."
Long Yu sensed her cultivation level and found that she was at the peak of Wudao ninth layer. Breaking through into Zhenling first layer within two days wasn't impossible for Liao Lele!
"Sovereign, can a person fight in two different rounds?"
Liao Lele asked Baiyun Zhong eagerly.
"As long as one can break through into the next layer, why can't they?"
Baiyun Zhong said with a faint smile.
He was aware of the fact that stepping into Zhenling realm within two days was going to be a tedious task.
Moreover, if Liao Lele failed to congeal a Zhenling while stepping into Zhenling realm, all her efforts would go in vain and she would remain stuck at Wudao ninth layer.
The seven sects' competition was intended to promote the talent of martial experts. So, if a contestant enhanced his or her cultivation level during the span of the competition, he or she was allowed to compete with the contestants having the same cultivation level as he or she had reached.
"That's great!"
Everyone looked at Liao Lele with great expectations.
If Liao Lele succeeded in entering the Zhenling realm, with her impeccable escape techniques, she might create another miracle in the third round!
"I'm going to buy some good immortality pills for you."
Long Yu said to Liao Lele and left immediately for Lu auction house.
He had the privilege card of Lu auction house, so he would get 20% discount on every purchase he would make. Moreover, he had about 3,000 crystal coins with him, which was just the sufficient amount for buying three top-grade spiritual level immortality pills.
Long Yu was ready to help Liao Lele to enhance her cultivation level in any way he could.
Soon afterwards, Long Yu left the auction house after having bought three top-grade spiritual level immortality pills for 2,700 crystal coins.
Those three immortality pills could increase the probability of Liao Lele stepping into Zhenling realm.
As Long Yu walked back to Divine Valley inn, he pondered over the threat to his life that his grandfather had warned him against.
Who were these people and why did they want to kill him?
Were they from Yuchi clan?
Were they from Long clan?
Or were they Chu Chao Sheng's lackeys?
Although Long Yu was aware of the fact that Chu Chao Sheng was a constant threat to his life, he had no idea as to what trick might Chu Chao Sheng play on him.
"After helping Liao Lele step into Zhenling realm, I must practice harder and try to consolidate Nine Hidden Dragon Zhenling into an entity and step into Zhenling fourth layer..."
No matter what happened around him, Long Yu never neglected his own practice.
What was hindering his promotion to Zhenling fourth layer was not the lack of Xuan qi in his body; he needed to comprehend the nine hidden martial skills to domain level!
No matter how many immortality pills he consumed, it all would be useless.
Moreover, spiritual level immortality pills would have minimal effect on his body.
The only way for him to enhance his cultivation level now was to consume some more mysterious level immortality pills, or to continue practicing for several years and try to comprehend the domain level of nine hidden martial skills.
Mysterious level immortality pills weren't easy to find. Even the Imperial Chu clan didn't have access to mysterious level immortality pills.
This was the reason why most of the martial experts remained stuck in this bottleneck.
Although even Long clan didn't have access to mysterious level immortality pills, its members enhanced their cultivation level by repeatedly consuming the same type of immortality pills.
...........
Liao Lele didn't let her fellow disciples down. She meditated for two days and finally succeeded in stepping into Zhenling realm.
She now had a cultivation level of Zhenling first layer!
Since she practiced agility-type martial skills, her speed was far more than any other martial artist of the same cultivation level. Her speed was on par with the speed of a Zhenling third layer martial expert!
With Liao Lele joining Ling Han, Lu Guanming and the three disciples from Hanbing sect; would they all be able to create the same magic their fellow disciples created in the previous round?