Chapter 17: Battle For Top Ten (1/3)
When Ji Chen and his group arrived at the arena, the seats were already being filled up to the last one besides the reserved sections.
His group's arrival caught the attention of all forces and he was forced to exchange a round of niceties with the other leaders of the city.
It was apparent that even some leaders from minor forces tried to cozy up with him, which he entertained patiently before finally settling to his seat.
All the 50 remaining contestants were arranged to have their seats near the stages, making the reserved area for the Three Peak Sect look desolate.
'It's good that someone asked me if they could bring their friends.' Ji Che glanced at the side where the eleven 'friends' which were all core disciples were sitting meekly.
"Hey, be comfortable. You need to cheer on your friends later." He said in a friendly tone, to ease these disciples. He knew that these disciples were adjusting to the sudden scene of many people compared to the atmosphere of the sect.
Ji Chen looked down and noticed that the original 20 battle stages were now changed into 8 bigger stages made of metallic materials. The grandiose white stage at the center was still in place.
City Lord Feng talked to the guests from the Governor Residence for a while before finally standing up.
"Quiet."
When the arena became silent enough, he continued speaking. "We will now continue the competition from yesterday. There are 50 remaining contestants. For the fourth to sixth round of the competition, the four emperors do not need to join and they will automatically be in the top ten. Are there any objections to that?"
'Oh they finally realized it's a waste of time to match up the emperors to the poor lambs?' Ji Chen chuckled thinking back of the sour faces of those who faced the four emperors in first to third rounds.
The audience shook their heads while the contestants did not say anything. It was already logical to do that even before the first round.
"There is no objection. After the fourth round, only 23 contestants will remain. For the fifth round, one random contestant will have a bye. Only 12 contestants will remain at the end. For the sixth round, the victors will join the four emperors in the Top 10."
"Same rules as yesterday. The fourth round will begin now."
In the front row seats, the four emperor contestants were sitting together.
Su Yunfei of Edgewater Pavilion, a petite lively lady with a warm smile that formed dimples on her small oval face, was talking enthusiastically to Bai Ningshuang.
In terms of age, Bai Ningshuang was younger by at least a decade but in terms of body appearance and aura, it seemed that Su Yunfei was her little sister. It made her curious on how this older 'little sister' retained her youthful aura, too youthful that she felt she was with a young teenager that was full of unrealistic notions like Ling Jingjing.
"My cultivation technique is wood-based. Master said even with our last breath on our deathbed, we will still look fresh and young."
"There's really such a good technique?" Bai Ningshuang widened her shining eyes slightly.
Sun Wuji of Emerald Stone Veranda was peeking at the corner of his eyes. His eyes could not stop looking at the silver-haired lady who had a silvery voice and curvy body. Yes, her athletic figure was his own definition of 'curvy body'.
Still, he knew that on the battle stage, he must not give mercy to this same Darling of the Frozen Plateau City.
On the other hand, Xiong Xu of Golden Wheel Merchant Organization had a neutral expression looking around. His thoughts could not be discerned by looking at his poker face.
The four emperors seemed to not care about the ongoing battles but the other contestants were watching intently.
Xu Kai and the others from the sect watched Jin Ren battling someone a stage higher than his cultivation. His hammer which had violent fluctuations of lightning energy kept resisting the opponent's fast onslaught.
Due to the nature of his element, he was able to match the speed of his opponent. This barely enabled him to dodge and defend at the nick of time.
A part of the crowd watching this match had already decided to switch their attention on other ongoing matches. They had already foresaw the conclusion of this specific match. If the situation remained as was, Jin Ren would surely lose to his opponent.
However, in the midst of the chaotic exchanges, thick and concentrated lightning energy quickly converged into Jin Ren's index finger as he pointed it at his opponent in a point-blank range.
Buzz.. Buzz..
The unprepared opponent was caught off guard with the attack on the chest. At the last moment, the opponent managed to cross his arms. The thick bolt of lightning scorched both arms and made the opponent's body twitch for several breaths before Jin Ren sent a simple hand chop to end the match.
"Isn't that the finger art given to him by Sect Master?" Tai Yuwen asked in awe.
"Little Yuwen, are you envious of his finger skills?" Hesha looked over after hearing his question and winked alluringly.
Among the direct disciples of the elders, Tai Yuwen was the youngest and had just turned thirty. Because of this, everyone in the circle treated him as 'little brother'.
Obviously, it was more appropriate to call him 'junior brother' but Hesha would not miss any chance of teasing her friends and stirring some troubles,
Tai Yuwen shrunk his neck hearing the malevolent voice. He shook his head vehemently before escaping towards Xu Kai and Ye Rong who were both watching quietly.
"You tease Brother Yuwen again, Sister Hesha."
"Oh, you sound like her wife. Are you two… "
"What?! What are you trying to say?"
"Come here, I'll tell you what a wife is~"
Ling Jingjing regretted her decision to comment and ran towards Bai Ningshuang and Su Yunfei seeing Hesha targeting her.
"Congrats." Xu Kai said cooly to Jin Ren who had just come back from his match.
"Thanks, Senior Brother."
"Sigh. Senior Brother Dru seems to be losing." Ye Rong suddenly sighed which caught the attention of the two. They looked at a certain stage and saw Taxia Dru being overwhelmed by his female opponent.
"He will lose the match." Xu Kai felt some regret and continued, "His opponent is fast enough to dodge his sword arts."
Sure enough, after several more exchanges, Taxia Dru lost the match to the lady who was a wind-based cultivator. It was like he met his nemesis.
Ji Chen had also observed the match and knew it was a necessary loss for Taxia Dru for the latter to realize and cover all his weaknesses.
After several more matches, Tai Yuwen was finally called on one of the stages. However, his face became bitter seeing his opponent: a late-stage archmage.
It was a good thing that the opponent came from the Emerald Stone Veranda. After three friendly clashes between them, Tai Yuwen conceded on his own. He was only at the early-stage Archmage Realm. He could struggle against someone with one higher stage in cultivation but more than that would be a long stretch.
Moreover, the opponent had a firm foundation and strong set of techniques as a disciple of the Emerald Stone Veranda.
His Soaring Flame Movement Technique he received from Ji Chen could only offer some help in this case.
With his defeat, only five contestants from the Three Peak Sect remained.
Ling Jingjing and Hesha won their matches without difficulty.
Out of 27 remaining contestants, five were from the same sect that only sent ten contestants.
The other forces realized that the rise of the Three Peak Sect back to its former glory had already started.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone