As Huang Xiaolong took his seat, the gazes directed at him from the surrounding geniuses were filled with complicated feelings. Those that mocked and ridiculed Huang Xiaolong earlier had clamped their mouths shut. Their eyes occasionally glanced at Huang Xiaolong with reverence, and hidden deep within them were faint traces of regret and trepidation.
The instant Huang Xiaolong sat down, Cui Li moved so close to Huang Xiaolong that she appeared to be draping her entire being over his arm. Her breathy voice gasped, "Xiaolong, you were so powerful just now!"
So powerful just now!
These words sounded so ambiguous.
Some nearby geniuses felt a warm sensation in their nostrils hearing this sentence. Touching their nose, red warm sticky liquid stained their fingers—they all had nose bleeds!
Huang Xiaolong looked over at Cui Li and discovered that her breasts were nearly resting on his arms.
Before the match started she referred to him as 'Little brother Xiaolong', and now she dismissed the words 'Little brother', moving directly to calling him Xiaolong!
Huang Xiaolong looked away after staring at Cui Li for a second, not speaking one word.
"Xiaolong, if you meet me later on the stage, you cannot bully me!" Cui Li insisted in a spoiled little girl manner as she moved closer. That soft, coquettish voice made male hearts itch to agree with whatever she asked or demanded.
At the same time, Huang Xiaolong felt something soft brush against his arm.
Something very, very soft.
Not needing to look, he already knew what that 'something' was.
Even for someone like Huang Xiaolong, he could not stop a tinge of red creeping up his face. After all, this was a public place.
From her outside appearance Cui Li seemed sweet and innocent, he really did not expect her nature to be so… ?!
Just when Huang Xiaolong was considering whether he should change his seating, Cui Li suddenly straightened her body. Flashing Huang Xiaolong a sweet smile she said, "I was just joking with you just now." Her giggle, along with every other little gesture screamed purity and innocence.
On the stage, the seventh round battles had begun.
Surprisingly, Yanggang was placed into the seventh round battles. His token number was seventy-two, thus he walked towards the same battle stage as Huang Xiaolong, battle stage number two.
Seeing Yanggang going up the stage, the crowds discussions about Huang Xiaolong quieted down, diverting their focus to watch Yanggang's battle.
Yanggang's opponent was also a Xiantian First Order expert named Chen Chaoguang, and this person had the same martial spirit as Fei Hou, a Silver River!
When Chen Chaoguang summoned his martial spirit, Huang Xiaolong was stunned for a second.
However, on closer observation, Chen Chaoguang's Silver River was much weaker compared to Fei Hou's, reaching a strengthening ability of only up to five times.
Chen Chaoguang wasted no time in activating the five times martial spirit strengthening after summoning his Silver River martial spirit, increasing his momentum to the limit and launching an attack on Yanggang.
Chen Chaoguang's weapon of choice was a long whip, reaching thirty to forty meters in length as it shot out, sharp bone spurs trailed along the whip's spine. In Chen Chaoguang's hands, the long whip turned into a poisonous snake, winding around Yanggang. The bone spurs enlarged akin to the poisonous teeth of a giant snake with its jaw opened wide.
Watching as the long whip shot towards him, Yanggang snickered condescendingly as he lifted one of his hands and slammed it down above the whip. Before the spectators stunned eyes, the long whip was frozen into solid ice. In an instant, it cracked and lumps of ice fell onto the stage floor!
The crowd was in awe.
Huang Xiaolong nodded appreciatively internally to himself.
Turning everything to ice with a single wave, the power of this Yanggang's ice-frost was indeed notable.
Without further suspense, the result of that battle was announced moments later. Chen Chaoguang was sent flying with an effortless palm strike from Yanggang, falling out of the battle stage area. When Chen Chaoguang landed on the ground, his body was enclosed within a thin layer of ice, having turned green and was constantly shivering from the cold.
From beginning to end, Yanggang did not summon his martial spirit.
While the crowd was in the throes of excitement, Yanggang walked down from the stage and went back to his seat. On the way back he shot a provocative look in Huang Xiaolong's direction.
Huang Xiaolong gave no reaction.
Next, it was token number eighty-one to ninety. Two more rounds of battles and the first tier of battle would end.
A short while later, all one thousand three hundred and sixty-two geniuses completed their first round of battles with half of them eliminated, hence only six hundred eighty-one were left.
The remaining three people that possessed superb talent martial spirit, Cui Li, Pang Yu, and Dai Shanni all displayed incredible strength and power, defeating their opponents with ease and progressing into the next round.
Just as before, half of the people drew lots. With one odd person out in six hundred and eighty-one people, the person who drew a blank lot got to move onto the next round without participating in the current rounds battles.
Whether it was a coincidence or deliberate arrangement by Duanren Empire's people, the person who drew the blank lot was Xie Puti. Therefore, without needing to battle anyone, Xie Puti gained the qualification to enter the third round.
Huang Xiaolong drew number eighty-six, but the opponent this time was not a Xiantian realm expert. Instead, it was peak late-Tenth Order warrior, a young man from White Deer Kingdom called Deng Tang.
When Deng Tang discovered his opponent was Huang Xiaolong, he turned deathly pale. After summoning his martial spirit the moment he got onto the stage, he soul transformed and launched his strongest skill at Huang Xiaolong.
His plan was to catch Huang Xiaolong unprepared, taking the initiative and striking first. His idea was a good one, but Deng Tang forgot one crucial point—as fast as his attack was, and as strong as his attack power might be, would there be any use to his efforts if he failed to break through Huang Xiaolong's defenses?
Almost within one breath's time, he was sent flying off the stage with a single punch from Huang Xiaolong.
Rounds progressed quickly and soon the second round was concluded.
With another half eliminated, three hundred forty people remained, adding Xie Puti, it was a total of three hundred forty-one people.
Still, with one odd man out, the same rule applied… and the person who drew the blank lot was Xie Puti once again.
At this point, everyone understood that this was Duanren Empire's arrangement. Even so, no one complained.
After all, Xie Puti's talent and strength were obvious to see.
As time passed, group after group went up and round after round of competition continued as the sun that was high in the sky slowly moved westward. The high heat of midday turned milder, dispersing slowly.
At sunset, the names of the top 100 participants were finally announced.
All six participants possessing superb talent martial spirit—Huang Xiaolong, Xie Puti, Yanggang, Cui Li, Pang Yu, and Dai Shanni were listed among the top one hundred names.
On this first day of competition, these six people did not come across each other on the stage. This was very likely another one of Duanren Empire's arrangements. The announcement marked the end of first day's competition.
The Imperial City Battle took place over three consecutive days: the first day determined the top 100 places. The second day was a fight for the top ten. Lastly, the third day decided who would be number one!
The many spectating forces and commoners made their way out of Duanren Square after hearing the first one hundred places results announced.
Though the first day's competition may have ended, the atmosphere was still sizzling with excited discussions, but the main character discussed was neither Xie Puti nor Yanggang, it was Huang Xiaolong!
In the morning before the competition started, Huang Xiaolong was deemed as the one with the most unfavorable odds amongst the six people with superb talent martial spirit. But now, every little detail related to Huang Xiaolong turned into a big topic.
For example: Huang Xiaolong was only seventeen. Huang Xiaolong's martial spirit was a Primordial Divine Black Dragon. What was Huang Xiaolong's real strength? Some even went as far as comparing Huang Xiaolong with Xie Puti and Yanggang.
Although no one was certain as to the extent of Huang Xiaolong's real strength, nearly everyone agreed that Huang Xiaolong could definitely achieve a spot in the top ten.
Leaving Duanren Square, Huang Xiaolong returned to Solitary Longing Inn with Zhao Shu, Yu Ming, and Fei Hou.
Darkness filled the night sky, yet Huang Xiaolong had no chance to rest. Not long after returning to the inn, an uninvited guest appeared at his door.
It was Cui Li!