章節 95: Round of sixteen
The next two rounds of the youngster's tournament happened similar to the previous one. They were held in two parts, though the people participating in the two parts were mixed. Thus Bai Yun had a chance to see both Zhang Zi and Bai Qing in action. Both of them were pretty good. There were also a few others who got passing marks from Bai Yun.
And Bai Yun's two fights were also nothing much. He had to fight a bit, but both of them went down without giving him much trouble.
The next day Bai Yun arrived at the tournament site on time. Today both the round of sixteen and the quarterfinals would be held. The semifinals and the finals would be tomorrow.
Unlike the previous rounds, the round of sixteen was conducted in a single go of eight matches side by side. But the format would change from the quarterfinals onwards. From then on it would be one match at a time. After all, there would only be eight matches left, four quarterfinals, one semi final, one final and one third place fight.
When Bai Yun lazily walked into the arena, he saw that he was the last to arrive. The other fifteen fighters were already there. They were waiting near the main arena, inside the stadium. Everyone else had to wait in the stands. Looking around, Bai Yun was quite impressed by the wide variety of people here.
Zhang Zi was sitting in a corner, napping. Bai Qing was chatting with a few of his friends, and also making new friends, widening his circle. The idiot that shouted at him after the first match was also there. He was standing in the middle with a proud expression. There were some of them standing alone, and some of them standing together and chatting. There was even one guy who was sitting there slowly sharpening a large axe.
As he looked around he realized that he only knew four people here. Once was Bai Qing, then Zhang Zi, Meng Qi, the archer he saw during the gold test and finally Gong Ming, the flashy guy he met during the gold test. Based on the strength they had shown then, Bai Yun was a little surprised that the latter two could make it here. And true to his nickname given by Zhang Zi, reptile, Gong Ming was showing a completely different look right now. He was casually chatting with Bai Qing and a few other young men. Meng Qi was standing near Zhang Zi silently. Bai Yun had heard from Song Hui during the auction that Zhang Zi had persuaded Meng Qi to join his Little Merchant Association.
Bai Yun looked around once again. He suddenly saw the dark horse he had seen standing off in a corner, in the shadows. Bai Yun once again felt that he was familiar, but just couldn't place him.
There were a lot of cheers coming from the stands, though most of it was not legible in the noise.
The organizers suddenly appeared in front of them. "Good you are all here. We can finally begin." The head referee said while staring at Bai Yun. Bai Yun simply shrugged in response. He got here one minute before the scheduled time. He wasn't late. There was no need to stare at him.
Once the referee declared the start of the round of sixteen, the group started to move toward their respective arenas. The cheers from the crowd rose. Zhang Zi finally woke up and walked towards his arena.
"Big brother Zhang, big brother Long. Good luck out there." Suddenly Bai Yun heard a loud shout from the stands. Song Hui was standing there waving a huge banner with the word fight written upon it. He could see her maid standing next to her, covering her face with her hands.
Bai Yun awkwardly waved to Song Hui with a chuckle. The strange creature was adorable in her own way. She reminded him of a bunny.
"Big brother Zhang, beat that baddy for me." Song Hui shouted.
Song Hui was defeated in the previous round. The person who defeated her was facing off against Zhang Zi. That was why she asked him to defeat him.
Bai Yun walked up to his arena. His arena was right next to Zhang Zi's so he had a good view of that fight.
Bai Yun glanced at his opponent. It was the same guy who had come up to him after the first round. It seemed that he had survived until now.
"Not bad, you survived until now." The young man said in a condescending tone. "But your luck ends here. Get ready to go home crying."
Bai Yun simply shook his head. He was far more interested in Zhang Zi's match than this one. Zhang Zi was very calm even after meeting him. Bai Yun had a feeling that Zhang Zi had a trick up his sleeve to deal with him.
The young man took out a saber and stood there glaring at Bai Yun. He took off his huge coat and put it into his storage ring. He seemed to be incensed by Bai Yun's total disregard of him.
Bai Yun stared at the young man from the corner of his eyes. Even though it looked as if he was not paying attention, Bai Yun would never make such a basic mistake. He had three soul tendrils. Other than splitting up to act, they could also be used to split his focus and think multiple thoughts at the same time. Having three soul tendrils means that he can split his consciousness into three. He was using two of his soul tendrils on his opponent, and only one on Zhang Zi.
Then the referees declared the start of the matches.
The moment the match started, Bai Yun's opponent ran towards him. Bai Yun was staring at Zhang Zi's arena, though in fact, he was placing most of his attention of the young man coming towards him.
The young man swung his saber down at Bai Yun. Bai Yun simply took a step to the right to dodge the attack. The young man swung his sword sideways, which Bai Yun dodged by bending his body.
Bai Yun glanced at Zhang Zi. He was engaged in a fight with his opponent. He directly smashed against his opponent using his shockwave power. He used his overwhelming power to disorient his opponent before attacking in force once again.
Bai Yun knew that that fight was probably not going to last for much longer. He wanted to finish his fight quickly too. So he finally turned his full attention back to his opponent.
Since it seemed as if Bai Yun was disinterested in their fight, his opponent had become enraged. Throwing caution out the window, the young man he was fighting against simply attacked him again and again without bothering about defense. Bai Yun was able to easily dodge his attacks, which only fueled his fury.
When Bai Yun finally turned to him, the young man was halfway into going insane. He completely threw away any semblance of fighting form and started to wildly swing his saber. "Stand still you slippery bastard." He screamed. Bai Yun's plan to agitate him had worked.
When he swiped at Bai Yun again, instead of dodging, Bai Yun took a rapid step inside. He stepped on the young man's feet and punched at his throat, causing him to stumble. Before he could recover, Bai Yun grabber the young man's saber and hit him on the head with his sword hilt, disorienting him. As the young man stood there shaking his head, Bai Yun kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying.
The young man fell down quite a good distance away. Bai Yun used wind motion to approach him. But the young man quickly stood up and lifted his saber and swung it downward in Bai Yun's path.
But Bai Yun did not slow down. Wind motion was designed to handle close combat. Without slowing down, Bai Yun simply took a single step to the side to pass by the young man and appeared behind him. Bai Yun put his sword at the throat of the young man and quietly said "Yield."
But the young man was not ready to do so. His pride had been hurt. Without caring about any repercussions, he swung his saber over his shoulder to hit Bai Yun. But Bai Yun casually blocked that strike and kicked at the young man's right leg. As the young man stumbled on one leg, Bai Yun drove his elbow to the young man's right shoulder and chest, knocking him down. Before he could stand up, Bai Yun leaped and landed on the young man's saber and then held his sword to the young man's throat once again, this time slightly pushing it just enough to make him bleed.
"Give up. There is no scenario in which you can win." Bai Yun said.
By now the young man had finally come to see reason. He stared at Bai Yun in terror. Then he slowly nodded.
"Bai Yun wins." The referee announced.
Bai Yun put his sword back into his storage ring. He had made it to the quarter finals. Now there were only a mere two matches between his fight with Zhang Zi.
As Bai Yun left the arena he saw Zhang Zi standing down there waiting for him. He had finished his fight while Bai Yun was playing around. The rest of the fights were still going on.
Bai Yun glanced at the sixth arena. The winner of that fight was going to be his next opponent in the quarterfinals. The fight was between the second seed and the dark horse. The fight was close. The dark horse had a slight edge, but the fight was too close to call. Among all the fights in the round of sixteen, it was the closest one.
One by one, the others finished their fight. Bai Qing was the next to end his fight with a victory, securing a position in the quarterfinals. The fights continued after that. Gong Ming lost his fight and had to leave. But he was not too down by the result and seemed quite chipper. He had ended his fight before he was too injured, so it looked as if he had taken a jog rather than be part of a severe fight.
Meng Qi also won her fight. From the way she moved, it was obvious that her weapons and movement techniques were far superior to the ones she used during the gold test. Advantages of joining a major force.
Soon the other fights also ended. Bai Yun did not know who the other fighters were, but he still played close attention to them in case they became his opponents in the future.
Finally, the last battle also ended. It was the fight between the dark horse and the second seed. The dark horse won the match after a tough fight. He was quite injured in the fight and was directly taken to the medical area to rest.
The organizers had a small meeting after this. Then they declared that Bai Yun's fight with Luo Ting, the dark horse, was postponed to the end so that the injured party can recover as much as possible. Bai Yun did not mind the extension. Then they all broke for lunch and after which the quarterfinals would begin.
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