The clerks transferred the names onto a set of cards and placed them inside a box.
Lin Zixin would then draw out names for each round in front of everyone.
In no time, the contestants for the first round were selected.
Both went up to the roof and bowed to each other formally, but both contestants looked stiff.
It should be their first time competing in front of such a big crowd. The thought that every move of yours would be seen by a thousand people turn someone without experience into a bundle of nerves.
Lin Zixin gave the cue and the competition started.
The round wasn't an interesting one. Both contestants were shaking from nervousness, and their moves were stiff. The Heavenly Sea Pavilion disciple won because of his better cultivation.
The following rounds were the same too.
The other disciples felt embarrassed watching the fights. This kind of standard is even worse than our sect's internal competition!
Disciples who had participated in the Qilin Festival previously felt nothing at all. "It's always this way during the preliminary. The only interesting part is the challenger's fight, which is held after this. Only then will rarely-seen experts emerge.
For the Nine Jade Palace, the person to be called up first was Shao Zhengyang. The other disciples all cheered for him.
Shao Zhengyang went up confidently, but as soon as he heard his opponent's name, he was dumbfounded. The confidence that he had was long gone.
It was a harpy, a barbarian.
Dear Lord, are you kidding me? I just told Tan Yubing that it's almost impossible to get a harpy as an opponent, and now… what is this nonsense?
However, Shao Zhengyang had no choice but to fight.
He braced himself and went up the roof.
However, before he could start with the formal greetings, the harpy threw his stone hatchet at Shao Zhengyang.
Shao Zhengyang was thunderstruck. He hurriedly pulled out his sword.
What the hell? Don't they do formal greetings? Oh, wait – they're barbarians, of course, they don't.
The harpy ignored Shao Zhengyang's internal roasts. As soon as the competition started, he immediately showed his true colours. The harpy slashed toward the ground, and shockwaves dashed toward Shao Zhengyang.
This sent chills down Shao Zhengyang's spine. Just a simple movement of slashing his sword could create shockwaves as if it was an explosion. The brutal strength of the harpy created several mini-tornadoes in the surrounding area.
Met with such a crisis, Shao Zhengyang did not have time to think. He used his sword-light to try to block the shockwaves.
Seeing that, the harpy roared and proceeded to slash his hatchet to the ground continuously. Shao Zhengyang dodged the attacks with lightning-like speed and occasionally blocked the shockwaves when he couldn't dodge. He even attacked the harpy's weakness when he could.
The spectators' attention was fully on the fight.
After so many rounds, there was finally a fight worth watching.
"Junior Nephew Shao is in an unfavourable situation!" Tan Yubing whispered to Lu Mingshu.
The barbarians lived in the Yin Mountains, which was a huge desolate wasteland. The place was surrounded by powerful demonic beasts. If one wanted to survive in such a place, they had no choice but to fight for their life every day.
Within the harpies' blood was a powerful force that would only ignite when they reached a certain age. As soon as it was ignited, they would be able to cultivate, and they would possess extraordinary strength. Mankind was always at a disadvantage when fighting with them. Back during the war, many people lost their lives because a single harpy could only be killed with teamwork.
At the moment, Shao Zhengyang was being controlled by the harpy. If he were to fight directly, the harpy would be too strong for him, but he couldn't properly counterattack because the shockwaves were limiting his actions.
A thought popped up in Lu Mingshu's mind as she observed the fight closely. What if this happened to me? She then put herself in Shao Zhengyang's shoes and started to think of strategies.
"Too strong…." she mumbled. Putting herself in Shao Zhengyang shoes, she marked out a huge area to represent the range of the harpy's strength. If this continued and Shao Zhengyang couldn't find a good weak point, then he would definitely lose.
It had only been four years since Shao Zhengyang entered the Harmonization Realm. His basics were nowhere near profound and he had no particular advantage against the opponent. Shao Zhengyang was good at continuous sword attacks, but as soon as the harpy attacked, Shao Zhengyang was under the harpy's control and was unable to utilize such a skill.
"Such a pity." If Shao Zhengyang had attacked first and gained control, it would have been an easier fight.
"Junior Niece Lu, if it was you, how would you get out of this mess?"
"I'd break apart his continuous shockwaves, then seize a chance to take control. Even though the barbarians are extremely strong, they aren't very skilful. Once they lose the upper hand, it's hard for them to get it back."
That was the way Yu Kuang fought and it worked.
"But how do you break the shockwaves?" Tan Yubing thought long and hard, but she still couldn't figure out a method.
"Use his own spear to attack his shield," Lu Mingshu said without even considering.
Tan Yubing stare at her blankly. What's that supposed to mean?
On the roof, Shao Zhengyang had already been forced into a corner. Seeing that he was going to be defeated, he counterattacked anyway even though it would put him in a dangerous situation.
The audience could only see him rush toward the shockwave with his sword pointing at the harpy.
Despite being hit by the shockwaves, he gritted his teeth and dashed at the harpy. The harpy once again slashed his hatchet on the ground and clashed with Shao Zhengyang's sword-light.
Mutual destruction? This popped up in Lu Mingshu's mind. No, it shouldn't be.
It wasn't necessarily impossible, but the price would be too high. He still had a second chance even if he lost. If I was in his shoes, I'd just change the direction of the shockwaves back toward the harpy so that they would cancel out. Shockwaves weren't like mystic light; they were harder to control, and anyone could control them regardless of who created them. This was what she meant by "Use his own spear to attack his shield."
But Shao Zhengyang did not have the ability to calculate things like her, so his current action was the best option for him. However, regardless of the outcome, he'd end up injured.
After forcefully taking on the attack from the shockwaves, Shao Zhengyang finally seized the chance to display his strength. The continuous sword attack trapped the harpy.
Tan Yubing finally smiled, "There's a fifty per cent chance he'll win now."
Lu Mingshu nodded. This was the first harpy that came up to fight; if Shao Zhengyang lost, he'd lose face for humanity.
Sword-light shone brightly as he dashed toward the harpy. The shockwaves also dashed at Shao Zhengyang again. They clashed and exploded.
When the explosion dissipated, neither of them could stand up straight.
Lin Zixin came up and checked on both of them. He smiled widely and turned to the audience.
"Both of them are exhausted, so we'll stop here. It's a draw then."
The Nine Jade Palace members heaved a sigh of relief. It's fine as long as he doesn't lose. Yu Kuang had already won a round, so if Shao Zhengyang lost, he'd lose face for his sect as well as humanity.
When Shao Zhengyang got back to the tent, his face was pale.
Kang Tian went forward to check his injuries. "There are internal injuries. Please go and get some rest," he instructed.
A disciple came up and escorted Shao Zhengyang away.
"He can't attend the challenger's fight if he doesn't get a win, right?" Tan Yubing asked.
"Yeah, but he still has one chance left…."
Lu Mingshu felt sad for Shao Zhengyang. He was just plain unlucky with his draw, and he had no choice but to fight. Now he had to fight the next round with injuries, and it was his last chance.
The fights continued.
Quite a number of disciples from Nine Jade Palace had gone up, and the results were mixed.
Tan Yubing was the first to score a win for Nine Jade Palace.
Lu Mingshu still hadn't been called up yet. The preliminary would take up to three days before proceeding to the next stage.
When night came, Lin Zixin announced the end of day one.
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