Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation
chapter-584

The audience’s expressions changed greatly. Only at this moment, they were shocked to realize that Xiao Chen’s strength was unfathomable.

A strong wind blew and clouds churned, massing above Xiao Chen. This was the starting move of the Lightning Tribulation Saber Technique—Gathering Cloud and Wind. Winds blew and clouds moved, gathering together.

As the winds and clouds gathered, Xiao Chen took a step forward. With an even-stronger momentum than earlier, he swung his saber.

“Pu ci! Pu ci!”

Even Lin Fei’s Withering Plants attack failed. Before his saber could get close to Xiao Chen, the strong momentum of Xiao Chen’s move had broken through.

“Dang!”

A melodious ‘clang’ rang out and Lin Fei’s saber flew out of his hand. A strong, irresistible force sent Lin Fei flying.

Crashing into the Wind Cloud Barrier, Lin Fei vomited a large mouthful of blood. The injuries he had been suppressing instantly erupted. He fell to the floor and could not get up again.

“How can it be? You actually comprehended saber intent as well!”

As Lin Fei looked at Xiao Chen, whose aura was unrestrained and whose clothes fluttered in the gathered wind and cloud, he revealed a look of heavy shock in his eyes. He had not imagined such a result.

Xiao Chen slowly walked to where his scabbard was stuck in the Wind Cloud Arena. Then, he sheathed his Lunar Shadow Saber and pulled out the scabbard with his left hand before leaving the dueling ring carefreely.

“Roar!”

The instant the scabbard was pulled out of the Wind Cloud Arena, a strand of Dragon Qi immediately escaped from that hole. This strand of Dragon Qi had been suppressed by Xiao Chen’s scabbard. The moment it came out, it gave off a resonant dragon roar.

This dragon roar was much louder than any of the dragon roars that had previously been heard. The originally formless Dragon Qi of the dragon roar unexpectedly took form.

The Dragon Qi roared ferociously and broke through the Wind Cloud Barrier. Then, it flew into the skies of Dragon Sealing City, soaring towards the thick, gray clouds.

“Xiu!”

The Dragon Qi tore through the dark clouds and opened a hole in the sky. A piercing golden light instantly descended from the sky, encasing Xiao Chen within it.

This golden light was resplendent, moving together with Xiao Chen. When all the cultivators in the crowd saw this scene, their mouths dropped open in wordless shock.

Such a scene had happened to Sima Lingxuan during the qualifiers. Unexpectedly, Xiao Chen now received such a treatment.

Lin Fei, who finally managed to get up, felt unresigned when he saw this scene. He said furiously, “Damn it! Encased by golden light, receiving the awe of the crowd, all this should be mine!”

Bai Qi, who had never truly viewed Xiao Chen as a rival, had a completely serious expression on his face. “Now, aside from Xuanyuan Zhantian, there is one more person to compete with for the top three positions.”

Sitting alone in the seeded participants’ spectator stand, Sima Lingxuan, who was radiating a strong self-confidence, revealed a strange look in his eyes. However, it quickly faded away.

He said softly, “No matter how strong you are, you are destined to be my stepping stone in this Five Nation Youth Competition. It is a tragedy for you to be in the same generation as me, Sima Lingxuan.”

When Xiao Chen finally took a seat, the golden light around him slowly faded away. The hole in the thick, dark clouds slowly mended as well.

Such a scene made the originally dull other matches even more dreary.

Following that, the matches of the eight Noble Clans’ scions attracted some attention. As for the other matches, no one paid attention to them. The cultivators in the spectator stands all discussed the geniuses that appeared in droves in these two elimination rounds.

“Actually, there are only four true outstanding newcomers in this Five Nation Youth Competition: Xiao Chen, Chu Chaoyun, Xuanyuan Zhantian, and Yue Chenxi. The rest are just there to make up the numbers.”

“That’s not right. How can you count Yue Chenxi as a newcomer? She participated in the previous Five Nation Youth Competition.”

“Ha ha, how can she not be counted? Her performance in the previous Five Nation Youth Competition was not outstanding. During this competition, she stood out from the crowd and defeated Nangong Ziyue. So, she can be considered a newcomer.”

“Right, I feel that she can be counted too. This is unfortunate for Lin Fei. If he had not been defeated so miserably by Xiao Chen, we would have five genius newcomers instead of four.”

“Indeed, he is also an peak genius bladesman who comprehended saber intent. Unfortunately, he met with Xiao Chen and lost too miserably.”

Once the fervent discussions of the cultivators started, they could not stop; it seemed very lively.

These cultivators could not be blamed, either. Compared to the previous Five Nation Youth Competitions, this competition was much more exciting. The genius newcomers emerged in large numbers and the expert veterans were still as strong.

The presence of both the new and old generated intense competition. Everyone could feel this clearly. Geniuses came out in large numbers, gathering together. This was a great age of cultivators, all fighting for supremacy.

How could the crowd not be excited at being able to personally witness the era of geniuses descend upon them, to see birth of the main character of this era? The geniuses they saw today might be potential Martial Emperors, leaving their names behind in history.

“I feel that these four people have the strength to make it into the top five. The trend of the eight Noble Clans monopolizing the top eight spots will be changed.”

“It is still too early to say. Think about the strengths of the eight Noble Clans’ scions. Which one of them is mediocre? Furthermore, how much older are they? The results will be hard to predict.”

“That’s right. We will only know who is stronger or weaker after they fight. However, this Five Nation Youth Competition is a feast for the eyes. I did not make this trip in vain.”

As the noisy discussions carried on, the second round of elimination slowly came to an end.

Today’s elimination round was different from the previous one. The participants could not leave after they finished their matches. The people of the City Lord’s Residence tabulated the scores and announced the hundred people who were qualified to participate in the ranking matches.

These hundred people would also be the ones listed in the True Dragon Ranking. When the Five Nation Youth Competition ended, their names would truly shake the world.

Murong Chong clearly seemed nervous. Given his proud nature, he cared a lot about True Dragon Ranking. In today’s elimination round, he had lost seven matches and had three draws.

He was not confident of making it into the top hundred.

Yun Kexin’s complexion was currently pale. She had been injured in battle and had to drop out early. Although she was able to let it go, with the top hundred about to be announced, she still could not help but be dejected.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Wind and thunder roared and the twenty dueling rings merged together, forming ten larger dueling rings.

Then another dueling ring suddenly rose up in the center of the Cloud Wind Arena. It was clearly different from the others.

That was the Wind Cloud Platform. It had a total of ten corners, and had a dragon pillar in every corner. The Dragon Sealing City’s City Lord stood on the platform, holding a name list. He said, “I will now announce the participants who qualify for the ranking matches. If you do not hear your name, you are not selected.”

As the City Lord read out the names, the final suspense of the day was finally dispelled. Fortunately, Murong Chong’s was read out. This meant that two people from the Heavenly Saber Pavilion made it into the True Dragon Ranking.

The City Lord only read out ninety-nine names. He did not read out the hundredth name. However, everyone knew that spot was reserved for Sima Lingxuan. This was a special glory reserved for him.

“The ranking matches will officially begin three days later. We will announce the rules at that time. You may all now return to rest!”

The Heavenly Saber Pavilion’s Courtyard in Dragon Sealing City:

Three days later, Jiang Chi said to Xiao Chen and Murong Chong with a serious tone, “Murong Chong, Xiao Chen, the ranking matches are about to begin. There is no need for you two to feel any burden. The Heavenly Saber Pavilion already owes you two too much just by reaching this far.”

Xiao Chen nodded and said, “Human affairs are determined by fate. As long as I did my best, I will not have any regrets.”

Murong Chong said the same thing. After reaching this far, he had seen countless geniuses. During this process, he had matured a lot.

Jiang Chi smiled. “Let’s go then!”

On the tall Wind Cloud Platform with the ten dragon pillars, the Dragon Sealing City’s City Lord, Zong Liang, announced the rules of the ranking matches.

The ranking matches would not divide the participants into groups. There would be a total of a hundred rounds. In each round, each participant would fight only once. That meant there would be a total of fifty matches in one round.

Like the elimination round, the ranking matches would use the same point system.

Every participant would start from zero. Each victory would net two points, and each loss would deduct two points. The only difference was that no draws were allowed; a victor had to be decided.

The purpose of this was to prevent a situation, like in the elimination rounds, where the participants could agree to draw. They were now in the final stages of the competition. Naturally, the organizers would not allow such a situation to happen.

It was impossible for finish a hundred rounds in a day. So, the competition would end for the day before dusk or when they finished fifty rounds. All the ranking matches might take four or five days.