After the first round of free-for-all battles concluded, the Xuan Clan publicly announced the rules for the subsequent rounds.
Unlike the chaotic melee of the first round, the following rounds would adopt a one-on-one elimination system.
Starting tomorrow, the four hundred qualifiers would face off in individual duels, ultimately determining the top fifty who would earn the right to enter the secret realm.
Chen Yuyang felt little fluctuation regarding these arrangements.
With his strength, securing a spot was not a problem.
However, Yunlian immediately felt a surge of pressure upon hearing this.
Her current cultivation was at the sixth level of the Golden Core stage.
Although her strength had improved significantly through dual cultivation with Chen Yuyang recently, in this elimination tournament, her realm could only be considered mid-to-upper tier.
If her luck was poor and she encountered a particularly formidable opponent, she could very likely be eliminated.
This realization suddenly filled Yunlian with anxiety.
Returning to the guest building, she immediately went to find Chen Yuyang.
“Shixiong… I want to become stronger. Tonight, let’s… let’s have a vigorous session of dual cultivation, okay?”
Chen Yuyang rolled his eyes slightly at the girl.
Now, Yunlian could say such things to him without even changing her expression.
Seeing that Chen Yuyang’s expression seemed somewhat helpless, Yunlian stuck out her tongue playfully, stepped forward to tug at the young man’s sleeve, and continued in a coquettish tone.
“Come on~ Shixiong~ We’ve already done it so many times, what’s there left to be shy about?”
Chen Yuyang gently brushed off the girl’s hand and shook his head, his tone turning a bit more serious.
“Stop fooling around. Tomorrow is the next round of competition. You’ve only just reached the sixth level of Golden Core not long ago. Even if we dual cultivated all night, you couldn’t possibly break through your current realm overnight. On the contrary, it would exhaust your spiritual energy and affect your combat condition tomorrow.”
Hearing Chen Yuyang’s words, the anticipation on Yunlian’s face instantly faded.
She lowered her head somewhat dejectedly.
“Then… then what should I do? Even putting aside everything else, I really want to see the secret realm, I want to accompany you, Shixiong…”
Seeing her pitiful appearance, Chen Yuyang pondered for a moment before speaking somewhat helplessly.
“If that’s the case… I have something here that I can lend you temporarily. It should… be able to increase your combat power to a certain extent.”
At these words, Yunlian’s eyes instantly lit up.
She quickly grabbed at Chen Yuyang, urging him.
“What good thing is it? Shixiong, quickly take it out and let me see!”
After a moment of internal deliberation, Chen Yuyang flipped his palm, producing a piece of clothing that emitted a faint spiritual glow.
The material of the garment looked like silk, but its weight in the hand was not light at all, nearly a hundred pounds.
On it, faint golden patterns were faintly visible.
Seeing it was a piece of clothing, the anticipation on Yunlian’s face diminished considerably, even showing a hint of disappointment.
“Clothes? Shouldn’t you give me some offensive magical treasure instead?”
Chen Yuyang’s face remained expressionless as he looked at the garment in his hand.
It wasn’t that he was unwilling to take out offensive magical treasures; it was just that the ones he had on hand were a bit too powerful.
With Yunlian’s current cultivation, she either couldn’t control them at all, easily causing unnecessary casualties.
Moreover, those items were of too high a grade.
Once taken out, they could easily attract covetous eyes and bring trouble.
In comparison, this clothing-form magical treasure was much more practical.
Its grade wasn’t high, and it was worn underneath, with a built-in concealment effect.
Unless it publicly blocked some lethal attacks or was subjected to deliberate probing by powerful individuals, it would be very difficult to detect its presence.
“Don’t underestimate it.”
Chen Yuyang handed the garment to Yunlian.
Only then did she feel its surprisingly heavy weight.
Chen Yuyang continued explaining.
“This is considered a soft armor. It can, to a certain extent, withstand attacks from Golden Core Perfection stage cultivators.”
He paused before continuing.
“Wearing it tomorrow during your fight, even if you encounter opponents stronger than you, you’ll have more confidence. You can even actively adopt a tactic of trading injuries.”
Yunlian nodded thoughtfully, picking up the soft armor.
The touch in her hand was cool and smooth.
After carefully listening to Chen Yuyang’s explanation, Yunlian began to think seriously.
Shixiong was right.
While the soft armor couldn’t directly increase offensive power, it could greatly improve her margin for error.
In a sense, this soft armor, hidden underneath clothes, was more useful than a blatantly displayed sword or blade.
Because opponents would usually be wary of the latter, but would lack anticipation for the former.
Once she understood, Yunlian then asked curiously, “Shixiong, what grade is this soft armor?”
“Six… ahem.”
Chen Yuyang was about to answer but suddenly coughed twice, then changed his words.
“It’s… roughly third grade.”
As he spoke, Chen Yuyang’s eyes flickered slightly.
Sixth grade and third grade, the numbers are only off by a factor of two… Saying ‘roughly’ shouldn’t count as lying, right…
“Is there really a ‘roughly’ when it comes to magical treasure grades?”
Yunlian muttered to herself.
Seeing Chen Yuyang’s guilty reaction, she couldn’t help but think.
Could it be that this soft armor is actually just a second-grade, or quasi-third-grade item?
But then again, it makes sense.
Our Hehuan Sect is resource-poor.
Even Shizun doesn’t have many treasures, what good things could Shixiong possibly take out?
This soft armor is probably the best treasure Shixiong has on him, right?
After all, his own weapon was only a third-grade spirit tool… and it shattered in the previous fight.
Thinking this, Yunlian felt a touch of emotion.
However, if Chen Yuyang knew what Yunlian was thinking, he would probably feel even more guilty.
Because this was far from the best treasure on him; it was something he had carefully selected as the relatively worst item.
Sixth-grade spirit tools, even as spoils of war from defeated enemies, were things he mostly didn’t care about in the past.
….
The next morning, on the same field where the previous day’s melee had taken place, a temporary battle platform formed by magic appeared.
The area around the platform was already packed with people.
Although the number of participants had decreased significantly, the number of onlookers hadn’t diminished at all.
On the high platform, besides the Xuan Clan cultivators responsible for presiding and recording, several Xuan Clan elders were also seated.
Chen Yuyang and Yunlian arrived at an inconspicuous corner among the crowd, their gazes sweeping over the high platform.
With one glance, Chen Yuyang noticed an elder on the platform, a middle-aged man dressed in dark green robes.
Because he recognized this person. Xuan Bi.
That fellow who, during the Alchemy Conference, came looking for trouble under the pretext of standing up for a clan disciple.
Him being here… could it affect his own match?
Chen Yuyang slightly furrowed his brows, feeling a bit of private worry.
After all, he was a Xuan Clan elder.
If he wanted to pull some strings, it should be very easy…
Noticing the subtle change in Chen Yuyang’s expression, Yunlian tugged at his sleeve, puzzled, and whispered, “Shixiong, what’s wrong? Did you see something?”
Chen Yuyang retracted his gaze and shook his head lightly.
“It’s nothing.”
He didn’t plan to tell Yunlian about Xuan Bi, as it would only distract her.
Unnecessary worries would affect her performance instead.
If that Xuan Bi really had any tricks up his sleeve… he, Chen Yuyang, would handle it himself.
At the same time.
On the high platform, Xuan Bi also noticed Chen Yuyang among the crowd.
He naturally had a deep impression of this young man who had shone brilliantly at the Alchemy Conference and even caused him to suffer a hidden loss.
He had also heard about Chen Yuyang’s performance in yesterday’s melee.
However, he only cast a brief glance at Chen Yuyang before shifting his gaze away, treating him as if he were invisible.
He had no mind to trouble Chen Yuyang right now.
Firstly, targeting the Hehuan Sect back then was on the instruction of the Saint Church’s Saintess.
Now, with no new orders coming from the Saint Church, there was no need for him to proactively stir up trouble.
Secondly, yesterday, Patriarch Xuan Ji had indicated that Chen Yuyang and the Hehuan Sect were not to be provoked.
At this critical juncture, if he were to get involved with Chen Yuyang and cause conflict, it would be asking for trouble.
Moreover, Xuan Bi’s gaze lingered on Yunlian for a moment.
Xuan Bi recognized that woman. That was… the Saintess’s sister.
Since the Saintess had placed her by this kid’s side, it seemed she already had other arrangements for the Hehuan Sect, making it even less suitable for him to interfere.
….
The appointed time arrived.
At the command of the presiding cultivator, the first round of one-on-one elimination matches officially began.
The participating cultivators, according to the order of their wooden token numbers, with the first and last facing each other, took turns ascending the platform for duels.
Chen Yuyang’s order was relatively early.
Not long after, the presiding cultivator called his name.
“Next match, Chen Yuyang versus Zhao Hu!”
Hearing Chen Yuyang’s name, Yunlian instantly perked up.
Shixiong is finally going on stage!
Yunlian was very much looking forward to seeing what kind of strength Shixiong could display in this formal one-on-one contest.
Chen Yuyang’s figure moved, landing lightly in the center of the battle platform.
He stood straight, his gaze calm as he looked at the man coming up opposite him.
The newcomer was burly, with a solid aura, having already reached the eighth level of the Golden Core stage.
However, from the moment he stepped onto the platform, the cultivator’s face wore a bitter smile upon seeing Chen Yuyang standing opposite him.
With almost no hesitation, after stepping onto the platform, Zhao Hu cupped his hands towards Chen Yuyang and said, “I know I am far from being a match for Fellow Daoist Chen. I won’t embarrass myself.”
After saying this, Zhao Hu directly turned around and jumped off the battle platform without the slightest hesitation.
Chen Yuyang won without a fight.
Yunlian: “…”
The girl’s lips parted, words caught in her throat.
Alright, although the process was completely different from what I imagined… this… also seems to be a kind of manifestation of strength, doesn’t it?
…..
Stepping off the platform, Chen Yuyang immediately saw the poorly concealed disappointment on the girl’s face.
Chen Yuyang frowned.
“What’s wrong? You don’t look very happy.”
Yunlian lowered her head somewhat sheepishly and muttered softly, “It’s… it’s nothing much… it’s just… I thought I’d have a chance to see you, Shixiong, display your might with my own eyes, but… but the opponent surrendered directly…”
Hearing this, Chen Yuyang couldn’t help but feel both amused and exasperated.
He himself wished he could keep winning without fighting like this.
After all, if he really had to fight, with his strength and experience, it always felt like bullying children, not very interesting.
“Isn’t this better? Saves time and effort, so Shixiong can perform better in the secret realm later.”
Chen Yuyang shook his head.
Yunlian thought about it and agreed, so she stopped dwelling on it.
Yunlian’s number was consecutive with Chen Yuyang’s, so immediately after Chen Yuyang’s match, it was her turn.
“Next match, Yunlian versus Shi Lei!”
Hearing her name, Yunlian quickly took a deep breath, turned to Chen Yuyang, and said, “Shixiong, I’m going up!”
“Mm.”
Chen Yuyang nodded, his gaze sweeping over Shi Lei, who was about to ascend the platform.
He was an exceptionally tall and robust man, carrying a broadsword two feet taller than himself.
After a brief glance, Chen Yuyang already had an idea.
As for Yunlian, she was still a bit nervous as she stepped onto the battle platform.