Chapter 34: Sekine's Life-or-Death Challenge

  "I asked the heavens, many academies have been shouldering the heavy responsibility of delivering talents to the sect all along. The Qingyang City Academy is no exception. Every three years, there is a selection, which is the time to test the results of your cultivation. Here, I wish the contestants to strive for the best and achieve their goals."

  Yan Zheng swept his gaze over the numerous students and honored guests in the arena, then loudly declared: "The competition format is the same as previous years, using the rules of a challenge match. The fairness of the competition will be supervised by the Supervisory Envoy sent by the Orthodox Sect."

  "These two are the supervisors for this occasion, Lord Fang Yiru and Lord Ma Qingyi. If there is any dispute during the trial, the final decision will be made by these two supervisors."

  Yan Zhengying loudly finished speaking, then bowed again to the two people on the main seat before retreating back to his own seat.

  Next, the on-duty judge begins to explain the rules of the challenge match.

  Firstly, after a round of drawing lots, the contestants determine their numbers and then the contestant with the lower number chooses an opponent to challenge first.

  After being challenged and having fought a match, the next round can be chosen by the challenger, while the challenger waits for someone else to be named as their opponent.

  Loser scores no points, draw scores one point, winner scores two points, until the final champion is decided.

  There are eight people eligible to participate in the selection, four of whom were the top four students from the year-end exam at Wēn Tiān Xué Guǎn two months ago, and the other four are participants holding a special card.

  As in previous years, these four wild card spots were monopolized by the four major families of Qingyang City.

  As Situ Qingwu was taken in as an inner disciple by one of the elders of Tianzong, this outer card quota fell to a legitimate child named Situ Qingyang.

  This person is the elder cousin of Situ Qingwan, and his innate talent is inferior to hers by more than one level. After consuming countless elixirs, he barely broke through to the first level of the Spiritual Martial Realm ten days ago. Winning the championship should be hopeless for him, and this time it's likely just a formality.

  The quota for the Shentu family was given to Shentu Shengdong. The other two were Qian Shaoyang from the Qian family and Tie Feixiong from the Tie family.

  The four official places in the Tianxue Academy were naturally taken by Zhang Shan, who was ranked first in the year-end exam, Guan Ye, who was ranked second, and the other two were Xie Junxiong and Wu Hongyang.

  The contestants' waiting area was arranged around the four sides of the stage. Zhang Shan glanced over and saw that six people had already arrived.

  Two figures appeared late on the opposite side, and Zhangshan's gaze suddenly turned cold.

  The newcomers were none other than Shen Tu Sheng Dong and Guan Ye's two sworn enemies.

  Shentu Shengdong met Zhang Shan's gaze with a proud and cold smile, his face filled with disdain. Guan Ye, on the other hand, had a gloomy expression, walked to his own position, stood still, and lowered his eyes, lost in thought.

  As the judge loudly announced the result of the draw, Zhang Shan was assigned No. 6.

  He furrowed his brow; this number one in the first round could basically only wait for others to challenge.

  Shentu Shengdong and Sekiya Kanade were drawn into the second and first places, so Sekiya will be able to choose his opponent first.

  "It seems that the Shentu family has started to play dirty tricks again, but it's just a small advantage in the first round." Zhang Shan thought with disdain.

  After the contestant number was decided, No. 1 Guan Ye slowly walked onto the stage and his eyes fell on Zhang Shan without hesitation: "I choose No. 6 as my opponent."

  The crowd watching the battle couldn't help but feel surprised, among these eight people, the weakest should be Wu Hongyang, who ranked fourth in the school, unexpectedly Guan Ye didn't choose him but chose Zhang Shan instead.

  Zhang Shan couldn't help but laugh, this was truly a case of "a pillow coming just as one is drowsy", if he could be the first to challenge, then his first target would be Guan Ye, and take revenge for Gao Peng and Lei Meng.

  With a sudden movement, he darted onto the stage and walked calmly up to Kano.

  The judge walked over, pulled out a life-and-death certificate, and threw it to Zhang Shan: "Yesterday, Guan Ye reported to the master of the pavilion that if he met you in the competition, he would fight with you to the death. This is his life-and-death certificate, what do you think?"

  The numerous spectators under the stage did not expect that this first match would have a life-or-death confrontation, and they all whispered to each other.

  Zhang Shan took the life-and-death notice, opened it and read it for a moment, but his heart was coldly laughing, "I said why the first one with the surname Guan chose himself, it turned out that the Shentu family had this kind of idea, manipulated the draw to let Guanye be able to stake his life against his own."

  He raised his head and moved his divine sense towards Guan Ye, only to find that his opponent had advanced to the second level of Lingwu Realm. How was this possible?

  Kanaya licked his lips and said with a sinister tone, "What, scared? You wanted to take revenge on me, didn't you? Sign it and you can openly kill me."

  Zhang Shan remained unmoved, but his mind quickly began to think, "When Rouge Street ambushed him, he was at the 9th level of Qi Wu, and two months later, he broke through two small realms, there must be some trick."

  "Don't worry, host, he's bluffing. In my opinion, his original strength should be at the Lingwu Realm First Order, and the current Second Order is forcibly raised by using other self-mutilating techniques, it's impossible for him to be a match for you." said the Monument Spirit in Zhang Shan's mind.

  "Is that so? Then what kind of evil skill is he using?" Zhang Shan asked.

  "It should be a technique that forcibly enhances one's realm by overdrafting the source of life. I see that this person has at most ten years of lifespan left, and from now on, don't even think about making progress in their realm again. Yet, there are actually people who would use such a foolish method." said Lingyu disdainfully.

  "It must be the idea of the Shentu family to let him use this method to increase his strength and then deal with me. I reckon that the one surnamed Guan doesn't understand the consequences of the technique, even if he was sold out, he wouldn't know."

  Zhang Shan couldn't help but smile as he pricked his finger, pressed his fingerprint onto the life-and-death certificate, and then tossed it back to the judge.

  Kanaya saw him sign the death warrant, and his cold face twitched: "Last time you were lucky to escape, this time you won't have such luck."

  Zhang Shan looked at him with a mixture of pity and disdain: "I don't know what method the Shentu family used to force you to advance, but don't you think it's strange? With such a heaven-defying technique, why didn't Shentu Shengdong use it himself? You're just a dog who was sold and still helps count the money."

  "Trying to move me with words is useless. Wait until I beat you to death, and see if you're still as stubborn as you are now."

  As soon as he finished speaking, a fierce aura rose from his body, and the cultivation of Lingwu Realm's second heavy realm was fully activated. A pair of palms turned crimson, which was his Seven Kills Blood Refining Hand that he had been cultivating for many years.

  "Accept your death, Blood Kill Purgatory!"

  Kanaya let out a loud roar, his palms opening like eagle claws, and two scarlet glows shot towards Zhang Shan's head.

  Zhang Shan's body didn't dodge or evade, instead he took a step forward to meet his opponent's attack. A faint phoenix cry sounded from his palms as he unleashed the "Phoenix Dance in the Nine Heavens" move from the Four Symbol Fist, striking Guan Ye's claws.

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