"swoosh!"

    elder song heng reappeared in the skies above the square and the originally noisy crowd instantly quieted down.

    "i''m sure everyone is very excited about the sixteenth-to-eighth round after watching yesterday''s preliminaries. those who made it here are the geniuses of east field county, and making it to the top sixteen means they possess potential beyond ordinary people. to advance to the top eight signifies direct entrance to the battle mansion," elder song heng said.

    as soon as these words came out, the atmosphere in the entire venue ignited to an unprecedented peak.

    the battle mansion!

    that was the highest institution in east field county, dedicated to cultivating elite talents. anyone who entered the battle mansion held a status second only to a city''s lord, and after coming out, they wielded high authority—even control over life and death.

    the battle mansion had a limited intake each year, just thirty-six people.

    just think, in a whole county, only thirty-six people were chosen—can you imagine how tough it was to get into the battle mansion?

    now, to be able to enter the battle mansion directly without selection as one of the top eight, such a reward was indeed incredibly tempting.

    chen xifeng and the others were also extremely excited, clearly, the battle mansion held great allure for him. enjoy exclusive chapters from empire

    "alright, i won''t say much more. let''s get straight to the sixteen-to-eight competition. it''s simple, we will have eight matches with pairs facing off, and your opponents will be determined by draw by the lord governor," elder song heng announced.

    everyone shifted their gaze to the high platform where the lord governor stood, who would draw the lots, ensuring absolute fairness since the governor wouldn''t favor anyone.

    "ha-ha, then let me draw the first pair of contestants."

    the lord governor laughed and walked to a previously prepared iron box at the front. there was a hole on the top of the box, inside which were sixteen wooden plaques with the names of the participants. the two names drawn would face each other in combat.

    the lord governor reached into the iron box, took out two plaques, and read aloud, "qing feng academy''s luo chen versus tianhen academy''s ji yun."

    ji yun?

    the crowd was instantly abuzz—no one expected ji yun to be the first to compete.

    "please enter the arena, both contestants!" elder song heng announced.

    "swoosh, swoosh!"

    two figures swept onto the battle platform from opposite sides of the preparation areas, one of whom was ji yun.

    however, this time ji yun wasn''t carrying his long spear, clearly thinking that the opponent before him wasn''t even worthy of it.

    "are you asking for a beating?" the stunning beauty said with feigned anger.

    chen wudi shrank his neck and said, "let''s watch the match, the next one is starting."

    "the second match, tianshui academy''s xie yu versus beihai academy''s zhao yan," the prefectural governor announced.

    "i forfeit!" however, before the contestants even took the stage, the student from tianshui academy immediately declared.

    the crowd was abuzz with astonishment. this zhao yan was indeed formidable, to make an opponent forfeit without even making an appearance.

    in the ready area of beihai academy, zhao yan wore a cold smirk, not surprised by this turn of events.

    however, he still felt a tinge of regret for not having the chance to face xu nian. if given the opportunity, he would have taught the young man a lesson on the battle platform as revenge for his comrade.

    xu nian was somewhat surprised at the moment; he hadn''t expected zhao yan to be so powerful that people would forfeit without him having to appear.

    "the third match, donglin college''s zhao yan versus qinglin academy''s dugu jingcheng!" the prefectural governor announced.

    the audience erupted into cheers, dugu jingcheng!

    he was the genius known as the little sword saint. they had already glimpsed the tip of his strength iceberg in the preliminary rounds, and now it was finally his turn to appear.

    "whoosh!"

    zhao yan swooped onto the battle platform, gazing at dugu jingcheng.

    after giving xu nian a glance, dugu jingcheng lightly tapped his foot and soared onto the battle platform.

    "dugu jingcheng, i told you before that i wanted a head-on fight with you, and i didn''t expect the chance to come so quickly. since that''s the case, let''s have a good, clean fight today," zhao yan said to dugu jingcheng.

    previously, in the small courtyard, dugu jingcheng had forced him back with a single sword stroke. now, he wanted to reclaim all the humiliation he had suffered.

    the audience, hearing zhao yan''s words, also began excitedly exclaiming. after all, zhao yan was ranked fifth on the leaderboard, just behind dugu jingcheng. this was definitely the most highly anticipated match yet.

    "you are not my match. i will only strike once. if you can withstand it, consider it my loss!" dugu jingcheng said indifferently.

    "what, just one stroke? this dugu jingcheng is really too arrogant!"

    the entire place was thrown into an uproar, finding it hard to believe that dugu jingcheng would say such a thing to zhao yan.

    zhao yan was also surprised, and then a wave of anger followed.