CHAPTER 122: "IS HE TAKING A NAP?"

Chapter 122: "Is he taking a nap?"

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At last the first half hour passed and the participants from the other arenas began to step down from the field, some walking on their own legs, others carried away by instructors.

Of course, a few matches had ended earlier, but only a handful. Most dragged on till the very end, which showed just how much more intense these fights were compared to the earlier ones.

Zhu Rong, unlike yesterday, knew that now that he had won he couldn’t just leave and come back tomorrow.

That was because, although each fight lasted thirty minutes and it would take around five hours for the first round to finish, in reality it would probably be much shorter, so within three or four hours it would likely be his turn again, starting the second round.

Even though the pace of the tournament over the four days might have seemed slow, it wasn’t.

It only looked that way because students had a second chance to get back into the competition. That meant that after today’s initial battles, the matches would partly overlap with those, which would inevitably cause a delay at first. But as things went on, the time needed for those extra matches would shrink, and they’d be dealt with much faster than before.

That said, there was still some time left, and seeing he had a few hours to spare, he decided to cultivate for a while.

He had managed to bring his ice core to the peak of the third stage and had reworked the five core formation into a seven core one.

The functioning of the formation was still basically the same as before, as it was still a first stage formation.

But while the uses were the same, the effects in terms of power were clearly greater.

Now that he had settled that, he decided to focus on creating the first layer of golden core inside his ice core.

He wasn’t sure if he could finish it in the few hours he had, but he at least wanted to lay a solid enough foundation so he could continue from there later.

So he found a quiet corner of the waiting area for students and sat down to cultivate.

While he was doing that, the students nearby, some who had just finished fighting, others still waiting to step onto the field, couldn’t help but sneak glances at this strange second year student who had caused such a stir not long ago.

Both first years and third years were surprised by his performance.

Many who had underestimated him before, because of his bad reputation and apparent cultivation at the second stage, now feared him and no longer dared to look down on him.

They still weren’t sure of his true cultivation level, but the very fact that he had managed to face a third stage opponent with a solid cultivation base was reason enough for concern.

That said, many still thought the only reason he’d managed to land that strike was because Shi Gang had underestimated him and clearly hadn’t taken him seriously at the start.

They figured that if he hadn’t been allowed to pull off that attack, the fight would’ve gone the other way and maybe Shi Gang could’ve beaten him quickly.

Thinking that, quite a few wore mocking smiles. But not all of them, those who paid closer attention hadn’t only focused on the final move but also on the rest of the fight, especially when he used that movement techniques to move so quickly and smoothly that even when Shi Gang got serious, he still couldn’t touch him.

That was an important point that these students hadn’t missed, and it only made them more cautious toward this unexpected opponent, someone they’d never even considered a threat until a short while ago.

That said, speculation aside, no one dared to bother him.

Most simply stood off to the side, watching him cultivate and trying to examine its cultivation level, but to their surprise they couldn’t sense anything.

"Eh? He’s not cultivating? Why can’t I feel any movement of spiritual energy around him?"

"You’re right. It’s impossible that there wouldn’t be at least some, no matter how delicate or controlled the process is while cultivating. Could it be he just fell asleep instead?"

"Sleeping? Could be... and to think he might actually be taking a nap during the tournament, not even bothering to check the strength of the other competitors on the field.

tch is he looking down on us or what?"

The participants wore strange expressions, not knowing what to think of the situation.

Normally when cultivating, one would draw in spiritual energy from the surrounding environment and refine it, turning it into spiritual qi within their dantian.

The fact that energy was being drawn from the surroundings was something anyone who could sense spiritual energy could immediately notice.

But here no one felt any movement of it at all, which meant the other side wasn’t cultivating. But if he wasn’t cultivating... then what was he doing?

Could it really be that he had just fallen asleep?

That was all they could think. They couldn’t have imagined that Zhu Rong, within his dantian, already had a massive amount of stored spiritual energy, so he didn’t need to draw from the environment around him.

At this moment Zhu Rong had already fully entered meditation, starting the process of crystallization within his ice core and layering it step by step, forming the first layer of the golden core inside the ice core.

The process itself would normally take hours, but with the little time he had, he simply did what he could.

So he kept cultivating, passing unnoticed even under the watchful eyes of the others, who had clearly been observing him the whole time.

He ignored most of those stares, but one in particular felt stronger than the rest.

He gave a faint smile, as if he already knew who it belonged to. After noticing it, he ignored them all and continued crystallizing his qi.

’Looks like you can’t wait to fight me. Heh, don’t worry, I’ll deal with you in due time.’