CHAPTER 137: CHAPTER 137: BROTHERS

The selection competition began with nearly five hundred students immediately plunging into intense combat on the arena.

People were continuously sent flying off the arena. The dazzling display of various martial arts was enough to make one’s head spin.

These five hundred inner courtyard students showcased every imaginable martial art in their repertoire.

"HAHAHA... I cultivate Horizontal Practice! My ’Iron Wall Technique’ is a yellow-grade superior martial art! Let’s see who can knock me down!"

One burly boy jumped onto the arena and immediately planted his feet firmly, his muscles straining against his clothes, making them bulge visibly. Several inner courtyard students attacked him but failed to make him budge. Feeling rather smug, he threw his head back and laughed wildly.

"Arrogant! Let’s see if your Iron Wall Technique can withstand my Water Cutting Leg Technique!"

A tall and lanky boy standing nearby clearly disagreed. He let out a long howl and kicked out repeatedly, stirring up fierce gusts of wind that swept towards the burly boy.

BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG... Countless leg shadows filled the sky, seeming to draw a curtain across it. With overwhelming momentum, they rushed toward the burly boy, the dull thuds deafening.

"HAHAHA... Too light, too light!"

The burly boy withstood more than ten kicks, his expression unchanged. He looked smugly at the boy executing the leg technique.

After more than a dozen moves without making any progress, the boy’s face darkened slightly. As he was about to display a more powerful martial art, the burly boy suddenly roared.

"Lie down for me! Iron Mountain Strength!"

As his words fell, his clothes suddenly inflated like a balloon.

BANG!

The tall and lanky boy’s kick landed on the burly boy’s body; his face changed drastically. With a scream, he was knocked back, spitting blood as he flew off the arena!

"HAHAHA... My Iron Wall Technique has reached Great Accomplishment, a perfect union of hardness and softness. Who can defeat me!"

The burly boy bellowed with laughter after sending his opponent flying.

"Damn, this guy is too arrogant! Everyone, he’s so strong, we’re definitely no match for him. Why don’t we all attack him together! Let’s knock him off the arena first!"

"Alright!"

Who knows who shouted it, but the surroundings immediately echoed with agreement.

A dozen or so students, radiating murderous intent, surrounded the burly boy.

The burly boy’s laughter died abruptly. His face changed slightly, and pretending to be calm, he said, "How dare you team up? Have you no shame!"

"To the victor go the spoils! Who cares what you think? Everyone, attack!"

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM...

A dozen or so students each unleashed their martial arts, attacking the burly boy.

THUD, THUD, THUD... A dozen pairs of fists and feet, cutting through the air, launched a joint attack on the burly boy.

"Ah! I refuse to accept this!"

Even though the burly boy was strong, he was outnumbered. After holding on for a moment, he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and, his face full of resentment, was sent flying off the arena.

Luo Feng watched all this and shook his head with a bitter smile. He brought it on himself...

In the current chaotic battle, everyone was afraid of facing opponents with higher cultivation than theirs.

This burly boy had intentionally flaunted his strength; he was simply digging his own grave!

In just a short while, about two to three hundred people had already been knocked off the arena.

Luo Feng caught sight of Bing Ruolan and Li Heshan on the arena.

The inner courtyard students from outside the Dragon and Tiger Pillar’s top hundred ranks mostly had cultivation at the sixth-level God Bravery Realm.

Bing Ruolan and Li Heshan were at the seventh-level Essence Storage Realm. On the arena, they were like tigers among sheep. Even without unleashing their Gang Qi, wherever they went, people were immediately sent tumbling.

"Flowing Cloud Crosses the Peak!"

On the arena, Bing Ruolan gracefully danced across the surface, her right palm held vertically like a sword. She struck out like lightning, her movements as fluid as flowing clouds and water.

SMACK, SMACK, SMACK... Intense air currents emanated in all directions. Nearly ten inner courtyard students around her groaned and fell to the ground, unable to rise.

HSSS!

Seeing this scene, the audience in the stands gasped; even Zi Hongyuan’s eyes lit up.

"The Flowing Cloud Swordsmanship at the level of Great Accomplishment—quite a rare sight. Bing Ruolan’s talent for martial arts is indeed extraordinary."

Zi Hongyuan nodded slightly, his gaze admiring.

Every time Bing Ruolan made a move, several students would fall to the ground, unable to get up.

Eventually, others would scatter in terror at her approach, not daring to engage her in combat.

At this, Bing Ruolan could only offer a bitter smile and stopped. She stood quietly on the arena, waiting for the competition to end.

"HEH HEH, nice swordsmanship! Truly worthy of the ’Jade Legs Fairy’!"

A hearty voice sounded, and Li Heshan walked over. Having defeated dozens of opponents, no one else dared to confront him anymore.

Bing Ruolan glanced at Li Heshan and smiled faintly, "Your Mountain Opening Fist isn’t bad either. So far, no one has been able to withstand a single punch from you."

Li Heshan coughed awkwardly, glancing at Luo Feng below the arena, his face flushing slightly.

Yesterday, when he had clashed with Luo Feng, even his full-power Mountain Opening Fist couldn’t shake Luo Feng in the slightest. How could he accept Bing Ruolan’s praise now?

The number of people still standing on the arena dwindled rapidly. Soon, only the last ten remained.

"The selection competition is over! Congratulations to the ten of you. You’ve gained qualification for the next round, the ranking competition."

A middle-aged instructor walked onto the arena, smiling at the ten remaining competitors.

He then took out a ceramic bottle, poured out ten blood-red pills, and said, "Here are ten Blood Ginseng Pills. They can help you recover from injuries and restore your Yuan Qi. Take them and prepare for the next round, the ranking competition."

"Thank you, Instructor."

The ten competitors thanked him, took the Blood Ginseng Pills, and then stepped off the arena.

The entire martial arts field was still immersed in the heated atmosphere of the chaotic battle, and people were discussing it enthusiastically.

The main topics of conversation were Bing Ruolan and Li Heshan, who had performed exceptionally well.

"I didn’t expect there to be seventh-level Essence Storage Realm students even from outside the top hundred of the Dragon and Tiger Pillar. That’s surprising."

’Ruthless’ Zhou Tong looked at Bing Ruolan and Li Heshan descending from the arena, his gaze somewhat astonished.

Beside him, ’Blood Fiend’ Nan Xiao laughed, saying, "I recognize both of them. The young man, Li Heshan, used to be the class leader of the Golden Yang class, and the girl, Bing Ruolan, is the class leader of the Silver Moon class. Both have excellent talent. That Bing Ruolan’s swordsmanship is as dangerous as a treacherous mountain up close and as fluid as a cloud from afar. Her intent realm is quite high; she has probably received guidance from some expert..."

Zhou Tong nodded, saying nothing more.

Cultivation at the early stage of the seventh-level Essence Storage Realm, although quite exceptional in the inner courtyard, wasn’t enough to pique his interest significantly.

"Ruolan, congratulations."

As Bing Ruolan stepped off the arena, Luo Feng approached her.

Under the golden sunlight, Bing Ruolan’s short, light blue hair shimmered with an attractive luster. Elated from winning the match, she looked at Luo Feng and smiled sweetly, "Thank you."

Next was the ranking competition for the top ten spots on the Winged Tiger List. Both of them fell silent and sat down to meditate and recover.

「An hour later」

The middle-aged instructor responsible for the competition walked onto the arena and announced, "Everyone, the ranking competition is about to begin! As usual, you one hundred competitors will be divided into ten groups. Each group will include one of the top ten students from the Winged Tiger List. The final ten victorious students will qualify for the next round: the final championship!"

The competition followed the rule of random drawing. Whichever two people’s numbers were drawn, those two would go up on the arena and fight until a winner was decided. The winner would continue competing, while the loser would be eliminated.

"Now, let’s begin the grouping. Numbers one to ten will form one group, eleven to twenty will form another, and so on. Everyone, please come forward and draw your numbers."

When the middle-aged instructor finished speaking, he glanced below the arena, and two other instructors brought a large sandalwood box onto the arena.

The students who had qualified for the ranking competition came forward one by one and drew their numbers from the sandalwood box.

"I hope we’re not in the same group," Bing Ruolan said worriedly, looking at the sandalwood box.

If they were in the same group, then one of them would certainly be eliminated.

Luo Feng was also a bit nervous, but his expression showed no change. He smiled, "It probably won’t be that coincidental."

Bing Ruolan nodded, her small face managing to force a smile. She took a shallow breath, walked over to the sandalwood box, and reached out to retrieve a number token.

Luo Feng followed behind and casually picked his own number token.

"What number did you get?" they both asked simultaneously after stepping aside.

Bing Ruolan smiled slightly and opened her palm. "I’m number five. What about you?"

Luo Feng’s eyebrows rose slightly, a helpless smile appearing on his face. "It seems it really is that coincidental."

With that, he showed his own number token.

Number three!

He was in the exact same group as Bing Ruolan.

Bing Ruolan was slightly dazed. Then, she clenched her number token, blinked, and looked at Luo Feng with a smile. "It’s alright. I wouldn’t make it to the top ten anyway."

Luo Feng didn’t say anything. He genuinely hadn’t expected to end up in the same group as Bing Ruolan, and it left a bit of a sour taste in his mouth.

"What are you two talking about? Why do you both look so grim?" A hearty voice suddenly rang out as Li Heshan walked over to them.

Seeing Luo Feng’s number token, Li Heshan immediately guessed most of what was going on. He turned to Bing Ruolan and said, "Bing Ruolan, let me see your number token."

A flash of confusion crossed Bing Ruolan’s eyes, but she still handed her number token to Li Heshan.

Li Heshan took the number token and smiled. "Can I switch number tokens with you?"

"Why?"

Li Heshan pointed at Luo Feng and shrugged. "Luo Feng and I made a deal during the Challenge King competition to have a decisive match. Now is the perfect opportunity, but my number is twenty-four, so I’m not in his group. I hope you’ll grant me this favor."

Although Bing Ruolan sensed something was amiss, she also truly didn’t want to be in the same group as Luo Feng, so she nodded. "Okay."

"Thank you."

Li Heshan gave Bing Ruolan his own number token and winked at Luo Feng.

Luo Feng exhaled a sigh of relief, walked over to Li Heshan, and said in a low voice, "I owe you one."

Li Heshan waved his hand, emulating Luo Feng’s expression from the previous day, and said with a frown, "You’re a grown man, don’t be so dramatic!"

Luo Feng laughed and gave Li Heshan a light punch on the shoulder. "I can’t thank you enough."

Li Heshan gave a faint smile and shook his head. "I was injured by Lin Yun’s hidden power yesterday and haven’t recovered yet, so there’s no way I can make it onto the Hidden Dragon List. I might as well do you an easy favor."

Thinking of Lin Yun, Luo Feng’s gaze turned cold, and he said in a low voice, "Don’t worry, I will personally avenge you tomorrow!"

Feeling the chilling aura emanating from Luo Feng, Li Heshan was taken aback. He stared deeply into Luo Feng’s eyes. Could it be that Luo Feng truly has the strength to defeat Lin Yun?

At this moment, the voice of the middle-aged instructor on the arena suddenly rang out.

"The grouping is complete. The ranking competition now officially begins!"

AN UPROAR!

As his words fell, the entire martial arts field erupted in cheers that seemed to reach the sky...