Chapter 55: Mysterious Mountain Arena Tournament (Part 1)

  Before approaching, the sound of boiling noise was heard. On the bluestone square, twenty high platforms stood tall, and as far as the eye could see, a dense crowd of people.

  The mountain wind was a bit cool, but it couldn't hide the fiery passion in people's hearts. Many young disciples from the Xuanji Sect, dressed in green and gray robes, rushed over to watch the ceremony. Two thousand young men were all excitedly pointing and gesturing at each of the arenas.

  There are several arenas where swords and shadows are flashing, those talented young men are using all their skills to finally stand on one arena, the cheers and applause under the arena are rising and falling.

  It was the third day of the arena match, and the battle was fierce.

  Li Ran's knife suddenly merged into this atmosphere, quietly squeezing into the crowd, and at this time, a long laugh was heard from afar, suppressing all the noise.

  "Feng Chuan, Shixiong, after watching for two days, isn't it our turn to take the stage? If we want to become a Golden Sword disciple in the future, we must have the will to fight. We can't retreat."

  Everyone looked towards the sound, in the crowd, Gu Lieyang stood out with an air of pride, raised his eyebrows and smiled, provoking Qin Fengchuan not far away.

  Qin Fengchuan proudly puffed out his chest, smiled slightly and said loudly: "When a man does something, he should do it with conviction. Please!"

  Before the words fell, the toe tapped the ground, and the body rose like a green dragon, lightly and nimbly turning in mid-air, and landed steadily on the edge of the arena.

  "Good!"

  This move made countless people involuntarily cheer loudly.

  Seeing this generation's most outstanding disciple on stage, many people swarmed over to squeeze in that direction, and for a time the area below Qin Feng's platform was packed to capacity.

  On the arena, the original arena master wore a beast skin, dressed as a hunter, his bulging muscles tightly wrapped in the beast skin. Seeing Qin Feng entering the arena to challenge him, he suddenly gritted his teeth and sneered secretly with an air of disdain:

  "Jingyuan Jingba, what's going on? I've been standing on this stage for two days without meeting a worthy opponent. I want to see how many pounds you have and whether your reputation is justified."

  To deal with such a strong enemy, one must take the initiative. To seize the opportunity, the beast skin boy took a step forward and rushed up, his left palm swaying, the dagger in his right hand flashing out to stab Qin Feng's face door. Quick and ruthless, obviously also a veteran of many killings.

  Qin Feng's expression changed to a calm smile, and he suddenly stretched out his hand, transforming it into a knife. From an unbelievable angle, he snatched the opportunity to strike, chopping down on the beast-skin youth's right wrist with a loud shout of "One!" The crowd on stage saw the dagger in the beast-skin youth's hand drop to the ground with a clang, and his face instantly changed color.

  Qin Feng took a swift step forward, his hands flipping out to deflect his opponent's arms as he charged into the center of the stage. He let out a loud shout once more: "Two!"

  The young man's face was covered in sweat as he hastily raised his hand to block, his fingers curled into hooks, and he grabbed at Qin Fengchuan's wrist with force.

  Qin Fengchuan didn't know how, his hands slipped out like a slippery fish, and instead grasped the beast skin boy's wrist, twisting it to the left and right. The wrist dislocated instantly, just as Qin Fengchuan shouted "Three".

  Seizing the opportunity, he swung his arms open, Qin Fengchuan's wrist shook straight, a claw shadow suddenly enlarged in front of his opponent's eyes, grabbed the other's collar with one hand, and slammed him down to the ground with a loud thud.

  Four

  The young man in animal skin fell to the ground, Qin Fengchuan's four numbers were just finished shouting, clapped his hands and slowly turned around to look at the ground, the ground suddenly burst into cheers and applause.

  Four moves, and the original master was defeated in four moves. Many of the strong men in the distance couldn't help but nod secretly, thinking that someone who could be praised by Xiao Lao was indeed famous for a reason. These few moves were decisive and fierce, each move connected to the next like flowing clouds and water, making it extremely difficult to defend against. The beast skin youth also lost without shame, even if another person had come on stage, they might not have been able to hold out for one more move.

  Qin Fengchuan's face wore a smile as he nodded to Gu Lieyang below the stage. Gu Lieyang's face was full of eagerness, and with a loud laugh, he leaped onto another stage.

  On the stage was a tall and thin host, seeing Gu Lieyang on the stage, holding a sharp and long mountain knife, staring at his opponent with tiger eyes, his legs slightly bent, his hand grasping the mountain knife with bulging veins, his eyes tightly closed into a slit.

  Gu Lei Yang smiled and walked over, asking faintly:

  "Are you going down yourself, or should I knock you down?"

  The slender and tall master's gaze did not dare to leave Gu Lieyang for a moment, slowly shaking his head, coldly saying: "There is no Tu Xian clan person who has lost before fighting, I'd like to ask for guidance."

  "Good!"

  Gu Lieyang let out a loud shout and suddenly took a vigorous step forward, the green sword in his hand shining like flowing light as it shot out, a sharp whistling sound cutting through the air.

  One

  One sword broke through his defense, and the young man from the Tu tribe felt a surge of shock run up his spine, the mountain knife recoiled, and his body quickly swung backwards.

  Two

  Gu Lei Yang shouted again, his long sword touched the opponent's knife, and with a swing of his wrist, he swept it aside, slanting upwards to point at the throat. Fast as a ghost, there was no time to parry.

  The young man from the Tuqin clan was frightened and did a backflip, landing on the ground with his blood churning violently. He used up all his strength and almost suffocated, when he heard Gu Lieyang shouting again:

  Three

  The sword flashed with a cold light and stopped abruptly at his throat, the killing intent on the tip of the sword made Tu Xian's hair stand on end, his eyes wide with fear.

  With a wry smile, he lowered his long sword, and all his will to fight was gone. The young man from the Tu Xian clan slowly shook his head: "I concede."

  He walked down from the stage, and the crowd below couldn't help but cheer again. These three swords were even more powerful, with each sword move linked together like a chain, leaving no room for his opponent to counterattack. With just three moves, he defeated a proud swordsman who was forced to concede.

  Gu Lieyang turned his head to look at Qin Fengchuan on the adjacent platform, raising an eyebrow in a provocative manner, and this round he was clearly one move ahead.

  Qin Fengchuan was dissatisfied and turned his head to shout loudly at the people below:

  "Who wants to come up and challenge? Fūkawa Kyōko!"

  For a long time, the crowd below was stunned, with no reaction. These two people had already taken over the stage, and looking at their fierce moves just now, who would dare to go up and ask for trouble.

  Li Ran's distant knife slowly let out a breath.

  He could see that these two were far stronger than the seven-layered power of the green-robed man he had met in the Misty Valley years ago. The two from the Qin family relied on time and resources to accumulate their strength, while the two Qins were true geniuses, with pure and unparalleled power. Every move and every style in their hands was a masterpiece. Even if the two from the Qin family broke through the eighth layer of power, they would probably still be no match for these two men.

  Such a natural talent, Li Ran also secretly admired. It's clear that it has become a foregone conclusion here, and there won't be any more excitement to watch. Before the competition ends, I'm afraid no one will think of going up these two arenas to challenge again.

  As he looked around at other arenas, he was suddenly drawn to one of them.

  It was a girl holding a willow-leaf saber, with exquisite swordsmanship, who had just forced her opponent to retreat in disarray. Suddenly, the saber flashed and sparkled like snowflakes filling the sky, leaving her opponent flailing about, unable to defend herself, before tumbling off the stage.

  Many people applauded loudly, and even more people crowded over there.

  But Li Ruo knew that everyone was clearly looking at the girl as being weaker than the masters of other arenas, and easier to deal with.

  There was no hurry to knock the girl off the stage, probably because the competition lasted for two days and everyone could enjoy the scenery of her elegant appearance.

  Li Ruo's gaze was about to shift elsewhere when he noticed the crowd's strength, but suddenly a calling voice came from within the crowd:

  "Draw your sword, here..."

  It was Wang Wanyuan in a tight leather armor, who saw Li Ran's enthusiastic beckoning through the crowd.

  Li Rendao slightly raised an eyebrow and walked over, just as the girl with the willow-leaf knife was below the stage. The mountain wolf beside her noticed Li Rendao's arrival and imperceptibly shrunk back his body.

  Wang Wanyue looked somewhat excited and asked hastily as Li Ruo walked closer:

  "Ran Jian, I'm having second thoughts. You're strong, help me analyze this - if I go on stage, can I beat that girl?"

  Li Ran's sword had yet to speak, when beside him, Shan Lang calmly interjected:

  "There is no hope."

  "Hmmph..."

  Wang Wanyue stomped her foot and said discontentedly, "I think that girl is nothing special. I know my strength is low and I have no hope of snatching the quota, but after so many years of cultivation, I also want to stay on that arena for a while, even if I can only be the champion for just one moment. Rengou, do you think I can beat her?"

  The mountain wolf interjected again:

  "That girl's Thousand Mountains Evening Snow is quite overbearing, especially the last three moves in a row. Your Separation and Union Sword cannot restrain her. Once she unleashes those three moves, you will definitely be unable to withstand them."

  The strength and vision of the mountain wolf are much stronger than Wang Wanyan's. Hearing the mountain wolf say this, Wang Wanyan's heart was intimidated, and she looked at Li Rengdiao for help: "Rengdiao, is it really like that?"

  Li Ruo's eyes narrowed, and he fell into deep thought for a moment. He stretched out his hand, forming two fingers into a sword shape, and drew it in front of Wang Wenyuan's face. Wang Wenyuan looked puzzled, furrowed her brow, and asked:

  "This is the final move of the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi, Nine-Headed Dragon Strike... Fuuin, how..."

  Wang Wanyue had not finished speaking when she saw Li Ruo's sword suddenly slanting to one side, then rapidly rising up in a parabolic motion, as if bouncing from below, and swiftly returning to its original position in mid-air.

  "This...this..."

  This move was a turning point that left Wang Wuxuan dazed and bewildered. She had practiced the parting sword for so many years, but never thought that the final move could produce such a change. It was as if it came from her own chest, strangely leaving people at a loss.

  Li Ran Dao said in a low voice:

  "Master this formula silently and you can go up."

  "Really?"

  Wang Wanyue was half-believing and half-doubting. This move changed independently of the separation and reunion swordsmanship, and it was impossible to merge them together. What kind of effect could be achieved with just this move? However, Wang Wanyue was too eager for the champion position and didn't think deeply about it. After a moment of contemplation, she nodded at Li Ran's knife point and jumped onto the arena stage in one swift motion.