Translator: Tim Editor: GlobeGlotter
The next morning, Ye Mo ate breakfast with Han Yan, and Wang Xiyue drove them to the top of the Broken Top Mountain again.
The mountain became crowded once again and didnât at all seem eerie like last night anymore. When Ye Mo came to the mountain peak, he noticed that cold woman had also come. She was completely expressionless. It was as though she never went to raid tombs last night.
After yesterdayâs tournament rounds there was much more order today. Although a lot of people had already lost, most of them didnât leave, choosing to stay to watch the fights.
Xiang Mingwang glanced at Ye Mo casually and walked up to the microphone, "Distinguished guests and fellow comrades of the ancient martial arts world. This is the second day of our tournament. Although people were injured yesterday, the overall situation was great, so we will now let Sect Leader Feng explain the rules for today in high spirits."
When Feng Wu walked past Ye Mo, he nodded politely. Zeng Zhengxia came up to Ye Mo and whispered, "Last night, Xiang MIngwang and Vice Sect Leader Feng talked for the entire night. I think it might have something to do with you. You need to be careful after the tournament. They wonât dare do anything during the tournament, but I think they might do something to the crystals."
Ye Mo smiled and patted Zeng Zhengxiaâs shoulder before comforting him, "Brother Zeng, donât worry. If I can kill Wang Lenchan, I can kill Xiang Mingwang. What I fear is him not trying anything."
Zeng Zhengxia touched his chin and smiled helplessly.
"No matter what, if you need help, just ask me for it, Brother Ye," Zeng Zhengxia promised without hesitation.
Ye Mo nodded. There were some things that were best left unsaid.
Feng Wu walked up to the stage without a stern face like Xiang Mingwangâs. He said casually, "First, I would like to congratulate the top 80 contestants. The first two rounds for today will still be elimination, after which we will select the final 20 contestants. Ideally, we should finish the elimination by this morning. Due to some sudden incidents, however, the reward for the top 30 has been changed to top 20 now-"
Before Feng Wu finished, the crowd went into an uproar. The reward being only for the top 30 was already very little, but now it was reduced to top 20?
Zeng Zhengxia frowned. Obviously, he didnât know about this. From this, it could be seen that the Gourd Cave and Jiu Ming Academy hadnât considered his opinion at all when making this decision.
Feng Wu cupped his hands and said, "In order to compensate everyone, weâve decided that the final 20 will each get 100 million of prize money.
Only then did the protests quieten down. Many small sects came here for the money, so they didnât care that much.
"Okay, the duels begin now." Feng Wu waved his hand.
Although Ye Mo didnât know why there was this change, he knew it had to be related to Wang Lenchanâs death.
There were less and less people in the tournament, yet it was getting more and more exciting. Han Yan had good luck and had still only encountered yellow level cultivators.
What caught Ye Moâs attention was a young man who was at the peak of the yellow level. His opponent was at the black level middle stage. Other people had already fought three or four matches, but he was still fighting with that black level participator.
Ye Mo noticed his inner qi was very dense and no lesser than Han Yanâs. His sword technique was very intricate and had very little holes. Ye Mo thought that this young manâs master had to be very strong.
Everyone else noticed this fight as well.
Zeng Zhengxia said to Ye Mo, "That black level middle stage kid is the ninth ranked seed Peng Nigui. Heâs from the Gourd Cave. The youngster facing him is really quite impressive, fighting a black level middle stage Peng Nigui for this long neck to neck when heâs only at the yellow level."
"Was he chosen as a seed recently?" Ye Mo asked.
Zeng Zhengxia shook his head and said, "No, they had already been approximately chosen before the tournament based on their power and performance. Gourd Cave has 3 seed spots, Jiu Ming Academy has two, 36 River has one, the Wang family had one and the remaining three are for small sects. But the selection isnât 100% accurate, because the seeded juniorsâ prowess had never been judged in a fight yet, so itâs all based on educated guessing."
As they were talking, Ye Mo saw that young man put a pill in his mouth. Ye Mo immediately realized that the young man had been using inner qi recovery pills.
There were clashes of weapons all the time, but Ye Mo noticed that the young manâs sword wasnât damaged at all while Peng Niguiâs sword kept on getting more and more chipped.
Peng Nigui seemed to feel very embarrassed about being forced into a corner like this by a yellow level opponent. He had a cruel look on his face as he hacked towards the young manâs head.
That young man didnât dodge, instead hacking right back. Ye Mo smiled. He knew what the young man was thinking. The young man was using his advantage of a better weapon and probably wanted to break Peng Niguiâs sword. With the remaining force, the sword would cut into Peng Niguiâs shoulder. If that strike connected, Peng Nigui would lose an arm, if not his life.
"Such a cruel little punk!" Many people noticed this and Xiang Mingwang wouldâve attacked the kid already if this werenât a tournament.
Ye Mo sneered. Other people were cruel, but his sect disciples were using proper moves? Ye Mo knew that the real cruel one was Peng Nigui and that that young manâs sword would only be taking an arm at most. Peng Nigui, on the other hand, clearly wanted his opponent to die.
Clank- Peng Niguiâs sword broke in half, and the young manâs sword continued along its path.
Ye Mo saw that the young man intentionally moved it to the side, not wanting to take Peng Niguiâs arm. Seeing this, Ye Mo shook his head. This move was too awful. If Ye Mo was in his place, he wouldnât move the sword to the side, and even if he did, it would be towards the neck. Because of this, the young man would lose his life.
As Ye Mo expected, Peng Nigui actually rejoiced after his sword broke. He used the remaining segment of his sword and threw it at the young manâs heart. It was so fast that Ye Mo was sure the young man wouldnât be able to dodge it.
The young manâs face change, and the sword in his hands wavered for a bit but still striked down in the end.
Slash- Peng Niguiâs arm was cut off as blood gushed out.
At the same time, Peng Niguiâs broken sword stabbed into the young manâs chest, but Ye Mo noticed that the sword didnât pierce it.
Despite that, the young man did spit out blood, and his face was pale too. He was wobbling on the stage.
Ye Mo wondered, âDoes the young man have soft armour on him? This kid was quite wealthy.â
"You!" Peng Nigui saw that his arm had been cut off, while his yellow level adversary was fine. He was so angry that he couldnât speak.
"Such a cunning brat! Not only did you wear armour, but you even brought qi recovery pills? Who told you that you could use pills in the tournament? Did your master not teach you? This is a tournament, not a life and death duel. Youâve broken the rules many times over, and yet you attack with such cruelty. Iâll cut off one of your arms and see if you still dare act this cocky!" an old man at the judgesâ table stood up and yelled.
Then, he took out his long sword and walked to the stage. Judging from his clothes, one could tell he was from the Gourd Cave.
Everyone was silent, not daring to say a thing. The youth clenched his teeth and didnât say anything either.
"I also want to see how much balls you old fart have to dare try cut off his arm. Iâm waiting for you right here; if you have the balls, step on the stage, and Iâll make you have no return," a lazy voice sounded.