“Ka! Ka! Ka! Ka!”
Suddenly, the two arenas started to merge without any warning. Before everyone’s eyes, it formed one vast arena and slowly ascended like a huge dragon rising, giving off an extraordinary might.
“What’s going on? Why have the arenas merged so suddenly? The matches of the top four have not started yet!”
“Strange. The experts of the City Lord’s Residence did not attack the person in the spatial tear.”
“Who in the world is it? He is appearing in such a bold fashion!”
This sudden change was quite unusual, completely disrupting the rhythm. This rarely happened at the Outstanding Talent Summit Meeting, which already had been hosted several hundred times.
At the same time, everyone tried to guess who the person who opened the spatial tear was.
Ba Yan frowned slightly and thought of a possibility. However, he could not be sure of it. The four people in the arena were also confused; they did not know what was happening.
As the spatial tear opened completely, the figure inside finally appeared. A white figure looking slightly confused fell out of the spatial tear.
“The White Robed Bladesman!”
The moment Xiao Chen appeared, people immediately recognized him, his arrival causing a huge commotion in the crowd.
“It really is the White Robed Bladesman. Unexpectedly, he showed up in such a fashion.”
“However, he already forfeited. Even if he has friends in high places, it is useless to barge in!”
No matter what, Xiao Chen’s arrival triggered an uproar, especially among those cultivators who came to watch him. These people were even more excited and chatted endlessly.
The four people in the arena all showed different expressions. There was shock, pleasant surprise, disdain, and indifference.
The one who was shocked was the Human-Demon Sea’s Mo Ran. The one with pleasant surprise was naturally Sima Lingxuan. Huang Yun was as arrogant as he was before, not caring about Xiao Chen, who just appeared.
Leng Xin’s expression was like ten-thousand-year-old ice, not changing at Xiao Chen’s appearance.
“Is the one who arrived the Azure Dragon King, Xiao Chen?!” an old man with gleaming eyes on the rostrum shouted at Xiao Chen.
Xiao Chen, who had gotten tossed over directly from the Flame Rock castle, was still feeling dizzy and could not react immediately. Hence, the other party had to ask him again.
“The new arrival, are you the Azure Dragon King Xiao Chen? Hand over your Outstanding Talent Token to prove your identity!”
Based on the scene and the four people in the arena, Xiao Chen had already guessed where he was. When he heard the question again, he nodded to acknowledge his identity and handed over his Outstanding Talent Token.
“Very good. Your identity is verified. Hand over the Forceful Charge Token that the Flame Rock Sovereign passed to you!”
Forceful Charge Token? Is this the one?
Xiao Chen’s hand touched a medallion. After the hemp-robed old man tossed this to him, Xiao Chen had not looked at it carefully. Now that he did so, he found the words “Forceful Charge” on the front and the word “Token” on the back.
When the tens of thousands of people in the audience heard the words “Forceful Charge Token,” their expressions changed at the same time as they all sucked in a deep breath of air.
“It is indeed the Forceful Charge Token. Grandfather actually gave this chance to him,” Ba Yan said in disbelief, his expression turning serious. “If Xiao Chen fails, that old man is going to be very embarrassed.”
In the end, the City Lord’s Residence that organized the Outstanding Talent Summit Meeting was controlled by the thirteen Great Bandits. The prizes were also personally contributed by the thirteen Great Bandits.
Hence, every one of the Great Bandits enjoyed some privileges. The Forceful Charge Token was one of them.
As its name suggested, the Forceful Charge Token was for forcefully charging into the Outstanding Talent Summit Meeting. It gave a chance to an outstanding talent who could not get to the competition in time and automatically forfeited due to their tardiness for some reason.
According to the rules, once one forfeited, they could not participate in the competition anymore.
Nevertheless, with the Forceful Charge Token, one could enter the competition halfway. However, there was a price to pay for using the Forceful Charge Token.
After one used the Forceful Charge Token, one could only succeed by obtaining the championship. If one did not get the top rank, one would fail.
Furthermore, one would face continual challenges. One would have to fight however many people were left, one by one. After defeating everyone, one would be considered to have succeeded in the forceful charge, winning the championship.
Not only would one receive the glory of obtaining the top rank, but one’s reward would also depend on how many people one defeated.
For example, there were currently four people left. If Xiao Chen defeated all of them, he would gain all the rewards of the top four.
However, if Xiao Chen lost to anyone, the other four would get double the rewards paid out by the Great Bandit who gave him the Forceful Charge Token.
While the prize would not be a big problem to the Great Bandit, they would completely lose face before everyone.
No one in history had ever used the Forceful Charge Token and succeeded; everyone who tried failed.
Now, no one had seen the Forceful Charge Token for several hundred years already.
After Xiao Chen handed over the Forceful Charge Token, he overheard the uses of the Forceful Charge Token from the discussions in the crowd.
There were also a few other rules. For example, if there were less than four people remaining, the one who used the Forceful Charge Token would have to face them all together.
If the champion was already decided, one could not use the Forceful Charge Token.
Xiao Chen appeared at a very opportune time; there were exactly four people in the arena. However, there was still the condition of facing consecutive challenges without any rest in between.
Xiao Chen looked at the four people. First was Huang Yun, who carried a scarlet saber on his back and appeared arrogant. He radiated pride from his entire being. After sizing him up, Xiao Chen paid no more attention to him.
Then, he looked at Leng Xin, the cold swordsman of the Ice Sea. From the start to end, this person maintained an expressionless face, not displaying any emotion.
The Human-Demon Sea’s Mo Ran appeared to be more active. When he saw Xiao Chen’s gaze, he showed a smile full of killing intent.
Finally, Xiao Chen looked at the grave and stern Sima Lingxuan. He felt rather complicated emotions when it came to Sima Lingxuan.
Xiao Chen had already forgotten the grudge from back then. The higher he stood, the further he saw. His breadth of mind and outlook had changed massively.
Right now, all he sought was the Great Dao.
Sima Lingxuan looked directly at Xiao Chen. Aside from hatred, there was a fervent desire to fight in his eyes; it looked like flames blazed in them.
However, when Sima Lingxuan saw Xiao Chen’s indifferent countenance, he felt like his flames were quenched in a calm lake, unable to truly burn.
“There are no problems with the Forceful Charge Token. Azure Dragon King Xiao Chen, are you sure you want to use the Forceful Charge Token?” the City Lord’s Residence’s old man asked from the rostrum after inspecting the Forceful Charge Token.
Xiao Chen raised his head and looked at the rostrum. Then, he did not hesitate to reply calmly, “I’m sure.”
As Yue Bingyun had written, it was rare for one to get truly drunk. However, after the drunkenness, one still had to wake up and face everything.
The words “I’m sure” set the crowd abuzz. Everyone liked having something unexpected happen. Just like in a race, everyone watched out for the dark horse. Xiao Chen appearing now with the Forceful Charge Token was an exciting surprise.
“Good. You may freely choose your opponent. Begin!”
Huang Yun and the others did not shrink away. They all looked at Xiao Chen with blazing fighting spirits, not afraid that Xiao Chen would choose them to be his first opponent.
The audience was also guessing whom Xiao Chen would choose for his first opponent.
“It should be the Human-Demon Sea’s Mo Ran. He should be the weakest of the four.”
“It is hard to say. Mo Ran’s defense is the strongest. If Xiao Chen chooses him first, he would have to exhaust a large amount of Law Energy in the first round. That would not be ideal.”
“Then it should be either Sima Lingxuan or Leng Xin. Those two are swordsmen. Bladesmen holds a small advantage over swordsmen.”
The spectators discussed the possible choices; everyone had their own thoughts on this. However, no one thought that Xiao Chen would choose Huang Yun. After all, Huang Yun’s strength was clear for all to see.
“I choose him.”
To everyone’s surprise, Xiao Chen chose Huang Yun of all people, looking directly at him.
Following the rules, the other three stepped off the arena.
Everyone was surprised at such a result. Xiao Chen chose the strongest, Huang Yun, for the first match. This was too risky.
Or perhaps this white-robed bladesman was extremely confident in his strength, so it did not matter to him whom he chose.
Everyone could tell that for this very important decision, Xiao Chen had not given it much thought before choosing Huang Yun.
If that was truly so, he was being a little too arrogant.
Huang Yun was strangely angry at Xiao Chen for choosing him for the first match. Suppressing his anger, he said, “You are courageous. Soon, you will regret your choice!”
Xiao Chen appeared rather indifferent, his expression remaining unchanged. He said placidly, “I’m Xiao Chen. Please do bestow your advice to me.”
“In that case, be sure to remember my name, Huang Yun. I am the bladesman that will bring about your fall in Dark City!
“Fight!”
Huang Yun roared a war cry and attacked first. His figure flashed, and he drew the scarlet saber behind him. The moment the saber light appeared, it dyed half the sky scarlet.
The scene looked extremely horrifying. Berserk killing Qi soared out from Huang Yun. Combined with the saber light that painted the clouds scarlet, this saber strike looked unparallelled and formidable.
“The moment Huang Yun attacked, he used a Profound Martial Technique. He is planning to end this fast.”
“Blood Dyeing the World, this was the Blood Shark Sovereign’s ultimate technique before he became a Sovereign Martial Emperor. This Huang Yun is already displaying some of the Blood Shark Sovereign’s air.”
“The white-robed bladesman is in trouble. He should not have picked Huang Yun first. He is probably not going to last even one round.”
The horrifying might surprised everyone. Now, they realized that Huang Yun had been holding back all the while.
This performance even somewhat flabbergasted Ba Yan, who lost to Huang Yun by one move earlier. Now, he knew that Huang Yun had not defeated him simply by relying on his armor.
Xiao Chen pushed off the ground and executed Thunder Dragon Steps, moving back rapidly. His figure appeared like a dragon as electric light flickered.
One step…two steps…three steps…four steps…five steps…
Soon, Xiao Chen was driven into a corner. The scarlet clouds in the sky seemed to occupy the entire sky above the arena.
Huang Yun’s horrifying saber light was like a man-eating ferocious beast opening its maw and wanting to swallow Xiao Chen whole.
Retreat farther!
Xiao Chen had retreated eleven steps. He was already at the edge of the arena. If he took another step, his body would be in the air. If he landed on the ground, he would leave the arena, which would be considered forfeiting.
Such a thrilling scene perked everyone up.
No one had expected Huang Yun’s true strength to be so ferocious. The moment he executed a killing move, he forced the white-robed bladesman back twelve steps and out of the arena.
“Hahahaha! You are only so-so. Get off the arena!”