Both Huang Xiaolong and Zhao Lei glanced in his direction in unison.
They saw Zhou Chen treading towards them, in mid-air. He was wearing a green brocade and looked like he was in high spirits. However, a strange look developed on the faces of the disciples, elders, and hall masters when they noticed the green brocade on his body. Their gazes slowly turned to his head.
Thankfully, his head wasn’t cloaked in green.
Sun s.h.i.+hai, Yan Ying, and a group of disciples from the Snow Moon Hall followed behind him.
Huang Xiaolong’s gaze rested on the well built young man that was following closely behind Yan Ying.
The young man who cut an imposing figure was known as Liu Yong. He was the disciple of Yan Ying and it was said that he was one of the strongest disciples in the selections. Moreover, he was at the Tenth Order G.o.d King Realm!
When Huang Xiaolong turned to catch a look at Zhou Chen and Sun s.h.i.+hai, Zhou Chen, Sun s.h.i.+hai, Liu Yong, and even the hall master of the Snow Moon Hall, Yan Ying, turned to look at him at the same time. It was as though they were sizing up the compet.i.tion.
A cold light flashed across Zhou Chen’s eyes the moment they landed on Huang Xiaolong.
The disciples of the Snow Moon Hall, including Liu Yong, had varied expressions on their faces. Sun s.h.i.+hai had an air of conceit around him and Yan Ying smiled coquettishly.
Zhou Chen and Yan Ying quickly made their way to the main table and sat down.
Meanwhile, Sun s.h.i.+hai and Liu Yong settled down in the waiting stand.
“Martial Uncle Sun! Senior brother Liu Yong!” Excitement broke out in the crowd as many of them rushed to give their greetings.
Sun s.h.i.+hai and Liu Yong merely nodded their heads in acknowledgement.
“Martial Uncle Sun’s power is extraordinary indeed! Allow us to offer your early congratulations on qualifying.” Some people in the crowd laughed heartily.
“With Martial Uncle Sun’s combat prowess, it’s impossible for you to lose! You will definitely rank in the top 100!”
“Only among the top hundred? I bet he’s in the top thirty!”
Huang Xiaolong shook his head and chuckled when he heard how hard the disciples were trying to flatter Sun s.h.i.+hai. They’re not flattering him… They’re just b*lls.h.i.+tting at this point.
Although Sun s.h.i.+hai was at the peak of the late-Fifth Order G.o.d King Realm, his combat abilities put him on the same level as an expert in the late-Sixth Order G.o.d King Realm. Out of all the strong disciples taking part in the selections, none of them were weaker than Sun s.h.i.+hai. He would at best be put in the top 1000. He wouldn’t even be able to make it into the top 500s, much less the top 100.
On the main table, Zhao Lei nodded towards Zhou Chen and greeted, “Ancestor Zhou Chen.”
Although he did not want to deal with Zhou Chen, Zhao Lei still had to show proper respect.
Zhou Chen chuckled, “Zhao Lei, my old brother, to tell you the truth, I have been envious of you ever since you managed to take such a good disciple under your wing.”
Zhao Lei laughed and replied, “Thank you very much, I am but an ordinary Emperor. I am lucky enough to get a disciple with a King of Supreme G.o.dhead...” Without pus.h.i.+ng the topic, he turned to look at Zhou Chen’s green brocade and said, “You look really good today.”
Zhou Chen was stunned and his gaze s.h.i.+fted towards his brocade.
Does it really look that good?
“It’s very green!”
When he heard Zhao Lei’s comment, Zhou Chen’s facial expression changed. He never thought so deeply into it. However, he regained his composure in the next instant and chuckled, “If you find my outfit nice, I’ll ask my men to make a few sets for you!”
Zhao Lei laughed, “There’s no need! I don’t like the color green.”
All the other Hall Masters, elders, and even the grand elders s.h.i.+fted their gaze away.
“The Sect Master, Ancestor Li Shan, and Ancestor Chen Yirong are here!”
One of the grand elders yelled out.
Zhao Lei and Zhou Chen stopped their conversation and turned to have a look at the newcomers.
When Fang Gan, Li Shan, Chen Yirong arrived at the main table, Zhao Lei and Zhou Chen greeted, “Sect Chief.”
Fang Gan nodded his head and laughed, “What were the two of you talking about?”
Zhao Lei replied, “I was just complimenting Ancestor Zhou Chen on his outfit, it’s very green.”
Fang Gan, Li Shan, and Chen Yirong tried to force their laughter back and Fang Gan managed to change the topic after trying his hardest to hold back his laughter. “Have all the disciples arrived?”
“They should all be here.” Zhao Lei replied and turned to Zhang Chen, “Zhang Chen, get them to look through the namelist. If everyone is here, let’s begin.”
Zhang Chen, the hall master of Hall of Supreme Harmony, respectfully followed Zhao Lei’s order.
Before long, the name list was read out and the attendance was taken.
Even though there were ten minutes left to the start of the selections, everyone was present. After all, they were partic.i.p.ating in the selections to qualify for the upcoming Battle of the Heavenly Court.
The rules and rewards were read out next.
The rules of the compet.i.tion were simple. Since the Battle of the Heavenly Court carried out battles in a single elimination format, they would be doing the same in the selections. A partic.i.p.ant’s opponent would be decided by lot-drawing.
As for the rewards for the selections, they were bountiful.
All partic.i.p.ants in the top 1000 places would be rewarded. Of course, the rewards were divided into several levels. The champion would be rewarded handsomely, followed by the top ten finalists. The top hundred, three hundred, and top thousand came after that.
The rewards doubled with each tier.
The rewards were likely to be spirit stones, spiritual pills, divine artifacts, or divine armors. Since Huang Xiaolong wasn"t lacking in any of them, he really didn’t care about the rewards.
This time, Huang Xiaolong set a small goal for himself. He only wanted to get into the top 1000 contestants as his only goal was to partic.i.p.ate in the Battle of the Heavenly Court.
After Zhang Chen read out the rules and rewards, everyone went up to draw their lots.
Huang Xiaolong grabbed a lot and the number ‘fifty-four’ was written on it.
That meant that he had to head over to the fifty-fourth stage.
Very quickly, Huang Xiaolong discovered that his opponent was Chen Longs.h.i.+ of the Snow Moon Hall. He was at the peak of the late-Fifth Order G.o.d King Realm and was merely a hair’s breadth away from reaching the Sixth Order G.o.d King Realm.
Looking at Huang Xiaolong and Chen Longs.h.i.+, Zhao Lei furrowed his brows.
Standing behind Zhao Lei, Chen Hao saw Zhao Lei"s expression and said, "Master, rest a.s.sured, although Chen Longs.h.i.+ is strong, it is still possible that junior brother will be able to clinch the victory.”
Zhao Lei nodded, "I hope so." To be honest, he was not sure about Huang Xiaolong’s chances of victory. Even though the jade mirror stone stated that he had the combat ability of a peak late-Fifth Order G.o.d King Realm expert, Chen Longs.h.i.+ wasn’t weak either. He was comparable to a Sixth Order G.o.d King realm expert.
Chen Longs.h.i.+ grinned at Huang Xiaolong and said, "Martial Uncle Huang, this concerns the Battle of the Heavenly Court, so please don’t blame me for being too rough on you.”
Huang Xiaolong stared at Chen Longs.h.i.+ and retorted, “If you are really able to defeat me, please go ahead.”
Back at the main table, Zhou Chen smiled at Yan Ying and said, "Who would have expected Huang Xiaolong to run into a disciple of the Snow Moon Hall in the first round! If an ordinary disciple from the Snow Moon Hall defeated an expert who possesses a King of Supreme G.o.dhead, his reputation will go down the drain! Oh right, let’s not forget his master…”
Zhou Chen didn’t bother lowering his volume in an attempt to provoke Zhao Lei who was sitting nearby.