When Huang Xiaolong thought that w.a.n.g Na would succ.u.mb to her anger and start killing people, the thick killing intent around her gradually converged and eventually disappeared.
A light flickered in Huang Xiaolong’s eyes; this old witch w.a.n.g Na couldn"t be underestimated.
“People from the Azure Dragon Inst.i.tute!”
“Xiang Mingzhi!”
The surrounding crowd suddenly stirred. Looking over at the horizon, a group of people wearing the Azure Dragon Inst.i.tute’s robes were flying over to the arena at rapid speed.
At the front of the group was a skinny white-haired old man looking like he could be blown away by a gust of wind. Behind the old man were Xiang Mingzhi and a group of Azure Dragon Inst.i.tute’s inner disciples as well as Grand Elders.
‘That old man is the Azure Dragon Inst.i.tute’s Princ.i.p.al?’
“That’s the Azure Dragon Inst.i.tute’s Vice-Princ.i.p.al, Jia Xiangtian.” Feng Yang said as if he saw through Huang Xiaolong’s doubt, but there was a minuscule frown on his face.
The Azure Dragon Inst.i.tute’s Princ.i.p.al did not come, only sending an Inst.i.tute Vice-Princ.i.p.al to lead the disciples over. It seems like the Azure Dragon Inst.i.tute Princ.i.p.al felt that sending a Vice-Princ.i.p.al over was giving enough face to the Black Warrior Inst.i.tute? This made Feng Yang’s heart uncomfortable.
After the Azure Dragon Inst.i.tute’s Vice-Princ.i.p.al Jia Xiangtian arrived, he glanced past Feng Yang and nodded toward w.a.n.g Na instead. Then, together with his group, they descended toward the viewing stands dedicated to the Azure Dragon Inst.i.tute.
This little exchange fell into many people’s eyes, causing a stir below the surface. The Black Warrior Inst.i.tute masters that supported Feng Yang didn’t look too good. A cold glint flickered in Feng Yang’s eyes, but he quickly calmed down.
A short while later, Feng Yang checked the time and gestured to Grand Elder Bao Xinrui beside him, who nodded in understanding and stood up from his seat. Walking to the center of the stage, Grand Elder Bao Xinrui began to officiate the inner disciples’ a.s.sessment.
The disciple selection and outer disciples’ a.s.sessment were both supervised by Elder Zhang Tianchuan, however, the inner disciples’ a.s.sessment was different, the overseer was a Grand Elder. Moreover, during the disciple selection a.s.sessment and outer disciples’ a.s.sessment, the upper echelons of the inst.i.tute such as the Inst.i.tute Princ.i.p.al and Vice-Princ.i.p.als did not personally spectate, whereas for the inner disciples’ a.s.sessment, the Inst.i.tute Princ.i.p.al, Vice-Princ.i.p.als, Grand Elders, and Elders were all present.
In the inner disciples’ a.s.sessment, the disciples who managed to get a spot in the top ten rankings and had broken through to Fourth Order G.o.d Realm would be promoted to elite disciples.
The elite disciples were the future of the Black Warrior Inst.i.tute, which was why the inner disciples’ a.s.sessment received so much attention.
Bao Xinrui spoke briefly about the rules and rewards for the inner disciples’ a.s.sessment. This time, the rewards for the top ten spots had been increased by five times compared to the previous a.s.sessments.
The first place would be rewarded with five hundred million Xuanwu coins, ten thousand pieces of saint grade spirit stones, ten thousand Black Warrior Greater Strength Pellets, and more.
Hearing that the rewards had been increased by five times, all the inner disciples’ eyes turned red.
Five hundred million Xuanwu coins was a huge amount even for disciples with a super force background, not to mention there were ten thousand saint grade spirit stones among other rewards as well. Furthermore, the rules remained unchanged.
There were more than ten thousand inner disciples in the Black Warrior Inst.i.tute, it was impossible for all of them to compete on the stage. Hence, the upper echelon would select ten candidates for the top ten places, and those dissatisfied could issue a challenge. If no one stepped up to challenge, then those ten inner disciples would be the final top ten placeholders.
“Jiang Bi, Liu Xiaos.h.i.+, He Can, Huang Xiaolong… Li Dufeng.” Bao Xinrui announced the listed ten names, whether it was deliberate or otherwise, Huang Xiaolong’s name was once again placed at the fourth place.
The fact that Li Dufeng was able to place among the top ten slightly surprised Huang Xiaolong, but he didn"t give the matter too much attention, whereas neither w.a.n.g Biaoyuan nor Gudu Leng was on the list this time.
Standing below the arena, w.a.n.g Biaoyuan and Gudu Leng’s expressions dimmed. Although they were aware that they indeed did not possess the qualifications to secure a spot amongst the top ten rankings at their current strength, seeing Huang Xiaolong’s figure up on the stage was a source of discomfort for them.
With the names of the top ten having been announced, next was the open challenge round. Inner disciples went up the stage one after another to try their luck, but no one challenged four particular individuals━Jiang Bi, Liu Xiaos.h.i.+, He Can, and Huang Xiaolong.
Jiang Bi was a late-Fourth Order G.o.d Realm, and from the general perspective, he was the uncontended first place, while Liu Xiaos.h.i.+ and He Can had been securely standing on the second and third places since long ago. As for Huang Xiaolong, five years ago he could already defeat Li Dufeng in one move, therefore, there wouldn’t be anyone overestimating themselves to challenge any of these four individuals.
On the other hand, Li Dufeng was the one being challenged the most. If ten challengers went up the stage, five of them would challenge him, lighting a scorching fire in his heart. He even believed that the reason why so many challengers picked him was mainly due to his one move defeat by Huang Xiaolong that year, creating an impression among the inner disciples that he was the weakest link, the soft persimmon that could be easily squashed.
In the end, Li Dufeng was defeated by an inner disciple by the name of Nie Cheng, resulting in him being kicked out of the top ten list, fueling his hatred toward Huang Xiaolong even more.
Roughly an hour later, the number of inner disciples going up to challenge gradually slowed down to none, and the results were announced. Other than Li Dufeng, the rest remained unchanged, successfully entering the top ten.
Next was the battle for ranks within the top ten.
The rule for this round was that all ten inner disciples could go up the stage in an elimination round. The last person still standing on the stage at the end would be this inner disciples’ a.s.sessment first place winner!
As such, the second last person would be second place, so on and so forth, with the first person kicked off the stage being in the tenth place.
“The top ten disciples, please go onto the stage.” Bao Xinrui’s sonorous voice sounded.
Jiang Bi was the first to leap up the stage like a great Peng bird, somersaulting nine times in the air before landing stably on the Rising Dragon Arena.
“That’s an ancient movement skill, Nine Turns of the Great Peng!” A few in the crowd exclaimed.
As these exclamations entered Jiang Bi’s ears, his nose flared slightly skyward.
After Jiang Bi went up, Liu Xiaos.h.i.+, He Can, Huang Xiaolong, and the rest also leaped onto the stage, separating immediately with each guarding a certain radius around themselves, forming a big circle.
“Good, compet.i.tion start!” Once all ten were on the stage, Bao Xinrui shouted.
In that instant, everyone’s eyes fell on Huang Xiaolong. From the viewing stand, Xiang Mingzhi’s eyes flashed with killing intent as he watched Huang Xiaolong’s figure.
“Don’t fret, you’ll have a chance to kill him later.” The Azure Dragon Inst.i.tute’s Vice-Princ.i.p.al seemed to have sensed Xiang Mingzhi’s killing intent and spoke.
“Yes, Vice-Princ.i.p.al.” Xiang Mingzhi nodded as a sign of respect.
On the stage, no one took the initiative to attack first after Bao Xinrui’s voice sounded.
Jiang Bi looked at Huang Xiaolong and the other eight people, saying, “No need to be so troublesome; Huang Xiaolong, I’ll give all of you a chance to defeat me, all nine of you attack together.”
The crowd was stunned, then broke into an uproar.
“This Jiang Bi actually wanted the other nine people to attack him together? Wasn"t this a little too fierce?!”
“But this is no false arrogance, this Jiang Bi is a late-Fourth Order G.o.d Realm, he has the strength to take on the other nine people together!”
Jiang Bi fully released his aura and a golden light pierced the sky as golden spheres emerged behind him, with golden Buddha arhats sitting in a meditative pose inside the spheres. At the same time, streams of ghostly energy wound around his body, forming a sea of ghostly energy. His rising momentum was earth-shaking.
“What a powerful momentum! No doubt he’s a late-Fourth Order G.o.d Realm! On top of that, he’s a dual cultivator of Buddhism and Ghost techniques! His strength is comparable to a peak late-Fourth Order G.o.d Realm master!” Shocked gasps sounded from the crowd.