Chapter 3084 The Preliminaries Commence
“It’s unlikely. The Flower b.u.t.terfly School’s cultivation techniques are rather shameful. Although they have quite a bit of fame, not many sects like to interact with them. There’s nothing in our information that indicates that the Flower b.u.t.terfly School is part of the Chu family’s subordinates. Most likely, young master Wuji was simply baited into coming to provoke us by Chu Ren. Considering big sister Mingxuan and his past encounter, as well as Long Chen becoming the most famous figure at the Nine Prefecture Convention, with just a few words, Chu Ren could easily bait young master Wuji into coming over,” said Luo Xue.
Long Chen nodded inside. The Luo family was the Chu family’s mortal enemy. Both sides had information on the other. Collecting intel was a priority, so there shouldn’t be a mistake.
Just looking at young master Wuji, it was clear that he was a brainless, spoiled brat. It was easy for someone to bait him into one of their schemes. Hence, Luo Xue’s deduction was most likely correct.
Just at this moment, the plaza quivered and an elder appeared at the center.
The elder introduced himself. This Martial Dao convention was now being carried out by the Huayun Trading Company due to Long Chen. Normally, the Huayun Trading Company was only in charge of storing the convention’s prizes and resources, so this elder humbly introduced himself, saying that he had no experience in this regard. He hoped for everyone to forgive him if he made any mistakes.
When that elder appeared, he caused countless cheers to ring out. They didn’t need this elder to talk about being the champion or stirring them up with talk about the prizes. What they wanted was a fair martial compet.i.tion with no cheaters.
For this elder from the Huayun Trading Company to appear meant that there would be no cheating from now on. The Huayun Trading Company’s golden reputation was something that no one doubted.
The elder also hadn’t expected such an ardent reception. Hence, he once more bowed and thanked everyone. Rather than trying to impress everyone with talk of prizes or fame, he directly announced the start of the drawing of lots for battles.
However, this drawing of lots wasn’t done by the disciples themselves. Everyone had been placed into a draw when they registered. Everyone’s names were written on jade tablets, and they now spun in a giant ball.
As the ball spun, those tens of millions of jade tablets swirled around. Suddenly, all of them stuck together in pairs. At the same time, everyone’s tablets lit up.
“Gu Shanguang?” [1]
Long Chen looked at his tablet. A name had appeared there, and that was his opponent. His own name would have appeared on the opponent’s tablet as well.
Long Chen then vanished, appearing on a martial stage. This martial stage was three thousand square meters, and there was a barrier of light blocking their sight outside. This place was its own world. Now, the compet.i.tion had started.
A bald man with two large hatchets on his back appeared in front of Long Chen. That was his opponent.
“His head really is bright.” Long Chen thought to himself that his opponent’s name really suited him.
“Long Chen, is it? Taste my hatchet!”
The bald man roared, his Blood Qi erupting. He then charged at Long Chen like a wild bull. His aura was powerful, as he was at the ninth Heavenstage of the Divine Flame realm.
“Thank you, but I don’t eat those things.” Long Chen unleashed a single punch.
As a result, that large man’s arms shuddered. The webbing between his thumb and forefinger split open, and blood flowed out. He was sent flying.
His hatchets fell to the ground in front of him. After that, he was shocked to find that their heads had been broken. With one punch, Long Chen had broken his weapons.
“I admit defeat!”
The large man hastily cried out, knowing that the power difference was too great. He admitted defeat to save his life.
Long Chen returned to his original location. Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+, Lu Mingxuan, Luo Bing, and all the others had also returned. They also had an easy time.
“Hahaha, my opponent was way too weak. He couldn’t even see me, so I just knocked him out,” said Bai Xiaole, very pleased with himself.
“Don’t be too pleased. Even if it’s just the preliminaries, you can still encounter a supreme expert. Not every fight will be so easy,” said Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ coldly.
On the other hand, Long Chen patted Bai Xiaole on the shoulder. “Don’t listen to her. If you’re happy, then smile. If you’re pleased, then show it. Even if you hold everything in, spending all day with such a bitter expression, no one will give you a single immortal crystal.”
Bai Xiaole’s expression, which had just fallen due to Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+’s words, once more lit up. “Haha, brother-in-law is correct!”
“Are you getting itchy for a beating?” raged Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+.
“I’m talking about sister Mingxuan. What does it have to do with you? Boss already said that he won’t let you obtain him in this lifetime. Don’t get any wild dreams,” said Bai Xiaole, hiding behind Long Chen fearlessly.
Hearing that, Lu Mingxuan laughed without saying anything. But Bai s.h.i.+s.h.i.+ was incensed.
Just at this moment, the giant ball once more spun, and their names flowed randomly again.
Long Chen was startled. “The first round is over already?”
It had only been less than half an incense stick’s worth of time, but everyone was already done fighting?
“It’s according to the rules. If people can’t beat their opponent within a set time, they’ll both be eliminated. In the past, some people with hidden goals sent people to stall their opponents. They used water, earth, and wood cultivators with strong defensive and control abilities to stall them, and then they both got eliminated. It’s truly difficult to deal with. Without senior apprentice-brother Long Chen here, such a thing would have continued to happen. Ninety-nine percent of the Nine Prefecture Convention’s compet.i.tors have to thank you,” said Luo Xue.
What a sinister scheme. If those powers behind the scenes sensed someone that could threaten them, they would send experts specialized in stalling just so that they could both be eliminated. In the end, the rewards would be obtained by their own people.
Although Long Chen had known that the Nine Prefecture Convention would be controlled by people, it was his first time hearing of such a thing.
“So that’s the case. Does that mean that the lots were also controlled by them?” asked one of the Battle G.o.d Palace’s disciples.
“Of course. They wouldn’t let one of their own people encounter their allies. They just slowly had their enemies wiped out,” said Luo Xue.
“How sinister,” sighed that person.
“At the very least, now we’re all enjoying a fair compet.i.tion. Being able to use your own abilities and luck to compete with other heavenly geniuses is its own pleasure,” said Luo Xue with a smile.
Just at this moment, the second round started. Before getting to look at the name of his opponent, Long Chen arrived on the martial stage.
1. Gu Shanguang. Shanguang=mountain light. Presumably, he means that his bald head is like a bright mountain.☜