Chapter 165 – The Big List
Once they returned to their hotel, Bi Fan quickly made an excuse and returned to his room.
The ‘Triple Transformation Sword’ had suddenly broadened Bi Fan’s horizons, and his mind was flooded with a lot of new ideas.
Bi Fan was very unfamiliar with disposition skills, but there was no shortage of disposition skills in this world, in fact, the Quinyang Sect too had its own unique disposition technique.
However, not a lot of people practiced such skills, not unless they desperately needed it in their a.r.s.enal, since this world only respected power and strength.
In fact, more people were known to be practicing alchemy and refining than disposition skills.
This wasn’t such because these skills weren’t powerful enough, but simply because these skills required a lot of training and practice, which meant that learning them would be a very time consuming act.
Life is a limited by its timeframe, which is why it is very important to increase strength as soon as possible, failing to do which, would result in an early death.
This was the core reason why most people refrained from learning disposition skills, but the ones who did, were usually quite well known fighters.
Bi Fan’s interests in alchemy had arisen due to his knowledge and understanding of herbs, which was fairly normal.
But now, he was completely taken by disposition techniques, but if he tried to invest his time in learning these skills, then his practice would surely get stalled for a while.
Since Bi Fan was aware of this fact, he was a bit hesitant in making the decision.
Ultimately, Bi Fan decided that he should try and research the ‘Triple Transformation Skill’ to some extent, just to check its compatibility with ‘The Immortal Finger’, since it would allow him to get an idea of the power that this combination could generate.
If the effect was indeed as amazing as Bi Fan was picturing it be, then he’d spend some time in learning a good disposition technique.
After he was done with his meditation, Bi Fan replayed the memories of the skill set again, since wanted engrave it very deeply into his mind for future training.
Strength enhancement was very crucial for Bi Fan, especially after the beating that he had given to Chao Rui today, since a lot of Wu Ji Sect disciples would be gunning for him in the later stages of the tournament.
No one had tested Wu Ji Xuan’s true strength, which is why it was very important for Bi Fan to be fully prepared for anything against him.
The next day dawned pretty soon, and the final list of the twenty eight partic.i.p.ants who had made it to the third round was announced publicly.
The Wu Ji Sect had the maximum number of entries, six, namely, Yang Xuan Wu Ji, Xuan Yuan Feng, Xuan Ming Yang, Xuan Yuan Yun, Xuan Yuan Xiao Yu, and Wu Ji Xuan.
The Quinyang Sect had four entries: Jing Feng, Mo Nan, Bi Fan, and Ji Ying Lan.
The Rising Sun had three: Tang Tian Feng, Jiang Wen, and Gu Da Tong.
The Tian Shui Sect had three: Ma De Biao, Hong Yun Tian, and Hong Yun Kai.
City Sect was being represented by four disciples: Tan Guang Cheng, w.a.n.g Feng, w.a.n.g Lan, and Su Yang.
The Ba Gua Sect had two fighters in the list: Li Qian Xun, and Chen Kang.
The Eastern Aristocracy had two as well: Blue Dragon, and Zi Feng.
The other four contestants were Sangriyan Cloud’s Zhou Feng, Li Bei’s Li Jia, Zhao Yun Fei of the Dan Yang Sect, and Zhong Jian’s Du Feng.
The Wu Ji Sect was indeed worthy of being called the most powerful Sect in the area, since this list clearly demonstrated that they had the highest number of powerful youngsters in their ranks.
The Quinyang Sect was the closest to them, but still only had two-thirds of their number in the list.
The third round’s rules were even more brutal, since the draws would be completely random. Each person would have to fight two matches each day for the next ten days. The winner would get three points, and the loser wouldn’t get any. In case there was a draw, both fighters would get one point each.
Everyone was required to fight twenty fights, and the rankings would be decided on the basis of these points. If two contestants had the same number of points, and hadn’t yet played against each other, then they would have to fight a tie-breaker for the higher rank.
This rule was very favorable for the Sects who had a higher number of representatives in the round, since if two people from the same Sect were paired against each other, then the weaker was likely to admit his defeat before the start of the fight, and both the fighters would be able to get some extra time to rest, which would eventually pay dividends against the next opponent in the next macth, and would help their Sect in acc.u.mulating more points.
The Wu Ji Sect had six fighters in this round, so they were naturally at an advantage.
Although everyone was aware of this, but since these rules were laid down thousands of years ago, the management was very unlikely to change them.
In this round, luck was a very important factor, but then again, luck is always considered a subset of strength.
If a partic.i.p.ant was extremely lucky, then he might only face fights against the weakest fighter in all the twenty rounds, and would be able to maintain an undefeated record, which would allow this person to proclaim the first rank.
However, the probability for such a case was almost negligible, and this case had never happened in the history of the tournament.
Since the draws for the first fight were about to be pulled out, Bi Fan, Mo Nan, Jing Feng and Ji Ying Lan stepped out of the dressing room together, and strolled over to the center stage.
Even though there were twenty eight contestants, the chits only contained numbers from one to fourteen. There were two chits with the same number, and the contestants who pulled out the same number would have to fight each other.
Ji Ying Lan, Mo Nan and Jing Feng were busy talking about the draw, and were praying since neither of them wanted to come up against Bi Fan or Wu Ji Xuan.
Obviously, beating Wu Ji Xuan was out of question, but they knew that the case isn’t much different against Bi Fan either.
Even though Bi Fan was anxious to fight Wu Ji Xuan, he still wanted to face him only in the final round.
It was evident that the Sects that had made it this far were broadly divided into three factions. The Wu Ji Sect, The Rising Sun Sect, The Ba Gua Sect, and the Li Bei Sect, comprised the first faction since they were all on friendly terms. The Quinyang Sect was with the City Sect and the Tian Shui Sect, while the Dan Yang Sect, The Sangriyan Sect, The Zhong Jian Sect and The Eastern Aristocracy were considered neutrals.
The four Sect alliance of the Wu Ji Sect deeply hated the three Sect alliance which was led by the City Sect, and the manner in which their respective disciples were staring at their counterparts, made this even more obvious.
“Please proceed to the ballots!”
Once the balloting was announced, the contestants walked onto the stage and nervously pulled out their numbers.
After which they all returned to their dressing rooms, and began preparing for their bouts.
“Number one, Quinyang’s Jing Feng and Rising Sun’s Tang Tian Feng may please proceed to the ring.” The referee announced loudly.
“Jing Feng! Jing Feng!…” A lot of girls were already screaming his name.
Jing Feng’s reputation and looks were so suave that he was capable of standing out, even a place as big as the Jiu Yu City.
In contrast, Tang Tian Feng had a much lesser fame attached to his name, and barely anyone was cheering for him.
“Young Jing Feng, best of luck!”
“Brother Jing Feng, you must teach these arrogant Rising Sun guys a lesson.” Ji Ying Lan said with a smile on his face.
Bi Fan simply patted Jing Feng on the shoulder, and even though he didn’t say anything, his eyes were enough to express his concern for his friend.
“Dear friends, please relax, and feel a.s.sured that I will bag the three points.” Jing Feng smiled.
Jing Feng had ranked third in the last Jiu Yu List, so there was obviously no doubt about his strength and capability. Unless he was very unlucky, he’d be able to get a good ranking this time around as well.
Jing Feng calmly made his way to the stage.
Although Tang Tian Feng was being considered a dark horse, Jing Feng’s reputation was enough to stifle his motivation, and his body language was very clearly expressing his lack of confidence.
“Quinyang’s Jing Feng, pleased to meet you!”
“Yes, the audience made sure that I got that down properly. I’m Tang Tian Feng from the Rising Sun.”
Once they made their salutations, the match was started.
“Hegemon Pike – Rushing Thunder!” Jing Feng launched a fierce and quick attack.
“The Rising Sun!” Tang Tian Feng cast out The Rising Sun Sect’s trademark skill, which was also the most commonly used skill by The Rising Sun disciples.
Even though there wasn’t much of a difference in his style, Tang Tian Feng’s power output was much higher than that of his colleagues.
But unfortunately, Tang Tian Feng had run into Jing Feng, and he didn’t have a gambler’s chance of winning against this opponent. On top of that, Jing Feng’s weapon was very appropriately named ‘Hegemon’.
The two people had barely exchanged a dozen strokes, and Jing Feng had already started dictating the fight. He kept pushing with a constant onslaught of power waves of attacks, and Tang Tian Feng was beginning to run out of room to dodge into.
“Boom!” Jing Feng seized his opportunity, and launched a violent attack, forcing Tang Tian Feng back several steps.
Jing Feng’s pike’s shadow resembled a serpent, as it violently made its way towards Tang Tian Feng’s face.
Tang Tian Feng’s face was enough to express his fear, and he quickly moved his sword to obstruct Jing Feng’s overbearing weapon.
“Boom!” The sword’s tip collided with Jing Feng’s Hegemon Pike, and sparks flew as Tang Tian Feng’s sword bent at the top.
Tang Tian Feng’s pupils started to dilate, while sweat started to cover his body, since Jing Feng’s weapon hadn’t stopped yet, and was inching closer to his body now.
“I surrender!”