Chapter 96: Emerging As One Of The Top Eight, Catching The Attention Of The Nation
At the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet.
Everyone couldn’t help but look at Ye Ping.
The Heavenly Thunder Sword Technique had indeed frightened the crowd.
It was only the preliminary round and Ye Ping’s opponent was just a nobody, but he was so ferocious in his attack.
If he encountered a famous sword cultivator, his attacks would have been even more shocking.
All of a sudden, many cultivators could not help but tremble, secretly praying that they wouldn’t have to face Ye Ping. Otherwise, they would only be courting death.
Li Changye was carried away.
There were professional physicians at the Sword Dao Meet who were there to treat the wounded participants. However, Li Changye’s injuries were too serious.
The few physicians felt awkward.
“Senior, when he wakes up, you must tell him that I didn’t mean for this to happen. I couldn’t figure out what he meant, and I wouldn’t have been so reckless if I had known that his cultivation level is so poor.”
Tugging the physician, Ye Ping repeatedly gave him instructions, for fear that Li Changye would hold a grudge against him.
After all, the more friends you have, the more options you have in life. He didn’t want to make enemies for no reason.
“Not to worry, accidents tend to happen during sword competitions. I know you didn’t mean for this to happen. Rest assured, I will convey your words to him when he regains consciousness.”
The physician nodded and comforted Ye Ping so that Ye Ping wouldn’t feel burdened.
After Li Changye left, the elder in charge of presiding over the competition immediately declared loudly, “The victory of the first match in Ring No. 78 goes to Ye Ping.”
As he said so, the female cultivators immediately spoke up at that instant too.
“Ye Ping, Ye Ping!”
“Junior Brother Ye Ping is really a ferocious man.”
“Ye Ping, Ye Ping!”
The cheering was deafening, and Ye Ping once again made many cultivators envious.
After the first match, they would have to wait for four hours before the order of the bouts for the second match would be released.
Hence, they could use those four hours to rest and recuperate, lest they were too exhausted from consecutive bouts and end up affecting their performance.
Ye Ping returned to the resting area, and soon Li Yu appeared.
“Master, congratulations on obtaining victory.”
Li Yu rushed to Ye Ping and congratulated him, appearing unusually excited.
“It’s only the first round. There’s nothing much to congratulate me for.”
Hearing Li Yu’s congratulatory words, Ye Ping really couldn’t bring himself to be happy.
Ye Ping was even more upset, especially since his opponent in the first match was so poor in cultivation.
“Master, you can’t say that. One will lead to more. However, Li Changye is indeed an insignificant nobody. At first, I was really worried that he might be some hidden successor, but now, it seems that I had been thinking too much.”
Li Yu said.
However, he soon continued to speak.
“Master, there’s one more thing I have to tell Uncle-Master about.”
“What is it?”
Ye Ping was a little curious, not understanding what Li Yu had to see Su Changyu for.
“Wang Lei has withdrawn from the competition.”
Li Yu’s tone was casual.
Ye Ping was stunned after hearing what he said.
“Withdrawn from the competition? That’s possible?”
Ye Ping did not expect that Wang Lei had actually withdrawn from the competition.
“Master, you cast the Four Thunder Sword Technique as soon as you raised your arm. To be honest, in the past Qingzhou Sword Dao Meets, one would be able to emerge among the top few as long as they mastered three sword momentums, what more the Four Thunder sword momentum.”
“Who would dare to provoke you after seeing how you cast the Four Thunder sword momentum as soon as you stepped up? It’s only reasonable for Wang Lei to be scared into withdrawing, lest he gets flung off the stage by Uncle-Master. At least, he knows what to do.”
Li Yu thought it was normal for Wang Lei to withdraw.
‘Aren’t you withdrawing? What are you waiting for? Death?’
‘It’s just a competition, must you risk your life?’
“Master, I think you don’t have to wait here from now on. I reckon all the opponents who are going to be pitted against you will give up immediately.”
Li Yu added.
“Seriously? The Sect Leader said that there are hidden experts in the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet this time. Maybe I was just lucky to have met a weaker cultivator.”
Ye Ping said with a frown.
Li Yu stayed silent for a while and glanced at Ye Ping, feeling an urge to say, “Aren’t you one of them?” However, after thinking about it, he still did not do so.
Soon, Li Yu said goodbye to Ye Ping and went to the Full River House to convey the message to Su Changyu.
He had to admit that Li Yu was indeed not bad. He respected his teacher very much and had a Confucian aura. Unfortunately, he was only a disciple on probation. Otherwise, Ye Ping could take Li Yu as a disciple.
Four hours passed.
The first round of the Sword Dao Meet ended. There had been a total of 510 bouts and five out of 1204 contestants withdrew.
The second round of the Sword Dao Meet was also in full swing.
However, as Li Yu said, the second opponent Ye Ping faced withdrew before even meeting him and revealing his face.
Rumor had it that when he left, he kept cursing the Sword Dao Meet and saying that he was being nitpicked as he felt that it was unfair for him to face Ye Ping.
However, Su Changyu’s second opponent withdrew too.
In other words, Ye Ping and Su Changyu successfully advanced to the top 256.
At night.
In the Full River House.
When Su Changyu heard the news, he was dumbstruck too.
“I made it to the top 500 again?”
Su Changyu was indeed shocked. He had already prepared to be defeated in the first round, but he didn’t expect to make it into the top 500.
It had already been six or seven years since the last time he got into the top 500.
“Won’t I be able to get a new robe for getting into the top 500 even though I didn’t put in any effort?”
Su Changyu was immediately in high spirits while he was in the room.
In fact, he even imagined getting into the top 100 if he had been luckier.
The reward for being in the top 100 of the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet was even greater than that of getting into the top 500. The reward was a robe that was custom made by the Heavenly Apparel Pavilion, and a symbol of supreme glory.
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, two days had passed.
In those two days, Ye Ping continued to compete as promised, but as Li Yu said, all of Ye Ping’s subsequent opponents for the four rounds chose to withdraw on their own accord.
Even Su Changyu’s opponents did too.
Ye Ping was extremely powerful as soon as he attacked and no one could stand that.
They were all there to compete in swordsmanship, not there to die. Even if they knew that they couldn’t beat Ye Ping, they were still pleased to step into the ring and learn the Sword Dao from the powerhouses.
However, Ye Ping didn’t seem to be competing.
He used the Four Thunder sword momentum as soon as he attacked. Who could stand that?
They thought that since Ye Ping was already so overbearing, his senior brother, Su Changyu, would probably be worse.
Hence, the disciples who were matched with Ye Ping or Su Changyu would immediately pack up and go home without hesitation.
Anyone who was interested could take their place.
Thus, Ye Ping and Su Changyu entered the ranks of the top 16 without understanding why.
They were not the only ones in the limelight either.
Sikong Jiantian was just as famous, and like Su Changyu, he also never got a chance to fight because his opponents all chose to withdraw.
There were a few other famous figures too.
Wang Minghao, Xu Jin, Zhang Yue, and Wang Feipeng.
The four of them had a winning streak, and they all had remarkable performances.
However, those people combined were not as famous as Ye Ping alone.
Now, all the cultivators in the entire Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet were focused on Sikong Jiantian, Ye Ping, and Su Changyu.
They were expecting a battle between Sikong Jiantian and Su Changyu, or a battle between Sikong Jiantian and Ye Ping.
As for Wang Minghao, there was no great concern. After all, with those three, who would care about some less important characters?
In the following morning, the tournament table for the top sixteen appeared.
It drew a lot of attention, but unfortunately, Ye Ping, Sikong Jiantian, and Su Changyu were perfectly separated.
As before, the disciples who had been drawn to compete with the three of them also chose to withdraw immediately.
Just like that, Ye Ping and Su Changyu successfully entered the final eight.
Due to Sikong Jiantian’s appearance, countless cultivators from all over the Jin Nation had long paid attention to the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet.
In fact, there were even a few major trade unions that cooperated to open bets for the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet.
Countless cultivators of Jin Nation went forth to place their bets.
At this moment, a figure appeared in the Qingyun Mountain Range.
It was Shi Liangjin.