Chapter 104: Unrivaled for a Moment

Mang Tian had cast three water talismans in quick succession to extinguish the flames scorching his body, sending up a trail of blue smoke. He looked warily toward the cave entrance, where a figure slowly emerged. Black clothes, black sword, black face.

"I heard the three of you want my points?"

"Which peak's disciple, state your name!" Gao Yi gripped his long sword tightly and shouted.

Gao Xun on the opposite side also wore a face of vigilance.

The fire dragon that had just been unleashed had left them all feeling a surge of intense killing intent. Gazing at that black sword, their hearts filled with overwhelming shock.

"Sword qi... it can actually be this ferocious!"

Lin Zhan had just stepped out of the cave when he flickered, his form vanishing before the three of them. In less than a breath, he reappeared in his original spot.

Looking at the three of them, he said without a ripple, "You have lost. Hand over your points, your storage rings, the weapons in your hands, and then quickly withdraw!"

Gao Xun cursed without hesitation, "Withdraw your damn ass! Not even fighting a single bout, thinking my Grave Sword Peak's Grave Heaven Sword Art is vegetarian?"

Lin Zhan grinned but said nothing more.

Yet Gao Yi had clearly realized the situation. He wiped the cold sweat suddenly bursting from his forehead along with the spot of blood at his brow, then came to Gao Xun's side to remind him, "Junior brother, we really have lost. Feel your brow!"

After Gao Xun acted on the suggestion, he discovered a fine wound on his own brow. His fingers brushed it, sending a dull ache through him along with a drop of blood.

Only then, seeing Gao Yi and Mang Tian's conditions, did realization dawn. He had walked through the gates of hell earlier; the opponent's strike had been too swift, and he had not even sensed it before it ended.

If the opponent had truly gone all out, the three of them would already be dead men.

"Clang!" Gao Xun's long sword slipped from his grip and fell, clattering loudly.

But besides the points, did they really intend to take the storage rings and weapons as well? Wasn't this an elimination contest? How had it turned into looting during the fire?

After Mang Tian obediently handed over his points, he still pleaded, "Take the points, but can you not take the things? Otherwise it will be hard to explain back at the sect."

He was the most unlucky of the three—not only withdrawing from the grand competition but also becoming a roasted pig.

Gao Xun rummaged through his belongings while hurling threats, "Little brat, don't get cocky too soon. If you meet my Grave Sword Peak's sect master's direct disciple Fan Ning, you'll suffer retribution!"

"Oh, it's Fan Ning, is it? I'm actually quite interested in meeting him." Lin Zhan smiled instead of getting angry. Only then did he recall that in such a grand competition, it was possible to encounter Fan Ning.

There was also the possibility of meeting Qin Qingxuan, Fang Daguan, and Lian Ming—whether they had all participated or not.

It was fortunate that Gao Xun had not mentioned this, but upon speaking of the Grave Sword Peak and Fan Ning, Lin Zhan—who had originally intended not to scavenge—found he could not hold back now.

Drip, drip, drip. Three crisp sounds echoed as points were credited. Lin Zhan's number plate at his waist now held four combat points.

Immediately after, information from the number plate transmitted: "Number 186, current combat value four points, ranking first. Continue to strive!"

Then the red dot belonging to Lin Zhan instantly turned golden, with the symbol of first place displayed upon it.

"Hiss, now won't everyone know I'm temporarily first with four points on me? Won't they all want to rob me?" Lin Zhan was somewhat speechless. This was no good thing.

White dots on the number plate were moving, as if a large portion were heading in his direction. Probably the bad news was truly that severe.

"Goodbye, everyone!" Lin Zhan collected the three's weapons, storage rings, and belongings, rapidly unfolding his figure and leaving the place.

Gao Yi, Gao Xun, and Mang Tian exchanged a glance, then let out a long sigh. They simultaneously pressed a forbidden array on their respective number plates.

Three groups of white light rose abruptly, enveloping the three and sending them out of the elimination area.

"Mang Tian, next time if you dare to come steal chickens again, I'll flay you alive!" Gao Xun's threatening words still echoed in the air, yet Mang Tian's heart ached with pain.

For in his storage ring remained about a hundred fresh-frozen heavenly chickens—a substantial fortune that truly left him wanting to cry but unable to shed tears.

While Gao Yi and Gao Xun's hearts were also ice-cold. For disciples of the Grave Sword Peak, the sword held special significance; losing it meant that upon returning to the sect they would forfeit their status as sword-bearing disciples, which was tantamount to destroying their future.

Lin Zhan naturally knew none of this. At this moment he very much wanted to return the points to them, for soon he would be pursued by several disciples.

Being pursued meant fighting while retreating, yet just like that, as he fought, the points on the number plate had risen several more.

"Fuck, this thing is so hard to fight, why still dare to provoke me?" Lin Zhan was completely speechless.

On the number plate, his points had already reached twelve, this momentum was unparalleled.

Moreover, Lin Zhan seemed not to have encountered disciples from the Blazing Flame Peak, otherwise he would have wanted to even out his points.

Thus, every time he encountered an opponent, he would first ask, "Which peak's disciple?"

"Grave Sword Peak!"

"Fuck, again Grave Sword Peak! Quickly surrender voluntarily. Hand over the points, storage ring, weapons, and property!"

If resisting, the ink sword would slash out, carrying silver lightning and golden flames, bombarding the opponent until they had no means to fight back.

Later, Lin Zhan discovered that there were many disciples from the Grave Sword Peak. Furthermore, the standard weapons produced in the Nine Star Space from the Grave Sword Peak—various long swords—were piled up in stacks.

Lin Zhan also noted that most opponents were at the seventh to eighth grade of the human rank, with only a few at the ninth grade peak. Only when facing a yellow-rank first-grade opponent did he exchange a few moves; even then, Lin Zhan hacked him to the ground with one sword.

The Grave Heaven Sword Art had also been experienced by Lin Zhan. Although the one he met was not Fan Ning, the profundity of the sword art still gave him some insights.

Pure and exquisite sword arts were crucial for combat. In contrast, he could only rely on the three moves derived from the Blaze Fist Art, and moreover held superior spirit power supply compared to the opponent. If facing evenly matched foes, probably after a few moves the moves would have to be repeated over and over, which was rather embarrassing.

Combat had given Lin Zhan recognition of his own shortcomings and continuously honed his combat awareness.

Some opponents appeared fierce and domineering in momentum, yet when truly confronted they turned out to be mere empty shells.

While those with restrained aura, calm and low-key, were surprisingly difficult to deal with.

Therefore, one should not judge opponents by appearance, or else great loss would be suffered.

In the elimination stage, this North Region Forest Area Two—where the hundred participating disciples of the grand competition were—saw their numbers gradually decrease.

The one hundred combat points slowly concentrated into the number plates of a few people. Besides Lin Zhan's current nineteen points, leading by a wide margin, there were also several others who had obtained points in the teens.

These four or five disciples added up to sixty or seventy points in total.

At some location, on a huge rock, two black-clothed disciples who had not yet fought anyone to this point stood facing each other from a distance.

"Fan Ning, I didn't expect you to still be able to keep your cool?" one said.

"Hehe, Brother Ji, let those fools fight it out for life and death first, then we'll reap the benefits later. Isn't that good? Moreover, it's only just the first day ending." The other person, with a long sword at his waist, stood with hands behind his back.

These two—one was the Grave Sword Peak sect master's direct disciple Fan Ning, the other the Heavenly Gang Peak sect master's direct disciple Ji Mu Bai.

This hundred-person elimination area two had gathered two sect masters' direct disciples; it seemed the later part would be even more fierce dragon-sparring and tiger-fighting.