The person clad in a black robe, the black robe itself, should also be a magical artifact, similar to the one Qinglian Dao Master had previously gifted Chen Xiao, capable of concealing one's identity and aura.
It seemed such magical artifacts were not scarce in the Immortal Hidden Realm, otherwise, Qinglian Dao Master would not have possessed one, let alone gifted it to him so readily.
Of course, it was not the black robe that attracted Chen Xiao's attention, but the person wearing it.
This person was very strange. Although Chen Xiao could not discern his strength, he could feel a very potent aura of danger emanating from him.
This was extremely rare. Even someone as powerful as Ziwei Dao Master had never evoked a sense of danger in Chen Xiao; not even during their first meeting.
And Chen Xiao was not the only one whose attention was captured by this black-robed individual. On the high platform, many were intensely curious about his identity.
"This young fellow is quite interesting. He's already made it into the top eight, yet he still hasn't revealed his identity. Could it be that he intends to do so only at the very end?"
Duan Yanzhuo grinned, his teeth bared, expressing his strong dislike for this person's deliberate concealment of his identity.
As a person, one should be open and upright… Hiding one's head and tail, what kind of hero is that?
Although Ziwei and Yun Lan said nothing, their gazes clearly lingered on this black-robed figure for a few extra moments.
Yun Lan held a wine gourd, waiting for the results of the next round of draws, while sipping the fine wine within.
Despite his beloved disciple being eliminated in the first round, his mood seemed unaffected.
As soon as Duan Yanzhuo finished speaking, someone teased, "Senior Brother Duan, judging by your tone, you seem a bit displeased. Are you perhaps worried that this mysterious young fellow might defeat your disciple?"
Duan Yanzhuo let out a cold, disdainful laugh. "Defeat my disciple? Heh heh..."
Although he didn't explicitly state it, his meaning was self-evident.
The other person then remarked, "However, speaking of which, this year's Heavenly Pride Competition is indeed quite interesting. Two dark horses have already emerged in the top eight. I wonder how far these two dark horses will go?"
The two dark horses referred to the Holy Son of Earth Sect and the person clad in the black robe.
The reason the Holy Son of Earth Sect was called a dark horse was that, based on his previously displayed strength, making it into the top thirty-two would have been a struggle, let alone fighting his way into the top eight.
However, he was, after all, the Holy Son of Earth Sect, and in the previous round, his junior sister had voluntarily surrendered. Therefore, his dark horse status was not particularly outstanding.
Especially when compared to the black-robed individual, the latter was undoubtedly the darker of the two dark horses.
This was because the black-robed person did not hail from any major sect.
By this stage of the competition, disciples from all the major sects had appeared on the arena. The remaining three in the top eight were disciples from two major sects.
And this mysterious person clad in black was clearly not among them.
This implied that he came from a small or medium-sized sect.
For disciples from small or medium-sized sects, reaching the top thirty-two was already a feat akin to defying fate.
To fight into the top eight was an absolutely inconceivable existence.
Concurrently, the draw for the quarter-finals had been completed.
Chen Xiao's opponent was the Saintess of the Human Sect, Duan Yuyan.
Chen Xiao was not surprised by this outcome, as at this stage of the competition, the probability of drawing a disciple from the other two sects was close to one-half.
Furthermore, no matter who he drew, it would have no impact on Chen Xiao, as he was aiming for first place.
Upon seeing Chen Xiao's draw, Duan Shikong once again approached him with a smarmy demeanor. "Heh heh, Li Shouzheng, you're lucky. It seems I won't be able to personally beat you until you cry and beg for mercy!"
"Senior Brother, rest assured, I will handle these matters for you!"
Duan Yuyan provocatively looked at Chen Xiao, "I heard you've been hiding your strength, is that right? Good, let me witness your full power today!"
"Scram and play somewhere else!"
Chen Xiao said impatiently.
These Holy Son and Saintess of the Human Sect were too eager for attention. Chen Xiao couldn't be bothered to give them any spotlight.
"You..."
Duan Yuyan's eyes widened in anger, then she pointed at Chen Xiao through gritted teeth, "Very well, you just wait for me. If I don't make you cry today, I'm not the Saintess of the Human Sect!"
Chen Xiao let out a helpless wry smile, thinking that the joke about making people cry was not going to end.
Just then, the first arena match began, which was Chen Xiao versus Duan Yuyan.
The two ascended the stage and bowed to each other. As soon as the referee called out "Start," Duan Yuyan felt a strange gust of wind rush towards her.
Before she could even react, she felt her body lighten, and the surrounding scenery rapidly changed.
And when she finally reacted and tried to resist, she heard the referee announce loudly, "Holy Son of Earth Sect, Li Shouzheng, wins!"
Duan Yuyan was stunned. How did he win? They hadn't even started fighting yet.
"Why did he win? I haven't even begun..."
Duan Yuyan shouted loudly.
It was then that she saw Duan Shikong walking towards her.
"Hey? Senior Brother, why are you up here too?"
Duan Yuyan was greatly surprised. According to the rules, contestants who were not competing were not allowed on the stage.
Then, she heard her senior brother say, "It's not that I've come up, it's that you've come down..."
Duan Yuyan looked around and was completely dumbfounded because she was already below the stage.
But she had no idea when she had gotten there.
At that moment, the Holy Son of Earth Sect, who had won, was calmly walking down from the arena. Duan Yuyan's teeth clenched in anger, "You scoundrel, you cheated! If you have the guts, fight me fair and square! You haven't even seen my true strength yet!"
Duan Yuyan's gentle and refined demeanor could no longer be maintained. She shouted and yelled like a mad dog.
Chen Xiao gave her a cold glance and silently walked back to the waiting area, too lazy to even spare her a punctuation mark.
"You bastard, don't leave! Come back here, I'll fight you to the death today!"
Duan Yuyan had completely given up.
She had prepared for this Heavenly Pride Competition for so many years, only to be eliminated in such a humiliating manner.
Fortunately, Duan Shikong was there to hold her back, otherwise, she would have gone to fight Chen Xiao.
"Forget it, forget it. I say, Junior Sister, you can't entirely blame that kid for cheating. You're also to blame. You had perfectly good muscles, but you insisted on dressing up like this, looking so weak and fragile!"
If Duan Yuyan revealed her true form, her combat power would immediately double. She had originally intended to use that state as her trump card, but in the end, she didn't even have the chance to use it.
How could she not be angry!
"Junior Sister, don't be angry. You have Senior Brother. Just wait. If Senior Brother encounters that kid, he'll definitely skin him alive!"
Duan Shikong said with conviction.
As he spoke, the second match of the quarter-finals had already concluded, with the winner being the mysterious person clad in black.
He had resolved the battle in just a few sentences, and his opponent was genuinely at the peak of the Void Transformation realm.
This demonstrated the black-robed person's strength.
The third match was Duan Shikong's turn. His opponent was a lucky individual, only at the early stage of the Void Transformation realm. If not for the weakness of his opponents in the previous rounds, he would absolutely not have had a chance to enter the top eight.
Duan Shikong, on the other hand, was at the great perfection of the Void Transformation realm, only a thin veil away from the Dao Integration realm.
The two ascended the stage, bowed to each other. The opponent looked at Duan Shikong's golden body and bulging muscles and was completely stunned.
He tremblingly raised his hand, "I, I surrender..."
If his opponent had been someone else, he would have fought even at the risk of serious injury.
But facing this bare, muscular frog-like figure, he immediately abandoned the thought.
Since he couldn't win anyway, why would he seek suffering... and it was mainly disgusting.
Seeing his opponent surrender directly, Duan Shikong was extremely proud, his eyes showing no one else.
He directly showed off his muscles on the arena, in front of everyone.
If one didn't know better, they would think the Heavenly Pride Competition was over and he had won first place.
Witnessing this bizarre scene, the representatives on the high platform were so embarrassed they were digging their own feet.
But Duan Yanzhuo laughed heartily, also looking smug, "Hahahaha, Shiqong truly lives up to being my beloved disciple!"
As he spoke, he also showed off his muscles on the high platform, complementing Duan Shikong on the stage... only making those around him almost vomit from disgust.
Fortunately, the referee promptly stopped Duan Shikong's behavior and escorted him off the stage, finally alleviating everyone's embarrassment.
The last match of the quarter-finals was the Saintess of the Heavenly Sect, Yun Jin, against a disciple from a major sect.
This disciple was not particularly strong, but he was definitely not weak either, possessing the cultivation of the great perfection of the Void Transformation realm.
Yun Jin was also at the great perfection of the Void Transformation realm.
Their strengths were evenly matched, and the fight was back and forth, with each exchanging blows.
Purely in terms of the match, everyone finally witnessed a spectacular contest.
After all, only an evenly matched confrontation could be considered truly exciting.
The two battled for nearly half an hour. In the end, Yun Jin, leveraging her advantage as the Saintess of the Heavenly Sect, narrowly defeated her opponent, securing the final ticket to the semi-finals.
Thus, all four spots for the top four in this year's Heavenly Pride Competition were decided.
The Heavenly, Earth, and Human Sects each had one disciple break through and enter the top four. As for the mysterious black-robed man, his identity remained undisclosed, maintaining his mystique.
Although Yun Lan had always maintained an indifferent attitude, as Yun Jin entered the semi-finals, the frequency with which he raised his wine gourd clearly increased compared to before, indicating his satisfaction with the outcome.
Yun Lan regarded Yun Jin as the Heavenly Sect's last fig leaf, but Yun Jin herself considered herself the Heavenly Sect's last hope.
And with the completion of the draw, her semi-final opponent had been determined.
It was none other than the Holy Son of the Earth Sect – Li Shouzheng!