"Zhang Xingyue of Longhu Mountain wins!"
"Xu Yuxin of Wudang Sect wins!"
The matches on the other two stages also concluded. The victors were naturally praised by the sect leaders of various factions, while the defeated were consoled by their own sect leader and elders.
"Next, we invite the contestants with draws number seven, eight, and nine to the stage for a match..."
"Sister Zhishan, it's your turn."
Li Zihang called out to Xu Lingwei from behind.
Xu Lingwei, who had been sitting cross-legged and meditating, immediately opened her eyes. She picked up the long sword in her hand and walked out. Her simple black Daoist robe, her aloof and beautiful face, and the small red pox spots on her cheeks gave her a unique beauty that left a deep impression.
"Go, Sister Zhishan..."
Wan Yunting also stood up. Seeing Xu Lingwei approach, he smiled and cheered her on.
Xu Lingwei, with a poker face, nodded at him and walked onto the stage with her sword. Her opponent was Deng Qingmei of the Kongtong Sect, but Deng Qingmei's martial arts only reached the late stage of Huajin. Facing the aura of Xu Lingwei, who was at the middle stage of Danjin in martial arts, Deng Qingmei was already at a disadvantage in terms of momentum.
As expected, when the match began, Xu Lingwei drew her sword without a word and unleashed the Wuliang Sword Art of the Wuliang Daoist Temple. She suppressed Deng Qingmei with absolute strength, sending her flying with a single move and landing heavily outside the one-meter-high stage.
The disciples of the Kongtong Sect were shocked and rushed forward to help their junior sister Deng.
Lu Chenzi, sitting next to Liu Bing, saw this and his expression soured. He turned his head to glare at Wan Yunting, who was next to Zhou Ruoxi, and said sarcastically, "Sect Leader Wan, your disciples from the Wuliang Daoist Temple are truly remarkable!"
Wan Yunting turned to look at Lu Chenzi. How could he not detect the resentment in his tone? He could only smile and return the gesture.
When Xu Lingwei came down, Wan Yunting gave her a thumbs-up without saying anything.
The matches continued. Below, contestants who drew numbers ten, eleven, and twelve were invited to the stage. Wan Yunting, Zhou Ruoxi, and others sat below, watching the fierce matches of the contestants on the three stages. Cameramen were present, broadcasting the event live. The Douyin live stream already had over ten million viewers watching this martial arts competition of traditional kung fu from various major sects.
On the Eastern Peak of Mount Hua, a group of tourists were watching. Due to the distance from the Northern Peak of Mount Hua, many tourists were using binoculars.
Just then, a group of tourists arrived at the foot of the mountain. The person leading them spoke in Korean, clearly indicating that this group of tourists was from South Korea!
Two men dressed in ordinary attire stood on the cliff edge of the Eastern Peak, gazing at the martial arts competition on the Northern Peak. If Wan Yunting were present, he would surely recognize these two men who were slightly disguised as Han Dongri and Feng Xian of the Heavenly Eye Main God Cult!
The two said nothing, joining the tour group and visiting the "Hua Shan Sword Conference" competition on the Northern Peak along with other tourists.
Another match concluded. The host, holding a microphone, shouted, "We invite the contestants with draws number thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen to the stage for the match...!"
"Sect Leader Wan, it's your turn..."
Liu Bing, Shi Yizhen, and others all turned their heads and shouted.
Wan Yunting stood up with a smile, nodded at Zhou Ruoxi, bowed to the sect leaders and Abbot Renxin, and then walked towards the central stage. His opponent, who drew the thirteenth ticket, was Huo Fei, a junior disciple from the Wudang Sect!
"Damn, so unlucky?"
Huo Fei cried out in surprise when he saw Wan Yunting.
Xianyun, the senior disciple, Qi Xiu, the second disciple, and Xu Yuxin, the third disciple of the Wudang Sect, who were watching from below, were all taken aback. They also shook their heads and smiled wryly.
Wan Yunting looked at Huo Fei and smiled, "Do you surrender yourself, or do you want to spar with me?"
Huo Fei rolled his eyes at this remark and said, "Surrendering immediately is too cowardly. Why don't you let me spar with you?"
Wan Yunting and Huo Fei did not use weapons. They nodded and smiled, "Alright, then let's spar."
"Sect Leader Wan, please enlighten me..."
Huo Fei said with a chuckle, cupping his fists towards Wan Yunting. As soon as he finished speaking, his eyes suddenly widened, and his steps shifted as he attacked Wan Yunting, naturally using the Tai Chi boxing of the Wudang Sect.
Wan Yunting smiled. Although Huo Fei was only at the late stage of Huajin in martial arts, he was young, only in his early twenties. Moreover, his Tai Chi boxing was very beautiful, exhibiting both hardness and softness, sometimes domineering, sometimes using the opponent's force against them. He exchanged over ten moves with Wan Yunting on the stage, allowing Huo Fei to fully display his strength and revealing his martial arts talent to the audience below.
Immediately, the sect leaders below began to praise Huo Fei to Zhong Yulong, saying that his martial arts foundation was good and that he must have put in a lot of effort to practice Tai Chi so elegantly and skillfully.
Of course, it was normal that no one praised Wan Yunting, as the gap in their martial arts realms was too large. Wan Yunting indulged him purely to let Huo Fei perform more and not lose too miserably.
The senior disciple Xianyun, the second disciple Qi Xiu, Xu Yuxin, and other disciples of the Wudang Sect naturally understood Wan Yunting's intention and gave the Wudang Sect plenty of face.
"Alright, I surrender," Huo Fei finally raised his hand and voluntarily surrendered.
Wan Yunting patted him on the shoulder, and they came down together. After exchanging pleasantries with the sect leaders, he returned to Zhou Ruoxi's side. Unexpectedly, Yan Changjian, sitting next to him, blurted out, "A bunch of hypocrites!"
Wan Yunting's expression froze. He glanced at Yan Changjian and smiled without speaking, too lazy to bother with him.
The matches continued. Next were Zhang Xian'er, Ziqing, and a group of others to compete.
With the strength of Zhang Xian'er and Ziqing, they naturally secured their qualification for the second round.
As noon approached, it was finally the turn of Jian Feng of the Divine Sword Sect to compete. His opponent was Lu Fengqiao of the Qingcheng Sect, who was the highest-ranked young disciple in the Qingcheng Sect, with a martial arts cultivation of the middle stage of Danjin.
The two stood on the central stage. Jian Feng, dressed in a fitted outfit, held his long sword, his chest held high, and his face full of arrogance. Facing Lu Fengqiao of the Qingcheng Sect, his eyes were filled with disdain. A smile played on his lips as he said, "I'll give you a chance. Surrender yourself!"
This remark caused Lu Fengqiao's expression to darken. He directly drew his sword and threw the scabbard down. The Qingcheng Sect disciples caught it and cheered him on.
"Do you think I'll surrender myself?" Lu Fengqiao pointed his sword at the arrogant Jian Feng and said coldly.
Jian Feng smiled, slowly drew his long sword, and threw the scabbard down to Meng Yan, who caught it. He looked at Lu Fengqiao and said coldly, "What a shame. You had a chance but didn't take it. You had to suffer before regretting it. Why bother?"
"Stop talking nonsense. See..."
Unable to bear Jian Feng's condescending attitude, Lu Fengqiao, as the senior disciple among the younger generation of the Qingcheng Sect, also had his pride. Without hesitation, he held his sword and attacked Jian Feng.
The next second, Jian Feng's figure flashed, easily dodging Lu Fengqiao's thrust. He then used his left hand, holding the sword, to sweep horizontally towards Lu Fengqiao.
The sword wind was fierce and as fast as lightning, leaving Lu Fengqiao no chance to react. Jian Feng twisted his left hand and struck Lu Fengqiao's abdomen with the flat of the blade.
Ah...!
With a scream, Lu Fengqiao was sent flying backward and landed heavily in a corner of the stage with a thud. He then plunged his sword into the wooden floor to steady himself, preventing himself from falling off the stage. Holding his abdomen with his left hand, he felt immense pressure and almost vomited his breakfast.
Liu Bing, sitting below, was startled and sat up abruptly.
Seeing Jian Feng's swift footwork and fierce swordplay, even Wan Yunting raised an eyebrow, finding the way he drew his sword very familiar, especially his use of the left hand.
Lu Fengqiao struggled to get up, pulled out his sword, and waved it, pointing it at Jian Feng again. A smile played on his lips as he said, "You should be thankful this is just a spar. If it were a fight to the death, I wouldn't have just hit you with my sword!"
Lu Fengqiao's face was grim, his eyes wide with anger. He knew that the opponent's skills were far superior to his. However, he was unwilling to surrender so easily. If he lost, then the other disciples of the Qingcheng Sect would have even less chance.
"Again."
Lu Fengqiao's eyes shot out with a look of tenacity. He held his sword and attacked Jian Feng again.
"Heh, truly ignorant of consequences until faced with them."
Jian Feng's eyes turned cold. Facing the charging Lu Fengqiao, he held his left-hand sword horizontally and slashed upwards. An invisible sword energy split a crack in the wooden floor.
Lu Fengqiao, who was charging, saw this, his eyes widened in shock and fear. He had no time to worry about anything else and quickly blocked in front of him with his sword.
Clang!
Ah...!
A sound like metal striking metal exploded, accompanied by Lu Fengqiao's figure flying off the stage and his scream. Under the watchful eyes of Liu Bing, the sect leader below, Lu Fengqiao landed heavily on the stone slab of the stage and coughed out a mouthful of blood.
"Fengqiao..."
"Senior Brother Lu..."
Liu Bing and Zhong Mubai rushed over and quickly helped the injured Lu Fengqiao up.
There was a doctor at the scene who also rushed over to examine Lu Fengqiao's injuries. He was injured by Jian Feng's powerful sword energy, which had damaged his internal organs, causing him to faint.
"Sect Leader Liu, let me take a look..."
Seeing this, Wan Yunting also quickly went over. Liu Bing stood up anxiously and said, "Sect Leader Wan, please save my disciple..."
Wan Yunting pulled aside Lu Fengqiao's robe, revealing his abdomen. A long, purplish-red sword mark was visible. It had not directly cut him open and caused bleeding, but the sword energy had already injured Lu Fengqiao's abdominal organs, causing bruising.
Without a word, Wan Yunting took out several silver needles and quickly sealed several acupoints on Lu Fengqiao's abdomen. Then, he used his sword finger to point at his Danzhong acupoint and channeled his qi, moving his sword finger down from Lu Fengqiao's abdomen to below his navel.
Pfft...
The next moment, Lu Fengqiao woke up and directly spat out another large mouthful of blood. He was weak and his face was pale.
"Alright, the blood has been expelled."
Wan Yunting withdrew his hand, used a few more silver needles to stabilize Lu Fengqiao's chaotic qi, and turned to Liu Bing, saying, "Don't worry, the injury is not serious, but he will need to rest for a while to recover."
"Hoo, that's good..."
Liu Bing breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that his disciple Lu Fengqiao was fine. His expression immediately turned grim and angry. He turned and pointed at Jian Feng, who had already come down from the stage, and cursed loudly, "This is too much! This is a friendly match, how could you be so heavy-handed? You're practically trying to kill him!"
"Referee, he's committed a foul! Disqualify him from continuing the match!" Liu Bing's son, Liu Zaiyi, also shouted angrily.
Suddenly, many disciples of the Qingcheng Sect and disciples like Meng Yan of the Divine Sword Sect started arguing, and the scene immediately became chaotic.
Jian Feng was arrogant and completely unafraid of Liu Bing and the others. He snorted, "I gave him a chance, but he refused to surrender. What can be done about that?"
"Besides, blades and swords have no eyes. Injuries are inevitable. If you want to disqualify me just because of this, then our Divine Sword Sect will not participate in this Hua Shan Sword Conference!"
"That's right."
Yan Changjian stood up, pushed aside the crowd, and stepped forward to protect his disciple Jian Feng. He confronted Liu Bing, Lu Chenzi, and the others, and said coldly, "Moreover, my disciple held back. If he truly wanted to kill someone, your Qingcheng Sect disciple would have been dead twice already!"
"You..."
Liu Bing's face turned red and he trembled all over from being retorted by Yan Changjian. However, he knew that his disciple Lu Fengqiao was inferior in skill. But did the disciples of the Divine Sword Sect bear no fault?
"Alright, all of you, say less."
Shi Yizhen, the sect leader of the Huashan Sect, who was the organizer, had to step forward to mediate and said, "During a match between two parties, it's inevitable that one cannot hold back, and injuries are unavoidable. Sect Leader Liu, please calm down."
"And Sect Leader Yan, you should also manage your disciples and not speak carelessly to provoke the tense atmosphere. The competition still needs to continue. Everyone should be calm and not carry personal grudges, so as not to affect the subsequent matches."
Liu Bing said angrily, "Sect Leader Shi, doesn't his disciple have any fault?"
Shi Yizhen turned and gestured for him to calm down. "Sect Leader Liu, please calm down first. This disciple of the Divine Sword Sect did indeed commit a foul, but it is not enough to disqualify him from future matches."
"Did you hear that? I still have to continue competing."
Jian Feng said with arrogance. This made Liu Bing's face turn green. He pointed at Jian Feng and Yan Changjian and said, "This matter cannot be let go. Your Divine Sword Sect must apologize to me!"
"Apologize? Haha..."
Yan Changjian burst into laughter, cast a disdainful glance at Liu Bing, and said, "If you can't afford to lose, then don't come to the competition. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"
"You..."
Liu Bing's eyes were wide with anger. If looks could kill, Yan Changjian would have died hundreds of times over.
"Alright, alright, Sect Leader Liu, calm down..."
Shi Yizhen waved his hand to appease him and also asked Lu Chenzi, Wan Yunting, and the others to quickly pull Liu Bing away to prevent the situation from escalating further. At the same time, he said to Yan Changjian, "Sect Leader Yan, you should also say less. It was your disciple who committed the foul and used excessive force."
Facing Shi Yizhen's accusation, Yan Changjian showed disdain, took Jian Feng and Meng Yan and other disciples, turned, and went down the mountain.
Seeing this, Shi Yizhen and Zhong Yulong, along with other sect leaders, helplessly waved their hands and shouted, "It's lunchtime. Everyone go down the mountain to eat. We'll come back at three o'clock this afternoon to continue the competition..."