Chapter 296: Like A Dream
“Heavens, an Earth Rank Grandmaster at nineteen, and he actually outdid Young Master Xiahou again…” The various clans’ people were as if in a dream, simply unable to believe that these scenes were really happening.
“Quick, pinch me!” Many people murmured to those beside them: “See if I’m dreaming…”
The people nearby gladly obliged, pinching hard, and immediately cries of pain rang out one after another.
“It hurts so much, it’s not a dream!” The people then fully believed that they had truly witnessed two peerless geniuses emerging out of nowhere.
“Brother Baiyu…” The fangirls could no longer hold back, all wanting to surge onto the fighting stage and swallow Cui Baiyu into their own bellies. The Investigative Bureau Officials maintaining order hurriedly directed the soldiers to block them, with both sides pushing and shoving, the scene in utter chaos.
“Everyone, calm down.” As soon as Cui Baiyu, covered in fresh flowers, spoke, the girls were like under an Immobilization Technique, instantly falling silent, staring dazedly at Cui Baiyu, who was like an immortal young master.
“Be good, no more fussing.” Cui Baiyu looked indulgently at the group of girls and said: “After the competition ends, I’ll invite you all to visit Baiyu Villa.”
“Really?!” The girls immediately yearned wistfully; Baiyu Villa was the estate granted to Cui Baiyu by the Cui Clan, always one of the most coveted places for girls in the capital city.
“When have I ever deceived you.” Cui Baiyu waved his hand and smiled: “Disperse.”
“We’re being obedient…” The girls nodded vigorously in excitement and indeed obediently dispersed.
。
“Sigh, this scoundrel…” On the high platform, Cui Yan shook his head with a wry smile: “All he knows is how to steal the spotlight every day.”
“Old Cui, stop pretending.” Xie Xun was so jealous he was going mad; he could accept the Xiahou Clan producing a peerless genius, but the Cui Clan also producing one, and one even more outstanding than Xiahou Rongguang, was something he absolutely could not accept. “Your Cui Clan hid him deep enough.”
“Haha, each generation has its talents; which family doesn’t have a few good children?” Pei Qiu unusually did not oppose Cui Yan, instead smoothing things over for him.
“Oh?” Xie Xun caught the implication right away, staring at Pei Qiu: “What’s this, could it be Pei Ju also broke through?” Pei Ju, courtesy name Yuanshao, had always been equally famous with Xiahou Rongguang.
“Kids’ business, we old folks don’t pry too much; who knows?” Pei Qiu laughed it off ambiguously and said with a smile: “Watch the competition, watch the competition.”
On Platform Number Seven, Pei Yuanshao had already clashed over a hundred times with Cui Zhongtai of the Cui Clan. First, Cui Zhongtai himself was strong in strength; second, Pei Yuanshao was somewhat distracted by the frequent incidents on Stage Three, Platform One, and Platform Two, so his performance was naturally greatly discounted.
Seeing Xiahou Rongguang and Cui Baiyu stealing all the limelight, Pei Yuanshao was clearly struggling hard, his mind drifting who knows where. He was actually hit squarely by Cui Zhongtai’s Azure Dragon Subduing Demon Palm.
Seeing that palm carrying the momentum of dragon roaring and tiger howling coming at him, Pei Yuanshao raised both arms, a fierce glint in his eyes. But he forcibly restrained the impulse, pulling his arms back to cross guard in front of his chest, hard-blocking Cui Zhongtai’s heavy blow!
‘Thud, thud, thud…’ Pei Yuanshao had to retreat three steps before dissipating the force of Cui Zhongtai’s palm.
Seeing he had finally pushed Pei Yuanshao back, Cui Zhongtai’s morale soared, and he immediately channeled his full cultivation, striking out with both palms again! His palms were wreathed in azure light, the sign of Azure Dragon Subduing Demon Palm at Black Rank Peak!
Cui Zhongtai had brought out his family’s signature move; he wanted to press the advantage and absolutely not let Pei Yuanshao catch his breath!
“Enough!” Pei Yuanshao roared, no longer blocking this time, instead swinging both fists! His fists suddenly wreathed in red light as if burning with fire, the sign of the Pei Clan’s Beacon Fire Connecting City Art at peak Black Rank!
The spectators heard a boom of a loud noise as Pei Yuanshao’s fists solidly collided with Cui Zhongtai’s palms. Amid Pei Yuanshao’s roar, Cui Zhongtai’s face changed drastically, yet he gritted his teeth and held on desperately, refusing to retreat a single step!
“Retreat!” Pei Yuanshao shouted loudly, adding force again; this time Cui Zhongtai finally couldn’t hold, though his feet refused to move, his body was forcibly pushed backward continuously.
Cui Zhongtai’s soles frictioned against the ground, leaving two deep marks… Seeing his body unmoving yet being forcibly pushed back by the opponent, he finally realized their strength differed too greatly, and hurriedly tried to shift his legs to dissipate the force, but Pei Yuanshao had been waiting precisely for this moment.
The instant Cui Zhongtai’s foot left the ground, Pei Yuanshao’s long leg swept in ghost-like with a thousand-jun force!
“Sweep Through a Thousand Armies like rolling up a mat!” In Pei Yuanshao’s roar, Cui Zhongtai had no chance to dodge, his ribs taking a heavy kick.
With a crack, three of his ribs broke, his body flying sideways and crashing heavily under the fighting stage!
“Great!” The watching Pei Clan people immediately cheered. But compared to before, this cheering was not only sparse but also feeble. Even the Pei Clan people had to admit that though Pei Yuanshao’s win was mighty, its momentum was far inferior to Xiahou Rongguang’s, let alone compared to Cui Baiyu…
Pei Yuanshao ignored the others, walking down the fighting stage expressionlessly, just in time to run into Xiahou Rongguang heading to Platform Number Eight to watch Xiahou Rongsheng versus Pei Yuanjun.
Their four eyes met, sparks seeming to fly; Xiahou Rongguang looked away first and said ambiguously: “Little brother, I’ll go on ahead.”
“Who gets there first is still up in the air.” Pei Yuanshao also spoke ambiguously, then strode first toward Platform Number Eight.
“Then we’ll see.” Watching Pei Yuanshao stride away briskly, Xiahou Rongguang showed a thoughtful expression. After a moment’s thought, he turned toward Stage Five.
。
On Stage Five, the matchup was Xiahou Rongyao versus Xie Lan. This was another bye battle, but as before, no one who advanced to the top 16 was weak; even Lu Yun, previously belittled by all, had already proven he was just underestimated.
Xie Lan, as the Xie Clan’s second seed, displayed strength far surpassing Xie Mo, clearly having conserved his strength just like Lu Yun—and even the Clan Leader did not know.
He was holding in a burst of energy, wanting to prove himself, only to run into Xiahou Rongyao… Though not as renowned as Xiahou Rongguang, to stand out from over a thousand outstanding disciples of the Xiahou Clan generation, he naturally had absolute strength!
In the end, it was another Black Rank Peak battle, the two going back and forth on the arena with true qi flashing, fighting very intensely.
But after witnessing Lu Yun defeating Xie Mo in one move and Earth Rank Grandmasters emerging one after another, the various clans’ people watched somewhat listlessly. Surprisingly, many in the audience started chatting idly below: “If I go bet on Lu Yun now, is it still in time?”
“No point anymore; those gambling house folks are sharp, they’ve surely lowered his odds already, and with two Earth Rank Grandmasters out, what hope does he have?”
“Sigh, tough; in past tournaments, Black Rank Peak could strut around, but now they’re like dogs!” The audience watched the intense fight on stage and sighed: “Grab any at random, and it’s Black Rank Peak strength!”
“Who are you calling a dog?” Several angry shouts rang out as Xiahou Clan Members clustered around Xiahou Rongguang coming over; the speakers were Xiahou Clan disciples.
“I was just using a metaphor.” The few who had sighed loudly hurriedly slapped their own faces.
“Get lost!” The Xiahou Clan disciples snorted coldly, and the few, as if granted a general amnesty, hurriedly slunk away.
