[MC's POV]
"I will now explain the Second Sub Phase in further details with its own rules. The Winner in the Second Sub Phase will be decided by elimination." The Sect Elder said. "The Second Sub Phase will be a One on One fight between all disciples in this arena"
"There will be 60 disciples in the Dragon side, as well as in the Phoenix side at the Quarter-Finals, 30 disciples each sides at the Semi-Finals, and 15 disciples in both sides at the Finals. There could will only be 15 disciples who will emerge victorious in this battle."
"But those 15 disciples that emerge victorious will not receive the rewards yet, but they will be directly admitted to the Inner Disciples area."
"As i have announced earlier. I will rate you by 1-10 based on your performance in the battle. The required rating is 8, only by then that they will receive their rewards. They will be the true winners." The Sect Elder said. The Sect Elder explained more of the of Second Sub Phase
"But if you receive a 10 in ratings then there would be an additional reward for you. The additional reward will be a Tier 1 Beast. The beast is known as..... White Furball Beast!"
The disappointed look in others was visible. They realized that they got excited for no reason whatsoever when they heard that the additional reward will be the cuddly, soft, and cute beast.
"The matches in the Quarter-Finals will be decided through lots. The Quarter-Finals Will have 1-60. Semi-Finals will have 1-30. And the Finals will have 1-15."
It seems like this will be a very long and exhausting day.
[Third Person View]
"Every disciples in this arena will be randomly allocated to each sides by me the Sect Elder using my unfathomable power!"
The disgust and hostility was visible on the disciples eyes. They just heard the biggest bullshit in their entire lives
Although the Sect Elder is without a doubt, powerful. Calling his power 'Unfathomable' was more than an overstatement in the disciples minds.
Other disciples were astounded by the shameless action of their Sect Elder.
And Shen Zhang was... Peacefully laying down on Wang Xiu Ying's lap without a care in the world. And Wang Xiu Ying caressing his head like a caring lover that she is.
The elder saw the visible hostility in the disciples eyes and said, "Ahem, With that being said, i'll allocate all of you to both sides randomly, and then we will commence the Second Sub Phase."
Upon saying that. The Elder immediately displayed his 'Unfathomable' technique in front of the disciples eyes to display dominance.
Shen Zhang was allocated in the Phoenix side and Wang Xiu Ying was allocated at the Dragon Side.
"Please kindly proceed to get your number badge so we can officially start the event at that seemingly small box that looks like it couldn't hold more than 10 badges." Said the Sect Elder as he points to the small box beside him.
The disciples the lined up in an orderly fashion, to get their respective number badge.
The line continued on for at least half an hour before disappearing, as all of the disciples have grabbed their number badge.
"I can see that all of you have gotten your number badges. Without further ado, let us commence the Second Sub Phase!"
"Number 1, Please come up the arena!"
As the first battle is starting, 2 people is looking at Shen Zhang with hostility. Those 2 people were the pair that Shen Zhang sent flying to their defeat outside the ring.
Their pride was damaged as they were both known as geniuses in their family and among their peers, they were also respected. Although they weren't the best, they were still geniuses according to their mind.
But when Shen Zhang easily defeated them with a gust of wind as a result of his strike, they felt like they were very inferior to Shen Zhang at that moment.
Their feeble pride couldn't accept what happened as they couldn't believe that there would be anyone that could defeat them in this world.
This is one of the severe cases of superiority complex.
Their remaining pride was slowly crumbling apart and their ego collapsing, the only thing that could restore their pride and ego would be to defeat Shen Zhang. It doesn't matter if its fair or not but they would do any means necessary to defeat Shen Zhang in order to restore their non-existent superiority among their peers.
Needless to say, they were clueless about the real geniuses among their peers whose potential is One of those geniuses is Shen Zhang.
[MC's POV]
Hm? What's that hostility i sense around here?
Oh it came from those pair that i sent flying earlier. I wonder what i did but as long as they don't bother me then i wouldn't do anything to them.
I might've crushed their pride earlier so that explains the hostility, they must've felt ashamed and embarassed that they got thrashed by me that quickly.
I highly doubt that they aren't concocting any underhanded plans to defeat me to restore that pride, as they seem to belong at the higher echelon and those that belong there mostly have an unbelievably high amount of pride.
It is better to watch my back and be careful in case they do something without me noticing. I could pretend paying attention at the battle in front of me whilst extending my Qi Sense so i could still tell where they are, i don't want to lose sight of them after all.
Sometimes i wonder why nobles have an enormous amount of pride just because they have money but no real strength to support their pride. The only pillar most nobles have in their pride is the amount of money they have accumulated.
[Third Person View]
Whilst all of those was happening, 32 battle have already passed.
Wang Xiu Ying could tell what's happening in Shen Zhang's side and the hostility of the pair Shen Zhang easily thrashed.
Wang Xiu Ying wasn't worried about Shen Zhang but rather, she was worried about the pair. She knows that the pair will without a doubt take revenge on Shen Zhang, and they will definitely be beaten till their own family couldn't recognize them again.
Wang Xiu Ying shook her head and decided to not worry about those insignificant ants anymore and continue watching the battle going on in front of them.
The pair is now planning their course of action to defeat Shen Zhang.
"How about poisoning him?" The tall guy in the pair suggested. He showed the shorter guy in the pair a dart coated with a Tier 3 Poison called 'Qi Corrupting Poison'
The Qi Corrupting Poison could corrupt one's Qi and make the Qi flow very unstable which would result to being a cripple whilst waiting for their inevitable death because the corrupted Qi will also slowly invade your organs, destroying them in the process.
"That could work but the question is, how do we make it work?" The shorter guy in the pair asked the taller guy in the pair.
"That's a very simple thing to do. First we wait for his turn and see who his enemy is and then give them this dart to cripple him, we can bribe them with a thousand gold coins for his success and effort." The Taller guy in the pair explained their foolproof plan to the shorter guy in the pair.
"You are so smart bro! even i could not have thought of that plan!" The shorter guy in the pair complimented the taller guy in the pair.
"Because you never use your brain," The taller guy in the pair bluntly told the smaller guy in the pair.
"So all we have to do is wait for his turn right?" The smaller guy in the pair asked the taller guy in the pair.
"Of course!" the taller guy nodded.
What the pair didn't know was that, both Shen Zhang and Wang Xiu Ying heard their conversation loud and clear using their Qi Sense. Shen Zhang almost couldn't hold back himself from laughing. It was as if he just heard the stupidest and dumbest plan in the world.
There was one weakness to the Qi Corrupting Poison. It can easily be cured by a Tier 2 Herb called Purifying herb.
Of course the effects of the herb is already known by its name but its supposed to be a quite uncommon herb to be found so it is not that common but not rare either.
The reason as to why Shen Zhang couldn't hold back his laughter was because, those Tier 2 Herbs grow like weeds in their garden. So even if he somehow did get infected by this poison then he could just go home and use the Herb to cure himself back in his home. He could just liquefy the Herb by melting it and then drink the liquefied Purifying Herb.
Wang Xiu Ying on the other hand was infuriated.
She didn't expect that those pair would plan such a cruel and underhanded plan to take down her lover.
Killing intent was leaking out of Wang Xiu Ying and now the other disciples wish to distance themselves away from her.
She noticed that no one was with beside her anymore, then she realized that her killing intent was leaking out, she then contained her killing intent to avoid causing inconvenience among her peers.
The Pair could feel the chill going up their spine, they were horrified for some reason.
But they disregarded it as their plan takes priority first.
[MC's POV]
Hahaha, i can't believe that they actually planned that
They probably though that due to the shortage of purifying herbs in the village market, i wouldn't be able to cure the poison. Unfortunately for them, our garden has bundles upon bundles of them but no one knows other than me, my Father, and Wang'er.
We don't want to invite trouble on our doorstep after all.
Well then... Let's see how effective your plan will be.
Might as well shift back my focus to the battle in the arena, my number is 56 so i still have some time to relax.
I just hope that these pair of 'Geniuses' wouldn't fail my expectations and entertain me.
Although i gotta say... Those two doesn't have what it takes to be a villain. And if they somehow become a villain, they will undoubtedly suck at their job.
But who am i to judge, am i right?