"Quiet down, everyone!" The judge's voice was powerful and seemed infused with a strange sort of power as it silenced the entire square. "Today, the scheduled battle between the Heavens' Will Association and the Soaring Dragon Association will be taking place."
The judge, a protector from the sect, then gazed at everyone present for a while.
When all eyes were focused on him, his voice boomed once more, reaching everyone present as if he was talking directly in their ears.
"The following are the rules of this exchange: one can stand on stage until he or she loses and once one loses, he is not qualified to fight anymore."
"One can also willingly step down from the stage after a victory, and fight once more after all his or her comrades have had a go at it."
"The conditions for victory are: throwing the opponent out of stage or making them surrender, though knocking them unconscious also works."
His voice sounded clear in everyone's ear as he explained everything.
Yueshi and the others had long known about that, so they did not have any reaction; the others too had already become accustomed to such rules, therefore no one was surprised at all.
There were a few other small rules and details – like two-on-two confrontations being allowed under the approval of both sides.
"Since everything has clarified, let's start with the battles." Immediately after he said so, cheers erupted all around - they were here for the blood, not for the talk. "Then, I ask that each side send someone to the arena!"
Like that, shouts and cheers exploded all around, the first battle was going to start.
Yueshi's group had already decided their fighting order before coming here, taking into consideration that the Heavens' Will would send their weakest members first.
On a side note, they did not restrict the number of fighters on each side. Because of that, while Yueshi's side was going to fight with seven members – Bei Lao, Jiang Yao, and Yudi opted for just watching – the Heavens' Will had brought fifteen people.
If this worked as they desired, they would not use all of them.
However, if things got out of hand, they were more than prepared to use their full strength to crush Yueshi and the others – not only to show their dominance but, also, to not let them reap any points out of this.
Leaving all that aside, the first one to step on the arena was Baiyun, carrying with him a big ax.
Honestly, he did not give people the impression of an ax-wielder despite his huge body frame, however, anyone that doubted his skills with it would be committing a mistake.
As of now, their association had three people in the first realm of martial arts, and Baiyun was one of them.
His ax was fierce and powerful, and he had been born with great strength, making so he could easily crush someone on the same stage as him.
If it wasn't because the Qing twins were aiming for a two-on-two fight, then he would not have been the first.
Unfortunately, this proud genius was currently among the weakest of the seven, being suppressed by Yueshi, Yuan Yue, Tian Tian, and Xuehua.
Not that he was concerned about it; he had confidence in himself and would not let such a thing bring him down or make him deviate from his own path.
The other side soon sent someone out too.
They seemed prepared to confront them head-on in the most literal way since they also sent out an ax-wielder.
Yueshi guessed they were planning to win against them with people using the same combat style, as that would show off their talent, confidence, and skills.
Unfortunately for them, they were lacking quite a bit if they wanted to suppress the proud geniuses from the Soaring Dragon Association.
— - -
Just as the judge gave the signal to start, Baiyun leaped toward his opponent.
He was a forthright and direct person, and so was his way of fighting – he would not stand around playing mind games when he could charge forth and completely destroy his enemy.
Maybe that was why he didn't fit in with his siblings back at home.
'Nine Ox Steps!' Muttering inwardly, he charged forth with great momentum, his speed and power increasing with each step he gave.
Most people opted for fast and agile footwork techniques; however, he was not like most. Instead, he learned a technique that would increase his attacking power to yet another stage.
Baiyun was like a mountain that had been given legs as he charged, the other side being completely suppressed in momentum.
However, as a senior in the sect, the man would not be easily outdone. Immediately activating one cultivation technique, a crimson light enveloped him as he stepped forward.
His mouth opened as he released a hoarse and bestial roar, the sound waves taking form and color as they struck forward toward Baiyun.
Meanwhile, after finishing his move, he ran closely behind the red-colored sound waves, preparing to strike at any given moment and claim victory.
Unfortunately for him, the young man's in front of him defied logic in his next movement.
Not only he did not try to dodge, but he also did not try to defend; instead, he lifted his ax above his head and slashed downward with it.
The audience immediately thought he had gone crazy.
Yet, in the next moment, they were left gawking.
'Self and ax as one! One slash suppresses the sky!' As such words echoed inside of his heart, Baiyun's ax descended with unparalleled might.
It was as if it could suppress the entire world, and even the forces of gravity seemed to be increased by a few folds in the entire arena.
Then, a shocking scene played itself in front of everyone's eyes.
The red sound waves were, against all odds, slashed apart by that single slash; things did not stop there, however.
The young man from Heavens Will felt as if something weighing a dozen tons was pressing against his head. But it was too late to retreat, and when their axes clashed…
The entire arena trembled because of the powerful impact, the resulting force sending shock-waves in a circle around them as a loud explosion echoed.
However, that did not matter; what people cared about, what astounded them, was the fact that the young man from Heavens' Will was forced to kneel on the ground!
However, Baiyun had not ended yet.
One had to know that while killing the opponent was not permitted, a disciple would not be punished for accidentally grievously wounding the other – as long as they did not cripple him, that is.
And with the memory from the ambush in the forest, and the humiliation brought by it, still fresh in his mind, there was no way Baiyun would not aim for such a thing.
This was something that most of the top ten members of the Soaring Dragon Association had in common – they were really, really, really petty.
Not wasting any time, Baiyun took a few steps back before readily preparing another cultivation technique.
His background was even greater than Ling Tian Tian's, so he had learned a few techniques even before joining the sect. This time, he was showing one of them.
As his ax cut against the air a slash made of compressed airwaves formed in front of him. However, instead of it flying toward the opponent it continued to hover above ground; following that, Baiyun attacked ten or so times, each time another air slash would be created.
With the many air slashes fusing together they formed the beautiful image of a flower.
However, no one doubted the insane cutting power of this move.
Baiyun's opponent had just recovered from the previous attack, and his face paled when he saw the blossoming lotus. It was like looking at tens of thousands of swords arranged together in a beautiful bouquet.
"Ten thousand blades blossom!" When Baiyun's voice echoed, the lotus-like attack flew forward with extreme speed.
The other young man only had time to lift his sword and activate a defensive technique at the last moment, and yet, despite his effort, it was all for naught.
The blossoming flower of razor-sharp wind cut at his flesh, tearing his clothes and making many gashes on his body.
Blood splashed in the air from the many wounds, however, the blossoming bloody flower never stopped. It wasn't until he had fallen unconscious because of the blood loss that the judge stepped in and stopped the fight.
This attack was not that strong, and Baiyun had held back a lot as he did even use his strongest cultivation technique.
Nonetheless, it had made a lot of damage, and his opponent would need to stay in bed for quite a long time as he had wounded his tendons and other hard to heal body parts.
When he turned around and faced the observing crowd, everyone broke into cheers and whistles.
At the same time, they made sure to remember that Baiyun was not one to be messed with; he was just a newcomer, but he already had strength enough to challenge his seniors.
After all, while the other side had been suppressed, he was still one of the strongest members of Heavens' Will at the late phase of the third stage.
Well, that is only if you didn't count the members that were currently aiming for the inner sect. Which didn't make Baiyun's achievement less impressive.
While everyone was astonished at the power show by Baiyun, the battles continued and he managed to get hold of another victory, this time against someone at the fourth stage.
It was in the middle of cheers that Baiyun descended the arena, knowing that the Heavens' Will would surely send one of their stronger members to deal with him.
Being forthright and direct did not mean he was foolish. After two wins, if he continued on stage the Heavens' Will would need to bring him down since it would be too shameful if they did not do so.
Following his performance, the ones that were going to fight were the two twins; they were planning to suggest a two-on-two battle, but before they could even do so, two people jumped on stage.
It was clear for all to see that they seemed extremely angry and did not seem to have planned to fight together.
"Since the two of you are there, why don't you become our stepping stones?" Yuyi giggled energetically, provoking them.
Yuan Yue was playful, but this young lady was a true little devil.
However, as if it was not enough, her sister looked at her feet. Frowning, she spoke with some hesitation, "if they are our stepping stones, my shows will get dirty, right?" Her words were spoken with such naturalness that they couldn't even be taken as a joke.
Maybe their desire wasn't angering their opponents; however, they did so splendidly.
Even the people watching the fight exploded into laughter as the two sisters made their way up the arena. All the while, the Heavens Will members watched them with cold eyes and gritted teeth.
Yang Chengfei and Gao Xiongli were particularly annoyed, not only with them but, also, the result of the previous battle.
They thought it would be an easy win, but who'd think their members would suffer a beating? They had really embarrassed themselves!
Nonetheless, they still thought they would win in the end, as their strongest members were still waiting for a chance to fight.
More specifically, both of them were still there – one was a member of the upper echelon of the association and the other was also a candidate for the inner disciple examination.