"All winners, gather!"
The celestial master stood beside a red box, smiling lightly, "You've all worked hard. Until now, the first round of matches has concluded... and we have 36 winners!"
"36 people..."
Lin Jiu had anticipated that the number would fluctuate slightly.
"The next matches will proceed one-on-one. The name on the slip you draw will be your opponent for the next round."
"It's this guy..."
Lin Jiu opened his slip, and its name made him raise an eyebrow. Wang Bing, the beloved grandson of Wang Ai, one of the Wang Family's top ten experts.
"The Wang Family... not a bad choice."
If Lin Jiu didn't want to complete the second main quest using the Mysterious Mechanism Converts All Art, he would have to find another skill from the Eight Mysterious Techniques. The Lu family's Soul Seizing Technique is fused into their bloodline, so killing one of them wouldn't necessarily give access to it.
But the Wang family's Soul Summoning technique was different—it could be extracted through interrogation. If they could extract it from Feng Tianyang, Lin Jiu could do the same from them.
The celestial master, standing not far away, used his nearly century-long cultivation to spot the name on Lin Jiu's slip. Observing Lin Jiu's thoughtful expression, he couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
It seemed this young man, who had just finished causing trouble for Lu Ci, had found a new target. The celestial master gave Lin Jiu a mental thumbs-up. After all, this situation was caused by those greedy scoundrels. As the saying goes, "evil will be punished by evil." As a master bound by rules, the old Taoist couldn't openly confront them, but now someone who doesn't follow the rules could teach them a lesson.
However, thinking of Lin Jiu potentially becoming the biggest obstacle in Zhang Chulan's journey during the Raten Taishou, the celestial master felt a headache coming on.
The second round of matches was scheduled for the next day. Everyone stayed in the guest rooms at Longhu Mountain for the night. Of course, Zhang Chulan was an exception—clever Feng Baobao had taken him to prepare to bury Dan Shitong.
"Morning, everyone!"
"Chulan, why do you look like you didn't get any sleep?"
Feng Xingtong noticed the drowsiness in Zhang Chulan's eyes. The second round of matches was about to begin, and not getting enough rest would put him at a disadvantage.
"Not slept... I didn't sleep at all!"
Zhang Chulan grumbled quietly.
Then, turning his head forward, he was stunned: "What the heck is this! Just overnight!"
In front of Zhang Chulan, four large screens had been set up, each displaying the match scenes from the four arenas. Since the matches were happening simultaneously, if anyone wanted to watch all four, they could stay and view them on the screens.
Lin Jiu glanced at the lineup for the first round, noticing a difference from the original. The change was that Wang Ye was no longer facing Tie Maliu but an unknown stranger named Lie Yan.
"This guy's luck stat must be..."
Lin Jiu noticed that the person standing opposite Wang Ye had a dark expression, a clear indication they were a contractor. At this point, Wang Ye was not well-known, so normal practitioners wouldn't think much of facing him. But only a contractor who knew Wang Ye's abilities would react like that.
"Hmm?"
Zhang Chulan noticed Lin Jiu's gaze fixed on one of the screens, completely ignoring the other three arenas.
Following Lin Jiu's gaze, Zhang Chulan saw Wang Ye's match: "No way, is this Wang Ye hiding his strength, enough to draw this much attention from Brother Red?"
On the field.
"Damn it!"
Lie Yan cursed inwardly as he looked at the young Taoist opposite him, who seemed lethargic. For contractors participating in the Raten Taishou, aside from decent strength, luck was also crucial. Encountering a top-four contender early on meant a high chance of elimination.
Like now, Lie Yan had encountered Wang Ye, one of the top three young practitioners, and it was really bad luck.
"Let the match begin!"
With the command from the nearby Taoist, Lie Yan swiftly retreated, putting distance between himself and Wang Ye.
"So cautious?"
Wang Ye tilted his head with a faint smile.
"If I'm not mistaken, this contractor should be..."
As Lin Jiu watched the screen, Lie Yan pulled out a staff.
Judging from the speed of his retreat, he was even faster than Lin Jiu, meaning the contractor's main attributes were likely agility, suggesting he was likely a ranged fighter. The staff confirmed the second attribute was intelligence.
It seemed the contractors competing for the top eight in the Raten Taishou weren't weak. Already, a magic user had appeared.
Lie Yan raised his staff high, and a visible magic circle appeared before him, slowly rotating.
"What the hell is that?"
Wang Ye thought he could use his Wudang Tai Chi to hold out for a few rounds, but seeing this, he realized that wouldn't be possible.
The circle was completely different from the Taoists' Nine Palaces Formation; it was visible to the naked eye.
"Elemental Summoning!"
Lie Yan whispered, and a three-meter-tall figure emerged from the magic circle. Its entire body was made of fire, with armor made of rock covering its chest, shoulders, and wrists.
"Damn! Is that an elemental summoner?"
Zhang Chulan, a modern-day college student, was dumbfounded.
Lin Jiu had assumed the opponent was a mage, but he hadn't expected him to be a summoning mage. Summoners could vary based on their main attribute. Intelligence-based summoners focused on summoning elemental creatures, while charm-based ones, like Su Xiao, contracted multiple followers for battle.
Seeing the situation, Wang Ye knew he couldn't hold back any longer. He stomped the ground and activated his Qimen Formation. However, since the opponent had already put distance between them, he couldn't use the formation to manipulate the opponent's position and weaken him, so he had to directly engage with his Qimen techniques.
"Kun Symbol: Earth River Cart!"
Wang Ye formed a seal, and a giant earthen python burst from the ground, charging toward the fire elemental.
"Looks like you take me seriously!"
Lie Yan gritted his teeth. Had he not distanced himself earlier, Wang Ye would have used all his power, likely ending the match quickly with a chaotic strike.
"Fire Shield!"
The fire elemental separated its hands, forming a fire shield in front of it. The earth python crashed into the shield, its massive force dispersing the fire, while the rock bracers on the elemental's wrists grew larger, blocking the attack.
"Kun Symbol: Ice Palm!"
Wang Ye, using the dust cloud stirred by the collision for cover, altered his direction and approached stealthily, striking out with an ice palm.
"Fire Blast!"
Lie Yan, always alert, quickly cast a spell.
This spell used fire to generate a shockwave, dealing both physical and fire damage. It could serve multiple purposes, such as defense. The downside was the fire's low temperature, making the damage weak.
But it was enough to scatter the surrounding ice shards, avoiding the attack.
"This..."
Zhang Chulan's mouth hung open in shock. The battle felt like a video game brought to life. While the techniques they learned had their roots, magic surprised most. Even among practitioners, sorcerers were considered a mysterious profession.