Chapter 50

Shen Xiang stepped into the eighth level of the Mortal Martial Realm, his divine consciousness becoming even more powerful. He could see that there were actually two people at the seventh level of the Mortal Martial Realm on the martial arts platform. One was a man in his twenties wearing a golden outfit. The other was a white-haired woman. The woman was very beautiful, with her soft hair tied into a ponytail, a slim and tall figure, and an extremely beautiful face. She looked mature and alluring, but her face was cold and proud. She, like Shen Xiang, was wearing a black tight-fitting outfit that perfectly outlined her fiery figure, though the quality of her outfit was much better than Shen Xiang's. This woman was very eye-catching because of her unique white hair, mature appearance, fiery figure, and noble, cold, and proud demeanor, which made Shen Xiang unable to help but look at her several times.

"Now I will announce the rules. The first round will take place today. You forty people will be divided into eight groups, with five people in each group. Then, one winner from each group will advance to the finals," an elder shouted. He was an elder of the Yao family: "Five people will stand on the martial arts platform and engage in a free-for-all. Whoever stands on the platform until the end will be the winner of that group."

The rules were simple: five people would engage in a free-for-all on the platform, and those who fell off would be eliminated. The last person standing on the platform would be the winner.

The elder of the Yao family then began to read out some of the rules for the competition, mainly allowing the use of underhanded tactics but prohibiting killing.

Then the groups were formed. Shen Xiang was not grouped with the two people at the seventh level of the Mortal Martial Realm. His group consisted of four men aged nineteen to twenty, all at the peak of the sixth level of the Mortal Martial Realm, on the verge of breaking through. Shen Xiang guessed that this was a deliberate arrangement by the Yao family to ensure his elimination in the first round.

At this point, Shen Xiang also learned the identities of the two people at the seventh level of the Mortal Martial Realm. The girl was named Leng Youlan, the daughter of a famous general in the Southern Wu Kingdom. She was only fourteen years old but looked very mature, which made Shen Xiang secretly marvel.

The other young man was named Song Nanming, the eldest son of the emperor, the crown prince of the Southern Wu Kingdom. He was twenty years old and had the peak strength of the seventh level of the Mortal Martial Realm. His talent was considered good, but in Shen Xiang's view, he was far inferior to Leng Youlan, who was only fourteen.

Shen Xiang was in the last group, which was also the most unfair. He was the only one who was sixteen, while the others were all nineteen to twenty. Everyone could see that this was a deliberate arrangement.

If it were a one-on-one match, Shen Xiang had a high chance of winning. However, in a five-person free-for-all elimination match, Shen Xiang was very likely to fail.

If Shen Xiang were still at the seventh level of the Mortal Martial Realm, he would be somewhat worried. But now he was at the eighth level, possessing formidable strength. A stomp of his foot could make the square tremble. With the divine skills and Five Elements True Qi he cultivated, his strength was on par with the ninth level of the Mortal Martial Realm!

Shen Xiang did not expect that after breaking through to the seventh level of the Mortal Martial Realm, he would advance to the eighth level in just a few days. This was all thanks to the devouring magic technique taught to him by Bai Youyou. He had deeply appreciated the charm of this magic technique!

Shen Xiang stood below the platform, watching the five-person free-for-all on the martial arts platform, observing the martial arts they used. With his keen eyes, he could clearly see the true qi flowing through their meridians when they used their martial arts. The most difficult part of martial arts to learn by stealth was the method of channeling true qi, but Shen Xiang could now easily mimic others' martial arts with his extraordinary divine consciousness.

The five people on the platform were all crowded in the center, none of them wanting to be on the edge, as falling off the platform meant elimination. They were engaged in a chaotic battle in the center, and this kind of free-for-all required a certain level of strength to last until the end. Sometimes they had to deal with attacks from four people, and they had to quickly counterattack while defending, which tested their mastery of martial arts and their reaction speed.

Although the martial arts displayed by the five young nobles on the platform drew gasps of admiration from the audience, Shen Xiang was not impressed. While they were not bad, they had too many flaws, and he did not see much to learn from them.

The first match ended quickly. The winner had solid strength, with thick true qi, and was able to last until the end. The other four were either knocked off the platform or left the platform due to depleted true qi.

These young men and women were all at the sixth level of the Mortal Martial Realm. In the eyes of many, they were geniuses with formidable strength. However, Shen Xiang knew that the foundation of the young men and women on the platform was generally poor, their roots unstable, and their true qi not thick or pure enough. Although they had good martial arts, they could not fully unleash their power and did not use them effectively.

"Being pampered and treated like treasures, who would go through the hardship of practicing martial arts?" Shen Xiang thought to himself. People like him, who trained hard late into the night, were few and far between.

Now it was the turn of the Southern Wu Kingdom's crown prince, Song Nanming. He was at the seventh level of the Mortal Martial Realm, while the other four were at the sixth level. At the beginning, two of them were knocked off the platform. Song Nanming used his advantage of being at the seventh level of the Mortal Martial Realm, using his thick true qi to quickly knock the other two off the platform, drawing cheers from the audience.

Now it was the turn of the general's daughter, Leng Youlan. As soon as she stepped onto the platform, many men stared at her fiery figure with heated gazes. Leng Youlan was wearing a black tight-fitting outfit, with her legs straight and long, full of elasticity. She had an appearance and figure that did not match her age, a mature and graceful figure, and a cold and proud demeanor that made it hard to imagine she was only fourteen years old.

"This girl's true qi is very strange!" Shen Xiang frowned and muttered.

Su Meiyao said, "This girl has the Ice Fire Meridian. I don't know what rank it is, but the true qi she cultivates should be Ice Fire True Qi. The fusion of these two opposing true qi makes it so strange and unpredictable. If you see her use fire, it's likely that the flames can freeze you. In short, this girl is not simple, and it would be best if you could befriend her."

Shen Xiang's pupils contracted as he looked at the mature and graceful girl on the platform, secretly amazed. Anyone who could earn Su Meiyao's approval was certainly not weak.

"Begin!"

As soon as the word was spoken, everyone saw Leng Youlan suddenly turn into a black shadow, dashing around the platform, leaving a long black trail. Her speed was so fast that it made people gasp, and the four people on the platform were stunned.

Shen Xiang frowned, barely able to see Leng Youlan's beautiful and serious face, which made his eyes very tired. Her speed was so fast that it surprised him.

A "bang" sounded, and one person suddenly flew off the platform. Although the audience could not see how the person was knocked off, they knew it must have been Leng Youlan, who moved like a shadow.

Shen Xiang could see that Leng Youlan had kicked the person off with great force, sending them flying.

Then came a series of shouts as Leng Youlan used her speed, which was too fast to see, to launch surprise attacks, kicking one person after another off the platform.

"Leng Youlan has successfully advanced to the top eight. Next is the last group!" the elder of the Yao family announced.

Finally, it was Shen Xiang's turn. Everyone knew that Shen Xiang would face four men at the sixth level of the Mortal Martial Realm, all twenty years old, who had been at the Mortal Martial Realm for many years. Their strength was naturally much greater than that of the young men, which was very disadvantageous for Shen Xiang.