Chapter 50: Challenge the Top Three

"Senior Brother Shen Chen, do you want the purple wooden token? You should go and get it from those cats and dogs inside. With your strength, Senior Brother Shen Chen, they wouldn't dare to resist!" At this moment, a youth with a hooked nose among the five flashed a cunning look in his eyes, stepped forward, and tried to ingratiate himself with Shen Chen.

All five of them were elite inner disciples, and the process of seizing the wooden tokens had gone smoothly. Logically, they shouldn't have become prey for others. On their journey, no one had asked the five of them for the tokens. Those with strength found it troublesome, while those without strength lacked the courage. In fact, since the assessment began, this had become an unwritten rule!

Unfortunately, this unwritten rule seemed to be about to be broken. The five of them were all angry, but they were hesitant to openly confront Shen Chen due to his reputation for killing Lin Hai.

And the inner disciple with the hooked nose had said those words to divert Shen Chen's attention, reminding him to focus on the outer disciples who could be easily taken down.

Unfortunately, he had miscalculated. Shen Chen was not swayed by his words and still held out his hand coldly, "Do you really want me to take action?"

This time, the inner disciples could no longer hold back.

"Shen Chen, I advise you not to cause trouble for yourself. We are all friends of Senior Brother Yuan Xiao. Some people are not to be provoked," the first one to speak said with a cold laugh.

"Senior Brother Shen Chen, don't be too ruthless. Leave yourself a way out," the one with the hooked nose also mocked.

"Get lost! What are you, to threaten my brother?"

At this moment, Wang Yue, who was standing beside, became furious. He swung a punch and hit the hooked-nose youth's nose.

"You're asking for it!" The hooked-nose youth, with blood streaming from his nose, stood up and pulled out a large knife from his waist, slashing at Wang Yue.

"There are no enforcers around to monitor. You five can all come at once," Shen Chen stood aside, watching the show, then turned to Wang Yue, "I'll give you thirty breaths. If you can't take these five down, don't call me brother anymore!"

"Alright, I'll finish this quickly!" Wang Yue, who had been itching for a fight, rushed forward with two battle axes, quickly engaging the five inner disciples in combat.

Shen Chen stood leisurely on the side, watching the commotion and keeping an eye on the surroundings. This round of the assessment did not allow multiple people to gang up on one, and he didn't want enforcers to come and ruin Wang Yue's fun. Fighting five at once was the perfect way for the kid to warm up.

At the same time, Shen Chen also wanted to teach Yuan Xiao's lackeys a lesson. Beating a dog does depend on the owner, but some owners can save their dogs from a beating, while others will only make the dogs suffer more!

This battle ended with Wang Yue's overwhelming advantage. The unnamed inner disciples were not weak, all at the fourth or fifth level of the Blood Fusion stage. However, in a situation of equal strength, they were powerless against a Tier-Earth martial technique.

In less than ten breaths, Wang Yue had beaten the five of them to a pulp, leaving them lying on the ground, moaning in pain.

"Shen Chen, wait and see, Senior Brother Yuan Xiao will avenge us!"

"You'll regret this!"

"This grudge will not be left unavenged... Ah!"

The five of them were still defiant, but Wang Yue, without hesitation, stepped on each of them, then quickly took the purple wooden tokens from their bodies, running excitedly to Shen Chen.

"Brother, we got them." Wang Yue held up five exquisite purple wooden tokens, smelling the refreshing scent of the sandalwood, and handed them to Shen Chen.

"Alright, let's go."

Shen Chen didn't even glance at the five on the ground, turning to lead Wang Yue out of the forest.

"Brother, what about the extra three tokens?" On the way, Wang Yue asked Shen Chen curiously.

Challenging the ranking on the stage only required one token. Since they had taken five tokens from the five, three were extra.

"Throw them away. Whoever picks them up is lucky," Shen Chen said with a casual smile.

...

As Shen Chen and Wang Yue walked slowly toward the square, the disciples who had obtained tokens were getting impatient around the central stage.

Fortunately, the time limit was within the duration of a stick of incense. Due to the strong wind earlier, the incense in the censer beside the stage was already more than halfway burned, almost reaching the end.

"Stay calm. If you have nothing to do, you can think about the names of the brothers you want to challenge. Before the official start of the competition, you must determine an opponent. The rules are the same: one person can challenge up to three opponents, and can only accept up to five challenges. Losing or conceding will consume one opportunity!"

On the stage, Elder Situ Chuan smiled and scanned the group of disciples below, his voice clear and commanding. However, when his gaze reached the end, his smile froze slightly.

Elder Situ Chuan quickly noticed that the group of disciples who had obtained tokens did not include the two young men.

"Those two kids can't have failed in just the first round, can they?" Elder Situ Chuan began to doubt. In his view, even with the limited spots, Shen Chen and the other should have been able to obtain at least one token.

However, he soon thought of a very bad possibility—someone might have deliberately made things difficult for the two. The first round of the assessment had many restrictions, but it did not prevent disciples from robbing each other. If someone had used the pretext of robbing tokens to secretly attack the two, the outcome could be uncertain.

Thinking about this, Situ Chuan couldn't help but glance at Yuan Xiao, Cao Shun, and other potential opponents of Shen Chen, but found nothing.

As time passed, the remaining part of the incense stick became shorter, making the elder increasingly worried. For other disciples, this competition might just be a chance to show off and establish their status, but for those two kids, it was of great significance and could not go wrong.

Situ Chuan noticed that not far away, the sect master Liao Yan was also looking at him with a peculiar expression, clearly sharing the same concern.

Just then, an inner disciple who had entered the sect not long ago but had good talent and successfully obtained a token seemed to still be unclear about the rules. After hesitating for a long time, he finally mustered the courage to ask loudly, "Elder Situ, I have a question and would like to ask the elder..."

"Go ahead!"

Usually calm, Situ Chuan felt an urge to punch the kid, but with so many people around, he couldn't lose his composure and had to listen.

"Ahem... Elder Situ, you said one person can only accept five challenges. What if the brother I want to challenge is already fully booked? For example, I want to challenge Senior Brother Qi Zheng, but his slots are full. What should I do?" The disciple was not shy and spoke his thoughts openly.

However, his words not only made Situ Chuan laugh and cry, but also made the surrounding inner disciples want to punch him.

The kid's question was reasonable, but the example he gave was too shameless. Seriously, he wanted to challenge the current top inner disciple, Qi Zheng, right from the start. Why not challenge the sect directly?

"Truly, a young bull fears no tiger. This kid is too arrogant."

"I think his head was kicked by a donkey. How long has he been in the sect, and he already wants to fight Senior Brother Qi Zheng? What a pipe dream!"

"New disciples these days are becoming more and more reckless. Since entering the sect, Senior Brother Qi Zheng has never lost a fight. He is known as the Cloudflow Sect's War God, and no one has dared to fight him for years."

"Right, I heard that Senior Brother Qi Zheng is back this time, and he is the only disciple who doesn't need to fight for a spot."

"I think no one will challenge Senior Brother Qi Zheng this time. His ninth-level Blood Fusion cultivation is enough to scare a bunch of people to death..."

Qi Zheng's name was so well-known in the Cloudflow Sect that once mentioned, it caused a stir. He was the idol of most sect disciples, and his reputation was untouchable.

On the stage, Elder Situ Chuan shook his head helplessly, looking at the inner disciple who had become the target of everyone's criticism, and stroked his beard, smiling, "Little guy, don't you know about the challenge qualification system? In principle, if an excellent disciple receives more than five challenges, we will select five qualified challengers based on their rankings. However, the rules are not set in stone. Others can challenge the selected five, and if they win, they can replace them, and so on!"

After saying this, the elder added with a smile, "But if you want to challenge Senior Brother Qi Zheng, there is only one chance. You must win all your matches and be the last one standing. When we called him back, we promised him only one match, which will be the highlight of this competition!"

While explaining to the young disciple, the incense stick in the censer beside the stage finally burned to the end.

Seeing this, Situ Chuan quickly looked toward the forest. When he saw Shen Chen and Wang Yue running with a group of disciples who had obtained tokens, he finally breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't missed it.

When the group of disciples with tokens rushed to the stage, they were all in a sorry state. Someone had informed them that the incense was almost burned out, and they had all rushed over in a panic.

Seeing the disciples panting, Situ Chuan smiled helplessly and then shouted to all the sect disciples, "Alright, quickly choose your first opponent. Remember, each of you has only three challenge opportunities!"

As Situ Chuan's voice fell, the two hundred disciples with tokens hurriedly found nearby enforcers to register their first opponents. However, at this moment, an extremely discordant voice rang out in the crowd.

"Ahem... Please, brothers and sisters, give me a chance. I want three of the top three's challenge slots. Shen Chen will be grateful!"

The voice was naturally Shen Chen's, not to attract attention, but because he had no other choice.

There were only three challenge opportunities, and to challenge the top three, he had to secure all three from the start!

As for taking slots from others? Shen Chen didn't mind the trouble, but the rules didn't allow it.

Each challenge opportunity used was one less. To get a desired slot, he had to use at least one opportunity, and given his current lack of a formal ranking, he would run out of opportunities before he could challenge the top three!

Therefore, Shen Chen had to secure the slots this way, even though he hated the rules. The higher-ups had set these rules to prevent the competition from dragging on indefinitely.

Unfortunately, Shen Chen's desperate cry did not earn him understanding. Instead, it changed the tone in the crowd.

Challenging the top three right from the start? This was not just arrogance; it was blatant disrespect. It was like slapping the faces of those with higher rankings!

The area around the stage went wild. Many of those with high rankings glared at Shen Chen, even though he had killed Lin Hai, this didn't mean he could break the rules and step on their faces!

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End of Chapter 50