Chapter 106: A Small Display of Skill, Shattering the Weak with Ease

Participants in the competition must fill out their personal information and collect their contestant numbers from their group judges.

Because the Liuyun Sect had been quite courteous to Pang Bo and the others in recent days, they all listed Liuyun Sect as their sect affiliation, which would benefit Liuyun Sect if they achieved high rankings.

After completing these procedures, the group elimination rounds began shortly thereafter.

Cao Cao’s luck was undoubtedly the worst—he was assigned to a death group filled with extremely strong opponents.

Moreover, Cao Cao’s current strength was the weakest among the chat group members, equivalent only to the early stage of Baoyuan Realm, and while he focused solely on improving his cultivation base, he had learned no combat techniques; thus, in his first ten matches, he won only one and was eventually eliminated in disgrace.

As for Yue Buqun, whose strength was equivalent to the mid-stage of Baoyuan Realm, though his performance wasn’t particularly dazzling, he secured eight victories in ten matches thanks to his refined Hua Shan Sword Art and better luck, advancing smoothly through the first round of eliminations.

Pang Bo, Ye Chen, Han Li, and Xiao Yan had unquestionably the best luck—their respective groups lacked any formidable opponents, and Han Li did not face Pang Bo in the same group, making their passage through the first round of eliminations relatively easy.

The only noteworthy event was that Han Li encountered the No. 13 genius from last year’s Qilong List; after a fierce battle, Han Li deliberately exposed a weakness and lost to the opponent, prompting Pang Bo and Xiao Yan to mock him for a long time.

As for the most astonishing performer in the first round among the chat group members, it was undoubtedly Meng Huan from the World of Flying Sword Inquiry!

Remember, Meng Huan had shattered the void and ascended to heaven in broad daylight—making him an unparalleled genius of his world, rare even after thousands or tens of thousands of years—and after entering the Mingyao Great World, he joined the elite Yuding Sect; thus, within a very short time, he had cultivated to the Second Layer of Soul Transformation. Even with his power suppressed to the peak of Baoyuan Realm, none of these twenty-something youths could possibly match him.

Fortunately, fighting these geniuses reminded him of feelings from his home world, so he refrained from outright crushing them and instead chose to spar briefly with each opponent.

Even so, Meng Huan’s battles were swift and decisive—he effortlessly defeated Mo Yan, the eldest disciple of the Feitian Demon Sect!

This stunned countless martial artists watching, who even ranked Meng Huan alongside another unparalleled genius, Tuobu Ku, as the two biggest dark horses of this year’s Qilong List competition.

Compared to Meng Huan, Pang Bo and the others, who hadn’t shown their full strength in the first round nor defeated any formidable opponents, clearly appeared inferior.

After the first stage of eliminations officially ended, the group with the fewest perfect scorers had only two, while the group with the most had as many as eight.

After all, each group contained powerful experts; when two such masters met, one must inevitably lose.

Just like Mo Yan, who had faced Meng Huan—if he hadn’t encountered Meng Huan, winning ten straight matches would have been effortless for him; he simply had terrible luck.

In this first stage of eliminations, the Liuyun Sect’s genius Zhu Mei, like Cao Cao, was eliminated, while all others advanced successfully.

After resting for about an hour, the second stage of eliminations began shortly afterward.

The remaining twelve groups, according to competition rules, were paired arbitrarily into six new groups for the second round of eliminations.

Per competition rules, each of the six new groups had twenty-four contestants, and twelve from each group would advance to become this year’s Qilong List-ranked geniuses.

Twenty-four contestants vying for twelve spots might seem like a fifty percent success rate, but the competition was undoubtedly extremely brutal.

After all, only six groups remained, and nearly every group contained extremely powerful experts; thus, for weaker geniuses to compete for the remaining spots became even more difficult.

In this round of grouping, the chat group members still enjoyed decent luck—except that Pang Bo, Han Li, and Meng Huan were all placed in the same group, Ye Chen was assigned to Group Six, and Xiao Yan was placed in Group Three.

After giving the many geniuses a brief rest, the second round of eliminations officially began.

……

“Match One: Han Li versus Mo Yan!”

The first match of Group One began—neither contestant was unknown.

Mo Yan was the eldest disciple of the Feitian Demon Sect; though he had previously lost to Meng Huan, he remained a top contender for the top ten overall rankings.

Han Li, though previously obscure, had won nine consecutive matches in his original group, proving his strength formidable.

Of course, spectators didn’t expect Han Li to defeat Mo Yan—they were merely guessing how much of Mo Yan’s true power Han Li could force him to reveal.

Hearing the murmurs from the crowd, Pang Bo, preparing for his own match, felt immediate dissatisfaction.

Within the chat group.

【Pang Bo: @Han Li, I know you’re not trying your hardest in this competition, but I can’t stand that Mo Yan—he’s just the eldest disciple of that Feitian Demon Sect, and he dares to covet Ye Chen’s wife! So Han Li, you must defeat him this time, or we’re no longer brothers!】

【Xiao Yan: Yeah, Brother Han! Look at that guy’s arrogant expression—give him a lesson!】

On the combat platform, Han Li and Mo Yan stood fifty meters apart.

After seeing Pang Bo and Xiao Yan’s messages, Han Li glanced at Mo Yan across from him.

With his strength—even suppressed to the peak of Baoyuan Realm—defeating Mo Yan was an extremely easy task.

But before Pang Bo spoke, Han Li had genuinely planned to observe Mo Yan’s Tongtian Demon Art, then feign a weakness and lose; after all, as long as he entered the top seventy-two, the match outcome meant little to him.

But since Pang Bo and Xiao Yan had spoken, he could only make Mo Yan suffer.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

“Kid, don’t blame me for being ruthless!”

Mo Yan gazed at Han Li from afar, black light flickering in his eyes; he thought inwardly: “Blame yourself for being allied with that Meng Huan—he humiliated me, so I’ll make sure you don’t pass the elimination round!”

Noticing Mo Yan’s gaze, Han Li’s eyes flashed with a glint of coldness.

Mo Yan’s scheming look was nothing unfamiliar to him; had this been the mortal world, he would have already erased Mo Yan permanently.

But now, during the critical phase of the Qilong List competition, he didn’t want to stir up unnecessary trouble—he resolved to give Mo Yan a harsh lesson once the battle began.

The battle began swiftly.

Mo Yan immediately activated his Tongtian Demon Eyes, carefully searching for Han Li’s weaknesses.

The Tongtian Demon Eyes were mysteriously potent, capable of revealing any flaw in an opponent, rendering them utterly exposed, with immense power that could allow the weak to defeat the strong.

But after Mo Yan used his Tongtian Demon Eyes to scan Han Li’s body, his face suddenly showed a look of shock.

“This is impossible!”

Mo Yan stared at Han Li in disbelief: “What cultivation art are you practicing? You have no weaknesses at all?”

Even Meng Huan, who had defeated him, had one discernible flaw—he simply lacked the strength to exploit it.

But now, Han Li’s aura was perfectly unified, showing absolutely no flaw whatsoever—it was utterly inconceivable.

“Oh? No weaknesses at all?”

Hearing Mo Yan’s words, Han Li’s heart stirred slightly: “Not bad! All those times I used the Enlightenment Boost in the chat group to refine my art have finally paid off—I’ve taken a small step forward in survivability!”

Thinking this, the dark-skinned Han Li offered Mo Yan a smile he considered reasonably friendly, then said: “Actually, my strength is still weak—please guide me.”

To Mo Yan, Han Li’s words were an outright provocation.

“Hmph!”

Mo Yan coldly replied: “No weaknesses in your art doesn’t mean you have no weaknesses! With your strength, even if you have no flaws, you won’t last long against me!”

“Phantom Spirit Finger!” Before his words ended, Mo Yan launched a surprise attack.

This was his standard fighting style, so those familiar with him were somewhat prepared.

Everyone expected Han Li to be caught off guard and suffer a heavy blow—or even be defeated in one strike—but to their surprise, Han Li moved faster than Mo Yan; before Mo Yan’s Phantom Spirit Finger fully formed, Han Li had already launched his own attack.

“Damn, neither of these guys plays by the rules!”

“These two are too treacherous… no, too cautious—it’s unbecoming of true experts!”

……

In the spectator seats, countless martial artists erupted into murmurs after witnessing Han Li and Mo Yan’s battle.

Amid the crowd’s chatter, the duel ended swiftly.

Han Li flashed forward, appearing behind Mo Yan, then swung a black, brick-shaped metal object straight into the back of Mo Yan’s skull.

The speed was utterly inconceivable.

Struck on the back of his skull by Han Li’s black brick, Mo Yan collapsed instantly!

In fact, had Mo Yan not sensed danger and hastily gathered his true qi to his head, he might have been seriously injured and unconscious.

Seeing Han Li defeat Mo Yan, the watching martial artists were stunned once again, and they crowned Han Li the third dark horse of this year’s Qilong List competition.

As time passed, match after match proceeded, and the chat group members—Ye Chen and others—gradually began to shine.

The immensely powerful Meng Huan remained far ahead of everyone else;

Han Li’s subsequent performances were no longer as fierce, but no one dared underestimate him after he had just defeated the Feitian Demon Sect’s eldest disciple;

Ye Chen quickly defeated Bing Ling, the eldest disciple of the Bingjue Sect and the No. 7 genius from last year’s Qilong List, revealing his own astonishing strength;

As always, Xiao Yan enjoyed excellent luck—even in the second round of eliminations, he faced no formidable opponents; his strongest adversary was merely a genius ranked around twenty-something last year, who was utterly powerless against him;

The weakest among them, Yue Buqun, lost to several powerful geniuses, but according to the scoring rules, he still had a chance to enter the top seventy-two of the Qilong List!

Thus, the second round of eliminations quickly reached its final match.

Most of the final matches were unremarkable; the only one drawing significant attention was the battle between Pang Bo and Tuobu Ku in Group One.

To mention Pang Bo and Tuobu Ku, one must mention Mo Yan, the eldest disciple of the Feitian Demon Sect!

As the eldest disciple of the Feitian Demon Sect, Mo Yan’s strength was undoubtedly formidable, but his luck seemed unusually poor.

After being defeated by Han Li, he then faced Pang Bo and Tuobu Ku in succession—and lost to both again.

As a result, many began to believe Mo Yan was all talk and lacked real strength, leaving him filled with bitter rage.

Fortunately, Mo Yan later encountered Gan Yun, the second disciple of Luoxia Sect, and after defeating the powerful Gan Yun, no one questioned his strength anymore.

After that, people naturally paid even greater attention to Pang Bo and Tuobu Ku, who had both defeated Mo Yan.

Now that these two top experts were facing each other, they drew the attention of countless onlookers.

Previously, Tuobu Ku defeated Mo Yan through his overwhelming defense—even Mo Yan’s strongest attack failed to threaten him.

Pang Bo defeated Mo Yan through terrifying offense—just three punches severely wounded him!

Moreover, Pang Bo and Tuobu Ku shared similar fighting styles, both relying on immense physical strength, naturally drawing the attention of the crowd.

“Final match: Pang Bo versus Tuobu Ku!”

As the judge’s voice rang out, every eye in the arena turned toward these two super-genius contestants.

On the combat platform, Pang Bo and Tuobu Ku stood dozens of meters apart.

“Hahaha!”

Tuobu Ku gazed at Pang Bo from afar: “Finally, I’ve met another true expert! Fighting the others is boring—only battling someone like you is worth it!”

“I watched your matches,”

Pang Bo replied with a smile: “Your defense is indeed formidable—even Mo Yan’s full power couldn’t break through.”

“But let me tell you this: offense is the best defense. No matter how strong your defense is, if you only defend, you’re just a target.”

“Hahaha, then see if you have the strength to break through my defense!”

Tuoba Ku laughed loudly, then charged straight at Pang Bo.

On the other side, Pang Bo naturally refused to yield, and the two quickly fell into fierce combat.

“Barbarian God Fist!”

Tuoba Ku punched forward, dragon roars and tiger roars echoed as the air collapsed.

“Demon Emperor Fist!”

Pang Bo unleashed a punch, carrying the might of mountains, unstoppable!

“Interesting!”

After seeing Pang Bo’s terrifying fist power, Tuoba Ku’s eyes gleamed with intense excitement—he had not encountered such a formidable opponent at his level since leaving his homeland.

Meanwhile, after sensing Tuoba Ku’s immense strength, Pang Bo also felt deep admiration.

Tuoba Ku’s strength was truly extraordinary; had he not studied the Demon Emperor’s Ancient Scripture, his power would have been barely equal to this man’s, and victory would have been extremely difficult.

Fortunately, during this time he had trained relentlessly, and after obtaining the Demon Emperor’s Ancient Scripture, he quickly mastered several offensive techniques using the Enlightenment Boost feature within the chat group, allowing him to fight with ease.

In just moments, Tuoba Ku finally unleashed his ultimate technique—but still failed to inflict any damage on Pang Bo.

After witnessing Tuoba Ku’s full strength, Pang Bo swiftly intensified his assault and defeated him.

After this battle, Pang Bo’s terrifying power sparked a massive uproar, and he quickly became a top contender for the top three.

…

After Pang Bo and Tuoba Ku’s battle ended, the second round of elimination matches was fully concluded.

“All irrelevant personnel, vacate the arena!”

Chief Referee Luo Jiacheng quickly stepped forward and shouted loudly.

Hearing the chief referee’s words, the geniuses ranked below twelfth in each group promptly withdrew with good grace, leaving only the seventy-two geniuses who had made the Dragon Vein Rankings.

“Good!”

Chief Referee Luo Jiacheng, well-versed in the competition’s procedures, continued: “All of you, ascend the combat platform and prepare to receive the Dragon Vein Qi’s purification!”

Hearing this, the many geniuses leapt onto the combat platform.

The members of the chat group had long been curious about the Dragon Vein Qi and joined the others in leaping onto the platform.

Soon, the previous year’s Dragon Vein Rankings contestants began to manifest dragon-shaped shadows on their bodies—some large, others small; the largest reached seven or eight zhang, the smallest two or three zhang.

Moments later…

From the abyss beneath the combat platform, faint dragon roars echoed, then streams of dragon-shaped qi surged forth, rushing into the bodies of those present, emerging again, and hovering outside alongside the earlier shadows.

“Hm?”

Feeling the Dragon Vein Qi’s enhancement to his condition, Han Li’s face showed a hint of surprise, then he thought inwardly: “This Dragon Vein Qi is still quite beneficial to me—I’ll need to adjust my plans.”

“And with the group leader present, even if any trouble arises, it will be easily resolved!”

Around Han Li, Pang Bo and the others also flickered with unusual expressions, then a blazing battle intent rose within them.

Only Meng Huan, the strongest among them, paid little attention to the Dragon Vein Qi on his body.

After all, his realm was already extremely high, not far from immortality—he naturally did not care much for such Dragon Vein Qi.

…

On the spectator stands nearby, the senior leaders of the Zi Yang Sect, sworn enemies of the Liu Yun Sect, watched Ye Chen and those beside him—Pang Bo and others—eyes flashing with endless killing intent.

“Sect Master!”

The Zi Yang Sect’s Grand Elder whispered through spiritual transmission: “Ye Chen’s strength is too great—he will surely enter the top twenty, and even the top ten is highly likely!”

“And those around him are likely closely tied to him; if given more time to grow, our Zi Yang Sect will surely be crushed beneath the Liu Yun Sect’s shadow!”

“Don’t rush!”

The Zi Yang Sect’s Grand Elder quickly whispered back: “First, we must uncover how Ye Chen’s companions suddenly appeared. Once we learn their origins, we can act without delay!”

(End of Chapter)