Chapter 212: All for the Sake of Fame!

The sun set behind the western hills, the dying light dyeing the ten arenas on the plaza a wash of gold and crimson.

After an entire day of fierce contention, the arenas finally fell quiet for the moment.

On each of the ten arenas now stood a single figure — they were the top ten, those who had successfully held their ground after today's grueling battles.

Without exception, all ten were of the Innate Realm.

Among these ten were Chen Mu, Ye Jiuchong, and Cao Shaozu, who had never tasted defeat from start to finish, as well as Ma Jiantong, who had fallen midway only to fight his way back onto the arena.

Somewhat surprising was that Su Yuanhua, usually a man of few words who had only recently broken through to the Innate Realm, had also claimed an arena for himself.

As the sky gradually darkened, the man in charge of the grand tournament rose from the high platform and announced.

"Today's finals end here!"

"The ten who held their arenas advance automatically into this tournament's top ten!"

"Tomorrow at the Chen hour, the top-ten ranking battles will be held at this very spot!"

Waaah~

The plaza erupted into an uproar.

"Amazing!"

"I told you — without the Innate Realm, how could anyone make the top ten?"

"Luck matters too!"

"Tomorrow's top-ten showdown is going to be even fiercer. Looks like I'll have to come at midnight just to grab a spot."

"Same here, same here!"

"..."

The crowd slowly dispersed amid chatter and exclamations of awe.

Chen Mu returned to the inn and gathered with Huang Yuanhe and Xue Ranran.

Xue Ranran puffed out her cheeks and said to Chen Mu in a slightly huffy tone, "Senior Brother Chen Mu, you really didn't show me any face today — one move and you knocked me right off the arena!"

Though she had lost, her tone was more coquettish reproach than resentment.

Huang Yuanhe, who stood beside them, couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter at her words, and only managed to hold it in after Xue Ranran shot him a glare.

"Ahem~"

Huang Yuanhe coughed, then shifted to a sigh, "The top ten is already decided — that was fast. Chen Mu, Ye Jiuchong, Cao Shaozu making it in doesn't surprise me at all, and Ma Jiantong fighting his way back is normal too."

"But Su Yuanhua... if I remember right, he only broke through to the Innate Realm not long ago, right? And he still squeezed into the top ten — you really can't judge a book by its cover."

"It is a bit surprising."

Chen Mu took a sip of tea and analyzed calmly, "His being able to hold his arena till the end was partly luck, and partly because he grasped fist intent."

"Fist intent?!"

Huang Yuanhe's eyes went wide, half-believing, "For real? How can intent power be that easy to grasp? How old is Su Yuanhua, even?"

"Grasping fist intent has nothing to do with age."

Xue Ranran rebutted him, "Someone with high comprehension can do it at ten. I've seen one myself."

"Impossible!"

Huang Yuanhe cried out.

"Believe it or not, up to you." Xue Ranran rolled her eyes.

"..." Chen Mu offered no further explanation either.

Some things, you only believe once you've seen them with your own eyes.

The second day, Chen hour.

Five of the arenas on the plaza had already been removed, leaving only the five most central and sturdiest.

The ten who had advanced into the top ten — Chen Mu, Ye Jiuchong, Cao Shaozu, Ma Jiantong, Bo Shanjin, Su Yuanhua, Lin Tuotian, and the others — drew lots.

Paired off two by two, they would fight simultaneously on the five arenas.

Perhaps his good luck had run out.

In the first pairing, Chen Mu drew Su Yuanhua!

At the beat of a drum, the two mounted the arena. Su Yuanhua still wore that stern, rigid expression, but his gaze was exceptionally sharp.

Without a word of pleasantry, the instant the referee's voice announcing the start fell, he let out a low shout, true qi surging as he erupted fully and hurled a punch straight at Chen Mu!

The punch looked plain and unadorned, but where its fist-edge passed, the air seemed compressed and condensed by an invisible force, and a heavy, fierce, all-conquering will burst forth along with it.

It was unmistakably fist intent!

Huang Yuanhe, watching this battle from below, gaped wide. The words Chen Mu had spoken yesterday echoed in his mind, and now all that was left was shock.

"He... he really did grasp fist intent!"

Facing that punch condensed with fist intent, Chen Mu's expression didn't change, and he met it with a punch of his own.

Whoosh-boom~

The air exploded with a roar.

The fist intent of *Heart-Hate Fist* spread out in turn — a piercing force of will imbued with resolve and lingering regret.

"Bam!"

"Bam~!"

Two moves!

Just two moves.

Chen Mu's fist force, backed by purer and deeper cultivation, smashed through Su Yuanhua's momentum like dry weeds, sending him staggering back again and again until he could no longer keep his footing and dropped onto his seat on the ground, a thread of fresh blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.

"I lost."

Taking a deep breath, Su Yuanhua stood up, cupped his fists toward Chen Mu in a salute, and openly admitted defeat.

"That's it?"

Huang Yuanhe in the audience stared wide-eyed and exclaimed that it wasn't satisfying enough, "I thought we'd get to see a few more moves!"

"Easy. When Senior Brother Chen Mu comes down, you can spar with him," Xue Ranran suggested.

"Uh~"

Huang Yuanhe shrank his neck and muttered, "Then forget it."

……

The match ended too quickly. Chen Mu returned to the waiting area below the stage to watch the other bouts.

Cao Shaozu's Thousand Saber Art remained ferocious, Ye Jiuchong's thunder spear was still wildly unmatched, and the explosive power within Bo Shanjin's petite frame also drew attention.

Before long, on another arena, Ma Jiantong faced off against the aloof Lin Tuotian.

Lin Tuotian's swordsmanship was grand and upright, following the "Invincible Sword Dao" of shattering all techniques with a single sword. He too had grasped Sword Intent, and his was far more profound than Ma Jiantong's slaying-oriented swift-sword intent.

In the end, Ma Jiantong was defeated beneath Lin Tuotian's continuous, ever-accumulating sword momentum.

Huang Yuanhe quietly introduced to Chen Mu beside him, "This Lin Tuotian is the most outstanding disciple of this generation from Hanging Sword Mountain, one of the Six Great Sword Sects. He's eighteen this year, at Seventh Stage Innate. It's said this is also his first time down the mountain. His purpose is the same as Ye Jiuchong's — to use the grand tournament as a platform to make a name for himself in one stroke!"

"All for the sake of fame."

Chen Mu nodded and said thoughtfully, "Lin Tuotian's Sword Intent is indeed more condensed than Ma Jiantong's, and his ambition runs higher too."

However.

This "invincible" ambition suffered a heavy blow in the afternoon showdown.

Lin Tuotian drew Ye Jiuchong as his opponent!

Sword Intent versus Thunder Art!

The two fought fiercely for half an hour, thunder-light and sword-qi crisscrossing, the roar of explosions never ceasing.

Lin Tuotian's Sword Intent was strong, but Ye Jiuchong's Ninth Stage Innate cultivation combined with his wildly unmatched Thunder Art made his offensive power truly terrifying.

In the end, Lin Tuotian's sword momentum was blasted apart by force, his whole body struck by a thunder spear condensed from true qi, and he vomited blood as he fell defeated.

That face of his, which had always worn pride, was now deathly pale, his eyes filled with unwillingness and disbelief.

Clearly, the "Invincible Sword Dao" in his heart had suffered a violent shock.

……

The matches continued.

Soon, Chen Mu took the stage again.

This time he faced the incredibly tenacious Bo Shanjin.

This young girl seemed not to have fully awakened her so-called divine-bloodline power, yet she fought like a mad tiger that didn't fear death.

Ignoring wounds, ignoring exhaustion, she was driven back again and again, only to charge forward once more with a roar.

Chen Mu had no choice but to slightly increase his force, landing a precise palm-edge strike on the side of her neck to knock her out, finally ending the battle.

At this point, after successive fierce battles, the top three of this Dragon-Tiger Grand Tournament were successfully born.

Chen Mu! Ye Jiuchong! Cao Shaozu!