Chapter 1023: Observing the Opponent

Ye Liuyun's Golden Pupil fully understood that disciple's condition. His True Essence was exhausted and his whole body was severely burned. Thus the power of his palm alone was enough to fling him away.

Boom—, that disciple was casually palm‑struck by Ye Liuyun and sent out of the arena.

At the same time, the flames on his body were completely extinguished; he lay on the ground convulsing, his whole body charred and still emitting black smoke.

At this point, only seven or eight disciples remained on the field. Seeing Ye Liuyun's ruthlessness, no one else dared to trouble him; they each chose to target whoever they thought easiest to handle.

Two disciples, however, teamed up and rushed toward the burly man opposite Ye Liuyun, hoping to knock him down first.

However, that burly man's strength far exceeded the two's. His Physical Body was immensely robust; he withstood one person's attack and knocked the other with a single punch, breaking tendons and fracturing bones.

Then he retaliated, grabbing the other disciple and hurling him off the arena.

"Stop!"

The Steward Elder decisively called a halt to them; at that moment, exactly five people were still standing on the arena.

The Steward Elder registered the five, issuing them number tags; from now on, competition entries would be based on those numbers.

Ye Liuyun's tag was number three. Throughout the whole match, he glanced, delivered a palm strike, and without expending any True Essence, secured his qualification.

Ye Liuyun put away his tag and returned to the Qian Long Academy's resting area.

To his surprise, all the Qian Long Academy disciples advanced; none were eliminated.

Although two were injured, the wounds were not particularly severe.

"Indeed, Qian Long Academy lives up to its name; the strength is truly extraordinary!"

Nearby, some Sect disciples and spectators whispered and discussed in secret.

The next batch of disciples to take the stage learned to be clever; everyone spread out, no one crowded the center.

And Ye Liuyun also began observing these disciples, to have a clear picture of future opponents.

The third round, Liang Xue took the stage.

After scanning the area, Ye Liuyun discovered that among her group there was a Monster Beast.

The Monster Beast's strength was comparable to Liang Xue's, and it stood not far from her.

So Ye Liuyun immediately sent a Transmission Voice to Liang Xue, telling her to avoid the Monster Beast.

Liang Xue did not hesitate to keep her distance. However, she did so too obviously, offering little concealment, and the Monster Beast noticed.

The Monster Beast had already been observing those around it, contemplating how to strike, and when it saw Liang Xue suddenly change position and keep far away, it was secretly startled.

"Could this woman have seen my strength? If so, I certainly cannot let her go!"

The Monster Beast originally intended to eliminate a potential opponent like Liang Xue during the elimination round.

But after the match began, disciples kept charging at it, so it had to first deal with the opponents before it.

Moreover, Liang Xue deliberately kept her distance; each time it tried to approach her, she placed someone between them to block it.

When it had cleared the other opponents and turned to deal with Liang Xue, only five people remained on the arena; the elimination round was over.

So the Monster Beast glared fiercely at Liang Xue, yet was helpless.

Liang Xue won this elimination round with great ease.

She mainly relied on her agility, constantly evading the Monster Beast's pursuit; thus she barely struck during the whole fight, only defending a few times, and the elimination round ended, granting her a number twelve tag with ease.

After the elimination round, Liang Xue, still puzzled, asked Ye Liuyun: "Why does that Monster Beast keep chasing me?"

"He probably saw your strength and wants to eliminate you in the elimination round!" Ye Liuyun explained.

"Can't I defeat it?" Liang Xue finally thought to ask Ye Liuyun.

"Your levels are about the same; there's no need to fight to the death in the elimination round!" Ye Liuyun explained.

Next, the two of them continued to observe the disciples in the arena while discussing their strengths.

The later they watched, the more cautious Ye Liuyun became.

He discovered three disciples whose strength was comparable to his.

One of the men had cultivated a Sword Intent seed; although not as strong as Ye Liuyun, no one could match him with a single sword.

However, what worried Ye Liuyun more was that his True Essence carried a wind attribute, yet it had not manifested at all.

There was also a woman dressed very revealingly; on the surface she relied on illusion techniques to win the matches.

In reality, Ye Liuyun found her True Essence Quality even higher than Liang Xue's, and her strength was unfathomable.

Moreover, what puzzled Ye Liuyun was that this woman came from a minor Sect, yet kept distance from fellow disciples and Elders, as if unfamiliar.

She occasionally glanced toward Ye Liuyun, as if she knew him.

There was another special case: a disciple who had practiced Demonic Cultivation, though he did not come from a Demon Cultivator Sect.

His Demon Qi seemed easy for Ye Liuyun to handle. However, the disciple was also adept with Poison Technique, making him somewhat troublesome.

Ye Liuyun didn't want to expose his own Poison Technique, so he could only defend and not use poison against him. Otherwise, he truly wished to duel him to see whose poison was stronger.

There were several other contestants; although their current strength was slightly weaker, their realms were all at the Zao Hua Second Realm pinnacle.

The competition rules state that once they pass the elimination round into the formal match, even if they breakthrough their realm, they still compete as Zao Hua Second Realm participants.

In other words, if these people breakthrough to Zao Hua Third Realm, their strength would increase dramatically.

By then, their strength should be comparable to Ye Liuyun's.

Ye Liuyun estimated that at least eight or nine people could become his opponents.

"It seems Zhongyang Dalu truly hides dragons and crouches tigers. I had underestimated them before!" Ye Liuyun transmitted to Liang Xue, sighing.

"Indeed! Every major Sect has some exceptionally outstanding young talents. But you needn't belittle yourself; I believe you can definitely win first place!"

Liang Xue was quite confident in Ye Liuyun. Regarding cross‑realm challenges, Ye Liuyun had never lost.

To be safe, Liang Xue suggested to Ye Liuyun: "Why don't you also breakthrough to Zao Hua Third Realm?"

Ye Liuyun thought it over but still didn't want to immediately elevate his realm.

"It's not the right time now. My last breakthrough was too fast, and my True Essence hasn't been compressed to the limit. If I break through now, I fear it will affect future realm advancements."

Ye Liuyun would rather have his realm breakthrough slowly than risk his realm becoming superficial.