Under countless shocked gazes, Xuanyuan Po walked down from the fighting platform and walked up to the small table. He looked at the minor official and asked, "May I ask how long the next round will take?"
The minor official recalled the scene on the fighting platform and subconsciously lowered his gaze, apparently wanting to avoid meeting Xuanyuan Po's gaze. However, he saw Xuanyuan Po's fist.
That seemingly ordinary yet terrifying fist.
The minor official paled as he used his trembling hands to flip through the list. After a very long time, he finally said, "There are still … seven more matches."
His voice trembled slightly, but it was unknown whether it was because of fear or something else.
Xuanyuan Po did not notice these details. Thinking about how long seven matches would take, he walked out of the crowd.
Many curious gazes fell on him, thinking, he's just won this match, so where is he going now?
The minor official somewhat calmed down, but when he thought about his loss of composure, his shame turned to anger, and an unnatural flush appeared on his pale face.
Suddenly, there was a hubbub as countless gazes turned to the fighting platform.
The winner of this battle was a skinny middle-aged man with an indifferent expression. He held a chilling iron saber in his hand.
The minor official was flabbergasted at the sight of this middle-aged man, thinking, why has this vicious person also come to the Pine Paths to fight?
He suddenly thought of a possibility and quickly flipped through the list of matches, confirming that this thin man would be Xuanyuan Po's next opponent.
He finally relaxed, at the same time feeling very comfortable. As he gazed at Xuanyuan Po on the distant street, he viciously thought, even if you really do have some brute strength, so what? You'll just be staying for one more round. In a little while, you'll still end up being hacked to death!
… …
… …
The Heavenly Selection ceremony was a grand occasion for the Demi-human race, and the remote Pine Paths fighting platform was also very lively. The matches that had been thought to be unremarkable had also been filled with twists and turns. The seven matches after Xuanyuan Po's victory had all been fought by true experts, making for an abnormally marvelous spectacle.
The poor people of the Pine Paths did not understand what was going on, but the Carp tribe administrator and the officials of the Demi-human Court and the Council of Elders had long since guessed at the true reason.
Many experts of the Demi-human race did not have the extravagant hope of obtaining the final victory in the Heavenly Selection ceremony and becoming Princess Luoluo's husband, but they still wanted to do their utmost to enter the top ranks of the Heavenly Selection ceremony and win glory for themselves and their tribes. If they could ultimately obtain the right to enter the Celestial Tree and receive the baptism of the Wildfire, that would be for the best.
These experts were well aware that if they went to the fighting arenas near the Imperial Palace or Heavensguard Pavilion, it would be very difficult for them to last until the end. Thus, they had deliberately chosen the most remote fighting arena, the Pine Paths. They wanted to avoid those opponents of the same cultivation level or even stronger, so that they could last as long as possible and go as far as possible.
It now appeared that there were quite a few experts with this idea, like the Xiang clan descendant defeated by Xuanyuan Po or the ten-some formidable individuals who had appeared later on. But compared to the fighting arenas near the Imperial Palace and Heavensguard Pavilion, the difficulty of this place was still much lower.
As these experts took the stage, the matches grew more and more intense. After the final seven matches, the crystals responsible for maintaining the defensive arrays of the fighting arenas needed to be replaced. From this, one could imagine how intense these matches had been, especially with the appearance of two extremely famous demi-human experts. The crowd grew more and more excited, cries of surprise rising from all around the fighting arenas. The shock brought about by Xuanyuan Po's first match had greatly subsided, but the official of the Demi-human Court and a few commoners would still occasionally glance at the outer edge of the crowd, see the leather bag Xuanyuan Po carried, and speculate in confusion as to what was inside.
Noiselessly, the red sun had already risen over the peaks of the mountains on the opposite shore and shone on the surface of the river. The last of the morning mist over White Emperor City had already dispersed, and the first round of matches had basically ended in the various fighting arenas. It was the same on the Pine Paths, and it was soon Xuanyuan Po's turn to step onto the stage.
Seeing Xuanyuan Po's figure, the spectators around the ring recalled the mountain-like fist from before and immediately cheered. Some of the neighbors and coolies who knew him daily even cheered loudly for him. However, when Xuanyuan Po's opponent also appeared on the ring, the cheers and cheers quickly died down.
Xuanyuan Po's opponent was a thin middle-aged man, precisely the one who had followed him onto the stage in the first round.
Seeing this thin middle-aged man, the crowd around the stage appeared rather fearful. A cold smile appeared on the face of the minor official behind the table. Even the Carp tribe steward and the two officials from the Demi-human Court and the Council of Elders couldn't help but shake their heads, their emotions rather complex.
This thin middle-aged man was from the Nirvana race and was called Nie Chi. He was a true demi-human expert and had a great reputation on the two shores of the Red River. His true essence was extremely vigorous and his blade technique was extremely cruel. Just like his personality, very few opponents who had been defeated by his blade had ever survived.
In the first round of matches, his opponent had been beheaded by a single strike of his blade. The supervising official of the Demi-human Court had not even been able to stop him in time.
This demi-human expert's blade technique was incredibly fast, like a bolt of lightning. It was said that he had once told a companion that although his cultivation in the path of the blade was far inferior to Wang Po's, in terms of pure speed, not even Wang Po's blade was as fast as his.
"Your strength truly isn't bad, but it's far from enough."
Nie Chi expressionlessly said to Xuanyuan Po, "Because you're too slow."
These seemingly ordinary words were actually extremely tyrannical, and they truly were very reasonable.
No matter how strong one's strength was, if one could not keep up with their opponent's speed, how could one injure them?
Xuanyuan Po fell silent at these words.
He was not feeling uneasy or lacking in confidence, but he was recalling the words that Bie Yanghong had said to him before he left the courtyard.
Speed was strength.
How should he understand these words?
Speed, in essence, was a method of using strength.
True experts were not those who possessed limitless strength but did not know how to use it.
How could one convert strength into speed? If he had some time to properly comprehend Bie Yanghong's words, perhaps …
There was no 'perhaps'.
There was no time.
An extremely bright and also extremely cold ray of light suddenly appeared in Xuanyuan Po's black eyes.
It was a blade glow.
Although his words were rather disdainful, Nie Chi was still fearful of Xuanyuan Po's strength, so he did not give Xuanyuan Po any time to prepare.
He wanted to use his fastest blade to cut off Xuanyuan Po's head.
This blade truly was fast, as fast as a galloping horse, as fast as a bolt of lightning.
Only when the blade glow transformed into a ray of light and unfurled in Xuanyuan Po's eyes did the sound of a blade being unsheathed.
With a clear sound, the sharp and cold iron blade pierced through the air.
By the time the crowd around the platform heard this sound, the blade was only half a foot from Xuanyuan Po's neck.
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