A man’s tiger-shaped shadow dissipated as the blood-stained blade passed through it. The momentum of the slash was unabated as it sliced through the man’s right shoulder, sending his arm flying to the ground and a cascade of blood splattering onto the arena.
“Ahh!” The man let out a pained scream as he stumbled backwards, taking several steps before he regained his balance. His face was etched with despair.
The loss of his arm not only signified the end of his journey in the Dragon and Phoenix Rankings, but also the end of his martial arts career. A wave of regret washed over him. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn’t have come here to challenge Commander Gardner.
Archer Conner looked at the scene with narrowed eyes, his expression not very pleasant.
“I… I concede…” The blue-robed man on the arena hesitated for a moment before shouting to the referee. He was afraid that if he didn’t say something soon, he would be finished today. He turned to Billy and said slowly, “You’re very ruthless, paralyzing me just like that… you made me lose my arm…”
“You should be thankful that the rules state that killing an opponent on the arena is forbidden. Otherwise, you would be dead already!” Billy turned around and walked towards the exit of the arena.
At first, he hadn’t planned to cripple his opponent. However, when he sensed a hint of murder in his opponent’s heart, he guessed that he was probably from one of the major superpowers. For these scoundrels who were trying to kill him, he couldn’t be so lenient.
“Commander Gardner is unharmed, thank goodness!” At this moment, a man’s voice sounded from the audience.
“Thank goodness indeed!” Many people echoed.
The applause was long and sustained.
On the third day of the competition, the event also came to a close at midnight. In addition to completing the second round of eliminations, two thousand people advanced to the third round. Billy and his friends had good luck in the first two rounds, facing no strong opponents and all advanced to the next round.
The next three or four days were also elimination matches. Although fewer people were left, the length of each match was about the same, lasting until midnight each day. After five or six days of eliminations, approximately ten thousand contestants were left, narrowed down to the final hundred for the 100-Strong Tournament.
Of course, this was just a temporary list. According to the rules of the competition, to ensure fairness, contestants who were eliminated in previous rounds still had the opportunity to challenge the top 100. Based on the previous few days’ experience, at least two or three dozen skilled martial artists who were unlucky during the eliminations had been knocked out during their matches against formidable opponents. For them, there was still a chance to”revive” after the 100-Strong Tournament ended. Among them were Vermilion Bird, Soul Chaser, and Black Tortoise. During the final round of eliminations, they unfortunately drew superpowers’ top prospects and were knocked out.
Starting on the seventh day, the Dragon and Phoenix Rankings officially entered the 100-StrongTournament phase. Naturally, there would be no more eliminations; according to the rules of the competition, all hundred contestants would first be ranked based on their abilities, with those of the same level competing against each other. Then, lower-level contestants would have a chance to challenge higher-level ones again. In this way, the final ranking would be determined.
According to previously compiled information, among the top hundred contestants, the weakest were Novice War Emperors while the strongest had reached the half-step Sovereign realm. However, their true abilities might have been concealed by certain methods.
At 9 a. m. on the seventh day, Otis Hum stood on the lifting platform and made an opening speech before the 100-StrongTournament officially began.
The ten stages and audience seats on site had all been removed, and two circular stages with a diameter of about 700 to 800 meters were built in the center of the plain. There were stairs around the two stages, and the total number of seats was similar to that of previous days.
Today’s matches were between War Emperor candidates, and more than half of the 100 contestants had War Emperor cultivation. The two arenas would take place simultaneously, and it would take about a day to determine the final rankings.
At 9:15, four War Emperor candidates in the early stage mounted the two stages. With the judge’s command, the two pairs of contestants started fighting simultaneously.
The tournament was obviously more exciting than the elimination rounds, and it soon won cheers from the audience.
“Billy, Prime Minister has found out the identity of the three people who attacked you that night!” At this moment, Ivy came to sit next to Billy in the VIP area and spoke up.
“One of them comes from the Saint Sky Sword Pavilion, while the other two are from the Sky-Quaking Daoist Sect. All three are old things who have not been seen for a hundred years in both sects!”
“Huh, really?” Billy narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Damn! It’s really them!” Bob cursed.
“Billy, Prime Minister also asked me to ask your opinion on how to handle this matter?” Ivy continued. “If you want to take action to eliminate the people from both sects on the spot now, he can give the order immediately!”
“No, thanks for his kindness.” Billy gave a thin smile and said, “Don’t worry about it, I’ll handle it myself.”
“Alright.” Ivy nodded.
“Boss, when do you plan to take action?” Casey looked at Billy and asked.
“After the competition.” Billy thought for a moment before looking at Azure Fang and saying, “Azure Fang, arrange several teams of SHADOWers, keep a close eye on all the super sects members who have come to participate in this rankings selection competition!”
For him, now that he had found out the identity of the three people, it was clear that he couldn’t just let it go. Moreover, he was going to take action against the Sky-Quaking Daoist Sect and Cerulean Abyss Institute after the event, especially the former. Azure Fang’s family had a blood debt with the Sky-Quaking Daoist Sect for a long time, and it was time to finally settle it once and for all.
“Got it!” Azure Fang took out his phone to send a message.
Time passed quickly, and it was already evening by 6 p. m.
Next up was the War Emperor peak stage matches, with four contestants entering one after another. Judge was one of them.
“Judge, come on!” Frostblade encouraged him.
“Don’t worry!” Judge grinned before getting up and walking towards the stage.
Soon, all four contestants were on the two stages.
Coincidentally, Harlan Holmes was also one of them, but he was divided into a different stage. Judge’s opponent was a woman holding a long sword, about his age with a green robe and a pretty face, with a slender figure.
“Are you from SHADOW?” asked the woman on Stage One as she noticed the Crescent Moon Saber in Judge’s hand.