Battle Through the Heavens - chapter-565

This match of Liu Qing were undoubtedly one of the few exciting fights in
this competition. However, given his strength, a match this standard did
not cause others to feel overly surprised.

After Liu Qing, there were quite a number of experts who made their
appearance one after another. Among them, the one that garnered the most
attention was undoubtedly the appearance of Lin Xiuya. However, his match
caused everyone to be neither able to laugh nor cry. This was because his
opponent never appeared. Under the pressure of facing the number two on
the ‘Strong Ranking’, he chose to admit defeat and leave. Therefore,
Lin Xiuya had become the person who had the easiest time advancing. This
also caused Liu Qing, Xiao Yan, and the others who wanted to observe Lin
Xiuya’s tactics beforehand to feel somewhat disappointed.

The twenty-five matches on the first day lasted from morning until night
before it was finally declared to have ended in front of the countless
numbers of gazes that did not seem to enjoy it sufficiently. Although
there were some competitors who did not display their strength well, the
‘Strong Ranking’ was ultimately the competition with the highest
standards in the Inner Academy regardless of how one put it. Exciting
fights between the strong were sufficient to cause the others to exclaim
in amazement.

Moreover, everyone knew that the truly exciting fights were not these
elimination matches in this first round. Instead, they were the fights in
the second and third day! After today’s elimination round, there were
only twenty-five people who remained. Whether it was because of their
luck that they reached this step or by other means, there certainly were
no ordinary people among them. A fight at this level naturally held a
degree of excitement and fiery passion that was far from what the first
day’s elimination matches could compare with!

Therefore, all the audience members adopted an unsatisfied feeling along
with anticipation as they waited for the even more exciting exchanges on
the second day!

……

As night descended, the Inner Academy, which had experienced a day of
noisiness and great passion, finally recovered its calm. Bits and pieces
of light scattered around the enormous academy and were extremely
eye-catching in these mountains.

The pale moonlight scattered into a quiet room through the window, and
landed on the face of Xiao Yan who was seated cross-legged in it. At this
moment, the latter had his eyes closed. His breathing was long and slow
as the threads of tiny energy from his surroundings were absorbed into
his body along with his breathing. After undergoing some refinement, they
added a little brick and mortar on the great undertaking of advancing
one’s strength.

Xiao Yan’s eyes moved slightly after the training had continued for
nearly two hours. They slowly opened, and a mottled breath that was
restrained in his mouth for a long time was exhaled.

As the mottled breath was exhaled, a layer of pale glow immediately
surfaced over Xiao Yan’s expression. The pale-whiteness that had formed
from the intense fight during the day had completely disappeared at this
moment.

Xiao Yan sensed the surging Dou Qi flowing within his body and smiled.
That plan of Bai Cheng who wanted to go all out and cause Xiao Yan to
lose the matches later on was dashed. With the mysterious effect of his
‘Flame Mantra’ along with the collaboration of various medicinal
pills, it was not overly difficult for him to fully heal himself within a
short amount of time as long as he had not received any kind of serious
injuries.

“It is likely that the competition tomorrow will be even more dangerous
than the one today.” Xiao Yan mused and muttered. Other than Wu Hao and
very few others, those who could enter the top twenty-five were all
undoubtedly truly strong people. These people were much stronger than Bai
Cheng.

“However, that ‘Great Rift Coffin Splitting Claw’ of Liu Qing
really possessed a frightening might. If I am to really fight him, I’m
afraid that my ‘Octane Blast’ would not be able to catch up to that
technique.” Xiao Yan tightly clenched his five fingers and sighed
softly, “Although the both of them are of the High Xuan class, he had
merely practiced ‘Octane Blast’ for two to three years. Liu Qing, on
the other hand, had honed his skill for close to twenty years. How were
the two comparable? Moreover, Liu Qing’s personal strength far exceeded
his. If he were to compete with the ‘Great Rift Coffin Splitting
Claw’, Xiao Yan could only seek temporary shelter from it.

The glow in Xiao Yan’s eyes flickered. A moment later, it suddenly
became ruthless as he ferociously muttered to himself, “Who cares. I
will go all out no matter whom I meet. I must occupy a spot among the top
ten!”

……

In a small quiet room not far from Xiao Yan’s room, a subtle lovely
figure stood beautifully under the moonlight. An old man stood with his
hands hanging by his side behind her.

“Xiao-jie, the one month of time is up. Aren’t you going to leave?”
The silent atmosphere continued for a moment before that old man raised
his head. That face was naturally that of Ling Ying who had been
shadowing Xun Er.

The lovely figure trembled without being noticed. A long while later, she
let out a distant sigh. “Let’s wait for another few days. I will be
able to leave with my heart at ease once Xiao Yan ge-ge has successfully
obtained a spot in the top ten of the Grand Competition.”

Ling Ying helplessly nodded. However, he did not say anything else. His
body twisted, and he turned into a shadow which disappeared into the
darkness.

The young lady did not appear to have sensed the disappearance of the old
man behind her. She still stood in front of the window like a stone
statue. Her pretty eyes were filled with emotions as they passed through
the window and stopped at a room not far away. There was still a faint
light remaining in that place.

There were many people who were having a sleepless night tonight.

……

The next day came extremely slowly amid the anticipation of a countless
number of people.

When the first thread of the morning sun scattered down from the skyline,
the quiet Inner Academy was once again replaced by a heated atmosphere.
Many students ate their breakfast in a simple fashion before forming
groups and rushing to the arena.

The enormous arena was swiftly filled within a short two hours. A noisy
fiery passion, similar to yesterday’s atmosphere, echoed in the sky
while carrying various different tones.

All the Elders took their seats in succession half an hour after entering
the stadium. After the First Elder Su Qian took his seat, the second day
of the competition was announced to have finally begun.

“Due to the elimination round yesterday, there are only twenty-five
competitors remaining. Therefore, we need everyone to draw lots once
again.” Su Qian’s laughed from the judges’ section. His voice
reverberated clearly beside everyone’s ear, “This time around,
however, there will be an excess of one person. Hence, there will be only
twelve matches today. The last person will advance unconditionally.”

Su Qian’s words gave rise to a commotion in the viewing gallery.
Advance unconditionally? This seemed a little too easy, no? If someone
had good luck, would they not be able to directly enter the top thirteen?

“Ke ke, this unconditional advancement is likely to have an extremely
great attraction to many people. However, for the sake of fairness, our
Elder’s Council has already held a discussion. This spot will be given
to Zi Yan.” Su Qian spoke with a smile.

As Su Qian’s words sounded, a commotion broke out in the viewing
gallery once again. Those competitors on the high platform, however,
nodded their heads slightly. In any case, this little monster would have
no problem advancing. If this spot was given to her, they would be lucky
enough to avoid meeting her in this round.

“Does any competitor has any objection to this?” Su Qian’s gaze
turned to the high platform and asked.

Everyone shook their head in unison. That orderly manner caused everyone
in the viewing gallery to be stunned.

“Ke ke, since that is the case, let’s begin drawing lots.” Su Qian
smiled and nodded toward the bamboo cylinder on the stone table.

Hearing this everyone on the stage immediately rushed over and
sequentially picked out a bamboo stick from the bamboo cylinder.

Seven, Xiao Yan randomly glanced at the number on his bamboo stick before
he immediately followed everyone else to the high platform, and quietly
waited for the battle that would follow.

“The first match of the second round of the ‘Strong Ranking’ Grand
Competition, number three! Those with the red bottom number three and
blue bottom number three, please get into the arena!” Su Qian waved his
hand, and cried out when he saw that everyone had finished drawing lots.

As Su Qian’s cry sounded, two human figures immediately flashed down
from the high platform. Powerful auras instantly spread over the arena.

Xiao Yan’s gaze paused in the arena. After hearing Wu Hao introduce
them by his side, Xiao Yan had some understanding of these two people in
the arena. One of them was ranked 20th on the ‘Strong Ranking’, while
the other was ranked 22nd. They were similarly strong and both used
ruthless tactics. One should not underestimate them if they truly went
all out.

“Let the match begin!”

Su Qian’s faint voice was like a spark that ignited a barrel of
gunpowder. In an instant, the extremely tense dagger-drawn atmosphere in
the arena completely exploded.

There was not much of a warm-up the moment the match began. Both parties
unleashed their most ferocious head-on attacks. Two powerful Dou Qi
collided together, and the sound of exploding Dou Qi brewed into blast
waves, sweeping their surroundings like a fierce wind.

Xiao Yan’s eyes stared intently at the fight in the arena. He nodded
slightly. The students who could reach this stage did indeed have some
skill. The overall strength displayed had basically risen one level
compared to yesterday.

“Hey, Xiao Yan.” During the moment Xiao Yan was staring at the fight,
a hand suddenly patted his shoulders. A familiar voice sounded beside his
ear.

Xiao Yan turned his head doubtfully. He eyed Lin Yan behind him. When he
saw that Lin Yan’s face was hiding something, he could not help but
felt it was funny, “Why? Why are you here instead of preparing for the
next match?”

“Hee hee, I am doing this for your own good. Your number is seven,
right?” Lin Yan sat down beside Xiao Yan and laughed as he asked.

“Yes.” Xiao Yan nodded as he looked uncertainly at Lin Yan.

“Looks like you really did not hide your number. Originally, your
opponent was a fellow ranked 24th. However, that fellow coincidentally
belongs to Liu Qing’s group. Hence, his number was exchanged with Yao
Sheng’s number.” Lin Yan spread his hand and continued, “Therefore,
your opponent has already changed to Yao Sheng. From the looks of it, he
plans to properly teach you a lesson in the competition.”

“Oh?” Xiao Yan lifted his brows as he asked in surprise, “Isn’t
changing one’s number against the rules?”

“The numbers for the second round are not announced. Most people
tightly hide their numbers. No one acts like you, randomly revealing
their number.” Lin Yan curled his mouth and took out a bamboo stick
from his chest pocket. He waved it toward Xiao Yan and smiled as he said,
“Why don’t we exchange ours? This opponent of mine is someone ranked
19th. Although he is quite strong, he would undoubtedly be much more
relaxing compared to Yao Sheng.”

Xiao Yan was a little moved when he saw Lin Yan’s action. He smiled
slightly, pushed the bamboo stick back and smiled as he said,
“Coincidentally, I also feel that that fellow is an eyesore. Since he
wants to teach me a lesson, won’t I be a joke to others if I were to
dodge it?”

“You have the confidence? The current strength of that fellow might
well enable him to at least enter the top fifteen.” Lin Yan frowned,
but did not say much when he saw Xiao Yan’s rejection.

Xiao Yan smiled and patted Lin Yan’s shoulders. He turned his head
around and threw his gaze toward the other side of the high platform. A
feminine Yao Sheng also coincidentally threw his gaze over. That gaze
didn’t even try to conceal disdain and provocation amid the femininity.