Half a month later, half of the one hundred and seventy two compet.i.tors had already been eliminated. Eighty-six people proceeded to the next round in the end.
Including Jian Chen who had a free round, there were still eighty-seven Immortal Emperors contending for the position of the Thousand Immortal General.
Apart from Jian Chen who remained at his peak condition after avoiding a battle, the eighty-six others all bore injuries of various degrees with their energy greatly depleted.
That was just how it was for contending for a post in the Observance Heaven City. Apart from a test of strength, it was also a test of wealth and luck. If they did not bring along enough G.o.d Tier pills or heavenly resources to heal themselves, it would be very difficult for them to make it to the end.
Personal wealth and luck could also be viewed as a form of strength.
After the end of the first round, they had three days to rest and recover. Apart from Jian Chen, all of the compet.i.tors sat down on the spot to heal, doing their best to adjust themselves to their best condition.
Everyone was seizing every single second!
Before they knew it, the three days had pa.s.sed, and another swathe of b.a.l.l.s of light appeared in the sky above everyone. There were exactly eighty-seven of them, no more, no less.
When these b.a.l.l.s of light appeared, all of the compet.i.tors opened their eyes and turned towards the several dozen b.a.l.l.s of light.
“Eighty-seven people. So there’ll be another lucky person who’ll miss out on a round. I wonder who it’ll be this time.”
“We’ve all expended ourselves tremendously during the first round of battle. It’s very difficult for us to return to our peak condition in such a short amount of time. As a result, missing out on the second round holds extremely great significance. Anyone who misses out on the second round can slowly heal themselves back to their peak condition while the others are fighting.”
The eyes of many Immortal Emperors lit up with interest. Clearly, missing out on the second round was even more important than the first round to them.
“Hahahaha, if anyone gets the Sixth Heavenly Layer Immortal Emperor, even if it’s not missing out on the round, is there any difference?” An Immortal Emperor laughed in the crowd.
With that, many people looked at Jian Chen once again. Their lips gradually curled into a mysterious smile.
“Fellow Chang Yang, I do hope the two of us can appear in the same ring for the second round.” A burly middle-aged man snickered, clearly not harbouring the best of intentions.
“Sure. I also hope to spar with you. Let’s see whether we’re fortunate enough then.” Jian Chen looked at the middle-aged burly man and smiled freely. Then he reached out before him and directly grabbed a ball of light.
The middle-aged burly man was taken aback. He only wanted to mock this ignorant independent cultivator, but he never expected him to agree to it in such a straightforward manner. However, the smile on the middle-aged man’s face soon grew wider. He clasped his fist at the air and said, “Since even fellow Chang Yang has agreed to it, I hope you can let us meet in battle, sir artifact spirit.”
With that, the middle-aged man reached out for a ball of light before crus.h.i.+ng it without any hesitation. A glistening number immediately appeared before him.
“Immortal Emperor Li Shan, so much for being a renowned figure of the Taiji Heaven. How can you be so shameless today such that you’ll hara.s.s an independent cultivator whose cultivation is beneath yours?” an old man in the robes of a daoist priest said to the middle-aged man. He seemed extremely contemptful of the middle-aged man’s choice.
The face of the middle-aged man who was called Immortal Emperor Li Shan sank. He stared at the old man dressed in daoist robes with hostility and said, “Daoist Master Shangqing, since when did I need you to tell me what to do? If you keep prattling on about this nonsense, would you believe me if I said I’ll fight you in the ring and punch your head? p.i.s.s off!”
“Punch in this lowly daoist priest’s head? I’m afraid you still don’t have that ability!” Daoist Master Shangqing smiled gently. Clearly, the two of them had been rivals for many years now.
Crack!
At this moment, Jian Chen crushed his ball of light. Immortal Emperor Li Shan who was just about to continue his argument with Daoist Master Shangqing subconsciously looked at the ball of light in Jian Chen’s hand.
But very soon, Immortal Emperor Li Shan became stunned.
The ball of light that he had crushed was empty. No number drifted out.
He had actually skipped the second round too!
“A-another free round… H-how is this possible?” Immortal Emperor Li Shan was dazed.
In the next moment, Jian Chen became the centre of attention once again. The Immortal Emperors that were originally disinterested in him all looked over.
Skipping the first round could be described as luck.
However, skipping two rounds in a row raised some other suspicions.
These compet.i.tions had been held in the Observance Heaven City countless times, but rarely did anyone who managed to skip two rounds in a row appear in history.
“Don’t tell me this independent cultivator is under the artifact spirit of the Observance Heaven City’s secret care?”
At this moment, many competing Immortal Emperors thought of the same thing. Even though they found it to be unfair, none of them had any complaints.
No one was bold enough to question the Observance Heaven City.
Even those Immortal Emperors from the courts of heaven were not bold enough to do that!
Jian Chen became rather dazed as well. At this moment, he could finally confirm that the artifact spirit of the Observance Heaven City had indeed shown him some care.
Very soon, the second round formally began. Apart from Jian Chen, the other eighty-six Immortal Emperors were all sent into forty-three ancient battlefields.
This round of elimination took a total of twenty days before the forty-three battles finally came to an end. The forty-three victors were basically all injured, and some of them had become extremely feeble. As soon as they emerged from the ring, they began healing themselves in a rush.
Immortal Emperor Li Shan was also quite injured. There was a huge hole in his chest, such that even his heart had already been shattered. His face was pale.
Even Xia Mingtian from the Immortal Feather sect, a court of heaven, was not in an optimistic state.
After all, none of the compet.i.tors were simple. They all came from great backgrounds. Even though there were differences between them, they were nowhere near large enough for them to crush one another.
Out of the forty-four people, only Jian Chen was unscathed, still at his peak condition.
Moreover, through observing their battles, he had gained a rough understanding about how these people fought too.
Several days later, they began to draw lots for the third round.
However, there were no free rounds available this time, so Jian Chen was forced to fight.
“Whoever gets paired up with the Sixth Heavenly Layer Immortal Emperor will have all the advantage in the fourth round. They’ll have an extremely great chance at emerging victorious in the very end.”
Many people became interested in Jian Chen, the compet.i.tor with the weakest cultivation.
In the end, after drawing a ball of white light, Jian Chen’s opponent was actually Immortal Emperor Li Shan!
“Hahahaha, fellow Chang Yang, I never thought you’d actually be my opponent for this round. Don’t worry, I won’t go so heavy on you, so you can leave with dignity.” Immortal Emperor Li Shan rejoiced. He could not help but laugh aloud.
Jian Chen smiled mysteriously. He said nothing at all, directly entering one of the rings.
“Li Shan sure is lucky. He’s able to get through the third round effortlessly. They probably don’t even need to clash that many times. He’ll have more time than all of us to recover.”