Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As the ten participants arrived, a ray of fiery light dashed out from the fireclouds, forming into the silhouette of a middle-aged woman.
The woman gave off an extremely graceful aura. She had white, smooth skin and her head of long hair drifted in the wind, her whole body carried a unique charm. It was as if she was a fairy come to life.
“Respects to the City Master.” When the figure appeared, all of the Saints present, including some of the elders, bowed slightly, showing their respect.
“City Master? The ruler of the Zone of Desolation?”
Looking at the woman before his eyes, Ye Mo’s pupils dilated. He hadn’t expected an authority like her to show up for the Saint Elect Tournament.
A person of such stature was definitely in the Profound Heaven Realm – perhaps none of the elders present would be able to go against her.
The City Master more than lived up to her title.
Standing in mid-air, she didn’t even have to display her wings. When fighters reached her kind of level, they could completely fuse with the heaven and the earth and didn’t need wings to fly. Waving at the crowd, she said, “No need to stand on ceremony.”
After that, she headed to the arena’s elevated platform and sat on one side of the three seats.
“What? The City Master isn’t the one sitting in the center?” Ye Mo’s eyes widened further. The seating arrangement was extremely significant – whoever sat in the middle must have greater power and stature than the City Master.
Another shadow flashed by and landed on the platform – it was Elder Tao Tie. Without speaking, he sat on the other side of the seats, quietly awaiting the arrival of the final guest-of-honor.
“Who’s the one who’s supposed to sit in the middle?”
Everyone started to make their guesses. Elder Tao Tie and the City Master were both at the top of the power rankings in the Zone of Desolation. For someone to be able to sit between them and make the two of them sit at either side, he or she must be someone special.
“Don’t tell me, its the Master?”
“Not possible. The Master’s status may be high, but with regards to strength levels, he is still far off that of Elder Tao Tie and the City Master.”
“Has the Young Master come out? Once he reached the Profound Heaven Realm, given his talents, he may be able to stand beside the City Master as equals.”
Just as everyone was guessing, they all felt a frightening pressurizing force spiraling out. A blood-colored shadow flashed and solidified into a red figure. Dressed in a blood-colored robe with the Blood Devil Blade strapped on her waist – it was the Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber.
Her appearance shocked plenty of people. The Saints of the Desolate Mountain definitely hadn’t expected her to be to one to show up.
As the Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber arrived, Elder Tao Tie and the City Master both stood up, showing their respect for her.
“Welcome, Saint.” They held their hands together.
“No need for politeness,” the Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber said. ” I didn’t want to observe this competition in the first place. But my disciple is participating in today’s competition.”
She waved her hand before sitting down in the middle seat.
She took a glance at Ye Mo.
“Disciple Ye Mo pays his respects to Master,” Ye Mo, stood to the ground, held his hands together and said.
“That Ye Mo is Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber’s student? She doesn’t often accept disciples.”
“No wonder Ye Mo managed to make it to the finals with strength in the Third Tier of the Transcendence Realm. He’s the Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber’s student.”
“Indeed. What’s more, he’s just a newbie. With the proper guidance, he’ll go far.”
“Hehe, proper guidance. Who can figure out the Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber’s temper? She did take in a few disciples in the past, but she used them as lab rats and ended up killing them.”
Ye Mo’s identity as the Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber’s disciple caused plenty of commotion.
“So what if he’s her disciple? These finals are a matter of life and death. Even if we kill Ye Mo, there’s nothing that she can do.” Chu Tian looked at Ye Mo viciously. It looked like the appearance of the Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber had caused Ye Mo’s popularity to exceed that of the four main generals.
“My disciple’s speed of growth is indeed frighteningly quick – even his aura has grown plenty. I wonder what his Transcendence Golden Body looks like – will he be able to go all the way and gain the right to become a Saint?”
Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber was also filled with expectations.
“Since all the participants are here, Elder Tao Tie, please announce the rules of the competition.” The Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber didn’t want to waste any more time. She gave off a slight smile in anticipation. Elder Tao Tie nodded and gingerly got up and walked forward, going through the rules of the final.
“Next up, I shall announce the rules of the competition. This final competition will be a free challenge competition, which means that fighters will be able to choose whomever they wish to challenge. If the opponent rejects the challenge, it will be considered a forfeit. Since Ye Mo, Chu Tian, Li Huo, Nian Bing, and Liu Qingyun finished in the top five, Ye Mo will be the first to pick his opponent. Throughout the competition, participants won’t be responsible for any injuries or deaths caused.
After Elder Tao Tie finished his briefing, the ten participants looked at each other, trying to size each other up.
One could say that a challenge like this had no luck at all – the strong would prevail against the weak. By the second round, all the competitors left would be top fighters.
Even though Ye Mo had finished first in the point tally and had the right to pick his opponent first, plenty of people were still unsure about his actual strength. Among the ten participants, even the weakest was in the Seventh Tier of the Transcendence Realm. Ye Mo’s first challenge would be a good way to show what he was truly capable of.
“The ten of you, step forward, form a line and wait at the waiting area.” Elder Tao Tie said and the ten of them left their respective areas and formed a line according to their point tally ranking.
“Alright, we’ll start with Ye Mo, who placed first in the point tally rankings,” Elder Tao Tie said. “Please choose who you would like to challenge and begin the competition.”
“Alright!” Ye Mo nodded his head as he walked up. Sweeping his gaze at the other nine competitors, his eyes landed on Duan Fei, the weakest among them, only to see a sparkle in his eye – he was evidently rather afraid.
Regardless of whether it was a measure of strength or ranking, he was the weakest either way. He only had the option of being challenged and had no right to choose. Of course, he was going to be on the losing end either way.
Everyone wants the easy way out – once they won against him, they would qualify for the top five.
But Ye Mo’s gaze paused on Duan Fei for a moment before shifting away as he said, “I want to challenge Chu Tian!”
Everyone was taken by surprise. They had all assumed that Ye Mo would challenge the weakest of the participants; Duan Fei. They didn’t expect him to choose to challenge Chu Tian, the strongest among all of them. Was he trying to be eliminated in the first round?
“Chu Tian, do you accept Ye Mo’s challenge?” Elder Tao Ties asked.
If he rejected the challenge, it meant immediate elimination. If he accepted and lost, he would still be eliminated; such was the cruelty of the competition. Naturally, Chu Tian wasn’t going to reject the challenge.
“Since you’re so desperate to die, I’ll kill you right in front of the Saint Ancestor Bloodsaber,” Chu Tian said calmly. To him, victory against Ye Mo was a given. “I accept your challenge.”