"Uncle Master, is that person dressed in black your beloved?"

In the crowd, a pretty young girl suddenly approached Zhao Xiyan, asking quietly.

Zhao Xiyan remained silent.

Everyone else was focused on the martial arts competition, not paying attention to this side.

The young man next to the girl was also watching the match, but upon hearing her words, he perked up his ears.

This pair of young boy and girl were the granddaughter and grandson of the Jiangzhou Governor, the boy named Pan Wenxuan and the girl named Pan Shuyi. They were a few years younger than Zhao Xiyan but were a generation lower, hence they had to call her Uncle Master.

Pan Shuyi continued, "It’s said his talent is exceptional; can he compare with our little uncle?"

Zhao Xiyan still did not speak.

Pan Wenxuan, realizing that she seemed reluctant to discuss this matter, gently tugged his sister’s sleeve, signaling her to stop talking.

Pan Shuyi, seeing she finally managed to suppress the "Uncle Master’s" arrogance, smirked in victory.

Originally, she was the most cherished in the family, being the youngest in age and rank, the little princess of the family. However, once this Uncle Master arrived, everything changed.

Everyone in the family quickly took a liking to this Uncle Master, stealing her spotlight, making her feel neglected.

For months, no matter how hard she tried, Pan Shuyi couldn’t compete with Zhao Xiyan, always ending up inferior. This made her both frustrated and angry.

Now, she finally found her weakness.

Pan Shuyi could at last hold her head high.

Bang!

Suddenly, a loud noise drew her attention, as someone on the stage was struck and sent flying by a blade.

"Ah—"

Frightened, she screamed, soon realizing the person who was knocked flying wasn’t dead, not even injured.

She then remembered that this was a duel held at the World’s First Pavilion; how could anyone die?

Soon, another match concluded its outcome.

The World’s First Pavilion announced the start of the second round of battles.

Pan Shuyi noticed the man in black entered the stage too, feeling delighted. She leaned over again, saying, "Uncle Master, look, your beloved has entered the field."

"Oh no, his opponent is the fifth member of the Qi family; he has surpassed Grade Five for over a year, possessing deep cultivation and a family spear technique that has reached an accomplished level. Quite formidable."

"Your beloved only broke through to Grade Five three months ago; it’s likely he’ll lose in the first match."

Beside them, Pan Wenxuan hearing the hurtful words couldn’t bear it anymore and coughed forcefully, hinting her to stop speaking.

Pan Shuyi paid him no mind; she had faced so many setbacks from Zhao Xiyan, and now that she finally found the other’s weakness, she was determined to pursue it relentlessly.

She would ensure Zhao Xiyan could never raise her head in front of her again.

Zhao Xiyan didn’t respond, her beautiful eyes were fixed tightly on Chen Ming in the ring, with a trace of concern showing.

She naturally understood that participants in the Cyan Cloud Ranking were no pushovers, their skills far from those opponents Chen Ming had faced before.

In fact, Chen Ming’s ability to qualify for the competition had already exceeded her expectations.

"Uncle Master, it’s said your respected father is very concerned about face; if he loses too badly, I’m afraid—"

Nearby, Pan Shuyi kept chattering on. Finally, her brother Pan Shuxuan, couldn’t stand it any longer, pulled her forcefully and scolded, "Enough, keep quiet."

Only then did she reluctantly shut her mouth.

At this moment, Chen Ming faced off against Qi Wu, quickly exchanging a few moves.

Zhao Xiyan was surprised to find his swordsmanship had improved significantly, actually fighting Qi Wu on equal terms.

In just three months, his strength had transformed drastically.

She had lost count of the times she had been astonished by Chen Ming’s progress, always trying to overestimate his improvements. But in the end, she realized she had underestimated him.

When they first met, he was merely at Seventh Grade cultivation, one level lower than hers.

Now, in less than two years, he had reached Fifth Grade, surpassing her Sixth Grade, a level higher.

Thinking of this, Zhao Xiyan felt a rush of excitement in her chest, once again thrilled by his extraordinary rate of progress.

Many things heard as rumors and those experienced firsthand are completely different.

In Jiangzhou City, most people snickered whenever they heard of Chen Ming’s accomplishments, believing the merchants of Qingfeng City exaggerated.

Only those like Zhao Xiyan, who personally witnessed Chen Ming’s growth, understood how astonishing his progress was. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

What baffled her was that, after reaching Grade Five, his progress did not slow down but accelerated.

While Zhao Xiyan’s emotions fluctuated, on the stage the other four groups had already decided their outcomes. Chen Ming and Qi Wu were still locked in fierce combat.

It was only after fifty moves that Chen Ming narrowly secured a victory.

"Another narrow victory..."

A peculiar emotion welled up inside her.

Previously, when her cultivation was higher than Chen Ming’s, she clearly noticed that many times during sparring he deliberately held back, only seizing narrow victories after dozens or even hundreds of moves. He ensured his opponents maintained their dignity.

Now, was he still holding back?

Chen Ming couldn’t tell anymore.

At this moment, Pan Wenxuan said in surprise, "What superb swordsmanship is this? Which school’s technique is this, so grand and magnificent, with an endless aura."

Pan Shuyi, seeing that Qi Wu was actually defeated, silently cursed in her heart, unable to even defeat a country bumpkin who just broke through to the fifth grade. Truly useless.

She felt somewhat depressed, having missed a great opportunity to attack Zhao Xiyan.

...

[You defeated an LV58 opponent and gained 12,000 experience points.]

After winning a move, Chen Ming cupped his hands and said, "I concede." Without looking at the opponent’s reddened leg, he withdrew from the platform.

The third round of competitions was about to begin again.

He could feel many people turning their attention towards him.

He didn’t pay much heed; as he won more matches, he would attract more and more attention. Even if he wanted to keep a low profile, it would be impossible.

"Haha, I just knew you could do it."

Feng Siyuan approached, speaking excitedly. Just now he had heard other spectators comment, and none of them had any faith in Chen Ming, which made him indignant, though he couldn’t argue with them.

Among the people present, there were very few from Qingfeng Commandery. He only saw one Zhao Xiyan. Getting into a quarrel wouldn’t end well for him either.

Therefore, after Chen Ming won and seeing those people with embarrassed faces after being proven wrong, he felt particularly satisfied.

Chen Ming said nothing, observing the strength of the third round participants on the stage.

Everyone who stepped onto the stage would become his opponent, so naturally, he had to observe a bit.

Due to the protection of the supreme experts from the World’s First Pavilion, participants had no thought of holding back during their fights and fought especially fiercely.

Many people, knowing their strength wasn’t sufficient to reach the Cyan Cloud Ranking, still chose to step on the stage for the opportunity to spar with many equally matched experts.

This kind of sparring was no different from real combat. Since they wouldn’t get injured, moments like these weren’t always available, so everyone went all out.

Some, knowing they couldn’t win, would still adopt a fight-to-the-death strategy, thinking, "If I lose, I’ll make sure to splash you with blood."

Soon enough, the five rounds of competition ended, and everyone had competed.

Chen Ming had a rough idea in his mind. His real opponents were those seven seed contestants, along with Huang Zhuocheng, an unknown person in black, and another woman with the surname Shen.

...

The first round of competitions ended, and after resting for half an hour to allow the participants to mostly recover, the second round began.

In the second round, everyone faced different opponents.

The most exciting matches were still among the seven seed participants.

These people were all very famous, yet they rarely had the chance to face off against each other. A competition like this made it clear who was strong and who was weak.

Among them, the fiercest battles were between the two seed participants who had just lost. They clearly understood that losing again would mean missing out on the Cyan Cloud Ranking.

As the fight went on, real animosity developed, and every attack became lethal, shedding initial decorum and courtesy.

Watching this, Chen Ming finally understood why Su Zhining harbored such resentment towards the World’s First Pavilion.

With this way of fighting, it’s easy to breed enmity, particularly for the losing side, who would surely be bent on revenge. Over time, grudges only deepen.

It’s known that those competing for the Cyan Cloud Ranking are among the most outstanding of the younger generation and will certainly become the core figures of their respective factions in the future.

With such dire relationships between these individuals, the factions they represent would hardly get along well.

One can imagine how many future conflicts in Jiangzhou are being planted today.

Ultimately, those who lost in the previous round had one win and one loss.

For the second group, it was Chen Ming’s turn again—his number was eighteen. Last time, he faced nineteen; this time, it was twenty.

The strength of this second opponent was even less than the previous one, allowing him to handle it with greater ease. As usual, he "narrowly" won after over fifty moves.

If not for the fact that the other four groups had ended, making it inappropriate to drag things out longer, he could have carried on beyond a hundred moves.

Chen Ming’s approach was to leave others some dignity whenever possible to avoid unnecessary grudges.

[You defeated an LV58 opponent and gained 12,000 experience points.]

This person’s cultivation was similar to the last one’s, differing only in martial skill mastery. However, the experience points gained from defeating both were the same.

...

After five rounds of competition for the day, Master Zhu announced the end of today’s matches, to be continued tomorrow.

The people present gradually dispersed.

Pan Wenxuan couldn’t help but marvel, "He’s five for five, hard to believe he only broke through to the fifth grade just over three months ago."

Pan Shuyi, unconvinced, said, "He just got lucky, not facing any particularly strong opponents. Just watch; when he faces Luo Xu tomorrow, he definitely won’t win."

Luo Xu was precisely that defiant-looking man in black, with extraordinary strength, often ending his matches in just a few moves. Many believed that his strength was no less than that of Jiang Shihua and the other seven.

Currently, only seven people, including Chen Ming, remained undefeated with five wins, but no one believed Chen Ming was qualified to be listed alongside the other six.

Zhao Xiyan still said nothing, only watching Chen Ming’s figure disappear into the crowd, her expression slightly wistful.

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