Listening to Ya Fei’s words, all the Martial Artists nodded solemnly; the reasoning here was naturally clear to everyone.

"Alright then, I’ll announce the rules. There will be two rounds of duels. Among you there are two Hidden Sect Disciples, and they will directly skip the first round. The remaining eight of you will draw lots for one-on-one matches. After four are decided, they will be grouped two against one, each group facing a Hidden Sect Disciple. All of it will be determined by drawing lots!" Ya Fei added.

A Martial Artist standing next to Liu Zixuan frowned. "Why do the Hidden Sect Disciples get such special treatment?"

"Because we’re stronger than you!"

Gu Huaqiu glanced at that Martial Artist. "If you don’t believe it, you can spar with me first. If you can beat me, I’ll withdraw from the competition on the spot!"

"You—!" That Martial Artist sized Gu Huaqiu up and down, then immediately shut his mouth. Clearly, in terms of Realm and strength, he was far inferior to Gu Huaqiu.

Gu Huaqiu snorted coldly and looked at Liu Zixuan. "Among these people, only you can be considered my opponent!"

"Then I’m really looking forward to fighting you," Liu Zixuan said lightly.

"Premise being you first get past the hurdle in front of you, otherwise you won’t even have the capital to exchange blows with me!" Gu Huaqiu gave Liu Zixuan a meaningful look, then stepped back in line.

Hearing this, the corner of Liu Zixuan’s mouth lifted slightly. He naturally understood what Gu Huaqiu meant by "hurdle"—it should be Zhao Yi!

Ya Fei’s charming eyes swept over everyone. "Since there are no other objections, step forward and draw your lots."

As she spoke, Old Wang of Dragon Spirit walked to the front, holding a bamboo tube filled with crumpled slips of paper, and set it before the crowd.

The four Martial Artists at the front stepped up one after another and directly drew a slip from inside.

"My opponent is Jiang Yunxuan!" The first Martial Artist was a burly man with a tiger’s back and a bear’s waist; the beard on both sides of his cheeks was especially eye-catching.

Jiang Yunxuan secretly let out a breath of relief. "Good thing I didn’t end up facing my brother. Otherwise I really wouldn’t know how to fight."

The second Martial Artist unrolled his slip. "Yu Langtian!"

"That character is She (she), not Yu!" A Martial Artist who looked to be in his thirties stepped forward, muttered coldly, then went straight with that Martial Artist to the Martial Arts Arena at the side.

The third Martial Artist was a girl, and Liu Zixuan even knew her—it was the Jade Maiden Sect little Divine Maiden Tongtong. Her small jade-like hands unfolded the slip as she said sweetly, "Bai Qiyun."

"Damn, they actually let me fight a little girl. I’m really convinced!"

Judging from the name, he should have been some elegant young man, but unexpectedly, this Bai Qiyun turned out to be short and ugly, a textbook case of short, poor, and ugly. It was completely at odds with his name. Standing in front of Tongtong, though, the two really did look like a pair of kids about to get into a fight.

Tongtong glared at him angrily. "You think I’m dying to fight a little shorty like you?"

When it came to the fourth Martial Artist, Jiang Yunxuan’s expression suddenly grew extremely unsightly.

Because the one holding the fourth slip was Zhao Yi, and the only one who hadn’t been matched yet was Liu Zixuan!

Wasn’t this forcing brothers to cross blades? Put bluntly, wasn’t it making Liu Zixuan and Zhao Yi slaughter each other?

"Old Zhao, you’re fighting Brother Xuan? I say we just forget it." Jiang Yunxuan muttered.

Zhao Yi lowered his head, struggling inside, but at this moment he had no choice. He stepped forward, looked at Liu Zixuan like a stranger, and said, "I’ll fight you."

To be honest, when he heard this, something deep inside Liu Zixuan was faintly stirred. However, all of this was within his expectations. He nodded slowly. "Alright."

"This really is interesting, huh. Brothers butchering each other—definitely the best scene in this whole competition!" Gu Huaqiu patted Zhao Yi on the shoulder. "You have to give it your all, you hear? A man who stands between heaven and earth, for the sake of a beautiful, happy home, must defeat Liu Zixuan!"

"Get lost!"

Zhao Yi pushed Gu Huaqiu’s hand away and walked straight toward one of the Martial Arts Arenas at the side.

The corner of Jiang Yunxuan’s mouth twitched a few times. He wanted to say something, but in the end didn’t, and followed that Martial Artist away.

Liu Zixuan’s gaze swept past Old Wang and Ya Fei in front of him. Just as he turned to leave, Gu Huaqiu’s voice slowly rang out again.

"Good luck."

Even with his back to Gu Huaqiu, Liu Zixuan could easily imagine that bastard’s face full of mockery and schadenfreude!

The Four Great Clans and Eight Great Powers had forced Zhao Yi to do something that wasn’t just going up and facing Liu Zixuan. They wanted Zhao Yi to seize the chance to kill Liu Zixuan.

They all knew that Liu Zixuan valued brotherhood the most. Once they started fighting, he would definitely hold back against Zhao Yi.

And Zhao Yi only needed to make use of Liu Zixuan’s trust in him to easily kill him!

For Zhao Yi, this was a cruel multiple-choice question.

If he chose Liu Zixuan, his wife would die—one corpse, two lives. If he chose his wife, he’d have to kill Liu Zixuan.

Of course, the Four Great Clans and Eight Great Powers hadn’t placed all their bets on Zhao Yi. They only pinned a small portion of their hopes on him. After all, Zhao Yi might disregard his wife’s life and choose his brother instead.

So, they arranged for someone like Gu Huaqiu.

In the eyes of the Four Great Clans and Eight Great Powers, they were placing most of their hopes on Gu Huaqiu, letting him kill Liu Zixuan.

The reason they went to such trouble to arrange the Zhao Yi move was because they wanted to savor the process of Liu Zixuan and his sworn brother tearing each other apart. To them, this was absolutely the main show of this year’s tournament!

Moreover, Liu Zixuan also vaguely guessed what kind of scheme the Hidden Sect and Dragon Spirit were plotting. He just had no evidence yet. The truth would only be laid bare to the world once they reached the Profound Sword Sect.

Once the eight Martial Artists were in position, a thunderous cheer exploded around them.

People watching a spectacle never mind the trouble, after all!

On the judges’ stand, Old Wang narrowed his eyes and laughed. "This tournament is really something. Liu Zixuan facing his own brother, that Jiang Family kid’s opponent being the brightest genius of the Four Great Clans, and that little Divine Maiden going up against a genius from one of the most mysterious powers—all very worth watching."

"Indeed. These little brats are all quite good. If not for the rules binding us, I’d really want to bring them all back to our Ghost Valley Sect," the white-bearded old man said with a warm smile.

"Hahaha. As the saying goes, each generation produces its own talents. Only then will the Star Sea Martial Realm have more hope!" The elder of the Profound Sword Sect laughed.

...

On the Martial Arts Arena, Liu Zixuan and Zhao Yi locked eyes. They knew each other very well, yet at this particular moment, a very peculiar sense of unfamiliarity arose between them.

The other arenas had already erupted into battle, but the two of them hadn’t moved at all.

After a long moment, Zhao Yi lifted his head, his eyes reddening, and said, "Brother Xuan, I’m sorry!"