Chapter 3793 — Both Sides Wounded?
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
He had taken the full brunt of Meng Zhou's Thousand-Leg Art, Twenty-One Forms, and then, enduring grave injury, had forced himself to unleash the Iron Cold Palm, Twenty-One Forms. Any reasonably normal early Foundation cultivator would likely have collapsed before that—to hold on until now before falling, Qiao Hongcai's feat already deserved to be called that of an iron-blooded man.
At this, not only were the newcomers below in an uproar, even the referee from Xuanji Pavilion at the edge of the stage did not know what to do for a moment.
Both combatants, Qiao Hongcai and Meng Zhou, were gravely wounded and unable to move; neither could do anything to the other. Though both were not far from death if things went on this way, neither could deal the other the finishing blow, and so it could only become this awkward deadlock, the two locked in standoff.
"What do we do now?" The put-upon senior brother and Wei Zhao exchanged a look and shook their heads wordlessly in unison.
By the rules of the newcomer challenge tournament, all outcomes could only be decided by the two duelists themselves; no one else had the right to interfere. But the present situation was a real mess.
Neither could move; Meng Zhou could not even speak for the time being, and as for Qiao Hongcai, though he could speak, he would never be the one to open his mouth and concede. Neither could do anything to the other, and so they could only drag it out endlessly.
But when would dragging it out ever end? The other newcomers were all still waiting for their challenges!
What was more, though Qiao Hongcai and Meng Zhou both still clung to a breath of life, their conditions were in truth precarious. If this dragged on, there was no telling whether both might wear themselves out and die together on the stage—and then this whole affair would become truly ridiculous.
It was not yet two months in, and any newcomer who could establish a Foundation was a rare talent with potential—especially here at Qingyun Pavilion, and especially with both of the two on stage being such. If these two promising newcomers were left to wear themselves out and die on the stage, then this matter would blow up enormously, and the so-called newcomer assessment system would no doubt be raked over the coals beyond all recognition.
Yet the rules of the challenge tournament had been approved by the Council of Elders; no one present, the referee included, could interfere, or they would be dealt with severely. To earn a black mark that way would leave one weeping with no tears.
Helpless, even the Xuanji Pavilion referee was at his wit's end, and could only send Meng Jueming to fetch Pavilion Master Hu Yunfeng. Though Hu Yunfeng likewise had no authority to meddle in the newcomer challenge tournament, he was, after all, master of Yingxin Pavilion, and could at least make some decisions.
After Hu Yunfeng was brought over, he looked at the deadlock on stage—Qiao Hongcai and Meng Zhou, neither able to move a muscle, yet set on maintaining their standoff—and could only shake his head wordlessly, unable to say a single word for a long while.
To be honest, this newcomer assessment system had been his own proud work, into which he had poured immense effort; every aspect had been considered thoroughly. He had been counting on it as an achievement for his record—otherwise he would never have won the approval of those titans of the Council of Elders.
But a scene like the present one had never been considered at all.
Apart from banning weapons, there were no other restrictions whatsoever. Under such loose rules, cultivators in a duel could still produce this kind of mutual destruction in which neither could do anything to the other—it was simply inconceivable.
"How about... we call this one a draw?" Hu Yunfeng glanced at Meng Jueming and proposed in an uncertain tone.