Chapter 4206 — Against Xu Lingchong
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Yet there were not twenty-five matches to be fought. Among the top fifty, some had won their morning bouts—but only narrowly, or at bitter cost. Even if they had not suffered serious injury, they had drained their stamina and true qi to the dregs, and could no longer take the field.
Such cases had already appeared in the second round that morning, but after a night's rest, the vast majority still had the strength for one more fight, so outright forfeits had been rather rare. Now, in the third round, at least ten of the top fifty were forced to forfeit.
They took no part in the drawing of lots; instead they were simply ranked jointly last among the top fifty, each receiving a single point.
As for the rest, they continued to draw lots and compete. A loss meant their journey ended there; a win did not necessarily mean advancing further, for in every round thereafter, some would be in no condition to fight on, and would withdraw after collecting their due points.
Fighting his way through round after round, Wei Zhao came through without real danger, and at last, after narrowly defeating a peak mid-stage Golden Core expert, he stood at the summit of the top fifty and entered the final match of the singles tournament.
Such a commanding performance left everyone present dumbstruck. He was still only an early Golden Core expert—and moreover a newcomer of the Welcoming Pavilion who had joined the Three-Layer Pavilion barely a year ago. And now he had actually fought his way through to the final match of the inner sect tournament's singles competition!
This was an unprecedented feat, a legend fit to be written into the annals of history. Even Zhang Lifeng in his day had never defied the heavens quite so outrageously!
Of course, Wei Zhao's ability to laugh last owed not only to his own formidable strength, but also to another important reason: the inner sect tournament rarely saw core disciples of late Golden Core or above take part, and even peak mid-stage Golden Core experts seldom appeared here.
Those who had reached that level were, in the vast majority of cases, already disciples of the various high-ranking magnates—some not even merely nominal disciples, but formal ones—and had no need at all to enter the inner sect tournament.
Their cultivation resources were prepared for them personally by those high-ranking magnates; they had no need to rely on the official resource allocations of the Three-Layer Pavilion. Naturally, then, there was no need for them to take part in the inner sect tournament. In fact, many core inner disciples stopped entering the tournament the very next year after becoming nominal disciples of a high-ranking magnate.
Of course, there were always exceptions—such as the peak mid-stage Golden Core expert Wei Zhao had faced earlier, or the late Golden Core expert Xu Lingchong had faced in the first round.
At the same time Wei Zhao secured his place in the final, the other side likewise produced a victor. The opponent Wei Zhao was about to face was none other than his old nemesis, Xu Lingchong.
By now it was evening. The two stood on the arena of the final match, the last rays of the setting sun falling upon them, seeming to dye them in a layer of crimson killing intent that made it impossible for the crowd below to look straight at them.
Before the battle had even begun, the atmosphere was already taut as a drawn bowstring. The crowd below grew keenly interested—Wei Zhao and Xu Lingchong alike were the talk of the town, and now that both had reached the final of the singles tournament at the same time, it was packed with explosive appeal.
"Grandfather, who do you think will win—our little junior brother or that loathsome fellow?" On Shangguan Lan'er's face, usually so carefree, there was for once a rare trace of worry. Beside her sat Huang Xiaotao, who had stopped at the top hundred, her face likewise clouded with concern. R1152