In the prairie, the battles continued in full force, and by the end of the day, 59 matches had taken place.
In total, there were only 7 draws among the 59 fights, so the overall score was as follows:
52 disciples with a victory — receiving 1 point.
14 disciples with a draw — remaining with 0 points.
52 disciples with a loss — losing 1 point.
Aotian and Rihai were undoubtedly in the first group.
And the matches for both of them, over the next 9 days, were not much different.
The average strength among disciples didn't vary much, with some being more exceptional and experienced than others, which gave them a certain advantage in battle. But against Rihai and Aotian — one with a divine physique trained by combat experts since childhood, and the other who didn't even need explanation to show how absurd he was — there was no comparison.
From then on, everything went smoothly.
On the first day of combat, after the fights ended, the stone platforms were collected by the elders, and the journey continued.
On the second day, the platforms were once again set in place, and a new session with 59 matches began.
This time, the 52 victorious disciples faced each other, the 52 defeated ones also, and the 14 who drew fought among themselves.
In the end, the scoreboard looked like this:
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Among the winners from the last round (with 4 draws):
22 disciples with victory — Score: 2
8 disciples with draw — Score: 1
22 disciples with loss — Score: 0
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Among those who drew in the last round (with 2 draws this time):
5 disciples with victory — Score: 1
4 disciples with draw — Score: 0
5 disciples with loss — Score: -1
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Among the losers from the last round (with 5 draws):
21 disciples with victory — Score: 0
10 disciples with draw — Score: -1
21 disciples with loss — Score: -2
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In this system, as the fights went on, the stronger ones would rise, while the weaker ones would fall.
The general scoreboard on the second day looked like this:
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22 disciples — Score: 2
13 disciples — Score: 1
47 disciples — Score: 0
15 disciples — Score: -1
21 disciples — Score: -2
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As the days went on, this scoreboard became increasingly accurate, and draws became less frequent at the top.
The matches were consistent. Aotian would step onto the stage, move his fingers slightly, and launch a sword ray — and it was always the same: victory with a single strike.
The disciples who faced him prepared specifically for that move, trying different approaches each time, but the result... didn't need to be said.
Some hid underground, others tried flying at high speed, some created as many barriers as possible, but they always failed.
There were even disciples who gathered in secret to come up with elaborate strategies, only to see them completely crushed the next day.
In this way, Aotian slowly became a symbol of terror and invincibility among the disciples. Still, none of them gave up, and all gave their best in each match. After all, their safety was guaranteed under the watchful eyes of the elders.
And contrary to what they thought at first, Aotian wasn't arrogant or cruel because of his talent and power. On the contrary, thanks to Lin Xiaoxue — who once defended his personality upon seeing that some disciples were afraid of offending him — it was soon confirmed that Aotian really wasn't a bad or cold person.
Aotian had to hold back from laughing when he saw the disciples testing the waters with him, greeting him cautiously, and then being surprised when he casually greeted them back.
Soon, thanks to his friendly personality and overwhelming power, one could hear warm calls of "Senior Brother Long" wherever he walked through the sect's ship.
Rihai also became a celebrity alongside him. Shouts of "Senior Sister Liu" echoed everywhere, although in a more respectful tone.
Despite being kind, Rihai didn't give off the same approachable aura that Aotian did.
And more than that, because of the strength shown by both, the disciples began calling them by a special title that combined their names: Lónghǎi qínglǚ (Dragon and Sea Couple).
A common question among everyone was who, between the two, was stronger.
Although Aotian always showed more ease in winning, no one could tell how much of their real strength the couple was actually using in the matches.
It was only on the sixth day of the competition that everyone hoped they might finally find out.
Unfortunately, they were met with a cliffhanger for the next three days, as the fight ended up taking place only on the ninth day since the start of the matches, due to a necessary pause in the competition to speed up the journey to the next recruitment point, since the competition was causing delays.
When they arrived, they still needed to spend two days recruiting disciples at the foot of the Celestial Flame Sect's mountain before the matches resumed and impressed yet another wave of newcomers with the sect's strength.
Total disciples recruited in the city: 821 people
Total disciples recruited during the expedition: 1320 → 2141 people
Total overall disciples in the sect: 2264 people
And the cliffhanger of the long-awaited fight between the Longhai couple was dragged out for another day, when, surprisingly, Aotian faced another undefeated disciple instead of Rihai… and that disciple was Hui Lang, the oldest man in the sect.
During the competition, the old man surprised everyone — not with overwhelming power, but with his cunning and cleverness.
Aotian swears that if throwing sand in someone's eyes worked on cultivators, the old man would carry an entire desert in his spatial pouch. But unfortunately, even with all his wit and experience, Hui Lang was defeated by Aotian in a single strike.
At the end of the match, Aotian looked at him and nearly let out the classic line, "Tricks are nothing before absolute strength," but held himself back out of respect for the elder who had been kind to both him and Rihai.
Instead, he offered a few words of consolation to the old man, who didn't seem to hold any resentment and even smiled calmly. It was clear he had been ready to lose that fight.
And then, on the seventh day of competition, the climax finally arrived: Aotian versus Rihai, the battle between the strongest couple.
The disciples could barely contain their excitement to witness the epic duel ahead, and secret bets were placed… all for the two to step onto the platform and Rihai to immediately admit defeat without even moving, making all the disciples curse in their hearts.
She didn't do it just because she was Aotian's partner, but also because she had witnessed his battle against the Red Tiger and knew how powerful he could be — and she didn't even know how strong he was now. She figured that if her divine physique were in perfect condition, maybe she'd stand a real chance of defeating him. But in her current state, she acknowledged she couldn't beat him.
Thus, Rihai lost one point, and Aotian gained another, putting him two points ahead of her and maintaining his undefeated streak in the competition.
With no further suspense, the ninth day of matches arrived, and the final scoreboard was revealed.
The top two positions seemed to carry no suspense in the minds of the disciples — it was obvious to them who it would be. And they were right.
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- 1st place: Long Aotian (9 points)
- 2nd place: Liu Rihai (7 points)
- 3rd place: Hui Lang (6 points)
…
- 17th place: Lin Xiaoxue (3 points)
…
- 19th place: Bai Lin (2 points)
…
- 29th place: Yun Mei (2 points)
…
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The little girl Lin Xiaoxue also made it through and was about to become an inner disciple. Though still young and inexperienced, she clenched her teeth and gave it her all, managing to secure a spot among the top twenty-five — which pleased and surprised Aotian, who was fond of the cheerful little girl and was happy for her.
But there was also a small issue with the final scoreboard.
In the 2-point range, the number of disciples exceeded the 25-slot quota, and Aotian would have to use tiebreaker criteria to decide the final result.
The next inner disciples were about to be announced.
...
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This was a note I posted on Patreon, and I'm posting it here as well.
Author's note:
Guys, this chapter isn't really the kind of style I enjoy writing, and you probably don't love reading it either. But I think having a chapter like this every now and then, especially during moments like this tournament which you might not be that interested in, could help move the story forward. Instead of stretching it out over three or four chapters, I've condensed it into one.
But if you'd prefer, I can rewrite it and show the full process in more detail. No problem at all.