Chapter 412 - 151: Winning Again, Advancing
By the stone table in the judges’ area.
Several Main Peak Elders were conferring in low voices, their fingertips occasionally tapping the tabletop. Their gazes swept over the competing disciples below the platform, clearly weighing their first-round performances to determine the rankings.
After a short while, the white-bearded Elder at the head of the group slowly gave a nod, and the others nodded in agreement as well. It was clear they had reached a decision.
Soon, a Main Peak Steward dressed in a gray martial uniform strode onto the Cyan Qilin Platform.
He stood tall and straight, his sharp gaze sweeping over the crowd below, who held their breath in anticipation. He announced in a clear, loud voice, "The top eighteen of this round of the Cyan Qilin Battle are ranked as follows—"
The area below the platform fell silent in an instant. Everyone stared at the Steward on the platform, awaiting the announcement of the top eighteen rankings.
"First place, Yunxi Peak, Yuwen Mingjue!"
"Second place, Celestial Derivation Peak, Zhao Chong!"
"Third place, Thunder Peak, Qin Wenbao!"
"Fourth place, Main Peak, Lin Chunyu!"
"Fifth place, Fen Yang Peak, Wang Lie!"
"Sixth place, Zhenyue Peak, Zhou Tong!"
"Seventh place, Lingxi Peak, Yang Jing!"
When Yang Jing’s name was called, a low murmur rippled through the crowd below, and many disciples showed looks of surprise.
The other disciples at the top of the rankings were all familiar faces. Only Yang Jing was a newcomer participating in the Cyan Qilin Battle for the first time. For him to have such a showing in his debut was truly unexpected for many.
On the Cyan Qilin Platform, the Main Peak Steward’s voice didn’t pause as he continued to read:
"Eighth place, Main Peak, Wei Dongting!"
"Ninth place, Celestial Derivation Peak, Jiang Lin!"
"Tenth place, Fen Yang Peak, Zhu Liang!"
"Eleventh place, Yunxi Peak, Shen Yurong!"
"Twelfth place, Thunder Peak, Li Mao!"
"Thirteenth place, Zhenyue Peak, Wu Kun!"
"Fourteenth place, Lingxi Peak, Zhang Hengyi!"
"Fifteenth place, Celestial Derivation Peak, Meng Fan!"
"Sixteenth place, Lingxi Peak, Chen Xuexiang!"
"Seventeenth place, Fen Yang Peak, Li Zhongshuai!"
"Eighteenth place, Yunxi Peak, Zhang Huailiang!"
After reading out all the rankings, the Steward announced loudly, "All disciples will rest for one hour! In one hour, the second round of the competition will officially begin!"
With that, he turned and walked off the Cyan Qilin Platform.
The moment his voice fell, a wave of discussion immediately rose from the crowd below.
They were all discussing the top eighteen rankings, and some disciples even brought up their own names.
Standing in the crowd, Yang Jing’s ears twitched slightly, taking in all the chatter.
’I’ve already figured it out. According to the rules of pitting the top against the bottom, my seventh-place rank means my opponent will be the one in twelfth place.’
And the person the Steward had just announced as twelfth was Li Mao from Thunder Peak.
Yang Jing was not completely unfamiliar with this person.
During the first round, he had made a point to observe the matches of various disciples, and Li Mao’s performance was naturally among them.
Li Mao was tall and thin, and he wielded a jet-black Iron Rod. His rod techniques followed a cunning and ruthless path, his weapon’s shadow flickering unpredictably as he specialized in striking at his opponents’ openings. His strength was truly formidable.
Among Inner Strength Martial Artists, those who used weapons were already in the minority.
After all, the core of Inner Strength cultivation lay in tempering one’s own Inner Strength and physical body. Fist and foot techniques could most directly integrate Inner Strength into their moves. In contrast, weapon-based martial arts relied more on external force, and their tempering effect on the body was less significant than that of unarmed combat.
Therefore, most Inner Strength Martial Artists practiced fist, foot, and physical body Cultivation Techniques; those who used weapons were the exception.
However, to be able to train with a rod to Li Mao’s level was enough to show his comprehension and perseverance in the Martial Dao.
Beside him, Zhang Hengyi and Chen Xuexiang looked at Yang Jing, their expressions full of admiration.
The two of them had trained bitterly on Lingxi Peak for many years just to gain a firm foothold in the Cyan Qilin Battle, yet Yang Jing, a newcomer, now far outranked them.
Zhang Hengyi took a deep breath, cupped his fists towards Yang Jing, and said emotionally, "Junior Brother Yang, amazing! Truly amazing! To have such a performance in your first Cyan Qilin Battle, even if you don’t make it into the top three this time, you’ll definitely have a chance in the future!"
Chen Xuexiang also nodded in agreement. "That’s right, Junior Brother Yang’s future is limitless!"
The three of them had not interacted much before. Because Yang Jing was a newly promoted disciple, Zhang Hengyi and Chen Xuexiang hadn’t paid him much mind.
But now that they had witnessed Yang Jing’s strength with their own eyes, how could they dare to show the slightest disrespect? They only wanted to take this opportunity to get closer to him.
The strong only respect those on their own level; as for the weak, they are mostly ignored.
The potential and strength Yang Jing had displayed had already made the two of them see him as an expert of their own caliber.
Yang Jing wasn’t an arrogant person. Seeing them take the initiative to show goodwill, he smiled and said, "You two senior brothers flatter me. It was just a stroke of luck."
His easygoing manner also made Zhang Hengyi and Chen Xuexiang smile lightly, and the three of them began to chat.
Since they all intended to build a connection, the atmosphere was quite harmonious, and the conversation mostly revolved around the current Cyan Qilin Battle.
They talked about the techniques and styles of the experts from each peak, analyzing how troublesome Yuwen Mingjue’s All Things Return to Origin Fist was, just how ferocious Zhao Chong’s Sky-Splitting Fist could be, and what openings could be found in Qin Wenbao’s Sea-Covering Palm.
Besides these three publicly acknowledged top experts, they also went over other threatening disciples, such as the Body Technique of Lin Chunyu from the Main Peak, the Horizontal Training Skills of Wang Lie from Fen Yang Peak, and the leg techniques of Zhou Tong from Zhenyue Peak.
Yang Jing listened with great focus. Although he had observed their fights during the first round, he had only seen one match each and didn’t have a deep understanding.
Now, hearing about the backgrounds and past battle records of these experts from two veteran disciples like Zhang Hengyi and Chen Xuexiang, he suddenly had a moment of clarity, feeling that he had benefited greatly.