As Luan walked up the stage, he garnered even more attention from the crowd.
Not because he looked formidable or anything like that, but because of his rough look. Many thought that an old man had been sent to participate.
Though there wasn't any rules against that, as long as one was in the Qi Condensation realm, and they had a token, they were qualified for this part of the competition.
To them, his cultivation realm wasn't formidable as everyone in the round of the competition was also at the peak of the Qi Condensation realm.
"As the referee of this competition, I'll like to say a few things." The Golden Core cultivator began and his voice echoed throughout the arena.
His eyes scanned the Qi Condensation participants with contempt.
"Firstly, killing is not allowed. Anyone that breaks this rule will either be killed or dealt with accordingly. Secondly, no one is allowed to use external items. For example, spirit talismans, graded weapons, and so on. However, items solely used for defense are allowed. Anyone found lacking will be eliminated… immediately!" He paused and looked at the faces of a few nobles below.
"You can eliminate a participant by knocking the person out, pushing them out of the ring, or forcing them to forfeit. They will also be eliminated if they are deemed incapable of continuing. Out of the 120 participants for this round, only five will qualify. In other words, the battle royale will continue until there are only five of you remaining… you can now begin." He finished, disappearing from the stage.
The stage was big enough to contain these 120 participants as there was ample space between every one.
Luan calmly looked around and noticed a few eyes were already on him, however, the people his grand uncle told him to watch out for didn't concern themselves with him.
They don't think I'm good enough to enter their eyes?
From the corner of his eye, Luan saw a man swinging a bronze staff at his head. Also, from his right side, a woman was already half way into her kick, aiming for his chest.
The two of them saw him as an easy target.
Luan acted as though he didn't notice anything.
His clan members in the audience felt the grip of anxiety on their hearts.
However, just before any of the attacks could land on him, Luan used his cane to gently hit the staff, sending it into the ground before twisting his upper body, dodging the girl's kick.
At the same time, he struck the girl's knee with his cane. A sharp sound of bone breaking reached the ears of many. Followed by a loud scream.
The girl landed on her back, rolling on the ground while holding her leg. What had hurt her the most wasn't her bone breaking, no. There was a sharp sting from the spot on her flesh that the cane touched, as if she had been whipped with a barbed wire.
The audience winced at the sight of the girl's limp bone. Someone quickly came on stage and took the girl off the premise.
"This man seems to take equality seriously." Someone from the crowd said.
"Elder… I thought the young master hasn't been trained for combat before." Sully said.
He had found Luan's movement to be the optimal choice in that tight moment.
Sully wondered if he would had made that move if he was the one in Luan's shoes.
"He hadn't. Luan despised combat so much that when he was younger, he threatened to commit suicide if he was forced to learn it." Baldeen answered.
He too was shocked, but he was better at hiding his expressions.
As for the man with the staff, he paused.
The way Luan had redirected his staff shocked him. He started to reassess him but who would give him time to think? He was soon thrown into another battle.
This was a free for all competition.
As for Luan, up to a dozen people had attacked him, and much like the girl whose leg he broke, all of them had ended up with a broken bone.
Some were even directly knocked out by his strike.
And he had only used one strike per person.
"Whoa! The Khans had a dark horse like this and left us to believe that they were an easy pick! Dammit! I already bet that the Khans would be part of the first twenty to be eliminated!"
Complaints flew from the crowd.
Many of them thought they were going to make some easy money today… but that wasn't the case.
While many complained, a fair share began cheering for Luan.
"Have guys noticed that he hasn't left the same spot he was since the competition began?" Someone pointed out.
"That's true! And he's only been using one move to take them out!"
The audience cheered.
"Elder, did the family pass around false information about the young master to protect him?" Sully asked.
At the moment he wanted to slap himself for telling Luan not to be arrogant. Though there were still quite a number of people on the stage, it looked as if Luan was having a smooth sail.
Even some powerhouses began to take notice of him.
As for the person in question, he busy thinking about how to improve his strikes. Since the competition began, Luan hadn't even coated his cane with qi. Just pure brute strength.
His mind couldn't help but go back to one of the sentences he read in the Sword Body Scripture.
Have you held a sword before?
The scripture asked.
When he first read this question, Luan found it a bit funny. However, after subconsciously answering in his mind, doubt filled his heart.
This was what kept on slipping from him.
How could it be that he was doubting if he had held a sword before? Hasn't he spent hundreds of years holding one?
The more he reassured himself, the stronger his doubt became. And the question rang in his mind again.
Have you held a sword before?
Luan had gotten so engrossed in this back and forth with himself that he hadn't notice that people had stop coming for him.
After seeing the number of people he put out of commission so easily, almost all the other participants wanted to avoid him.
He alone had eliminated 34 participants, making him the person with the highest elimination count.
He was a truly a dark horse.
Even the nobles in his round became fearful of him and acted as though he didn't exist.
Baldeen, much like many others were, was speechless. They hadn't expected such a performance from Luan.
Not only did he take out people easily, he still hadn't moved from the spot he had been standing on since the beginning.
Moreover, the people he warned him to be careful of didn't even want to mess with him.
I can't really blame them. They are not of the same generation. His true opponents are all in the Void Battlefield.
And truly, these people were younger than Luan. Many of them weren't even born by the time he fell sick.
Though Baldeen felt hopeful and relieved, his excitement was dwindling. He felt like Luan was missing out on something…
It hadn't been up to 30 minutes and there was already seven people left on the stage.
Luan included.
These six all decided to face themselves. To them, the dark horse had already earned himself a spot.
Seeing this, a face in the distance frowned.
It was an aged man with grey hairs. He dressed in pale yellow robes and was seated on the top floor of a pavilion that was overseeing the arena.
"A promising young man." The old man muttered as he picked up a cup filled with wine and downed it. "But I can't have you mess with my plans."
A thin needle, quite similar to the one Luan pulled out of Dex, appeared in-between the man's fingers.
With a swipe, he threw the needle at Luan.
Thin as it was, the needle flew faster than an arrow could, approaching Luan in mere seconds.
Luan was still engrossed with the question from the Sword Body Scripture when his sixth sense sent alarms into his brain.
Danger!
Immense danger!
Almost instinctively, Luan coated his cane with his qi and swung it with everything he had in him.
In that split second, the question in his mind he had been struggling with, morphed into another question.
If you have held a sword before then why do you hesitate?
This time, Luan didn't answer with his thoughts, he answered with his soul.
If so, then… let it be.
As though there was an enchantment in those words, he stopped actively trying to control his qi.
This decision mid-strike, suddenly morphed his qi and like a ray, it shot ahead, forming into a crescent moon.
It was sword qi.
A type of qi that embodied the nature of a sword.
Ding!
The needle and sword qi collided, creating a shockwave of wind that caught the audience off guard.
Luan's sword qi broke the needle, turning it into dust.
Who was that!?
Searching the crowd for the person bold enough to target him, Luan finally took a step forward.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find the culprit.