The martial rankings arena.
Tens of thousands of people sat here, the air always filled with a deafening roar, lively and bustling.
After the first round of matches, twenty participants entered the second round.
Among these twenty, fourteen felt a heavy burden on their hearts.
Chen Jiuyang, clad in opulent robes, returned to the arena. Of his women, all but Qiu Yihan were asleep, huddled together.
Qiu Yihan, with her Earth Realm cultivation, possessed excellent stamina, even with the anxious torment she had endured these past few days. She was a martial artist, after all. Yao Zixuan, Lin Yuexian, and Ji Lengyue, however, were not. They had stayed awake for days and nights, worried sick about Chen Jiuyang. Seeing him safe and sound, their hearts, which had been suspended in anxiety, finally relaxed, and they succumbed to exhaustion.
Chen Jiuyang produced several leaves and fed them to the women, nourishing their bodies and blood.
Elder Han and the Chen family patriarch knew these were valuable items. Chen Jiuyang had relied on them to survive the thousand-mile blood path from the Qinling Mountains to Longjing.
They did not question him for now, intending to inquire about the origin of these leaves after the martial rankings concluded. Their life-source aura was so potent, and their medicinal effects so gentle, with virtually no side effects, that they were comparable to spiritual medicine.
The matchups for the second round of the competition were announced, assigned randomly using identity tokens from the martial rankings bamboo slips.
"First match, Gong Luque versus Tang Jingxian."
"Second match, Yan Hongming versus Huangfu Tianqi."
"Third match, Ye Tiannan versus Ye Taisheng."
"Fourth match, Luo Tianchen versus Gu Suzhen."
"Fifth match, Chen Jiuyang versus Zhou Wushuang."
"..."
Upon seeing the fifth match announced, many breathed a sigh of relief, while more displayed eager anticipation!
Everyone knew that Chen Jiuyang's thousand-mile killing spree from the Qinling Mountains was orchestrated by the Third Prince, Zhou Fangzun. Chen Jiuyang had just declared that he would kill anyone from a faction that had participated in the ambush against him.
Zhou Wushuang was Zhou Fangzun's son.
With Chen Jiuyang and Zhou Wushuang facing each other again, the question on everyone's mind was whether Chen Jiuyang would dare to kill Zhou Wushuang!
If Chen Jiuyang dared not kill Zhou Wushuang, he would become a laughingstock. But if he did, the situation would become truly explosive, as Chen Jiuyang would directly incur the eternal enmity of Zhou Fangzun, leading to a fight to the death.
Many began to ponder the intentions of the martial rankings artifact spirit in arranging these second-round matches.
The first round had been managed by the Longjing Sword Bearer, who dictated the rules. However, the second round was arranged by the martial rankings artifact spirit.
As soon as the matchups for the second round were released, many fell silent, their gazes fixated on Chen Jiuyang.
Zhou Wushuang's face alternated between green and white, his eyes filled with icy killing intent and resentment.
Countless eyes were fixed on these two.
And at that moment.
Chen Jiuyang unleashed a heaven-shattering battle intent. His body exuded a palpable killing aura, his blood surging, and his gaze sharp as needles. He looked at Zhou Wushuang, then slowly raised his hand, making a throat-slitting gesture towards him.
"Whoosh!"
The crowd erupted in a clamor, their expressions moved, their jaws agape, before excitement surged.
This was naked killing intent and provocation!
The battle hadn't even begun, and Chen Jiuyang was already making a throat-slitting gesture towards Zhou Wushuang!
How arrogant and overbearing!
They watched Zhou Wushuang's reaction.
"Interesting..." The heirs of the other four princes' gazes flickered upon witnessing this scene.
"Bastard!" Zhou Wushuang's face immediately paled, then he gritted his teeth.
Though he wished to flay Chen Jiuyang alive and torture him to death, he had to grudgingly admit that Chen Jiuyang's martial attainments and combat prowess surpassed his own.
Once he stepped onto the martial rankings stage, the outcome was predictable!
However, martial rankings participants also had the right to forfeit. But as the son of the Third Prince, Zhou Fangzun, how could he bow down to a mere dirt farmer? That would be more unbearable than death!
He, Zhou Wushuang, as the son of Zhou Fangzun and the crown prince of the Third Prince of the Dragon Kingdom, had not yet lived enough of his life of leisure and wealth. He did not wish to die.
Just as Chen Jiuyang had faced a death tribulation before, it was now Zhou Wushuang and others' turn to reap the bitter consequences.
Karma, retribution, was inescapable.
Facing Chen Jiuyang's threat, Zhou Wushuang's face turned ashen, and he gritted his teeth, remaining silent.
Zhou Wushuang's reaction immediately drew jeers from the crowd, who burst into laughter, their gazes towards Zhou Wushuang filled with mockery.
The son of the Third Prince, Zhou Fangzun, had apparently cowered, afraid to directly accept Chen Jiuyang's provocation.
Those aristocratic families and factions that had remained silent also wore extremely grim expressions. A dilemma of life and death now lay before them.
Their families' factions were scheduled for the fourth match in the second round.
The first question posed was: who should win?
The second question was, even if they won, if they were to face Chen Jiuyang, it would be an almost certain death scenario, a case of trying to steal a chicken only to lose the rice.
The third question was that if Chen Jiuyang and Zhou Fangzun fell out, Chen Jiuyang would be guaranteed a spot among the top five, receiving a royal decree to become a prince. In terms of status, he would then be on equal footing with Zhou Fangzun. Most importantly, after the martial rankings, ten Dragon Kingdom martial rankings teams would be selected to represent the Dragon Kingdom in the world martial rankings competition, bringing glory and national destiny.
Chen Jiuyang would undoubtedly secure one of these positions. At that time, even Zhou Fangzun would not dare to trouble Chen Jiuyang. The future destiny of the Dragon Kingdom for the next sixty years, affecting hundreds of millions of citizens, would rest on these ten individuals. If Zhou Fangzun dared to lay a hand on Chen Jiuyang, it would be treason.
Therefore, if Zhou Wushuang died at Chen Jiuyang's hands, Zhou Fangzun would not dare to vent his anger on Chen Jiuyang. Instead, these incompetent aristocratic families would become the target of Zhou Fangzun's fury, facing utter annihilation.
These individuals were extremely anxious, unsure of how to handle this situation. Their factions had united before to obstruct Chen Jiuyang, but now, they had to sacrifice a comrade to save themselves.
The question was: who should be sent to their death?
None of them were fools; no one wished to die. But the situation had reached this point, and sacrifices were inevitable.
Difficult, so difficult.
After the matchups were released, the first match quickly commenced.
Gong Luque versus Tang Jingxian. Their hands clashed for over a hundred moves. Half an hour later, Tang Jingxian narrowly defeated Gong Luque by half a move.
In the second match, Yan Hongming defeated Huangfu Tianqi using the Sky Dragon City Breaking Spear technique.
In the third match, Ye Tiannan, the senior disciple of the Shu Mountain Sword Sect, possessed a natural sword body and wielded the Shu Mountain Spirit Sword. His sword intent blazed, and he won against Ye Taisheng by half a move.
The fourth match was between Luo Tianchen and Gu Suzhen, from their allied aristocratic families and factions.
Upon entering the stage, these two stood still, making no moves, no techniques. They simply stood on the platform, seemingly trying to stall for time.
This was exploiting a loophole in the Dragon Kingdom's martial rankings rules.
After a considerable time, both of them said to the referee, "May this match be postponed until tomorrow to determine the victor?"
The referee was immediately stunned. In the many years the martial rankings had been held, this was the first time such a situation had occurred. Finally, the referee summoned the Longjing Sword Bearer.
The Longjing Sword Bearer said, "Granted. The battle will continue tomorrow to determine the victor."
The tens of thousands of people present immediately cursed, mocking the two, causing their faces to flush with shame.
Their stalling tactic clearly indicated their fear of Chen Jiuyang, fearing that if Chen Jiuyang killed Zhou Wushuang, Zhou Fangzun, who was behind Zhou Wushuang, would seek retribution from them.
The events of the martial rankings today spread throughout the entire Dragon Kingdom in less than an hour.
The disgrace of Zhou Wushuang and these aristocratic families and factions spread nationwide, drawing ridicule, mockery, and curses from countless people.
"Can you escape for a moment, but escape for a lifetime?"