"puff!"
Liu Tianyu spat out a mouthful of blood, his cheeks swelling up. He roared, "Gu Yifeng, you're asking for death!"
"Shut up!" With that, Gu Yifeng raised his leg and kicked Liu Tianyu in the stomach.
"Bang!"
He kicked Liu Tianyu in the stomach, and Liu's belly caved in, his body arched like a shrimp, and his face showed an expression of extreme pain.
"Thump..."
With a muffled thud, Liu Tianyu collapsed off the stage, unconscious.
Holy crap!
The scene before Liu Tianyu lost consciousness left many disciples watching the battle dumbfounded. This was too brutal! He started beating people up at the drop of a hat.
At this moment, both Gu Yifeng and Liu Tianyu were lying on the ground. Gu Yifeng was slightly less injured, but Liu Tianyu still broke several of his ribs with a kick.
He struggled for a moment, barely managing to sit up. He glanced at the crowd of onlookers and said coldly, "Gentlemen, this is a duel between the two of us, not a fight to the death. I hope you will keep your mouths shut."
"Gu Yifeng, we've got it. Don't worry, we promise to keep it a secret," the group said hurriedly, afraid that if they were too slow, Gu Yifeng would take his anger out on them.
"Hmph." With a cold snort, Gu Yifeng slowly closed his eyes to recuperate and heal his injuries, while Liu Tianyu remained motionless, presumably having been kicked unconscious by Gu Yifeng.
"Swish swish swish swish!"
A moment later, a whooshing sound echoed throughout the arena, followed by a series of white figures that swept in from all directions and finally landed on the arena.
Although this group was far weaker than Gu Yifeng and Liu Tianyu, each of them possessed the strength of an early-stage martial arts master.
"Disciples participating in the competition, please be quiet. This competition has been suspended due to some special reasons, so the rankings need to be recalculated."
As soon as these people came on stage, they began to loudly recount the rules.
"Okay, then let's continue queuing."
"Yes, re-rank them."
"..."
The participating disciples echoed this sentiment, but they all wisely left the arena, as they had just experienced a fierce battle and were in very poor condition.
"You all take a break. My name is Li Yunfeng. I will announce the new ranking order. Now let's continue," said a burly man.
He then continued, "Gu Yifeng and Liu Tianyu, you two will temporarily replace the top ten."
Then, he took out paper and pen and began to register the rankings. He registered very quickly, and in a short while, he wrote down the names of Gu Yifeng and Liu Tianyu.
"This is Gu Yifeng's name and number." After registration, the burly man handed Gu Yifeng and Liu Tianyu each a jade token, then stepped down from the arena.
Thank you.
After receiving the jade token, Gu Yifeng clasped his hands in a fist salute to the burly man, and then led Liu Tianyu toward his own courtyard.
"Brother Haonan."
Gu Yifeng had just stepped away when a voice came from behind him.
Looking back, he saw Wang Qiming walking towards him with a beaming smile.
"So it's Brother Wang. You haven't left yet." Gu Yifeng smiled faintly and asked.
"Hehe, I'd like to chat with you for a bit," Wang Qiming said with a smile.
Gu Yifeng smiled and said, "Alright, let's chat for a bit then."
Wang Qiming pointed to a stone bench under a willow tree not far away and said, "Let's talk over there."
Gu Yifeng nodded and walked towards the stone bench with Wang Qiming.
"Brother Haonan, congratulations on achieving third place this year." After the two sat down, Wang Qiming cupped his hands in congratulations to Gu Yifeng.
Gu Yifeng shook his head and said, "It was just luck. I didn't expect Liu Tianyu to be so strong that he could actually block my attack."
Wang Qiming waved his hand and said, "Gu Yifeng, you are too modest. I know your strength. Liu Tianyu has no chance of withstanding your attack."
"Brother Wang, you flatter me," Gu Yifeng said modestly.
Wang Qiming continued, "Gu Yifeng, I heard that you defeated Zhao Hao and Lin Zhenshan. Your strength is probably no weaker than mine."
Gu Yifeng nodded and smiled, "I have plenty of cultivation resources, but I haven't been cultivating for very long. Compared to Brother Wang, I am still slightly inferior. I guess Brother Wang must have much more cultivation resources than me."
Wang Qiming laughed and said, "I do have more cultivation resources than you do."
"Brother Wang is truly amazing." Gu Yifeng exclaimed sincerely, "As far as I know, your Wang family is one of the royal families of the Great Zhou Dynasty. You must have abundant cultivation resources. No wonder you are so powerful."
Wang Qiming said, "Alas, although I am a member of the Wang clan, the competition within the Wang clan is fierce. Apart from those ancestors, the other elders do not like me. Therefore, my cultivation resources are far inferior to those of my peers. The main reason I came to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect this time is to seek opportunities."
"Oh, what kind of opportunity are you seeking?" Gu Yifeng asked.
"Well, I'll keep that a secret for now," Wang Qiming said, keeping everyone in suspense.
Gu Yifeng glanced at him and smiled, "I guess you want to break through to the Innate Stage."
"Oh, you even guessed that?" Wang Qiming said in surprise. He had only told a few people he trusted most about this, and the others were still unaware.
Gu Yifeng chuckled and said, "It's not just you who wants to break through to the Innate Stage; I want to break through to the Innate Stage too."
"Then what are you going to do?" Wang Qiming asked in return.
Gu Yifeng shrugged helplessly and said, "There's nothing we can do but wait for an opportunity."
"Well, I don't think you need to be too discouraged. You're only at the peak of martial arts, half a step away from the innate realm. If you persevere for a while longer, you might just break through to the innate realm naturally." Wang Qiming patted Gu Yifeng on the shoulder.
"Haha, I take your kind words." Gu Yifeng laughed heartily, then asked, "Brother Wang, what do you mean by this year's martial arts tournament? Logically speaking, a martial arts tournament held by our Great Zhou Empire shouldn't allow outsiders into the dueling arena. Is it to select outstanding disciples and recruit them into our sect?"
Wang Qiming explained, "Of course not. This year's martial arts tournament is mainly for selecting martial arts disciples."
"Martial Apprentice? What's that?" Gu Yifeng asked, having never heard of such a thing before.
Wang Qiming said, "Martial apprentices are a profession established only after a martial artist reaches the level of a martial master. Once they reach the level of a martial master, martial apprentices can detach themselves from their mortal bodies and embark on the path of martial arts."
The training method for martial arts apprentices is to absorb spiritual energy, temper their physical body, and enhance their strength and understanding.
Once one reaches the Martial Apprentice realm, they can use true essence and even unleash a trace of true qi, making them a martial arts master. Furthermore, a Martial Apprentice's lifespan can reach around six hundred years, many times longer than that of an ordinary person.
Gu Yifeng suddenly realized, "Oh, no wonder the martial apprentices are so weak, it turns out it's because of the lack of pills."
Wang Qiming said with a wry smile, "Yes, who can argue with that? Our Wang family has plenty of resources, but we dare not easily share them."
Gu Yifeng nodded, indicating his agreement with Wang Qiming's words. The Wang family's influence spread throughout the entire Great Zhou Empire, controlling tens of thousands of miles of territory. Their resources were absolutely abundant, and they were not lacking in low-level spirit stones.
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