After a day of fighting, Ling Xiao and the others had passed the first round of the competition.
However, Bai Yuxi had suffered quite a bit of injury in the last round. Fortunately, it was not fatal.
Looking at the injured Bai Yuxi, Ling Xiao's heart ached. He decided not to let Bai Yuxi participate in the second round.
After all, let her experience the baptism of battle. In the future, as long as her level rose, she would have the ability to protect herself. In this way, Ling Xiao did not need to worry.
"Young Master, am I very useless?" In the inn, Bai Yuxi said to Ling Xiao with a pale face.
Ling Xiao stroked Bai Yuxi's beautiful hair tenderly and said, "No, my Yuxi is the kindest. It's all Young Master's fault for forcing you to do things you don't like. It's all Young Master's fault. You won't blame Young Master, right?"
Bai Yuxi buried her head in Ling Xiao's arms, closed her eyes, and breathed in the unique manly scent of Ling Xiao to her heart's content.
She replied indifferently, "Why would I blame Young Master? I know Young Master is doing this for my own good. No matter what Young Master wants me to do, Yuxi will not complain!"
Bai Yuxi's temperament was like this. Kind, gentle, and to put it bluntly, she was just a little obedient. However, this was also to Ling Xiao.
"Don't worry, Young Master will not force you to do things you don't want to do in the future." Ling Xiao kissed Bai Yuxi's cheek, then carried her to the bed, and let her meditate to recover her spiritual power.
Half a month later, the first round of martial arts competition finally ended.
Out of the 12,000 people, only slightly more than a thousand people entered the second round.
Over the past half a month, Ling Xiao and the others had been watching the battles every day. They had seen all kinds of powerful Earthly Sovereign Realm experts. Their dazzling Xuan Skills, amazing Secret Skills, and various kinds of protective spiritual beasts were truly endless.
Among the remaining 1,000 people, three-fourths of them were high-level Earthly Sovereign Realm cultivators, while the rest were mid-level Earthly Sovereign Realm cultivators. Only Yuan Zhantian was a low-level Earthly Sovereign Realm cultivator.
He was also the most popular among the emperors. Many forces were trying to find out about his origins, and at the same time, they used all kinds of temptations to rope him into their respective forces.
As for what Yuan Zhantian was thinking, Ling Xiao did not know.
In the past half a month, Ling Xiao had paid special attention to seven people. These seven people were the Earthly Emperors that Ling Xiao believed had a seventy percent chance of entering the top ten of the minor competition.
Other than Yuan Zhantian, the other seven were: Wen Huang, Bai Mensheng, Tuoba Yuan, Gu Mingzhu, Gu Jiaojiao, Guan Xiong, and Chang Jingda.
Wen Huang looked like an extremely refined and handsome man. His cultivation was already at the peak of the Earthly Emperor Realm. He only needed to comprehend his own Dao, and breaking through to the Venerable Realm was just around the corner. He was one of the true disciples of the Blue Sun Sect. Like Xuan Yao, he was a light attribute martial artist and was good at using the bone fan. He won ten battles in a row without summoning his spirit beasts. Moreover, none of his opponents could withstand more than three moves from him.
His strength was extraordinary. Bai Mensheng looked ordinary, but his expression was extremely feminine. As a true disciple of the Blue Sun Sect, he had the strength of a high-level Earthly Emperor. He specialized in the water attribute and had already cultivated the Blue Sun Sect's secret realm to the realm of four clones. However, Ling Xiao was sure that these four clones were not his full strength. This was because he appeared to be too calm in every battle. Basically, he would kill his opponents within a few moves, not giving them any chance to beg for mercy. This was completely similar to Shen Mo.
Tuoba Yuan was a direct descendant of the aristocratic Tuoba Family. The Tuoba Family was comparable to a fourth-grade sect. Tuoba Yuan was a genius of the new generation in their family. At the age of thirty-five, he already had the strength of a high-level Earthly Emperor. He specialized in the rare lightning attribute, and his lightning attacks deterred people from approaching him. In all ten battles, he won with one move.
His combat strength was rather astonishing. Gu Mingzhu was an outstanding disciple of the fifth-grade sect, Luoxia Sect. She had a beautiful appearance and the strength of a high-level Earthly Emperor. She specialized in the wood attribute and had a high-level fifth-grade Green Pine Fox as her protective spiritual beast. The human and beast worked together seamlessly, and she similarly advanced with an absolute advantage.
Through observation, Ling Xiao knew that this girl should have many trump cards. However, he would only know how strong she was after the battle.
Gu Jiaojiao's appearance was slightly inferior to Gu Mingzhu's, but she was petite and cute. She always had shallow dimples on her face, giving people a feeling of innocence. She always had a bright smile on her face, but her attacks were not soft at all. Her fire control mystic technique made Ling Xiao suspect that this girl should have the identity of an alchemist. This was because her flames should be the fire seed of some kind of beast fire. From this point, it was not difficult to guess.
This girl was the daughter of the patriarch of the great aristocratic Gu Family. Ten years ago, someone from the Gu Family fought his way into the top 100 of the Imperial Ranking Tournament, and that person was Gu Jiaojiao's elder brother. She hoped that she could become a "War Emperor" like her elder brother.
Guan Xiong looked like a middle-aged burly man. He was already in his sixties and had the strength of a peak Earthly Emperor. He specialized in the earth and wood attributes and was also a freelance mercenary. His murderous aura was extremely violent. Normally, his opponent would be frightened by his murderous aura. This guy was extremely abnormal. Before killing someone, he would first kill the opponent's spiritual beast. Unless the opponent admitted defeat in advance, he would not even let the person go. None of the seven people that died in his hands had a complete corpse.
Chang Jingda was the oldest among the seven. He was already ninety-seven years old and was infinitely close to a hundred years old. He looked old, but he was a genuine peak Earthly Emperor. Perhaps he had come to participate in the Imperial Ranking Tournament for the reward of the Enlightenment Pool.
He was proficient in claw techniques and cultivated a set of ghostly movement techniques. He was an expert in close combat.
Ling Xiao believed that this Chang Jingda was the most likely person to enter the top ten of this minor competition. This was because this person was the most cautious and never underestimated his opponent. He was also the most experienced in combat. Although each battle required a long time, his steady and steady style made it harder for him to make mistakes.
Apart from these seven people, there were a few others that Ling Xiao paid attention to. Perhaps these people were also dark horses that had hidden their strength.
Ling Xiao was naturally not afraid of anyone here. His goal was not only to enter the top ten here. He wanted to take the glorious title of "First Martial Emperor" in the entire Central Region.
The reason why he was observing so attentively was not only to absorb the battle strength and Secret Arts of these outstanding young talents from the Central Region, but also to warn the people around him to avoid these people as much as possible. This way, there would be fewer unnecessary battles in the competition.
The first round of the martial arts competition ended, and the second round of the martial arts competition soon began.
Currently, there were more than a thousand people who had entered the second round. The rules were the same as the first round. Those who won ten battles in a row would enter the final round. This meant that the top 100 of the minor competition would be born in the second round.
Those who could enter the second round were extremely strong. Therefore, they were very careful when choosing their opponents.
Ling Xiao planned to let the few of them wait until the others had accumulated enough wins before challenging them. This way, they could save a lot of combat strength.
However, many people had the same idea as them. The speed of the second round of the martial arts competition was much slower than the first round.
This was because most people were looking for the weakest opponent to challenge.
In the end, Ye Yunfeng could not help but jump onto the third arena. He defeated the opponent who had just won a battle and began to wait for the other nine people to challenge him.
Ling Xiao secretly scolded Ye Yunfeng for being too impatient. However, this was also a good opportunity to hone his combat strength.
Nine battles in a row in the second round were quite suffocating. After all, all of the opponents were extremely powerful.
Ye Yunfeng won the first two battles with ease. However, when it came to the third battle, he had no choice but to summon his spirit beast.
This was also the first time Ye Yunfeng's spirit beast appeared in front of the crowd. His spirit beast was no longer the rank four spirit beast that he had brought out from the Ye Clan. Instead, it was a peak rank five Astral Yellow Lion that he had captured before participating in the Imperial Ranking Tournament.
The Astral Yellow Lion was a combat-type spirit beast. It also had a rare sound wave attack, making it difficult for the opponent to guard against it.
The man and the beast worked together and won a few more battles.
However, as he used up too much energy, Ye Yunfeng had to apply for an hour to recover before the seventh battle.
For those who won consecutive battles, they could apply for a break in the middle. Otherwise, not everyone would be able to fight ten people without being injured or defeated.
With the high-level recovery elixir that Ling Xiao had prepared in advance, Ye Yunji's condition was more or less recovered after an hour.
At the last moment, Ling Xiao had to remind Ye Yunfeng to be more careful.
Ye Yunfeng also realized that there would definitely be many people who wanted to take away the fruits of his victory. Therefore, he was 120% vigilant.
He had to get through the last three battles no matter what.
If he could not even get through these three battles, how would he be able to enter the top 100 and become a true Combat Emperor?
Ye Yunfeng won the next two battles with great difficulty. He suffered many injuries and his combat ability was greatly reduced.
If it was not for the power of the Astral Yellow Lion, he would have died a long time ago.
In the last battle, a peak Earth Emperor in his seventies or eighties was lucky enough to get the chance to fight against Ye Yunfeng.
This peak Earth Emperor was called Hua Fanzheng. He specialized in the wind attribute and his protective spirit beast was an advanced rank five Lunar Wind Wolf.
"Kid, since you have helped me win so many battles, you should admit defeat," Hua Fanzheng said to Ye Yunfeng. From his confident expression, it seemed that victory was already in his hands.
"If you want to beat me, show me what you are capable of!" The golden spear in Ye Yunfeng's hand shook violently and the sky was filled with golden spear shadows that stabbed towards Hua Fanzheng.
At the same time, the Astral Yellow Lion released a terrifying sound wave that blasted towards Hua Fanzheng and the Lunar Wind Wolf.
However, Hua Fanzheng seemed to be prepared. He used energy to isolate his eardrums from the outside world and at the same time, he used the wind attribute to quickly escape from Ye Yunfeng's attack.
A silver longsword appeared in his hand, and a series of grey wind blades blasted towards the injured Ye Yunfeng.
Swoosh swoosh!
Ye Yunfeng's body was blasted by the wind blades several times. Fortunately, he was wearing a spiritual armor that blocked most of the wind blades.
However, even though he could block them for a while, he couldn't block them forever.
Hua Fanzheng used his super fast speed to fight with Ye Yunfeng, exhausting Ye Yunfeng's combat ability. From time to time, when Ye Yunfeng's reaction was slow, Hua Fanzheng would attack with his sword.
Ye Yunfeng's limbs were already injured and his aura was greatly reduced.
Just when everyone thought that he would lose, Ye Yunfeng's combat ability suddenly soared.