Challenging the Top 10

The rules of the Heaven's Pride Ranking was fairly simple.

You challenge a person, and if you defeat them, you take over their ranking.

However, there was an additional rule.

If one wanted to challenge one of the people from the top 9 ranking, they had to defeat the disciples, who were within the top 10, before them first.

If you wanted to take the first placing, then you were required to fight against the entire top 10, before you could challenge the first.

Similarly, if you wanted to take the second place, then you were required to fight against the people from Rank 10 till Rank 3, before you were allowed to challenge for the second place.

This was to ensure that the disciples were able to accept and acknowledge the person's ranking, and not protest that the person had won by pure luck.

Additionally, this reinforced their reputation and position, if they managed to win, of course.

They had shown the ability to defeat those ranked lower than him, so what else could the people say about their ranking?

Long Chen stood in front of the Elder who was in charge of the battles, as he slowly said, "I want to challenge everyone in the Top 10."

The Elder simply nodded his head out of habit, and was about to write down the names on the challenge slip, when he froze.

"What did you say?" The Elder asked, as he dug his ears with his fingers, hoping to clear them up.

Did he hear wrongly previously? A new disciple, challenging the entire top 10?

There was no way. The Elder told himself, shaking his head as he mocked himself for his hearing mistake.

"I would like to challenge every single person within the Top 10." Long Chen clearly repeated, enunciating his every word.

He was not surprised by the Elder's reaction.

If he was the Elder, he would similarly be astonished.

The Elder stared wide-eyed at Long Chen, his jaw nearly falling to the ground.

He was trying to find words to say, but wasn't able to find a suitable one.

In the end, the Elder slowly asked, his face still in shock, "The entire top 10?"

Long Chen nodded his head.

The Elder eyed Long Chen intensely, not knowing whether the youth in front of him was an idiot, or really had the goods to back up his words.

He shook his head and sighed, "The new disciple, Long Chen, would like to challenge everyone from the Top 10!"

With that, he waved his sleeves, his hand simultaneously writing names on 10 different slips of paper, which then floated towards 10 different directions of the Sect.

This was the challenge slip, which is used to notify the disciples who were being challenged.

A disturbance quickly spread throughout the crowd, as words of mocking and derision travelled occasionally towards Long Chen's ears.

"This is the person who Murong Xuan wanted to watch? I thought it would be something fun, but I didn't expect it to actually be a joke!"

"A new disciple challenging the top 10? What does he think they are, weak rabbits waiting to be trampled on?"

"I don't know whether if he is strong enough to challenge them, or he is just plain over confident!"

"You never know, what if he actually have the strength to defeat them?"

There were some that thought positively of Long Chen, although most just looked at him like he was an idiot.

They were not to blame for this.

He was a mere new disciple.

The cases of Murong Xuan and the Little Devil were record breaking feats. How could they possibly think that there will be someone even more terrifying than them?

Long Chen ignored all this criticism, the indifference in his face not fading a single bit.

He was not here to care about the thoughts of the audiences. He was here to win.

Meanwhile, Xiao Wan Wan who had stumbled upon this scene, was unable to control her emotions.

She menacingly shouted "My Brother Long Chen is very powerful! How dare you talk about him like that! If you dare to say that again, I will personally come to your houses and take care of you!"

Her large eyes widened in anger out for Long Chen, as she waved her little fist in the air whilst jumping about.

It was only then that the crowd died down, as they immediately kept their mouths shut.

Seeing this scene, Xiao Wan Wan then nodded his head in satisfaction, not forgetting to throw a glare at them, before she cheerfully waved towards Long Chen, her lips rising into a radiant and brilliant smile.

Long Chen helplessly smiled back when as he caught sight of this.

He didn't know why Xiao Wan Wan acted so close towards him, but he found her quite adorable and cute.

A few moments later, a youth rapidly flew towards the stage.

He had a broad face, his lips were large, his figure well-built and burly. Within his left hand held a huge shiny machete that reflected the gleam of the sun. He carried a confident expression, and gave a feeling of ferociousness, and strength.

He was Pang Qian, Rank 10 on the Heaven's Pride Ranking.

"So you are the new disciple who wants to challenge me?" The youth gazed towards Long Chen who was quietly sitting down at a corner, his lips curling up into a smirk.

Long Chen ears perked up at this sudden voice, as he then slowly opened his eyes, then gradually stood up, his hand loosely gripping onto a sword.

If the Long Chen who had been silently sitting down earlier gave a sense of peace and serenity, with a hint of fragility, the Long Chen now gave off a feeling of mysteriousness and profoundness.

The expression in his eyes were as vast as a sea, and he did not radiate of arrogance, but certainty. Certainty that he will win this match.

Pang Qian hands tightened his grip on his machete, the smirk on his face slowly disappearing, replacing that of wariness.

"Please." Long Chen eyes indicated for Pang Qian to make his move, as he calmly waited there.

Pang Qian moved.

He charged towards Long Chen, his machete placed behind him in preparation.

Then all of a sudden, his feet tapped down onto the floor, as he rose 3 meters into the air, his machete now directed towards Long Chen, as he gave out a cry, gathering his strength and momentum.

This move radiated of strength and ferociousness, a direct representation of Pang Qian's temperament.

The advantage of his height amplified the strength of this strike, making it much more powerful.

Along with Pang Qian's tremendous innate strength, it perfectly complimented each other, as he thrusted his machete down towards Long Chen.

Long Chen did not show a single worry on his face, which made the Pang Qian, who was in the air, quite shocked for a moment, wondering what he could possibly do to avoid this strike.

Just as the machete was inches away from his face, Long Chen moved.

His sword in his hands flashed with an imperceptible ray of light, crashing onto the huge machete.

The large size of the machete, along with the slenderness of the sword, created a huge contrast.

The impact of the collision spread throughout around the arena, as the dust around rose up and covered them, blocking the viewer's sights.

They all strained their necks, as they tried to see what the result was.

The dust slowly fell, leaving them with a scene that left them dumbfounded.