Heavenly Will (Part 1)

The arena was filled with people from the various schools and sects, the crowd cheering loudly as the remaining contestants appeared.

Jian Li and Jian Chen could feel the tension in the air and could feel that the second half of the tournament was going to get even more intense.

They could see the other contestants were in a good mood, the atmosphere lightening up as the second round of the competition was about to begin.

Following the workers' instructions, Jian Li quickly changed from her bloodied clothes into something more presentable.

As she walked back toward the main stage, she caught sight of Zhang Yi and Liu chatting together.

They had also changed from their bloody clothes into a clean set of clothing, their hair combed and their face clean.

Jian Li smiled, thinking how much better the two of them looked compared to when they were in the tournament realm together.

She waved at the two of them, who looked at her in surprise.

"You're here!" Liu said, breaking into a huge smile.

"Yes, I am.", Jian Li responded.

Liu had already pounced on Jian Li, giving her a tight hug as she spoke.

"I'm so glad you made it. I was worried sick when I didn't see you on the stage at first. I thought that you might be injured or… I just never should have left you earlier. I'm so sorry I got carried away-."

"Don't worry. I'm fine! No injuries. Nothing major happened.", Jian Li interrupted.

"I'm glad that you two passed too. I was worried sick when the tournament realm disappeared. Thank goodness we made it out to the second half.", Jian Li said, feeling a sense of relief wash over her.

"Yeah. We did. It was quite a hectic ending when Liu joined me in the last brawl. There were definitely some Earth level cultivators in there too.", Zhang Yi replied.

Jian Li smiled, nodding in response. Liu and Zhang Yi simultaneously narrowed their eyes as they became weary of something.

"Oh, it's going to be a lot more hectic. There are many strong opponents this time around. I'm sure you'll be able to handle it, though.", Jian Chen said with a confident grin as he appeared to be behind her.

She nodded in reply, looking at Jian Chen with a warm expression.

"You two are stronger than I thought." Jian Chen chuckled, glancing toward Liu and Zhang Yi. Both of them were startled.

"You really surprised me.", Jian Chen continued.

"Do you three know each other?", Jian Li asked.

Before any of them could answer, a loud clap of thunder echoed throughout the stadium and a sharp whistle sounded.

The ground began to rumble as strange lightning crackled on and off as if it was going to break into pieces and crash down upon the crowd.

A dark cloud formed in the sky and soon enveloped the entire area.

"Let the second half of the tournament begin!", Meng Liang yelled, reappearing above the stage with his hands raised.

The cloud grew more massive and started to descend upon the arena in a matter of seconds.

As Meng Liang stood above the stage, lightning flashed all around the cloud before forming itself into small tendrils that went inside each contestant.

Everyone was startled as the cloud lightning descended but soon relaxed after realising that nothing bad was going to happen.

"There are a lot of familiar faces from the first half of the tournament. Some are ones that everyone expected to move on to the second half, while others have turned out to be dark horses.", Meng Liang said, his words reaching everyone in the crowd.

Everyone started shouting excitedly as they began to cheer for their favourite competitors.

The cloud lightning started to swirl around each participant and Meng Liang continued to explain.

"The rules of the second half of the tournament are mostly the same. But starting from now, each contestant must fight alone without interference from any other outside sources, including the audience and other contestants"

As she watched the contestants in front of her, her heart started to beat faster with anticipation and excitement.

"And different to the previous tournament, this time instead of drawing their opponents themselves, the heavens will draw them instead."

Meng Liang finished speaking as the contestants all looked into the sky above them in anticipation.

At this moment, the cloud of lighting descended and the sky began to glow. All sounds in the arena suddenly died away for the contestants as all eyes were focused on the floating cloud.

Suddenly, a white streak shot out from the centre of the cloud and flew toward each contestant.

Everyone was astonished by the sudden event.

This was the heavenly will that the heavens used to choose the contestants for the second half of the tournament, according to Meng Liang.

The streaks of lightning began to move as her hand unconsciously reached out, grabbing Zhang Yi's arm, and pulling him toward her.

As soon as she touched him, he knew the situation instantly and grabbed her hand tightly.

" I guess this is heaven's will."

Zhang Yi gave her an apologetic look.