First Fight

The elder took out a gong out of his spatial pouch.

Gong!

"549 and 119. Come on stage and begin the first fight!"

Two young men jumped forward and exchanged names. They then started fighting right away. Bai Hu saw that they were both at the eighth level of qi refinement, making this battle particularly fierce as each combatant tried to gain the upper hand.

One of them cultivated their metal spiritual root while the other had an earth cultivation art. It was a battle of sharp offense against a tough defense. After 2 incense sticks of time, the metal attributed cultivator emerged victorious as he had a low grade magic treasure, giving him an absolute edge against others of the same level.

"Next! 236 and 701!"

The battles continued seamlessly as there were no pauses in between. The losers would rest for a bit before going to another platform for the loser's bracket, and soon a dozen battles went by smoothly.

On all occasions except one, there would be one winner and one loser. The one exception was because someone used a wide area attack, harming himself in the process and thus rendering them both unable to fight.

"314 and 080!"

Bai Hu perked up when he heard his number being called and jumped onto the platform. Across him was an ordinary looking young woman at the eighth level of qi refinement.

He cupped his hands and gave his name, "Bai Hu"

The young woman drew her sword "My names Yue Lin, don't expect me to go easy on you just because of your inferior cultivation base"

A few people had envious expressions on their faces as they clearly wanted to fight Bai Hu in hopes of getting an easy win. The young woman across from him seemed cold and indifferent, clearly not paying others any heed.

Bai Hu responded by circulating his qi and forming a protective barrier. A golden cloak formed around him and he took a fighting stance.

This golden cloak is a special technique described in the Golden Bell Art, providing ample protection due to its earth element.

Whoosh!

Yue Lin swung her sword and several small water serpents flew out towards Bai Hu. Seeing as she was attacking with full force, Bai Hu wouldn't stand still and present himself on a silver platter. He took a small step and disappeared from view.

"Huh?"

"He's fast!"

"Where'd he go?!"

Yue Lin naturally was the one panicking the most. She broke out in cold sweat and put up a barrier of water around herself and looked around in a hurry.

A cold voice spoke behind her.

"Gold Splitting Hammer"

Bai Hu reappeared behind the woman like a wraith and raised an arm. A large golden hammer manifested itself and Bai Hu brought it down with all his might.

Boom!

Splash!

The water barrier was smashed apart like a balloon and splattered everywhere. Yue Lin's face paled significantly and he tried to put distance between herself and Bai Hu. He naturally wouldn't let his prey get away and engage in long range combat so he made a series of hand seals in quick succession.

"Spirit Trapping Bell!"

A transparent gold bell appeared at his behest and enlarged with another hand seal. He looked at Yue Lin and pointed.

"Go!"

The bell flew at great speeds until it was above the poor woman, before dropping down and effectively trapping her inside.

"No!!"

Thumps could be heard as Yue Lin did everything in her power to free herself, all to no avail.

As a last ditch effort, she pushed her qi circulation to the maximum and used a move she had been planning on saving for a later round. Now she was using it to break out of a barrier made by a kid at the sixth realm.

"Release!"

Her qi surged like a tide and the golden bell shook as an unknown force attempted to break out of the Spirit Trapping Bell. Bai Hu merely stood and dispersed the Goldshine Cloak. Both of these techniques were inscribed inside the Golden Bell Art and Bai Hu was absolutely confident in its defensive and trapping capabilities, even against a cultivator of a higher caliber.

He then made another hand seal with both hands with an intent on ending the battle.

Boom!

The bell pulsated, using the force that was hitting it on the inside and making sound waves that will devastate the opponent. Yue Lin had sealed her defeat when she tried to break out without sufficient force.

The bell dispersed shortly after to reveal a pale woman who had fainted. Her qi was drained and was also bleeding in all 7 orifices. Healers quickly went to get her while Bai Hu stepped off the platform.

The elder hurriedly announced the result after a short moment as he was also stunned, "Number 314, Bai Hu, wins!"

The crowd was also silent as they appraised Bai Hu with greater detail. At first, they had thought he was here to merely fill the numbers, or was trying to widen his horizons. Some didn't even notice him at all!

Never would they have known that the little figure with the least cultivation is actually a black horse in this competition. Those that lamented their bad luck now sweated profusely as they thanked their good luck. Had they went up against Bai Hu, they would make the same mistakes the woman did and very likely lose.

"Next! 189 and 903!"

The next battle commenced without a pause and Bai Hu sat down with a spirit stone in his hands to recover. Long Sun stood next to him, still stunned and flabbergasted at what he just witnessed.

After a few moments, he finally broke out of his reverie.

"What the actual fuck?!"

Bai Hu replied in a sagely tone, "Those that look down on others suffer the most"

"Enough with that, you probably cultivate a Black ranked cultivation art for it to be this powerful right?"

He smiled and didn't deny it, thus making Long Sun go on and on about how lucky he was to have connections to some elders. Unbeknownst to him, Bai Hu wasn't cultivating 1 or 2 Black ranked arts. He was cultivating a total of 3 Black ranked arts at once in order to maximize all of his spiritual root elements.

Normal people would just cultivate one attribute. This ensures quick progression and has the least amount of bottlenecks. Cultivating multiple attributes is not unheard of but many don't make it far on their cultivation path. Bai Hu is taking a huge risk by doing so but if he succeeds, then he would be a top figure in the future.

He decided to cultivate the Thousand Soulspirit Art there and take advantage of every single second. With so many people here participating in the competition, it will naturally take a bit of time for it to be done.

About an hour later, Bai Hu stirred from his meditative state and fixed his eyes upon the platform.

"675 and 003!"

He gave Long Sun a thumbs up as he advanced towards the platform. He jumped and across from him was another young man at the eighth level. A few seconds later, they started fighting.

Long Sun cultivates an odd cultivation art of the earth element while his opponent is also an earth element cultivator.

Long Sun roared and made a hand seal before smacking his own chest. A brownish aura covered him and he took out a pair of steel gauntlets.

His opponent was no slacker and slammed his burly fists together. His arm turned black as charcoal and he wielded a large 1 meter long great sword.

Their weapons clashed and they both took a few steps back to stabilize. Their first exchange ended in a tie.

This time, the burly man took the initiative and stabbed his great sword into the ground. Brown qi flowed through his body and strange runes appeared on his arms. Long Sun's fighting spirit had not diminished in the slightest and he made a series of hand seals. The earthy aura surrounding him expanded and contracted, turning into a solid rock armor that covered him from head to toe.

They both roared and launched themselves at each other in a reckless manner, exchanging blow after blow. If there was one thing they were both confident in, it was their powerful defense.

Things were even but as time went on, the situation deteriorated for Long Sun's opponent. Long Sun's agility was not impeded in the slightest despite his heavy looking armor and was able to move around while slowly chipping away at his opponent.

His opponent was too slow and his massive frame made him an easy target, which is why 10 minutes later, Long Sun emerged victorious.

"675, Long Sun, wins! Next up is 467 and 052!"

Bai Hu congratulated his friend on his victory and turned his attention to the stage. A young woman dressed in blue was going up against an ordinary looking young man in white.

For some reason, Bai Hu felt that the woman was particularly familiar, but couldn't put his finger on it. She was quite beautiful and surely he would remember, but he soon dismissed that thought and went back to cultivate.

Meanwhile, the woman on stage spoke to the young man.

"I advise you to give up as there is no hope for you"