Chapter 580: Coming to a Close
Everyone watched the black-robed, young man who was raising his hand with great difficulty. His face was covered with traces of blood as he tried his best to prevent his eyes from closing. All of them were speechless. This fellow… was really a strong man who could not be beaten to death. He was still able to maintain some consciousness even after receiving such a frightening retaliation of the remnant Dou Technqiues.
Surprise flashed across Su Qian’s face. At this moment, Xiao Yan had clearly reached his true limit. The thing that supported him to keep his eyes open was perhaps that determination of having to enter the top ten.
Su Qian laughed bitterly and shook his head. He mused for a long while before slowly speaking, “This match ends in a draw. In other words, the both of you can be considered to have entered the top ten together. Therefore, you need not worry.”
Xiao Yan half consciously heard these words of Su Qian. Only then did his tensed heart relax. His eyelids were swiftly shut and his consciousness gradually descended into darkness…
Su Qian sighed once again as he eyed Xiao Yan who had truly entered into an unconscious state at this moment. With Xiao Yan and Liu Qing’s current injuries, it was likely that they would have to miss the few subsequent battles. Su Qian’s gaze glanced at the unconscious Xiao Yan on the ground and he involuntarily shook his head once again. This fellow really exceeded people’s expectations. Liu Qing was actually turned into this seriously injured condition even with his strength. This scene was likely something that most people present had not expected.
“First Elder if the two of them end in a draw, won’t it mean that there will be eleven people in the top ten of the ‘Strong Ranking’ this season? In that case, there would also be eleven names who will enter the tower to have their body refined by the ‘Essence Heart Flame’?” An Elder hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth and inquiring.
Su Qian nodded slightly. He said indifferently, “So be it, if need be there can be eleven shares. Although the ‘Essence Heart Flame’ may be valuable, the Inner Academy also stored a couple of extra shares after so many years. It should not be a problem for us to take one share now. Otherwise, how would we account to these two people? After all, if we were to really discuss what happened in detail, the two of them had both left the boundary of the arena and it is very difficult to determine the victor.”
All the Elders ceased saying anything after hearing the First Elder speak in this manner. They nodded their heads and withdrew.
“We will use the spare arena in the subsequent fights. However, due to their injuries, Xiao Yan and Liu Qing are unable to continue participating in the competition. However, the important matters have already been settled now that the names for the top ten have been determined. It does not matter that the two of them are not participating in the subsequent top ten ranking competition. After all, everyone’s hearts have a scale of sorts to determine the true ranking namelist.” Su Qian’s gaze looked in all directions and spoke with a faint smile.
Everyone sighed in relief and nodded once Su Qian’s words sounded. The frightening strength that these two fellows had demonstrated earlier had caused their hearts to feel a chill. They would have a much easier time without these two fighting for the ranking order.
Of course, this mood was not something that everyone had. At the very least Lin Xiuya sighed somewhat regretfully. Having lost opponents like Liu Qing and Xiao Yan, what was there to anticipate about the subsequent competition?
The unconscious Xiao Yan and Liu Qing were carried out of the arena under the numerous gazes filled with respect and reverence, and were sent to the resting area.
The competition still continued after Xiao Yan and Liu Qing’s withdrawal. However, after the soul-stirring fight of the two earlier, the fights after that had difficulty causing everyone to feel overly shocked despite them being extremely intense. Those few people who participated in these ranking fights were extremely helpless when faced with this. After all, the fight between Xiao Yan and Liu Qing had basically left the limit of an ordinary Dou Ling. How would they be able to surpass it?
The ranking competition continued all the way until the afternoon before it gradually came to an end. After an intense fiery hot fight, the new ‘Strong Ranking’ namelist was released.
The first was naturally that little monster Zi Yan. With her frightening and unusual strength, forget about the students, even some of the Elders could only dodge her. Even the haughty Lin Xiuya did not have the heart to fight for the first position.
There was also not much of a surprise for the second position. Having lost Liu Qing and of course the sudden emerging dark horse, Xiao Yan, who one must also consider, the remaining people were unable to shake him from his position. Hence, Lin Xiuya once again sat firmly on the second position of the strong ranking.
The third was originally Liu Qing. However, with his current withdrawal, his name was replaced by Yan Hao.
The fight for the fourth rank was much more intense than the couple of ranks in front. However, after various fights, Lin Yan finally unexpectedly won in the end, and rose to the fourth rank from the ninth rank in one go.
The fight for the remaining six names were similarly intense. When the competition was over, other than two of them being the former top ten, the remaining few were new people who had suddenly appeared. Due to lots being drawn, it was likely that they had some luck, however, their strengths were still extremely strong. After all, this ‘Strong Ranking’ was not an ordinary namelist. Even if one had sufficient luck, one must have a corresponding strength to support it if one wanted to reach the end.
Although the namelist for the ‘Strong Ranking’ had been determined, everyone’s heart used its own measuring scale just like Su Qian had said. Therefore, although Xiao Yan and Liu Qing were similarly ranked tenth on the ‘Strong Ranking’, everyone, including Yan Hao who had obtained the third position, clearly knew in their hearts that this position still belonged to that man with a domineering demeanor… No, there was still someone who stood shoulder to shoulder with him… Xiao Yan.
In that soul-stirring fight, Xiao Yan used his extraordinary fighting strength to subdue everyone’s hearts. From that moment on, no one in the Inner Academy would dare look down on this new student who had entered the Inner Academy less than a year ago. At the same time, the reputation of ‘Pan’s Gate’ naturally rose like a boat on a rising tide. The most important reason why Lin Xiuya’s and Liu Qing’s factions could be considered to be two extraordinary existence within the Inner Academy was because the two of them had a strength that far exceeded the remaining experts on the ‘Strong Ranking’. However, the current ‘Pan’s Gate’, this new student faction similarly possessed such an expert with extraordinary strength. The influence of ‘Pan’s Gate’ would naturally rise in the future.
Just as everyone was about to bring an expression of having not been fully satisfied and leave the arena after the final fight ended, an additional fight caused their faces to be replaced by a stunned look.
According to the rules of previous seasons, there would be a couple of sparing like matches after the ‘Strong Ranking’ Grand Competition. In this kind of match, the competitors were able to choose anyone of the top ten on the strong ranking to challenge. Of course, the challenge here naturally did not have the formality of a true Grand Competition. In summary, it was just some additional fun even after the Grand Competition. Although it was only sparring, there would seldom be anyone who would actually participate. After all, these experts who were able to come out of the numerous selections had a strength that belonged to the top experts in the Inner Academy. Would it not be just seeking shame if one still wanted to challenge them despite clearly knowing that they were no match for these people?
However, this season’s final fun event caused everyone to descend into a dull state. There was no other reason other than that the challenger was a young lady who was so pretty that it caused one to have an asphyxia. Additionally, it was because the opponent that this green-clothed, young lady challenged was actually Lin Xiuya!
Of course, just this alone was not sufficient enough to cause the entire arena to enter into a dull state. Instead, in the subsequent sparring match…
An ordinary match merely lasted for less than ten minutes. However, just in these short ten minutes, Lin Xiuya who had been bitter about not having been able to find an opponent who could match him in the Grand Competition was defeated miserably.
Cold sweat appeared on Lin Xiuya’s forehead as a pair of shallow fingers paused half an inch above it. He looked blankly at the faint smiling green-clothed, young lady in front of him and suddenly felt that his mouth was dry. He did not feel even the slightest bit upset in his heart. This was because in that exchange earlier, he was basically being forced back at every step. This may appear to be an extremely short amount of time but he had already taken out his strongest trump card. However, at the moment that he had just displayed his strongest Dou Technique, the green-clothed,young lady’s finger flicked slightly, and a fiery hot golden-colored glow shook the technique until it completely disappeared.
The instant when his strongest Dou Technique was shaken until it disappeared, Lin Xiuya understood that this battle was basically meaningless. The two of them were of a completely different level. The subsequent attack of the opponent also caused him to abandon his last hope.
“I have lost.” Lin Xiuya shrugged his shoulders in the arena and immediately laughed bitterly under the numerous shocked gazes in the arena, “I have always thought that Xiao Yan was the darkest dark horse this season. It is really unexpected that his little girlfriend is even darker than him. With your strength, you can go and directly find senior Zi Yan to spar with.”
Numerous pairs of eyes from the viewing gallery were protruding out like dead fish. They really did not know what was happening at this moment.
This was especially so for Liu Fei on the tall platform. The expression on the face of hers was so interesting that it left one speechless. Of course, she had personally witnessed how the opponent whom her older cousin had viewed extremely seriously was easily defeated by a person whom she frequently ridiculed and cursed quietly. Such a great difference caused her to have difficulty accepting it.
“Challenge Zi Yan? That little girl might go and cry to Xiao Yan ge-ge. At that time, the one who would be scolded will be me.” The setting sun radiated from the horizon, covering the delicate, pretty body of the green-clothed, young lady in an obscure glow. Lin Xiuya’s heart appeared to have been heavily smashed by a hammer as he watched that elegant smile that carried a quietness on her flawless face. That kind of feeling… seemed to be called… love at first sight?
This kind of feeling caused Lin Xiuya to have the impulse to laugh spontaneously. The him who had always viewed women as something he can easily obtain would actually have this kind of…
“The reason for challenging you is merely because he said he wanted to see my dazzling sight. Unfortunately, he is unable to see it…” The green-clothed, young lady slowly withdrew the delicate finger from Lin Xiuya’s forehead and spoke in a distant manner.
Lin Xiuya widened his mouth. He, originally the most free and easy-going fellow in the Inner Academy, was stammering in embarrassment in front of this young lady.
“Relax, I am not very interested in being second on the ‘Strong Ranking’. Now that the sparring is over, I will still need to go and take care of Xiao Yan ge-ge.” Xun Er followed Xiao Yan’s manner as she shrugged her shoulders toward Lin Xiuya. She immediately turned around. Taking fine steps, she stepped on the ground, which was covered by the light from the setting sun, and with a sway of her green dress, she slowly disappeared from the stadium. A stadium so quiet that it was frightening.
“Why have I never discovered such an outstanding girl in the past…”
Lin Xiuya’s gaze was blurred as he watched the slim figure that had gradually disappeared from his sight. His head was immediately pulled back as a complicated emotion toward Xiao Yan rose in his heart. It was jealousy and admiration…