Chapter 408 - 260: Sword’s Cry

Chapter 408: Chapter 260: Sword’s Cry

Zhao Yuanpeng rose to his feet. With a wave of his hand, he marked out three arenas.

"Students, those of you who wish to vie for the Golden Crow Fruit, please choose one of the three battlefields and enter. The last person left standing in each field will be declared a winner!

The battle will begin in fifteen minutes!

Now, make your choice!"

Yu Fei mused to himself. ’So, it’s a free-for-all to decide the three winners.’ With no specific rules, he instantly saw numerous possibilities. For example, someone could get twenty or thirty friends to enter the same battlefield, eliminate everyone else, and secure a spot that way.

The only problem was that the winner would end up owing a lot of favors, making the victory more trouble than it was worth.

The Golden Crow Fruit was extremely precious to an ordinary Martial Artist, but that wasn’t necessarily true for the chosen geniuses of the Seven Greats.

Yu Fei ignored the others, his eyes locked on Lu Bufan—the only one here with a golden-level talent.

He had two copy attempts left. ’If I can replicate his golden talent, the boost to my own power will be immense.’

Yu Wen Baji strode directly into the battlefield on the left, the one nearest to him. Instantly, a formidable aura shot toward the sky like smoke from a war beacon.

"Come on, who’s game to play?"

He stared coldly at the crowd outside the arena, the pressure he exuded washing over them like a tide.

Simply by sensing the man’s aura, Yu Fei estimated that he stood no chance of certain victory against him.

Unlike an ordinary Gang Qi Martial Artist, he sensed an unusual martial will from Yu Wen Baji—it was ostentatious, disdainful, and arrogant, yet utterly intimidating.

The man merely stood there, releasing his aura, and Yu Fei could feel the flow of his own Inner Qi turning sluggish.

’What a punk-rock god of war.’

The bespectacled young man and the other companion who had arrived with him didn’t enter the battlefield, merely observing from a distance.

Yu Fei recalled that Yu Wen Baji was supposed to be a fourth-year student. He wondered why the man hadn’t yet advanced to the Grandmaster realm, as his cultivation was clearly just a hair’s breadth away.

As the crowd hesitated, a burly, heavily armored man entered the battlefield on the right, wielding a giant hammer.

THUD!

The giant hammer struck the ground, and the earth in a ten-yard radius around him sank by more than a foot. A moment later, a heavy, unyielding martial will radiated outward. Yu Fei could clearly see the armored man, yet to his perception, the man was a mountain.

This technique reminded him of his own Illusory Sword Intent; it seemed to create a discrepancy in perception at the level of the soul.

The man’s frame was exceptionally robust, his powerful physique like that of a young giant. He stood there without a word, yet he emanated an unshakeable presence.

"Go, Senior Brother! Victory to Senior Brother!"

It was Zhuge Zhigang, cheering loudly from the sidelines.

’So Zhuge Zhigang isn’t competing.’ He was clearly on the sidelines, cheering for the armored man.

’The "Senior Brother" title probably means they share the same martial arts master,’ Yu Fei guessed, ’who might even be the referee maintaining order for this competition.’

In the blink of an eye, Lu Bufan was standing in the center of the final battlefield. He projected no astonishing aura, yet for some reason, the very first glance at him made one feel that they were no match for him.

It was a very strange sensation. Lu Bufan was handsome, with slightly thin lips and a simple, antique longsword strapped to his back. He showed no outward sign of his power, yet his mere presence was enough to instill a sense of inadequacy in others.

Yu Fei shook his head, suppressing the chaotic feelings swirling within him. With a flash of clear light from the Void Clearing Mirror, his mind regained its composure.

’This must be some special technique, one that can affect an opponent’s state of mind at the level of their martial will. I’ve never heard of such an ability.’

"This has really been an eye-opener!"

Witnessing these chosen geniuses, he finally understood the vast chasm between the peers of the Seven Greats and the unaffiliated Martial Artists of the wider world.

He could cut down run-of-the-mill Martial Artists like they were nothing, but he had a gut feeling that against any of the three men now occupying the battlefields, he had no guarantee of victory.

Without further hesitation, Yu Fei stepped into the battlefield where Lu Bufan stood, making his choice.

Among the three, Yu Fei’s intuition told him he didn’t stand a chance against Yu Wen Baji or the heavily armored man with the mountain-like aura.

Lu Bufan was strong, yes, but he didn’t seem as invincible as the other two. More importantly, Lu Bufan possessed a golden talent. The rewards for defeating him would be substantial.

Fifteen minutes later, the three battlefields were dotted with contestants. Yu Fei scanned the arenas. Yu Wen Baji’s field had the fewest, with just over twenty people. The heavily armored man’s field had about thirty.

Meanwhile, the field where he and Lu Bufan stood was packed with nearly fifty people.

Apparently, Lu Bufan’s fifth-realm cultivation was far less intimidating to the others.

The overwhelming presence of the "punk-rock god of war," Yu Wen Baji, had a significant effect on the others, clouding their judgment.

His battlefield had a full four people with silver-level talents, and about twenty whose auras were at the Gang Qi level.

At a glance, it was clear that many had already formed alliances.

"Everyone, the fifteen minutes are up. Begin!"

Zhao Yuanpeng now hovered high in the air, positioned centrally above the three battlefields.

BOOM!

Instantly, countless blasts of Qi Jin erupted. All manner of martial will techniques were unleashed one after another. On this chaotic battlefield, everyone shared a tacit understanding: eliminate the weakest contestants first to prevent them from snatching victory at the end.

Yu Fei, being only in the Inner Qi Realm, was painfully conspicuous on the battlefield. Instantly, several people launched casual attacks in his direction.

At that moment, Yu Fei’s mind grew calm, and time itself seemed to slow to a crawl.

Empowered by the fifteen-fold-faster reaction speed of his "Fleeting Life" ability, his Void Clearing Mirror classifying the flood of information, and the Divine Sense that only a Grandmaster should possess, Yu Fei saw every incoming attack with perfect clarity.