Chapter 2376 - 2099: If You Can’t Handle It, Don’t Play

Even the best fists can’t beat four hands, and let alone everyone who can get on the stage isn’t weak; no matter how fierce Xiahou Ba is, he still can’t pull off a one-versus-ten against opponents of the same level.

So of course Ma Dai, Xue Shao, Du Yuan, Qu Gong, Jiang Gong, Guo Jia’s escorts, all these seed players got surrounded and beaten down. Unless you drew a five-into-one bracket and the opponents didn’t include any Qi Refining to Gang veterans from the Yellow Turban Era, otherwise for seed players, strength was totally less important than luck, so they basically all knelt.

On top of that, this batch of contestants doesn’t have much else, but it’s packed with experts. Out of more than a thousand people, a full hundred are Qi Refining to Gang from the Yellow Turban Era, so naturally every arena has them. Seed players — you look across and they’ve all faceplanted.

"Then what’s the point of your setup? All the top fighters just got flushed out." Guo Jia said, looking embarrassed.

"But don’t you think it’s really fun to watch? Over a thousand Qi Refining to Gang fighters brawling." Chen Xi said carelessly. "Luck is a kind of strength too, and didn’t you see even the military generals on the platform are getting excited?"

He was looking at Sunx Ce and Ma Chao already roaring on the stage, and Guan Yu acting all cold but in reality his eyes had already opened and he was fired up.

"You’re planning to follow this up with a battle between military generals?" Guo Jia said, speechless.

"I’d rather not, but I can’t stop them. Still, feeling them out and checking who’s strong or weak is pretty nice." Chen Xi said with a smile. "Inner Qi Manifestation Rank, and maybe even higher-level battles!"

"After all, it’s over a thousand Qi Refining to Gang fighters, and quite a few of them are guys who already broke through to Qi Refining to Gang back in the early phase of the Yellow Turban Rebellion. You have to know, at that time even General Guan and General Zhang hadn’t yet broken through to Inner Qi Manifestation." Chen Xi said with a smile, narrating.

"They’ve been stuck at the very peak of Qi Refining to Gang since then, and more importantly, whether consciously or not, they’ve kept on improving their own physical qualities." Chen Xi looked down at the soldiers fighting below, speaking with a touch of emotion.

"A lot of them aren’t lacking effort, aren’t lacking talent, but in the end their strength just can’t cross that limit. They don’t have teachers, don’t have guidance; all they can do is keep piling up accumulation — but that’s not enough!" Chen Xi looked at the group of troops already in battle below and sighed.

Just then, Zhang Yan, who had originally thought it’d be a bit of fun and ended up getting dragged into the tournament, drew an incredibly unlucky bracket: one hundred contenders, fifteen advance. Even worse, this damned arena had seven fighters who’d all reached Qi Refining to Gang Peak.

And to make it worse, among these seven Qi Refining to Gang experts were people like Chen Hong and Ni Ying, who had already reached that level back in the Yellow Turban Era, and Guann Cheng — that freak who received blessings from the Fusang Divine Land and almost stepped into Inner Qi Manifestation.

In short, because everyone had different goals in mind, the free-for-all looked especially chaotic. Particularly people like Chen Hong and Ni Ying, who have already switched jobs to bodyguards and only came to the tournament to stir trouble — naturally the seed player in this arena was targeted from the very beginning.

As for Guann Cheng, Chen Hong and Ni Ying were still reasonably decent about him; after all, back in Qingzhou they were all brothers scooping food from the same ladle. So for Guann Cheng, this seed player, the two didn’t make a move. But once the referee announced the start, the pair immediately gathered a bunch of acquaintances and went to block Zhang Yan.

Pitiful Zhang Yan, the highest-ranked Commanding General among this bunch, was forcibly cornered by Chen Hong and Ni Ying leading a crowd. These two bastards weren’t afraid of trouble at all; they rushed in and started swinging at Zhang Yan.

Up above, serving as judges and spectators, Yu Jin, Sunx Kang, Yin Li, Li Tong and the other military generals who haven’t yet broken through to Inner Qi Manifestation all had their hands over their faces. Not signing up earlier was truly a wise decision — just look at Zhang Yan below, practically being beaten into a dog.

To be fair, Zhang Yan really is strong, but Chen Hong and Ni Ying aren’t exactly pushovers either. With two fists unable to beat four hands, Zhang Yan was given a swollen nose and bruised face in no time.

Still, compared to youngsters like Xiahou Ba and Ma Dai who got KO’d by this gang of old hooligans and directly tossed out of the ring, Zhang Yan fought as he retreated, stubbornly refusing to approach the boundary line. Plus, his strength was reliable enough; as long as he wasn’t fully surrounded, he could barely hold off the two bastards in front of him and avoid being knocked out of the area.

"Ni Ying, Chen Hong, you two bastards just wait!" Zhang Yan cursed while fighting; although his voice was a bit broken up from the heavy exertion, he still hadn’t gone down.

As for the others, they basically weren’t ganging up on these three. With three Qi Refining to Gang Peak fighters going at it, normal people wouldn’t try a sneak attack unless they were sure they could pull it off.

"No need to wait, we’ll just throw you out today!" Guann Cheng blocked off the escape route and laughed loudly. Black Mountain Yellow Turbans like to act tough? Our Qingzhou lot are absolutely not indulging you.

Guann Cheng sealed off the back but didn’t join in; he trusted his brothers very much and only watched with a grin to see what kind of mess Zhang Yan would be beaten into.

Zhang Yan took a punch to the left side of his face, stars bursting in his vision and his movements going out of sync. The left fist he swung out was caught directly by Chen Hong, who then flipped and threw him over his shoulder, ready to toss Zhang Yan out.

Yu Jin, Sunx Guan, Sunx Kang, Yin Li, Wu Dun and the others all covered their faces again. Not joining this tournament really was the best decision ever. Just look at unlucky Zhang Yan.

By this point Zhou Yu had nothing left to say. This stupid tournament — good thing he hadn’t gone up, or the embarrassment this round would have been catastrophic.

The instant Zhang Yan got thrown out, his head was full of pent‑up frustration, full of irritation. He had plenty of brothers too, and the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans also had heaps and heaps of Qi Refining to Gang experts, with plenty who’d switched careers to become farmers and commoners. The problem was, none of that batch happened to be in the same tournament bracket as him.

"I refuse to accept this!" The moment he was hurled out, Zhang Yan exploded in fury, erupting with all the Inner Qi in his body. In that instant, bluish‑white Heaven and Earth Essence swirled around him, almost coiling there without dispersing, and how could Chen Hong and Ni Ying possibly not know what was happening!

"Beat him, hurry up and beat him!" Chen Hong and Ni Ying made a snap decision and lunged at Zhang Yan, who was still in mid‑air and hadn’t hit the ground yet.

As Zhang Yan began his breakthrough, all the judges on the stage turned to look in his direction. Faced with Chen Hong and Ni Ying’s sheer insanity, they were at a loss for words.

"You two!" Feeling the Heaven and Earth Essence around his body, unlike before, now that Heaven and Earth Essence was already something Zhang Yan could actually touch. Naturally, with a casual wave of his hand, the stirred Heaven and Earth Essence directly shoved Chen Hong and Ni Ying away.

Off to the side, Guann Cheng silently watched this scene. He had, after all, experienced the realm of Inner Qi Manifestation, and had nearly stepped into that level himself—he’d just been missing a little something. Now Zhang Yan’s act of advancing made Guann Cheng understand a lot.

Different from Zhang Yan, who still needed Heaven and Earth Essence to wash over him, Guann Cheng’s step was almost completed the instant he attained understanding.

After all, not everyone is as unlucky as Li Tiao. In the moment he completed this step, Guann Cheng directly entered Inner Qi Manifestation, then rushed up and planted a big foot right into Zhang Yan, booting him out of the melee circle like he was a ball.

"Guann Cheng, you’re cheating!" Zhang Yan finished his advancement not long after being kicked out, then immediately jumped up and roared at Guann Cheng.

"You’re allowed to break through, but I, your grandpa, am not?" Gray‑yellow Inner Qi surged from Guann Cheng’s hands. "I break through on the spot and you’re not okay with that? If you’re not okay, then let’s keep going!"

As he spoke, Guann Cheng gave his hand a casual shake, and the gray‑yellow Inner Qi directly extended into his usual weapon, a trident. He swung it a couple of times, hefted it onto his shoulder, pointed at Zhang Yan, and said, "Come on, come on, one‑on‑one. If I’m scared of you, I’m not Guann Cheng!"

"Beautifully done, Old Guan!" Mi Fang laughed. "Good thing I put a million coins on you to take the championship!"

Zhang Yan was stunned. They’d both just broken through, so why was it that Guann Cheng, upon breaking through, could wield all these Inner Qi Manifestation‑only moves with ridiculous proficiency, while he himself basically couldn’t do anything?

"Shocked?" Guann Cheng chuckled, grinning ear to ear, and waved to Mi Fang in thanks. The Inner Qi on his body kept extending, starting to turn into a semi‑transparent suit of armor. "I spent a long time up at this height before, you know."

During those few months in Fusang, Guann Cheng had actually always been at the Inner Qi Manifestation level, so he’d mastered a lot of Manifestation‑type moves. That’s the key reason why, after his breakthrough now, he could freely use all that stuff at will.

"Feels great, getting back the power I once had." Guann Cheng said in satisfaction.

After that Guann Cheng didn’t say much more. Chen Hong and Ni Ying, meanwhile, were chattering and joking as they followed him; among their Yellow Turbans, quite a few Inner Qi Manifestation experts had popped up now.

"He broke through just like that?" Sunx Guan, Yin Li and the others looked at one another, faces full of disbelief.

"Yeah, just like that. He’d actually stepped into this realm once before, even slightly higher than where he is now, but later he fell back down. He was only missing a tiny bit of insight to break through; now he finally did it." Taishi Ci said, very pleased. What luck!

Ever since Gan Ning got "harmonized" out, the Marines’ luck had been freakishly good.

When Guann Cheng came down off the stage, a bunch of bruised‑up Yellow Turban brothers gathered around. Of the seeded contestants Guan Yu had his eye on, besides Pei Yuanshao who successfully advanced, all the others—like Du Yuan, Qu Gong, Sima Ju, and even Wang Ping—had been beaten black‑and‑blue.

Guan Yu was so angry he didn’t even want to talk, but seeing Guann Cheng’s breakthrough, his mood improved a lot. After all, no matter what, Guann Cheng used to be a Commander of a Thousand under him, and only got reassigned to the Navy after the fleet dispersed. Now that Guann Cheng had broken through to Inner Qi Manifestation, Guan Yu could really show him off.

"One single melee and we get two people breaking through to Inner Qi Manifestation. That’s some luck." Zhou Yu looked at the bruised‑and‑battered military generals surrounding Zhang Yan, and at the similarly bruised generals crowding around Guann Cheng, and spoke with a hint of envy.

"Hahaha, luck, all luck." Chen Xi said, laughing.

"Look at them!" Ma Chao slapped Ma Dai in irritation. Ma Dai turned his head with deep resentment—he was helpless too, okay? Hell if he knew why that bunch could hit that hard.

"Look, look, you’re way off their level!" Zhang Fei kept shaking his head. Xiahou Yuan’s face was about to fall off from embarrassment, while the bruised‑up Xiahou Ba felt the deep, simmering malice coming from right behind him, and cold sweat streamed down his back.