Crushing the Opposition!

Early that morning, when Li Guanqi arrived once more at the summit of Mount Tianyu dragging his heavily injured body, everyone looked upon the youth with boundless admiration! A solemn atmosphere spread across the mountaintop. By now, the spectator count had reached nearly fifty thousand—an unprecedented centennial spectacle! Everyone was watching in anticipation to see whether Li Guanqi could triumph again today! Before the day's matches began, Ge Qing announced the verbal decree of Northern Heavenly King Long Qu. "Hear the decree of the Northern Heavenly King! "If Li Guanqi, disciple of the Great Xia Sword Sect, successfully completes all Purgatory Challenges and leads his sect to claim the championship... "The Great Xia Sword Sect shall be granted an additional reward of one high-grade spirit vein, along with three Earth rank cultivation methods!" Hiss—! Upon hearing this reward, a chorus of sharp intakes of breath erupted from the cultivators in the stands. A high-grade spirit vein! Anything worthy of being called a spirit vein had to contain at least ten thousand spirit stones! Ten thousand high-grade spirit stones was enough to allow a sect to take flight entirely, reshaping the landscape of powerful sects! Not to mention three full Earth rank cultivation methods! Combined, the value of those three methods was by no means inferior to that high-grade spirit vein. Yet the condition set by the Northern Heavenly King was as difficult as ascending the heavens: complete every Purgatory Challenge and claim the championship! That meant even if only the Great Xia Sword Sect and one other sect remained in the end, the blind youth would still have to challenge ten late Foundation Establishment disciples to take the top spot! Such harsh conditions were something others would not even dare dream of. Qin Xian and the others wore calm expressions as they bowed in greeting. "The Great Xia Sword Sect thanks the Northern Heavenly King for his goodwill. To have come this far is already an unexpected blessing. As for how much further we can go... it is entirely in heaven's hands." Ge Qing offered a faint smile and said nothing more. Even he did not believe the youth, who had been gravely injured the day before, could create another miracle. Looking at the youth wrapped from head to toe in blood-stained bandages, Ge Qing knew that he was likely powerless to meet such a demanding requirement. He was not the only one who thought so. No cultivator who had witnessed yesterday's battles would have expected the youth to appear here today at all. He had sustained no fewer than twenty sword wounds across his body, each one torn open with mangled flesh deep enough to expose bone. People had even opened betting pools over whether Li Guanqi would wake up today, let alone participate in the competition. Looking at the pale-faced youth, Ge Qing asked in a deep voice, "Li Guanqi, are you certain you wish to continue the Purgatory Challenge?" The youth's slightly stooped body slowly straightened. Tilting his head up toward the elder in the air, he nodded heavily. In a slightly weak voice, he answered, "I continue!" Zhao Beichen, who originally had no interest in the competition, had arrived early at Mount Tianyu today to wait. Looking at the terribly pale youth, he could not help but sneer, "Quite a stubborn bone. In a state like that, isn't he afraid of dying on the platform?" Behind him, the others chimed in with mocking laughter. "Heh, just a lowborn wretch." "I heard this fellow was a beggar before, who nearly froze and starved to death in the dead of winter." Someone else spoke up in a heavy tone, "I advise you not to be careless. Guan Qingyun of Xuanmen Palace never imagined he would lose to someone like that either. His life may be cheap, but the sword in his hand certainly isn't." Before the words had even faded, several disciples of Ziyang Palace turned with great displeasure toward the fat youth behind them. Curling his lip, one sneered, "Tang Ru, you'd bloody well better mind your own business! Yesterday you stepped in to stop us for no damn reason, too. What was the point?" The fat on Tang Ru's face jiggled as irritation flashed deep within his narrow eyes. "Don't run your mouths in front of Lord Fatty. Save your prowess for someone who cares. If you're so damn impressive, go up there and cut him down yourself, and Lord Fatty will gladly reward you with ten thousand spirit stones for a laugh. Picking on a little girl—I truly despise you bastards and your dog-like conduct." Zhao Beichen glanced back at the group from the front and said softly, "Watch the draw." At his words, everyone quickly put on smiling faces, while Zhao Beichen cast a deep look at the fat Tang Ru. Tang Ru looked away, turning his gaze toward the high platform. When he caught sight of the figure in the floral-padded jacket among the Great Xia Sword Sect, he grinned and muttered to himself, "That little girl really is fun." As Ge Qing sent a streak of spiritual light into the recording stele, the names of the remaining twelve sects rapidly shuffled. Seeing Li Guanqi's condition, disciples from many sects silently prayed that their own sect would draw him. After all, everyone had only paid attention to the points awarded to the one who initiated the Purgatory Challenge upon success, overlooking the fact that if the challenged sect defeated him, they too would be awarded thirty points! Those thirty points might very well be the key to claiming the ultimate championship! In particular, sects that lacked the strength to compete for the top three spots fixed their eyes on Li Guanqi. As long as they could defeat him, their sect could leap to the championship and have the last laugh. *Hum—!* A profound ripple spread, and the writing on the recording stele soon came to a halt. Everyone held their breath, gazing at the stone stele. Suddenly, a disciple clad in blue-and-white sect robes roared in excitement, "We got it! We drew them! Hahahaha!" Unrestrained laughter echoed in all directions, drawing disdainful looks from many spectators, as if this inherently unseemly matter had abruptly been dragged out into the open. On the stands across the way, the sects that had not yet departed surprisingly included the Qixian Sect, the Ten Thousand Immortals Sword Sect, and others. These sects, all of which held grudges against the Great Xia Sword Sect, had actually chosen to stay. They had originally departed on the first day, but upon hearing that Li Guanqi of the Great Xia Sword Sect had initiated the Purgatory Challenge, they had turned right back without hesitation, wishing to see with their own eyes just how hard the Great Xia Sword Sect would fall. Yet what they had not expected was that yesterday, Li Guanqi had shown them what it meant to be the backbone of a sect! "Great Xia Sword Sect versus Wushang Sword Sect!" A sect currently ranked seventh in points! Li Guanqi took a deep breath, his expression calm as he flashed onto the arena platform. Just as before, he remained utterly placid, as if it did not matter who his opponent was. Seeing this, Zhao Beichen murmured softly to himself, "Heavily injured as you are, can you still defeat the Wushang Sword Sect?" That question arose in the hearts of everyone present. Yet the answer could only be given by the youth on the stage! However, the battle that followed caught everyone off guard... Though the youth's speed and power had diminished, his sword strikes were as ferocious as ever! From beginning to end, almost none of the fights lasted longer than the time it took an incense stick to burn, and this time he barely sustained any injuries at all! It was an absolute steamroll of sheer, overwhelming strength! Zhao Beichen smiled faintly. "Just as I expected. Without someone like Guan Qingyun, even ten cultivators in the same realm of late Foundation Establishment cannot suppress him!" With that, Zhao Beichen slowly rose, glanced toward Lingxiao Pavilion, and murmured, "Let's go. It seems the final battle will be between him and me! "How utterly boring..." Zhao Beichen said this because the Great Xia Sword Sect's points had already surged directly into sixth place. And for Ziyang Palace, barring any unforeseen mishaps, Zhao Beichen only needed to defeat Ji Linglan. None of the other sect prodigies could compare to Li Guanqi. The final battle for the championship could only be between Ziyang Palace and the Great Xia Sword Sect!