Chapter 780: Top 50

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Many at the grandstands took a look at Ji Hua. His combat capacity was such that it was entirely possible that he had what it took to take one place in the top three.

Yuan Zhan’s powers reflected that of the Barren State’s general performance. They were generally strong and there were no weaklings among them, which was why there were seven of them getting into the top hundred.

That one battle had also proven that while th3 Barren State was formidable as a whole, there were not quite there to be compared with the top-class figures just yet. Yuan Zhan’s attacks did not even manage to pose a threat to Ji Hua. With that said, despite being the one with the most participants remaining, it was difficult for the participants from the Barren State to advance to the very forefront, and there would be others eliminated still.

The situation was just like how it had been with the Eastern State. They had the most number of participants when the Nine State Forum had just begun, but when it came to the stage of top hundred, participants from Summer State had overtaken those of the Eastern State in terms of numbers.

Yuan Zhan retreated from the battlefield and came to the grandstands, taking a seat behind Ye Futian. Yuan Hong said to him, “Your attacks were formidable, but you didn’t even manage to attack your opponent. Do you know the difference in power now?”

Yuan Zhan looked rather dejected and his head was hanging low. That battle had been a frustrating one.

“Grandpa Yuan, Yuan Zhan has done a very good job so far.” Ye Futian smiled and praised him instead, “If the rampage had been able to get to Ji Hua, there is no telling that he would have been able to take it. But it was a pity that Ji Hua was versed in Rules of Light, which he incorporated in his attacks. In such a scenario, Ji Hua’s attacks would definitely reach Yuan Zhan first. Besides, the power that results from attacks being melded with Rules of Light is probably something that not even Yuan Zhan’s defenses could withstand. In actual fact, the difference is not actually as great as shown in the previous battle.”

Yuan Hong nodded slightly. Ji Hua was indeed capable of holding Yuan Zhan back. Yuan Zhan had a pondering look on his face. He scratched his head for a bit and looked rather puzzled.

“Besides, this Ji Hua is one of the very best the Nine State Forum has to offer this year. The strongest in the Hall of Holy Light, so there was no doubt that he would be very powerful. But there is no need to feel dejected. Focus on your own training. Victories and defeats in battles for a time won’t say much,” Ye Futian said. Yuan Zhan was a demonic beast with a straightforward temperament, and he required a lot of encouragement.

“Yeah.” Yuan Zhan nodded, taking Ye Futian’s words to heart.

Many turned to the forum stage again. There were still five from the Barren State left. Yu Sheng and Ye Wuchen had not fought yet.

At the moment, Ye Wuchen walked out on his own and stood at the center of the forum stage. The first five battles among the top hundred saw the participants from the Barren State fighting in every single one of them. It remained as such for the sixth one.

The one-armed figure remained as quiet as he had always been. He stood tall and firm at the forum stage. He turned his eyes to the direction of the Hall of Holy Light.

Many wore peculiar looks on their faces. Zhou You had challenged Phoenix before, and that triggered the head-on clashes between the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty and the students of the Barren State. Said students had almost overwhelmed the dynasty by defeating three out of four of their people, making it so that only Zhou You remained standing on the forum stage. The number one figure of the Hall of Holy Light walked out and defeated Yuan Zhan right after.

Ye Wuchen then turned to look at those from the Hall of Holy Light…

Is Barren State trying to take on all who dare to challenge them?

“I challenge Wang Qing of the Hall of Holy Light,” Ye Wuchen’s voice said, making all tremble. From the battles fought so far, everyone was able to sense that the students of the Barren State seemed to have a unique bearing.

The sacred grounds of the other eight states looked down on the Barren State. As such, all who dared to challenge the students of the Barren State would suffer retaliation. They stood at the very bottom of ranks among all sacred grounds, yet they feared none of the formidable figures from the sacred grounds of the other eight states. All who dared to challenge them were to be met with fierce retaliation, and they had no intention to give into anything.

Many on the grandstands seemed to have, for one reason or another, felt a mild whiff of sorrow emanating from the students of the Barren State when they saw the figure clad in white standing on the forum stage. While they were the most numerous among all who made it to the top hundred, they shouldered an exceptional amount of pressure instead just because they came from the Barren State. If renowned sacred grounds from Summer State or Qi State had many make it to the top hundred, the scene would have looked very different.

Wang Qing walked to face Ye Wuchen. A sliver of light will flowed throughout his body. His eyes were incredibly bright, harboring will of light. While his powers were not comparable to Ji Hua’s, he was a very formidable figure and had also developed comprehension of the power of rules of light.

Ye Wuchen, a student of the Barren State, would like to go against the Hall of Holy Light, like they had done with the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty? Wang Qing thought.

There were few students from the Hall of Holy Light, but everyone who managed to make it far were all top class geniuses. The genius who had been beaten by Xu Que before was very good as well, but he would have made it to the top hundred if he had not encountered the Rules of Darkness.

“Ye Wuchen of the Barren State, pleased to make your acquaintance,” Ye Wuchen said.

“Wang Qing of the Hall of Holy Light.” Will of light emanated from Wang Qing as soon as he finished. Holy Light emerged from all over his body, and extremely terrifying will of light shot from his eyes, heading straight for Ye Wuchen’s eyes.

The dazzling light had Ye Wuchen close his eyes, but an extremely bright light emanated from the center of his brow nonetheless: the flash of the sword. An eye seemed to have emerged from the center of Ye Wuchen’s brow, which looked like the eye of a sword, sharp and dazzling.

Wang Qing felt his eyes in an instant, sensing slivers of sword will shooting right into his eyes, traveling through his brow and entering his brain. At the very next moment, he felt as if his body had disappeared from the forum stage, appearing in a word of swords: the Sword Realm.

“Illusive Sword rules, Spiritual Illusion.” Wang Qing’s brow became incredibly sharp all of a sudden. He felt a tinge of threat and lashed out with powerful Holy Light Swords, sending them straight towards Ye Wuchen’s silhouette. He then saw Ye Wuchen make a move. Terrifying whirlpool of swords appeared on Ye Wuchen’s hand and as he pointed his finger forward. Sword aura coalesced into terrifying storms, bringing shredding will, clashing with the swords of light of his opponent in the air.

Streaks of illusions flashed and disappeared. The silhouette of the one-armed swordsman disappeared. Wang Qing looked up and saw Ye Wuchen’s body appear above. A powerful Spiritual Sword will shot into Wang Qing’s mind, making it so that he had to split his spiritual powers to resisting the invading force. His eyes turned rather hazy. In the very next moment, he saw many one-armed silhouettes appearing in the air. All of them were Ye Wuchen.

The one-armed figures all had outstretched hands. In an instant, boundless sword aura coalesced, landing before their hands, and terrifying sword aura poured below with the Shredding rules to bear. At the moment, Wang Qing was no longer able to tell the true person from the illusions. It seemed to him that all of those silhouettes were Ye Wuchen himself.

Giant swords of terrifying might gathered and appeared one after another, bringing will of shredding swords to bear. Wang Qing’s expression turned solemn at that very scene. Holy light coursed throughout his body, and the Holy Light Swords enveloped him. He then pointed at the air. Both of them were shining with immensely brilliant light.

At the very next moment, sword will showered down from above, and the shredding giant swords shot forth. Wang Qing cranked his powers to the extreme and sent his Holy Light Swords in the air. Blinding light drowned the space they were in.

Wang Qing’s eyes remained staring at the air within that terrifying light. He felt an incredible sense of danger all of a sudden, so much so that he felt his hairs standing up. He turned around and unleashed holy light. At the very next moment, a one-armed figure continued to grow in his eyes, and the figure was armed with a sword. He felt like backing off like a streak of light, but the sense of danger simply grew stronger. A streak of terrifying sword will fell from behind. He went totally pale and stopped retreating. He did not even dare to move.

Ye Wuchen’s silhouettes appeared in front of and behind him. There were lots of other silhouettes of Ye Wuchen found in the air as well. It was as if he was truly everywhere.

But which is real and which are not? Wang Qing was unable to tell anymore. As such, he dared not move. Be it forward or backward, he would have sent himself flying into a true killing sword. He then felt the cold tip of a sword being put right before his throat. Wang Qing then said, “I yield.” There was a bit of blood dripping from the skin of his throat as he spoke. The sword was cold.

The illusions vanished. Ye Wuchen stood quietly before him, holding a sword in his hand, looking as calm as he had always been.

“You attacked me with spiritual powers so that I wasn’t able to split my attention to sense what was going on outside, fooling both my eyes and my senses, thrusting me deep into the realm of illusions, no?” Wang Qing asked. He ended up as the one being pinned in that battle. Being affected by Illusory Sword rules, he was unable to tell which sword was real and which sword was an illusion.

The sword before his throat disappeared, dissipating into sword will. Ye Wuchen did not answer him, simply walking back to where his people were.

Wang Qing took a deep breath, watching his back. He had not expected to lose to a student from the Barren State as well.

The people at the grandstands looked at the one-armed swordsman who was walking back to his corner and thought him to look rather cool. He and Xu Que both excelled in swordsmanship, yet their ways of the sword were completely different. The only commonality shared between their swords was that both were just as dangerous.

The Barren State had won four rounds, and two participants were defeated. Yu Sheng, who was deemed the strongest, had yet to battle. It was no surprise that there would be five from Barren State who would make it to the top 50.

Yu Sheng walked out right after Ye Wuchen was done, casting his sight at the Hall of Holy Light.

The eyes of many froze once again. Even though everyone was able to guess at the possibility of that happening, they were still unable to help but feel shaken inside. After Ye Wuchen was done besting a student of the Hall of Holy Light, Yu Sheng was going to challenge a student of the Hall of Holy Light as well.

Is the Hall of Holy Light going to suffer the same outcome as the Great Zhou Sacred Dynasty?

When Yu Sheng and the student of the Hall of Holy Light came to stand on the forum stage, dazzling light shone onto Yu Sheng’s body. Golden lights coursed throughout his body like a whirlpool, sucking up all will of light that was cast on his body.

The student brought even greater killing power of light to bear on him, but that student’s powers were still devoured right away by the power of rules coursing throughout Yu Sheng’s body. It was as if that student was unable to do anything to move Yu Sheng.

“He remains immovable.” Many shuddered deep inside. Ji Hua was probably the only one out of all the remaining participants of the Hall of Holy Light capable of making Yu Sheng budge.

Boom. A cracking rumble was heard as Yu Sheng stepped forward. He then took to the air and headed towards his opponent, who retreated at breakneck speeds like a streak of light.

Yu Sheng’s expression was cold. Two beams of light shot through his body. In that instant, blinding light shone from his torso and his feet. He leaped at the air, and his stout body actually approached his opponent at an even greater speed, bringing massive devastating power to bear.

That student continued to move backward, not daring to clash head-on with Yu Sheng. That guy is truly a human-shaped monster, even more ferocious than the golden great ape who is an actual demon beast. His powers are even more terrifying. God knows what happens if he manages to hit me.

At that moment, Yu Sheng swiped at the air with his hand. Dark golden light flowed through his fist in a frenzy, and his body continued to chase after his opponent like a beam of light. He then shouted and launched his fist forward. Streaks of huge golden fists shot through the air in an instant, encasing the space they were in. His opponent continued to evade while cutting the fists with holy light powers.

At that very instant, Yu Sheng’s body showed up right before the student and punched out like a god of war. His opponent went pale as he took the strike head-on.

Boom… Golden flowing light shot through the air. The body of that student of the Hall of Holy Light was sent flying very far away, crashing onto the edge of the forum stage, then dropping hard on the floor as he continued to spit up blood.

Boom. Yu Sheng’s body landed heavily on the ground, shaking the forum stage. Many looked at the stout figure, feeling speechless.

An overwhelming finish, just like before. Like Ji Hua, no one so far has been able to take his attacks.

At the Hall of Holy Light’s corner, Ji Hua’s expression was sharp. He emanated a very strong will of battle. He was hoping that Yu Sheng, a student of the Barren State, would make it to the very end, standing right before him just as he did then.

“That was really something.” Many were rattled. Yu Sheng is really probably going to be fighting in the top ten. It is entirely possible that even the number ones of many sacred grounds will be unable to fight him at equal footing.

“Three battles, the Hall of Holy Light bagged one win and suffered two losses,” many said to themselves. The clash between the Hall of Holy Light, a sacred ground of Qi State, and the Holy Zhi Palace, a sacred ground of the Barren State, ended up with the Barren State coming out on top.

The Barren State students really walk out with no hesitation and fight any who dare move against the Barren State head on. They seem to really earn the respect that the Barren State deserves, using their very own powers.

Yu Sheng returned to his place and looked at the other five remaining on his side. After that battle, the students of the Barren State had all fought in the battles among the top hundred, taking five victories out of seven battles.

Five students making it to top 50!