Soul Emperor Martial God

"Yanran is up too," Xiao Yi's gaze sharpened as he stood up and stared intently at that area.

Lin Jin and Tie Niu taking on Guu Changfeng was one thing, but Liu Yanran only had Innate Seventh Layer Cultivation and, to be honest, Xiao Yi had never even heard of the Mist Rain Green Willow as a Martial Soul, let alone knew if it was strong or not.

But, Xiao Yi had an intuition.

Facing Guu Changfeng, Liu Yanran seemed to have an easier time.

Xiao Yi was very aware that his intuition was accurate, but he still watched the battle with a hint of worry.

On the other side, Guu Changfeng stared coldly at Liu Yanran, "One by one, you all offend this Young Master for the sake of Xiao Yi. Is it really worth it?"

Liu Yanran didn't answer, but said instead, "It seems Guu Changfeng doesn't want to roll off on his own, so it looks like I'll have to reluctantly lend a hand."

As soon as these words fell, the red whip in Liu Yanran's hand surged with momentum.

The next second, the entire Martial Arts Arena was enveloped in a bizarre aura.

Wisps of white fog suddenly appeared out of thin air.

"Hm? Is it fogging up?" Xiao Yi frowned as he looked at the strange white fog around him.

When he snapped back to his senses and looked again at the Martial Arts Arena where Liu Yanran and Guu Changfeng were fighting, he was shocked.

The vast Martial Arts Arena was divided into ten areas, that is, ten arenas.

The other nine arenas were surrounded by white fog, but it wasn't severe; only the area where Liu Yanran and Guu Changfeng were, was engulfed in an incredibly thick white fog.

The naked eye couldn't see what was happening inside the dense fog.

All that was known was that within the fog, flashes of green light occasionally twinkled, seemingly strands of green willow fluff.

"What a strong aura, has Yanran really become this powerful?" Xiao Yi was greatly astonished.

He couldn't see inside the fog, but he could sense the aura of Liu Yanran within it.

This aura was no weaker than Lei Zhan's before, perhaps even stronger.

Every Martial Artist present was shocked by this aura and halted their battles to look towards the foggy area.

Ten odd seconds later, a figure suddenly flew out from the thick fog — it was Guu Changfeng. MyVirtualLibraryEmpire(M-VLEMPYR)

When Guu Changfeng fell from the Martial Arts Arena, he was covered in blood, his life and death unknown.

The next second, the dense fog vanished, and Liu Yanran stood proudly on the platform, her gaze turned towards the distant Xiao Yi, smiling boastfully.

"This..." Xiao Yi was surprised.

He knew Liu Yanran wasn't weak, but he never imagined she was this strong.

Then, a figure suddenly leapt below his area but didn't get on the platform, staying beneath it instead — it was Qin Feiyang.

"Hey, Xiao Yi," Qin Feiyang said discontentedly, "Lin Jin and I had originally agreed that none of us would take the stage, just waiting for Guu Changfeng to do so before we challenged him."

"We each planned to teach him a lesson, to vent for you."

"But, I didn't expect Yanran to be so fierce. She knocked him unconscious in one go. I haven't had a chance to show off yet, nor an opportunity to trouble him."

Xiao Yi chuckled, murmuring to himself, "These three rascals."

"I'd better go and challenge some as well, show my skills. I can't let only you guys grab all the limelight."

With that, Qin Feiyang flashed away, heading towards the area of another competitor.

Aside from Xiao Yi's area, the battles in the other nine areas were still going on continuously.

Among them, the battles of Lin Jin, Tie Niu, and Liu Yanran were the most splendid to watch.

The Martial Artists who came up to challenge them were defeated by a single move, without exception.

Of course, this trio handled the other Martial Artists quite gently.

In the first round of evaluation, since they only needed a certain score to pass, the three all cheekily concealed their real strength.

In the second round of evaluation, facing challenge after challenge, they had no choice but to unleash their full power.

Xiao Yi had always known that they were concealing their true power, but he hadn't expected their real strength to exceed his original expectations by so much.

The three of them had modest Cultivation Levels, only at the Innate Seventh Layer and Eighth Layer, but their Martial Souls were rather extraordinary, especially Liu Yanran's Mist Rain Green Willow, which Xiao Yi had never even heard of—utterly mysterious.

With the power boost from their Spiritual Artifacts, the true strength of the three reached well beyond Half-step Cave Profound.

Yet, these three were not listed in the Northern Mountain Ranking, which was somewhat strange.

However, thinking of their playful nature and their inclination to avoid the limelight, it suddenly made sense.

A day later, the five hundred Martial Artists had all experienced numerous fights, either challenging or being challenged.

In the end, ten individuals stood unbeaten on the Martial Arts Arena, with no one able to shake them—thus, the top ten were decided.

The rankings of the other four hundred and ninety participants were given by the watching Deacons.

Aside from a few who were dissatisfied and fought a few more battles, there were no further objections.

The rankings from eleven to five hundred were set.

Lastly, there was the battle among the top ten to determine who would be first and who tenth; a clear distinction was still needed.

Xiao Yi, Lin Jin, Tie Niu, Liu Yanran, Qin Feiyang, Lei Zhan, Hee Jian, Zhao Buqun, Hee Cang, Wang Hu.

The ten competitors on the Martial Arts Arena exchanged glances, each aware of the others' gaps in strength and skill level.

After several exchanges and sparring, the observing Deacon scored them and established the rankings.

Everyone was in agreement, and the rankings were thus finally set.

First place, Xiao Yi; second, Lei Zhan; third, Lin Jin; fourth, Tie Niu; fifth, Liu Yanran; sixth, Qin Feiyang; seventh, Zhao Buqun; eighth, Hee Jian; ninth, Hee Cang; tenth, Wang Hu.

Guu Changfeng was not among the top ten; he was severely injured by Liu Yanran and had passed out.

A Deacon revived him, but due to his grave injuries, he couldn't become a challenger again, finishing with a rank of eleventh, even below Wang Hu.

By the way, Qin Feiyang's strength greatly increased after his breakthrough to the Innate Ninth Layer, even defeating Zhao Buqun.

In fact, his rank should have been higher.

But the guy, when facing challenges as a standing competitor, kept holding back and often showed off during the fight, which resulted in the observing Deacon scoring him lower.

After a while, Elder Yi appeared, taking over the ranking records from the other Deacons, and nodded after glancing at them.

Especially upon seeing Xiao Yi, the usually stern and sparingly smiling Elder Yi actually allowed a hint of satisfaction to show.

"Mm, not bad, first in both assessments, it's somewhat unexpected for this old man," Elder Yi said calmly.

"Thank you for the praise, Elder Yi," Xiao Yi replied modestly and confidently.

Speaking of Elder Yi, he had left as soon as the second round of assessments began.

The observers were just ordinary Deacons.

Only when all the fights were over did he return.

Presumably, he must hold a high position within the Sky-splitting Sword Sect, and these ordinary observations and scoring were not something he needed to handle.

Or perhaps, he was someone who disliked bustling scenes.

At this moment, Elder Yi's voice rang out again, "Firstly, congratulations to you three hundred, for officially becoming disciples of the Sky-splitting Sword Sect."

Only the top three hundred were selected in the second round of assessments, and now only three hundred remained standing in the square.

The other two hundred had already been sent out of the sect gates.

This year, more than ten thousand Martial Artists came to participate in the Sky-splitting Sword Sect's assessments.

But now, only three hundred remained, clearly indicating how high the elimination rate was.

Moreover, having passed the second assessment, these three hundred were now true disciples of the Sky-splitting Sword Sect.

The third assessment tests and decides other matters.

"The third assessment won't require you to fight; rest where you are for half an hour to recuperate, then you may follow me," Elder Yi instructed calmly.