Unrivaled Martial Emperor

Chapter 371 - Instantly Defeated with a Finger

When the crowd heard the four voices, they felt like they were gazing upon a towering mountain. Their tone exuded a grandeur that didn't impose but rather emanated a sense of sanctity, as if the silhouettes of four saints had appeared in the minds of everyone, eliciting reverence.

Chen Fan was sitting upright on a seat, staring fixedly at the source of the voices. He only saw four blurry figures high up in the clouds, their features beyond recognition. “The Sect Leaders of the sects.”

Yet, the sheer power radiating from those four blurry figures made one lower their heads involuntarily in worship.

The sect leaders did not allow others to see their true appearances; they perpetually commanded reverence akin to saints. They had attained the venerable status of Divine Nascent beings.

As soon as the first words came out from their mouths, countless protective light shields suddenly rose in the middle of the battlefield, condensing into a thousand fighting rings.

Every ring was an independent, tiny space that could allow thousands of people to compete at the same time. Without this arrangement, the inner disciples of the four sects would spend an eternity engaging one by one.

A voice chimed in beside Chen Fan.

“Brother Chen Fan, the rewards are so generous this time. Aren’t they simply using our greed to make us fight with all we have? Heard you sent Zhang Tao packing with just one swing of your sword last month. With skills like that, you're bound to outshine many core disciples this time, raking in a fortune."

Chen Fan turned to see Mu Chen, Lu Yun, and the others. It had been over a year. Memories of wiping out the blood-sucking bandits in the northwestern lands flooded his mind.

Chen Fan nodded in a friendly manner and saw through their cultivations with a single glance. “Your cultivations aren’t bad, either. You’re already at the second level.”

When they had been in the northwestern lands, they had been Qi Grandmasters. They were now elite disciples of the inner sect.

Lu Yun smiled bitterly and said, “We can't hold a candle to your cultivation. Winning a round or two in this competition would be enough for us. We're not aiming any higher."

“That’s right, I’ve truly seen for myself what the saying ‘teeming with experts’ means today. Our modest cultivation puts us at the bottom of the pile here," added Mu Chen, shaking his head ruefully.

“No need to undersell yourselves. Everyone's journey holds its own opportunities. While your current cultivation levels may not seem high, who's to say what the future holds?” Chen Fan said plainly, “Your fate is in your own hands. Maintain the resolve to grow stronger, work step by step, and you'll surely emerge as formidable experts in time.”

“Hopefully, your words come true, Brother Chen. Our aim in this competition is modest—to not face defeat in our first match.”

Mu Chen and the others’ gazes became a little sharper.

Chen Fan nodded, withdrawing his gaze. The battlefield fell into profound silence.

Moments later, the martial arts competition commenced.

Chen Fan was currently an elite disciple. Although he was at the ninth level, he couldn’t join the core disciples’ battles for now since he didn’t undergo the examination to become a core disciple.

However, as long as he won against all the other elite disciples, he could eventually earn the right to challenge core disciples, accruing even more contribution points.

So, he waited patiently. Soon, he sensed a wisp of aura from his token telling him to go forward. He leaped forth and entered the huge battlefield.

The space changed in an instant.

What appeared from the outside was but a fraction of the vast, independent space within—a world unto itself.

As soon as Chen Fan entered the first independent space, a figure darted forth, clad in the uniform of the Floating Cloud Sword Sect.

“Floating Cloud Sword Sect, Wang Zhongtian!”

Wang Zhongtian was a man about twenty years old; he appeared cold and proud. His aura surging, he pointed his sword straight at Chen Fan and said, “Admit your defeat now, or I’ll have you know what boundless pain means!”

"What arrogance!" said Chen Fan.

A weaker person would have immediately cowered under Wang Zhongtian’s aura, exposing an opening during battle and getting defeated.

This tactic also involved leveraging their aura to assert dominance over their opponent, inducing feelings of intimidation or impatience. As a result, their opponent's primeval qi would flow less efficiently, and they would struggle to maintain a composed state of mind.

Yet, such ploys seemed futile against Chen Fan.

All he had to do was look at Wang Zhongtian once, and he knew that his opponent was merely at the third level. His sword qi was fierce; compared to Chen Fan’s cultivation, that was less than nothing. He could kill Wang Zhongtian by blowing hard.

Chen Fan chuckled lightly. He stepped forward, drawing a circle with his finger. Then, a wisp of primeval force shot out, its momentum like lightning. It instantly shattered Wang Zhongtian’s sword.

“You—” Before he could finish his sentence, Wang Zhongtian flew back and fell to the ground, spewing large mouthfuls of fresh blood and suffering heavy injuries to his meridians.

Chen Fan pointed with his finger once more, searching for his opponent’s token, and flicked out, shattering it.

Immediately, he heard a voice that declared, “First round, Spring Autumn Sect, Chen Fan wins!”

The criteria for victory or defeat in these battles was the destruction of the opponent's token.

Once a token was broken, the central battlefield's unique power declared the defeat of its owner. Surrender or abandonment of the token was also permissible.

After defeating Wang Zhongtian effortlessly, Chen Fan was transported out by a power and returned to his seat.

Surveying the elite disciples' section, he found it vacant. It seemed that everyone had entered the battlefield and were engaged in difficult fights.

After all, almost no other elite disciples were as strong as Chen Fan; he had strength comparable to top core disciples but had yet to apply for their promotion. Moreover, it was even rarer for someone to instantly defeat an opponent in the same cultivation level with a single move.

The competition among the average disciples would undoubtedly continue for some time before victors emerged.

Unmoving, Chen Fan sat upright in his seat. He ignored everything happening around him, quietly waiting for the next battle.