On the arena, Lin Huang looked at Fatty Bai’s seemingly innocent face, feeling a wave of misery about his own fate. He had risked his life and bled for his Cultivation just to reach the Human Element Eighth Heaven. He had to use the Iron Silver Armor and ten thousand gold to extricate himself from the chaotic storm of the melee. But this guy... he really wanted to kick him right off the stage!
Lin Huang sighed helplessly. He walked over to Fatty Bai and slapped his round belly. "Stop pretending. Your old man already found out. Besides, with your build, if you fall off this arena, you’ll definitely be smashed into a puddle of mud!"
"Boss Lin, stand a little further away. Don’t let others notice me..." Fatty Bai still lay there like a puddle of mud. He didn’t even open his eyes, but his mumbled words reached Lin Huang’s ears with absolute clarity.
"You don’t have a token. What are you afraid of?" Lin Huang asked.
The air was silent for a long moment. Then, Fatty Bai sat up abruptly, his face full of pleasant surprise. "That’s right! I don’t have a token, so what the hell am I afraid of? I don’t need to leave the arena either, because I don’t have a token anyway!"
He felt that Lin Huang’s words made perfect sense; he had truly been too stupid just now.
"Oh... Boss Lin, look! That bastard Ming Ao was actually killed by Lu Wuji." Fatty Bai pointed at a corner of the arena and muttered. Then, he looked at Lin Huang with a clever expression. "Boss Lin, do you want me to have the dead fat cat kill Lu Wuji? We can split the ten thousand gold. That would be enough for us to sleep at the Yingchun Tower for three years!"
Lin Huang turned his head and saw Ming Ao kneeling in the corner of the arena, covered in blood. A sharp Longsword was pierced through his chest. Lu Wuji stood in front of him, his expression as calm as ever.
Ming Ao raised his head. He didn’t look at Lu Wuji. Instead, he gazed at Lin Huang from afar, his bloodshot eyes staring at him with boundless venom.
He had thought countless times about how he would kill Lin Huang, obtain the Earth Element Pill, become an Earth Element Martial Artist, enter the Four Great Sects, become an Inner Sect Disciple, and enjoy a meteoric rise to power. He never imagined it would end like this.
"Lin Huang never takes me seriously from the very beginning," he thought bitterly. "He hasn’t even made a move, yet I’ve pushed myself into an abyss of eternal doom... I am a dignified Human Element Ninth Heaven Martial Artist, the strongest fighter among everyone here, yet I don’t even get the chance to strike at Lin Huang!"
"Even as a ghost, I won’t let you off!" Ming Ao rasped with a hoarse laugh, glaring at Lin Huang in the distance. Blood continuously spewed from his mouth until his life force was completely extinguished.
In the corner of the arena, Lin Huang indifferently retracted his gaze, feeling not the slightest ripple of emotion in his heart.
To Lin Huang, Ming Ao was certainly a threat. However, he was far from being comparable to Crown Prince Lingyun. At most, he was about on par with Crazy Cui from the bottom of Thousand Feet Cliff.
"What a piece of trash!" In the carriage outside the plaza, Crown Prince Lingyun watched the scene on the arena. His expression had already darkened to the extreme. He had been able to suppress the anger in his heart earlier, but at this moment, it finally erupted.
In his eyes, the chaotic melee was supposed to be a flawless trap. With Ming Ao leading the incitement, Lin Huang was certain to die.
He never expected this.
It was as if Lin Huang had known beforehand, preparing the Iron Silver Armor. Let alone inciting the crowd to kill Lin Huang, Ming Ao had only dragged himself into the mud, failing to even touch the hem of Lin Huang’s clothes from start to finish.
"It seems I will have to handle this personally!" Crown Prince Lingyun said viciously, clenching his fists tight. However, looking at the silver-clad Lin Huang, he frowned again. The Iron Silver Armor wasn’t something that could be easily pierced.
"Imperial Brother, do not worry. It’s just the Iron Silver Armor. Ordinary Dynasties cannot break through it, but my Celestial Thunder Sect has countless Divine Weapons. If Lin Huang wants to rely on this to fight you, it will be too easy!" Ling Huangyi chuckled disdainfully. He then unfastened the sword at his waist and handed it to Crown Prince Lingyun. "I’m sure that when this sword pierces through the Iron Silver Armor, Lin Huang’s bewildered and remorseful expression will be absolutely spectacular."
Crown Prince Lingyun nodded and took the Longsword. Staring at Lin Huang on the arena, a cold, eerie smile formed on the corners of his lips.
Back on the arena, Fatty Bai sat down and innocently watched the crowd chase after the Four Sects’ tokens. He chuckled, poked Lin Huang, and said ingratiatingly, "Boss Lin, after you enter a Sect, you have to look after your brother. For so many years, I’ve waited on you hand and foot, working like a horse and even acting like a wife for you. I’ve put in a lot of hard work and achieved great merit!"
"I have a wife," Lin Huang said coldly, firmly drawing a line between himself and Fatty Bai.
"What... you have a wife? Boss Lin, you’re not an idiot, are you?" Fatty Bai slapped his thigh and looked at Lin Huang with disgust. "We are prominent figures, after all. That Xiaofang from the brothel is just a fleeting romance. She can’t be considered a wife."
Lin Huang shook his head. Glancing at the incense stick about to burn out at the back of the arena, he explained, "Her name is Piaoxue. If you don’t believe me, I’ll show you the love token she gave me!"
Saying so, Lin Huang took out a token and tossed it to Fatty Bai.
Half-doubting, Fatty Bai caught the token. He looked at the token in his hand. It was entirely crystal clear, and faint spots of snowflakes could be seen within the jade. Two elegant ancient characters came into his view.
Piaoxue!
"Boss Lin, you... you’re just going to fly solo like this?" Fatty Bai looked at Lin Huang, his face a mixture of shock, disappointment, resentment, and sorrow.
"Didn’t we agree to grow old together?
"Didn’t we agree to share life and death?"
Hearing the words tumbling out of Fatty Bai’s mouth, Lin Huang’s lips twitched violently. He felt as if he had... gotten himself into deep trouble!
"Piaoxue?
"Piaoxue!
"It’s a pretty good name. I just don’t know what she looks like. She must be uglier than me, right?" Fatty Bai toyed with the token in his hand, sighing in narcissistic self-pity.
"Piaoxue..." As Fatty Bai kept muttering the name, he suddenly found it somewhat familiar. When he caught sight of Shen Diexin at the back of the arena from the corner of his eye, his expression drastically changed as if he had seen a ghost.
"Mother of God... Boss Lin, you set me up!" Fatty Bai’s face flushed with anger. Feeling the token in his hand grow blisteringly hot, he was just about to throw it away when a resounding bell echoed across the arena.
The time of one incense stick was up!
At the sound of the bell, not only did Fatty Bai freeze, but everyone on and off the arena was stunned.
It was... over, just like that?
Fatty Bai stared at the Floating Snow Order in his hand, wanting to cry but lacking the tears!
Someone suddenly realized that to avoid being hunted down, they had thrown the Four Sects’ token away... They had thrown it away!
Others, however, found that they had unknowingly grabbed hold of... a token?!
No one had anticipated that the third round of the Four Sects’ selection would end in such a tragic and abrupt manner.
Out of the one hundred participating young Martial Artists, thirty-two had died, and forty-one were kicked off the arena. Of the twenty-seven Martial Artists remaining on the stage, more than half were injured.
Yet, those holding the Four Sects’ tokens were not the ten strongest among them.
Aside from Lin Huang, Fatty Bai, and Lu Wuji, there were four Human Element Eighth Heaven cultivators, two at the Human Element Seventh Heaven, and even one who was only at the Human Element Sixth Heaven.
This outcome... exceeded everyone’s expectations.
Ming Ao was dead!
A Human Element Sixth Heaven cultivator had obtained a Celestial Thunder Order.
Lin Huang was safe and sound.
"Elder Hann Shan, announce the results," Shen Diexin said frostily as she took in the scene on the arena, glaring at Hann Shan and Qii Lie with disgust.
The original intent of the Four Sects’ selection was to pick out disciples with outstanding talent. Who would have thought that Hann Shan would employ such a chaotic melee format, nearly killing off half of the Great Xia Dynasty’s most brilliant prodigies? To do such a thing for the sake of personal grudges was utterly vicious and merciless.
Hann Shan coldly surveyed the scene before him, a surge of fury rising on his wizened face. The outcome of today’s screening had vastly surpassed his and Qii Lie’s expectations.
Lin Huang had survived!
The highly favored Ming Ao had been killed.
Fatty Bai had actually obtained the Floating Snow Order.
The token in Lu Wuji’s hand was the Thousand Sound Order.
The Celestial Thunder Sect... had shockingly failed to snatch a single talented disciple!
How could he not be furious? His dull, gray eyes glared fixedly at Lin Huang, wishing he could swallow him alive. The root cause of this disastrous outcome was none other than Lin Huang.
Suppressing the rage in his heart, Hann Shan announced the results of the third round through gritted teeth:
"Fatty Bai, holding the Floating Snow Order, enters Piaoxue Palace.
"Lu Wuji, holding the Thousand Sound Order, enters Qianying Valley.
"Hann Yunfei, holding the Celestial Thunder Order, enters the Celestial Thunder Sect...
"Lin Huang, holding the Floating Snow Order, enters Piaoxue Palace."
When he read Lin Huang’s name, Hann Shan practically paused after every syllable. He wished his words could kill, condemning Lin Huang to die without a burial place.
Below the arena, the crowd buzzed with lively discussions and boiled over with excitement as they listened to Hann Shan read out name after name. This result was somewhat beyond their expectations.
Undoubtedly, some were ecstatic, while others lamented!
Perhaps the hardest thing to accept was the extremely grating name of Lin Huang being read from Hann Shan’s lips.
"Elder Shen, congratulations. Not only have you successfully taken Lin Huang into your Sect as you wished, but you have also snagged such a talented disciple as Fatty Bai," Hann Shan offered a resentful compliment as he turned his head.
"The format for the third round’s screening was decided by your Celestial Thunder Sect and Fengyu Tower. This outcome must be exactly what you hoped to see. My Piaoxue Palace will gladly accept these two disciples!" Shen Diexin wore a mocking smile on her icy face.
Hann Shan’s expression darkened. The withered hands inside his sleeves clenched until his knuckles turned blue. He said in a weird, sarcastic tone, "However, I must remind Elder Shen that so-called prodigies tend to die young. Isn’t Lin Cangxue a cautionary tale?"
"I don’t need Elder Hann’s reminder on this matter. Three years ago, my Piaoxue Palace’s disciple could suppress the younger generation of the Four Great Sects and Ten Great Dynasties, and she still can three years later. My Piaoxue Palace carelessly allowed Cangxue to fall into ruin, but it will not happen to anyone else!" Shen Diexin sneered coldly. In her heart, however, she was extremely indignant. The incident with Lin Cangxue back then was inevitably the doing of the Three Great Sects, but she never had any proof, and Lin Cangxue had refused to disclose the details of what happened.
"I naturally believe that Piaoxue Palace can protect Fatty Bai, but as for this Lin Huang... TSK, TSK..." Hann Shan waved his sleeve. His dull eyes fixated outside the plaza, on Crown Prince Lingyun, who had already stepped out of his carriage. His hoarse voice drifted over.
"He still has a life-and-death battle with Crown Prince Lingyun. I’m afraid he won’t be walking off this arena today!"