Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior

"Lifting Light as Heavy."

Su Mu muttered inwardly, recognizing the weapon technique Shangguan Ke used at the end to shatter the Sword Light, though clearly, Shangguan Ke had yet to fully master it; at least, he was far inferior to Purple Shirt, one of the Four Protectors of the Black Mountain Army back then.

It could only be considered a Half-Step Lifting Light as Heavy.

Even so, Shangguan Ke still defeated Tao Feng in his first battle and advanced into the second round.

"Many thanks for letting me win!"

Shangguan Ke sheathed his blade, cupped his hands slightly, then turned and stepped off the arena. The people on and off the stage all fell silent for a brief moment, then a burst of joy exploded from the contestants from the various counties below.

"He won, Shangguan Ke actually beat Tao Feng!"

"Impressive, truly worthy of someone from the Qingzhou Demon Slayer Bureau. Being able to defeat Tao Feng, it’s not impossible that Shangguan Ke really has a sliver of a chance to break into the top ten."

The crowd below was rejoicing, everyone crowding around Shangguan Ke. Shangguan Ke shook his head as the figure of the monster in the Land of Cyan Clouds surfaced in his mind once more, and he only said it had been sheer luck.

On the stage, however, Tao Feng’s face was ashen to the extreme. He had lost—he had actually lost to some nameless nobody!

Tao Feng clenched his fists tight and opened his mouth to speak, but in his ears came a cold voice transmitted over a distance.

"Useless trash, hurry up and get down here."

The voice came from where the Tao Family was gathered. He knew this voice all too well—it was Tao Xinglie’s. Though both he and Tao Xinglie were participants in the grand competition, their status within the Tao Family was worlds apart.

In an instant, the anger on Tao Feng’s face turned into terror. He immediately stepped off the stage, trembling.

Back at the Tao Family’s section, what greeted Tao Feng were one hostile, contemptuous gaze after another. Some of them were even people who had once been inferior to him, yet now Tao Feng could not offer any rebuttal.

Aside from the central arena, the four arenas to the east, south, west, and north were each only two zhang square. For Cultivators of at least Sixth Grade as a baseline, such a space was indeed rather small.

But that only made it easier to see the strength gap between both sides, and it also reduced the time consumed in the early rounds.

Once someone was forced out of the arena, they would be directly ruled to have lost. In fact, in the very first round, there had been a vivid example of a so‑called genius from the counties who, with victory in sight, failed to control his power and charged out of the ring, ultimately losing his match.

Very soon, the fifty matches of the first round concluded. Among the twenty contestants from the minor counties and the County Mansion, fifteen were eliminated, leaving only five who made it into the second round.

Among those who advanced to the second round, the Tao Family and the County Mansion had the most, with ten each; almost all who were eliminated had crossed paths with contestants from other Great Powers of Donglai.

Of the fifteen from the Li Family, seven remained; the Lin Family and Zhou Family had six each, all of them above the contestants from the counties.

"Second round, Eastern Arena, number one versus number three."

...

"Second round, Western Arena, number fifty‑five versus number fifty‑nine."

"Begin!"

The judges from the County Mansion on the arenas gave their orders one after another. Powerful auras from both sides surged on the stages, and on the Western Arena, a member of the Li Family ran into a member of the Zhou Family.

Enemies meeting face to face burned with extra hatred. In recent years, the Zhou Family had frequently used underhanded means against the Li Family’s businesses and people. The two clashed in an instant, their figures colliding and darting back and forth rapidly on the arena.

Qi Blood and Spiritual Qi tore through the air, colliding again and again with explosive booms.

"So fast, these two are so fast!"

Exclamations arose from below, mostly from contestants who had come from the various counties. Many of these already‑eliminated people watched the fierce battle on the stage with shock on their faces, their hearts deeply shaken.

In less than a fifth of an incense stick’s time, the Li Family Martial Artist on stage blasted the Zhou Family Daoist Cultivator out of the ring.

"Li Xin of the Li Family wins!"

The judge immediately announced in a loud voice.

The Li Family members outside the arena erupted in cheers at once. Li Yao and the others quickly went up to meet Li Xin, smiles in their eyes.

"Beautifully done!"

"With Cousin’s strength, so long as you don’t run into those few people early, you’re more than capable of breaking into the top ten!"

"Hahahaha..."

Li Xin was in high spirits. Having beaten someone from the Zhou Family, he laughed a few times and cheerfully followed the others back to the Li Family’s resting area.

Just then, Li Changlin approached and spoke via voice transmission.

"Wang Chan, if you were to face Tao Xinglie, Song Jingyuan, and Guo Zhen... how confident are you?"

Su Mu, who had his eyes closed in rest, slowly opened them, glanced at the three, and raised three fingers.

"Thirty percent confidence, then..."

Seeing the three fingers Su Mu held up, Li Changlin was not disappointed; he was instead somewhat delighted. He considered that if he did not run into those three early, and if he did not expose his trump cards, he might have close to a ten percent chance of victory against any one of them.

Yet Su Mu actually had as much as thirty percent, which was nothing short of high.

"It was my own shortsightedness that offended you earlier. I, Li Changlin, apologize to you... This battle concerns the future of my Li Family. I ask that you give it your all!"

Li Changlin cupped his hands and bowed deeply to Su Mu with solemn respect.

"Alright."

Su Mu inclined his head lightly. Since he had come to an agreement with Li Heng and had accepted the Golden Jiao Spear, he naturally intended to do his part.

Having received Su Mu’s nod, Li Changlin let out a quiet sigh of relief and no longer disturbed him.

Judging from the expression on Li Changlin’s face, Su Mu knew the other had clearly misunderstood.

He had not raised three fingers to indicate only thirty percent confidence...

But that three moves were enough. He was confident he could defeat any one of those three within three moves. As for why three moves, Su Mu simply liked to leave himself some leeway.

With that, Su Mu closed his eyes again, continuing to digest the opportunity he had gained on Bai Jiao Mountain.

The minor competition continued. Shangguan Ke broke into the third round and, with fairly good luck, obtained the sole bye, being directly promoted into the fourth round.

"We did it, we did it. Entering the fourth round means entering the top ten."

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