"Draw begins, queue - quick hands get, slow hands... "Consider yourself unlucky!"
The disciple of the deacon struck the gong, his voice very high, but the ending was deliberately muffled to make one's heart beat.
In the center of the training ground, the ebony sign tube was taller than a person, its body carved with twisted fire patterns, like a group of fire snakes waiting for the right moment to strike.
Chu Xuan was in eighteenth place - a good number, he raised his eyebrows in self-mockery: Eighteen levels of hell? Let's see who goes down first.
The disciples in front reached out their hands one by one, and the cards rolled, "jingle jingle jingle" non-stop.
"Number Five, safe zone!"
"No. 9, secondary station, good luck!"
"Sixteen... TSK, Master stage, Elder Li himself is in charge, please be blessed."
Whispering is like the cold wind, creeping down the spine into the clothes.
Zhao Tianlei was at the front, with a bandage on his left hand, but that did not prevent him from turning back and grinning at Chu Xuan, forcing a silent mouth between his teeth: "Wait to die."
Chu Xuan yawned, tapped his temples with his index finger, and retorted, "There's food between my teeth."
Zhao Tianlei's face turned black in an instant and he almost forgot to draw lots.
"No. 1, Main station!"
When the signboard was signed, the gong rang out loudly and the crowd was in an uproar.
On the main stage, it means Elder Li is the chief judge, and it also means -- life or death.
Zhao Tianlei held the sign, laughing so hard that his eyes twitched, his gaze like a venomous snake swept over Chu Xuan: "The draw is over, I'll see you off."
...
"Number 18, Chu Xuan --"
The disciples of the deacons drawled out their voices like executioners who call out names to death row inmates.
Chu Xuan stepped forward, put the sign tube on his palm, and the cold spiritual power crept in quietly --
The fire pattern on the tube suddenly brightened, as if it had been doused with ice water, making a "sizzle" sound, and a wisp of dark red spiritual energy hastily withdrew.
"Trying to get me?" The young man's mouth curled up, his fingertips flicked, and the Cold Star sword qi pierced through the gaps in the fire pattern, precisely hitting that dark force --
"Jingle!"
The cards rolled and landed in his palm --
"Number One, main table!"
With a loud gong, the crowd fell silent in an instant, followed by an explosion.
"Number One? Both of you are Number One?"
"Double signature on the main channel? What do you mean? A fight to death!"
On the high platform, a glimmer of surprise flashed in Elder Li's eyes, which quickly turned into a cold smile: "If it's the will of heaven, then -- let's have a group fight, and the winner will advance to the inner gate."
In the same group, the winner advances --
Eight words, like eight heavy hammers, struck everyone's hearts hard.
In the history of the Outer Gate match, the number of kills in the same group can be counted on one hand, and every time it was bloody.
Zhao Tianlei looked up to the sky and laughed, the broken bandages fluttering in the wind like a broken battle flag: "Chu Xuan, did you hear that? Today on the main channel, only one of us can stand down!"
Chu Xuan tossed the card and casually tucked it behind his waist, his voice not high enough to make the surrounding area quiet: "Then just stand - don't kneel."
...
"Rule restated," Elder Li rose, his gaze swept across the entire field, his voice deliberately lowered, but each word was clear, "sparring in battle, life and death are up to fate, admit defeat - no."
No!
The crowd fell silent in an instant, even breathing with caution.
The four words "Defeat is invalid" hung over Chu Xuan's head like a knife.
Ling Qingxue's eyes turned icy cold in an instant, her fingertips unconsciously stroked the scabbard, and a wisp of frosty air spread quietly.
On the other side of the stone pillar, the keeper of the outer gate frowned but did not speak - Elder Li held the high ground of the rules and could not refute him in public.
Chu Xuan looked up, his gaze passing through the crowd, and met Elder Li.
In the old man's eyes, murderous intent was unconcealed.
The young man laughed, laughing, revealing his little tiger teeth: "Thank you, Elder, for your kindness, disciple - you will surely perform well."
The four words "Good performance" were gnawed with great force, like nails, hammered into the board inch by inch.
...
On the side of the ring, Lin Hao was so anxious that he was spinning around: "Admitting defeat is invalid? How could he fight? Zhao Tianlei, that lunatic, will surely kill!"
Zhang Asheng's little face turned pale: "To... Or shall we give up?
"Turn your head!" " Wang Tiezhu slapped him on the back of the head. "Brother Chu can lose? He's frozen to the ninth level of Qi Refinement!"
Chu Xuan came over and, hearing the three of them talking, laughed heartily: "What are you lying about? Rules are dead, but people are alive."
He lowered his voice. "Zhao Tianlei's spiritual energy is disordered. Just now when I approached, I sensed his meridians were agitated - aftereffects of the explosive elixir, plus some kind of forbidden drug catalysis. It won't last long."
Lin Hao's eyes lit up: "Dragging words?"
"No, finish it quickly." Chu Xuan narrowed his eyes, a flash of cold light, "I want him to be at his best and fall the hardest."
...
Behind the high platform, the grey-robed disciple appeared quietly, with a note between his fingertips, and raised his cup to Chu Xuan from afar.
The note fell into the young man's palm --
"Zhao Tianlei took the 'Blood-burning Pill'. Within one incense stick, his spiritual power soared, and after one incense stick, his meridians were severed."
Signature: A scrawled "grey" character.
Chu Xuan raised his eyes, and the man in the grey robe had vanished without a trace.
He crushed the note, a cold air welled up in his palm, and the paper scraps turned into ice powder and drifted away with the wind.
"A stick of incense? Enough."
...
On the ring, the gong rang again.
"One main stage, the final showdown - Zhao Tianlei against Chu Xuan!"
The crowd receded like a tide, revealing a ten-zhang open space in the center.
The bluestone ground, stained with blood, was a mixture of old and new, like a chessboard waiting to be finished.
Zhao Tianlei leapt onto the ring, the broken bandage fluttered in the wind, a crimson flame flared up in the palm of his left hand, and his spiritual energy fluctuated and rose steadily
At the peak of the ninth level of Qi Refinement... At the beginning of the tenth level... It's still rising!
"Burnt Blood Pill?" An elder whispered.
Elder Li, expressionless: "Disciple's private affairs, none of the sect."
Ling Qingxue's eyes were icy cold, and a faint glow of coldness appeared on her fingertips.
The keeper of the outer gate frowned but remained silent - the rules did not prohibit the elixir, he could not intervene.
Chu Xuan stepped onto the stage slowly, and with each step, a thin circle of ice spread under his feet, as if a layer of frost had been laid over the arena.
He stood still, raised his eyes, and said in a clear voice, "Zhao Tianlei, you have quite a lot of qi and blood burning? Don't cry later."
Zhao Tianlei sneered, flames climbing up the blade like a fire dragon awakening: "Cry? I'll make you cry too soon!"
The gongs are blaring, and the fight is about to begin!
The sound of the gong still lingers, but the fire dragon roars out.
Zhao Tianlei pushed off the ground with the soles of his feet and was enveloped in crimson flames, dashing about like a shooting star. As the sword's edge passed, the air was burned with distorted ripples, and the heat wave hit the face. The disciples at the edge of the stage all backed away, fearing they would be burned into roast pigs.
Chu Xuan, neither dodging nor avoiding, with his right hand pointing together, drew the Cold Moon sword an inch from its sheath --
"Cold Star · Frost's Descent."
The white mist sword qi met head-on. With a "whoosh", the fire dragon was split in the middle, ice and fire collided, water mist rose, and the arena instantly turned into a boiling pot.
"Smash it!" Zhao Tianlei roared, the power of the blood-burning pill burst out, the broken sword solidified the fire blade again, the temperature rose again, forcibly shattering the remaining power of Frost Descent, the fire wave rolled back and turned into more than a dozen fire snakes, blocking all retreat routes.
"Addicted to playing with fire?" " Chu Xuan chuckled, his toes pointed, and his figure skated through the crevice of the fire snake. Wherever he passed, the fire snake was brushed by the sword qi of the Cold star, instantly frozen into an ice sculpture, "thump thump thump" it fell to the ground, red ice splashing everywhere.
"The Blood-burning Pill is nothing special." The young man's voice floated through the mist, like a knife cutting through glass, shrill but boiling with blood.
Zhao Tianlei's eyes reddened, his tongue cracked, and a mouthful of essence blood sprayed on the fire blade: "Flame Soul - Triple Wave!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three waves of fire piled up, each higher than the last, and the last one was about ten feet high, like a wall of fire pressing down, and the heat made the disciples' hair curl up.
"Admit defeat -- or burn to ashes!" Zhao Tianlei roared hoarse, and the flames distorted his face like that of an evil spirit.
Chu Xuan raised his eyes, his gaze through the wall of fire, and his voice was soft but clear: "I said, you have a burning of qi and blood, don't cry later."
He also pointed that the Cold Moon Sword was completely unsheathed, and before the blade moved, the sword spirit arrived --
"Cold Star · Condensed Glow."
Ice blue spheres condense at fingertips, with the inner cold star spinning rapidly like a miniature nebula. The light ball dropped from the hand and flew slowly towards the wall of fire, seemingly light, but in the moment of contact --
Bang!
The ice blue exploded, the cold stars flew, and the fire wall was pierced by countless tiny ice cones, like a curtain pierced by a thousand arrows, "whoosh" shattered into a shower of fire, and before it even hit the ground it froze into red ice, crackling all over the arena.
Zhao Tianlei was shaken by the aftereffects and took five steps back, his blood and qi in his chest surged, and his skin turned an abnormal crimson - the side effects of the blood-burning Pill began to counterattack.
"That's the fire?" Chu Xuan stepped closer and closer, spreading a thin circle of ice with each step. "A little more, I'll just warm up."
On the side of the platform, Elder Li's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot, his knuckles crackling, but there was nothing he could do - the rules did not prohibit the elixir, he could not intervene.
Ling Qingxue's eyes were icy cold, and her fingertips unconsciously stroked the scabbard, ready to strike at any moment.
The steward of the outer gate, however, raised his hand and shook it slightly at her: "Just wait a little longer. That kid still has a backup plan."
...
Zhao Tianlei was panting like a broken bellows, and the power of the blood-burning pill was burning wildly through his meridians. He knew his time was running out.
"Chu Xuan, don't be smug!" He roared, the broken sword raised high, and flames climbed onto the blade, forming a blazing eagle about ten feet long, "the flaming eagle fell!"
The eagle howled and swooped down with the scorching wind, so hot that even the air gave off a "crackling" burnt smell.
Chu Xuan finally put away his smile, with his right hand pointing together, the Cold Moon Sword lay across his chest, and the icy blue light of the sword body burst forth --
"Cold Star · Starfall."
The tip of the finger turned into an ice-blue meteor, dragging a long tail of flames, crashing head-on into the Flame Eagle.
Boom!
Ice and fire intertwined, water mist rising, the entire ring shrouded in white mist, pitch-dark.
In the mist came Zhao Tianlei's heart-rending scream: "Ah --"
Then, with a bang, the heavy object fell to the ground.
The white mist dissipated, and everyone saw Zhao Tianlei lying on the ground, his limbs frozen in ice, his skin interspersed with crimson and bluish purple, the blood-burning pill counteracted, his meridians cracked inch by inch, the pain distorted his face, but he could no longer move.
Chu Xuan stood before him, the tip of his sword lightly touching the ground, his voice as soft as snowfall: "You lost."
"I... I didn't lose!" Zhao Tianlei roared, still trying to struggle, but his teeth quivered from the cold.
"Give up?" Chu Xuan asked, as if asking a stone.
Zhao Tianlei's lips quivered, but he couldn't make a complete sound.
On the high platform, Elder Li could no longer sit still. He stood up and coldly shouted, "Chu Xuan, he has no strength to fight anymore. Stop!"
Chu Xuan turned back, grinning with sharp teeth: "Elder, rest assured, I won't kill him -- I'll just let him lie down and reflect."
Saying this, he pointed and the cold sealed Zhao Tianlei's mute point, and the world fell silent in an instant.
"You --" Elder Li glared, but could not attack in public, he could only shrug his sleeve and snort: "The battle is over, Chu Xuan wins! Advance to the inner gate!"
The crowd erupted instantly.
"Win! "Overstepping, no suspense!"
"Even the Blood-burning Pill can't defeat Chu Xuan, he's awesome!"
"No. 1 of the outer sect, well-deserved!"
...
Chu Xuan turned around, clasped his hands in all directions, and laughed nonchalantly: "Yielding, next."
As he finished speaking, he looked through the crowd and met Elder Li. A cold light flashed in the young man's eyes, as if saying --
"Rule favoritism? I'll still win for you."
Elder Li, with a sullen look on his face, stormed off.
Below the stage, Ling Qingxue let out a quiet sigh of relief, the cold light on her fingertips dissipated, and the corner of her lips lifted under her veil: "Little rascals, let him pretend again."
The grey-robed disciple, hidden in the shadows, raised his cup from afar and congratulated silently.
Chu Xuan jumped off the ring and Lin Hao's trio pounced on him, jumping excitedly: "Brother, you are so handsome!"
"Brother Chu, teach me that move!"
"Can we enter the inner door now?" Ha ha ha!"
The young man, surrounded by his companions, laughed loudly like a freshly drawn sword.
In the distance, the sun was setting and the afterglow was like fire.
The sky at the outer gate has turned completely upside down from today on.