Chapter 157: Unjust Treatment

Chapter 157: Chapter 157: Unjust Treatment

Four hundred lots, forming two hundred pairs, were drawn from a container by each sect’s leading Elder.

The lots indicated the arena number and the order of the bouts.

Shi Qingren returned with the lots and distributed them directly to the ten participants.

The ten arenas were designated Jia, Yi, Bing... Ren, and Gui.

The lot Chu Fan was assigned was Wu No. 7, which meant his first bout would be the seventh pair to fight in Arena Wu.

Yun Xi’s lot was Jia No. 13.

After the lots were distributed, each of the forty sects provided one Elder to serve as a referee. This made for a total of forty referees, with four assigned to each arena.

These referees served a dual purpose. They were there to ensure impartial judgment, but also to intervene if competitors got carried away and used ruthless attacks. Additionally, they would step in to prevent accidental injuries from those who lacked sufficient control over their power.

Celestial Heart Hall’s representative was Shi Qingren. He was assigned to oversee Arena Bing, alongside Elders from the Celestial Sect, the Chenqing Sect, and a Second-tier Sect called the Qitian Sect.

Once the referees were in position, the competition officially began.

Among the Celestial Heart Hall disciples, Chu Fan’s No. 7 was the earliest draw. Thus, they all remained seated, watching the nearest arena, Arena Ren.

Chu Fan, however, kept all ten arenas in his sights.

Due to the random draw, there was no set order for who appeared first, whether their Cultivation was high or low.

However, as Chu Fan observed the twenty people currently fighting across the ten arenas, he was inwardly surprised.

Of these twenty people, eleven were in the Golden Core Realm, while the remaining nine were all at the Heartbeat Realm Late Stage.

The reason for his surprise was that he had also participated in the previous Tengxing Grand Assembly. At that time, out of the two hundred and eighty disciples from the Six Sects and Eight Gates, only twenty-seven had reached the Golden Core Realm. The rest were all in the Heartbeat Realm.

This meant that the benefits of the Spiritual Qi Revival for Cultivators were truly immense.

Chu Fan then did a quick scan of all the competing disciples. He found that there were over two hundred in the Golden Core Realm and even more than ten in the Nascent Soul Realm. The rest were all, without exception, in the Heartbeat Realm.

’The Spiritual Qi Revival has been going on for less than three years,’ Chu Fan thought. ’As time goes on, the Spiritual Qi will only grow denser. I can’t even imagine what it will be like in ten or twenty years. Won’t the world be filled with powerful Cultivators flying everywhere?’

Chu Fan recalled Yan Jiuxuan’s words: the Spiritual Qi Revival was an opportunity, but also a calamity.

’The more Cultivators there are, the more powerful individuals with ill intentions there are bound to be. Most people just want to mind their own business. As long as they aren’t personally threatened, who would be willing to offend someone powerful?’

’When that day comes, how can this world not descend into chaos?’

Chu Fan couldn’t help but ask himself, ’Was I right or wrong to help Yan Jiuxuan bring about the Spiritual Qi Revival?’

His thoughts then turned to the Mang Divine Hall on Zao Ying Mountain, the Xiezhi of Dingfeng Slope, and the Chong Ming of Stone Pillar Peak on Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.

Chu Fan had a persistent, bad premonition, though nothing terrible had happened yet.

As he pondered, Chu Fan felt that his push to unify the Eastern Domain was all the more necessary. ’If my premonition comes true,’ he thought, ’at least the entire Eastern Domain will be able to pool its strength.’

Lost in his thoughts, he stopped paying close attention to the arenas. If Yun Xi hadn’t nudged him, he wouldn’t have even realized it was his turn to go up.

"Chu Fan, what are you thinking about? You’re so lost in thought. It’s your turn to go on stage."

"Is it my turn already?" He glanced at the sky, surprised to see that more than an hour had passed.

He stood up, straightened his robes, and walked slowly toward Wuzi No. 5 Arena.

Just then, a Celestial Sect disciple about Chu Fan’s age flew onto the arena with a flourish.

Chu Fan recognized him. It was Wan Jiaxing, the grandnephew of the Celestial Sect’s Great Elder. They had met at the previous Tengxing Grand Assembly, though they had never fought. Back then, Wan Jiaxing had only been in the early stage of the Heartbeat Realm.

He hadn’t expected that after six years, Wan Jiaxing would now be at Golden Core Realm Tier Seven.

Not long ago, the Celestial Sect had sent men to assassinate Jin Chuhong, and Chu Fan had crippled their Third Elder. Afterward, they had been cooperative enough, even reciting a pledge of allegiance at an enthronement ceremony, which had been a great help to Chu Fan.

But that was no reason for Chu Fan to feel any goodwill toward them.

The reason was simple: more than two years ago, while he and Yun Xi were traveling through the mortal world, they had encountered numerous Celestial Sect disciples causing trouble, many of whom they had killed.

As Chu Fan walked up the steps to the arena one at a time, he unexpectedly drew a wave of jeers.

It was probably because no one could sense any flow of True Qi from him.

After stepping onto the arena, Chu Fan followed proper etiquette and offered a cupped-fist salute. "I am from the Celestial Heart Hall..."

Before Chu Fan could even state his name, Wan Jiaxing cut him off.

"A disciple from some second or third-rate sect, a man I’m about to defeat... I have no interest in your name. Just make your move. Don’t waste everyone’s time," Wan Jiaxing said with immense arrogance.

Chu Fan shook his head, speechless. ’I really don’t know where he gets the confidence to be so arrogant.’

Chu Fan placed one hand behind his back and extended his right palm in a gesture of invitation, as if to say, ’Then you may begin!’

To his surprise, Wan Jiaxing grew furious. He roared, "Where’s your weapon?"

"I’ll use a weapon when I need to. But against you, it won’t be necessary."

"How arrogant!"

That wasn’t Wan Jiaxing who spoke, but an Elder from the Fiery Fire Sect sitting among the referees.

"Brat, you’ll pay for those words." Wan Jiaxing was clearly enraged by Chu Fan.

He drew his sword and unleashed a blast of Sword Qi straight at Chu Fan.

The strike was powerful. Anyone with a Cultivation lower than Wan Jiaxing’s would be unable to dodge it and would surely be severely injured.

Wan Jiaxing didn’t even know Chu Fan’s Cultivation level. To attack so decisively without a single probing move made his intentions perfectly clear.

Yet none of the four referees on stage made any move to intervene. To be precise, one of them, the Elder from the Second-tier Sect, started to rise, but the Elder from the Fiery Fire Sect pushed him back down.

Chu Fan sneered inwardly and shook his head.

’Cut from the same cloth.’

In the instant the Sword Qi was about to strike, Chu Fan moved. With a gentle flick of his outstretched palm, a wave of Palm Force not only dispersed the incoming Sword Qi but also sent Wan Jiaxing flying clean off the arena.

He had moved with such incredible speed that even the four referees were left bewildered.

After being thrown from the arena, Wan Jiaxing crashed to the ground. He struggled to stand but cried out in pain, clutching his chest as he collapsed back into a sitting position.

"Insolence!" the Fiery Fire Sect Elder shouted, leaping to his feet and pointing at Chu Fan.

"Is there a problem?" Chu Fan asked, looking calmly at the Elder.

"Before the event began, Sect Leader Li repeatedly warned everyone to follow the rules and to stop once a victor is decided! Yet you ignored the rules and deliberately injured your opponent, and you have the gall to ask what’s wrong?" the Fiery Fire Sect Elder raged.

"Fine. I have three questions for you first," Chu Fan replied, completely unintimidated by the Elder’s fury.

"What gives you the right to question me?"

"Are you saying that in this Tengxing Grand Assembly, hosted by the Six Sects and Eight Gates of the Eastern Domain, we from the second and third-rate sects have no right to demand justice even when treated unfairly?" Chu Fan shot back.

"Unfair? You injured someone and now claim you’re the one being treated unfairly?" the Fiery Fire Sect Elder roared.

"Then I will ask you my three questions. Can you answer them?" Chu Fan repeated.

"Go on, ask!"

"First, can you discern my Cultivation Realm?" Chu Fan asked his first question.

The Fiery Fire Sect Elder stared intently at Chu Fan, only to realize he truly couldn’t perceive his Cultivation. He scoffed, "You’re merely at the Golden Core Realm Late Stage. What gives you the right to be so arrogant?"

"Heh, ’merely’ the Golden Core Realm Late Stage?" Chu Fan shook his head and gave a cold chuckle.

"If even you can’t perceive my Cultivation, do you think that disciple from the Celestial Sect could?"