Chapter 157: Big Brawl

"Hmph, do you think hiding will keep you safe?"

For some reason, the yellow-haired youth suddenly focused on Xu Yang. Countless golden light projectiles shot out from between his fingers, each one targeting Xu Yang's vital points.

"Mid-stage Nascent Soul, not bad."

Xu Yang chuckled. With a push off the ground, he flipped in mid-air, landing behind the youth. A relatively faint sword aura condensed behind him, also locking onto the opponent's presence.

Judging by the strength of this sword aura, it was nowhere near the power Xu Yang had unleashed with a mere "fart" among the demon race, showing just how much he was holding back...

*Clang!* The sword aura appeared somewhat dim, but the moment it shot out, its oppressive presence was still considerable. At the very least, the yellow-haired youth opposite had to re-evaluate Xu Yang's skill.

"Hmph, I didn't expect you, a transfer student, to have some tricks up your sleeve! Your sword aura is so pure; if not for the insufficient spiritual power, I might not have been able to block it!"

The yellow-haired youth slid his left hand through the air, summoning a shield that blocked Xu Yang's blade.

"Not bad, you're more resilient than I imagined. How else do you want to play? Go ahead and show me; I'll humor you."

Xu Yang was in no hurry to dispatch this guy. To him, a confrontation of this level was just a waste of time. Instead of teaching each "kid" a lesson one by one, he'd rather pick one of the more energetic ones and play along, just to pass the time.

Ling Qingshu clearly had a different approach from Xu Yang.

The Grand Sect Master of the Heavenly Azure Sect, a revered figure of the Great Xia Dynasty, actually drew her sword against mere Nascent Soul cultivators!

The moment she made this move, Bai Lianxue and Ling Yao instinctively looked her way.

In other teams, people worried about their teammates being outmatched and dragging them down.

But in Xu Yang's team, the worry was accidentally unleashing an uncontained move that would terrify their opponents—it was like playing a completely different game...

However, as Xu Yang said, after feasting on delicacies and defeating supreme beings of the forbidden demon race, fighting these "newbie village" level nobodies was also a unique experience.

*Clang!*

With a single sword strike, Ling Qingshu directly sent the blacksmith's wildly swinging hammer flying, which genuinely made many of the rookies in the center of the arena breathe a sigh of relief.

"You bastard, boy, I'm going to smash you flat!"

The burly blacksmith charged at Ling Qingshu like a bullet. Since all three women were disguised as men, he showed no hint of chivalry and simply rushed forward like a crazed ox.

But just then, Ling Qingshu's lips curled into a playful smile. She bent backward, then suddenly pushed off with her feet, unleashing an incredibly powerful counterforce that instantly sent the "iron ox" flying...

"Waaahhh!!"

The blacksmith uncle roared in frustration, but alas, he had already been propelled out of the formation's boundary.

"Ah, Iron Ox, you're something else! You can't even beat a transfer student!"

"Shut up, Long Kun, you amateur! Can't you see I was tricked?"

"Heh heh, blame your stubbornness. You can rest for this competition. Don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

What kind of teacher-student relationship was this? Long Kun looked more like a madam from a brothel, and the blacksmith appeared like a naive bumpkin who had been swindled out of his money...

One by one, the other participants in the group were eliminated, until only ten relatively elite individuals remained at the center of the arena, naturally including Xu Yang and his three companions.

"Alright, now it's time for the true game in the finals. Let's do one-on-one matches. The five winners will qualify. Otherwise, if someone gets ganged up on, we won't be able to select the strongest five-person competitive team."

"I agree! Then I choose you!"

The scholar-like young master was the first to make his choice, pointing his folding fan at Ling Yao.

"I have a bad habit: I don't like it when people point things at me. If you do that, I'll get angry."

*Whoosh!*

Ling Yao moved so suddenly that a phantom-like afterimage seemed to remain at her original spot. In the blink of an eye, the scholar, along with his fan, had already been sent flying out of the formation...

"Wh-What?!"

The young man never dreamed he would lose without even understanding how...

"Damn it! So you were conserving your strength all along, waiting to unleash it at the very end? Playing a free-for-all like that has no soul!!"

Everyone else: "..."

Xu Yang, who had just dealt with the yellow-haired youth, now faced his last opponent of the day: the only Daoist priest on the field with peak Nascent Soul cultivation.

"Young man, I, a humble Daoist, don't enjoy competing for supremacy. I'm participating because I'm also a student at Sacred Soul Academy, and I've been cultivating here for over a hundred years without graduating yet. Let's have a gentle spar; my stamina is limited, so if I feel I can't win, I'll call a halt at any time. Please go easy on me!"

Xu Yang nodded with a smile. "Don't worry, Senior, I know my limits."

However, this time, Xu Yang delivered a surprise to everyone.

No one knew what technique he used, but a clear outline of him seemed to fly towards the old man. Yet, when the opponent, with a full-force flick of his whisk, unexpectedly unleashed the power of a peak Nascent Soul cultivator, that outline burst like an overinflated balloon, vanishing with a pop into the air.

"What?! How can this be?!"

Including Long Kun, all the spectators who had been eliminated but hadn't left were dumbfounded by this sight!

In an instant, Xu Yang's true body appeared behind the old Daoist. With a rapid movement of his fingers, he sealed over a dozen of the opponent's vital acupoints, instantly deciding the outcome.

"How is this possible! What method did you use just now? You actually managed to deceive my perception!"

The old Daoist considered himself a strong cultivator. After all, in his eyes, while Xu Yang appeared to be only at the Qi Refinement stage, his combat ability was around the peak Nascent Soul level, but his foundation shouldn't be as deep as his own. Little did he know, Xu Yang was someone who had lived for a hundred thousand years—how could he possibly fathom him?

"Senior, though I didn't make many moves during the free-for-all, everyone's combat methods and movements on the field were within my observation. The six people you eliminated all lost to your ambush tactics. When you actively showed weakness to me, I knew you would still try to use such a method against me, so I simply played along with your scheme..."

The old Daoist sighed deeply, shaking his head helplessly. "Fine, I've lost. Young man, please unseal my acupoints."

Xu Yang pushed with his hand, restoring the old man's meridians to full circulation. However, just then, the whisk in the old man's hand was instantly filled with a powerful peak Nascent Soul aura. He spun around and heavily struck at Xu Yang.

"Sigh... do you really have to struggle like this? Senior, if you have this much energy, you should use your brain more and figure out how to graduate sooner..."

*Bang!*

Xu Yang hooked his foot in mid-air, kicking the old man, whisk and all, towards Long Kun. The force was so immense that both the old man and Long Kun were sent flying...

"Damn it, I'm just watching, and I get kicked too?!"