Chapter 1684: The Day Of The Challenge (1)

　　What came next was the final leg of the competition. All participants who had gone through multiple days of battle were finally given a few days of rest. As there were not enough people in the top ten from the previous competition, there were some changes to the rules of the final leg of the competition.

　　With the changes made, there were two options for the final leg.

　　The first option was the original format. Challenge the top ten from the previous competition and the winner would assume the position of the incumbent.

　　The second option was an elimination format. As there were some missing people in the top ten, those who did not wish to challenge the incumbents could fight this year’s challengers until the top few remained to fill in the missing positions.

　　Many people heaved a secret sigh of relief at the offer of these two choices.

　　This was because this Martial Arts Championship was taking place way too close to the previous one. As a result, there were still a lot of powerful fighters from the previous competition participating. It must be noted that in the previous competition, the participants were already the top fighters of the various clans. They had since experienced the mystic realm and the past few years of cultivation would only have made them stronger and better.

　　It would be too stressful for this year’s challengers to challenge them directly. So it wasn’t a surprise that nearly everyone had their sights set on the few empty spots on the list.

　　But this didn’t include Jiang Yanyun and Ye Qingtang. The two of them were going to challenge the same person. Baili Xuanyun.

　　Baili Xuanyun was in the top ten from the previous competition and by now, his abilities would have improved by leaps and bounds.

　　Ye Qingtang didn’t dare to slack off. She made use of these few days of rest to shut herself in her room to cultivate. She was now only one step away from the Fourth Heaven of the Heavenly Venerate realm. But this step had cost her months.

　　Inside the room, Little White Tiger lay quietly on the ground, watching Ye Qingtang cultivate in a cross-legged position.

　　Ye Qingtang really wished to enter the Illusory Void again but didn’t dare to as she couldn’t control the time spent inside.

　　At her current level, it felt like she was missing just one thing. Ye Qingtang could clearly feel that she was nearly able to break through to the Fourth Heaven of the Heavenly Venerate realm with just one more breath. But that one breath appeared to be stuck in her throat. She could not rise up no matter what she tried.

　　Time passed quickly and it was soon the day of the challenge.

　　Jiang Yiran had more or less recovered over the past few days. He was still bandaged up but was no longer bedridden.

　　Today, everyone from the various clans would gather at the central public square. They were waiting for the final results of the last few days.

　　Jiang Yanyun and Jiang Shaobai had arrived at the public square early in the morning. The elders of the Jiang family were all carefully analyzing the pros and cons of different scenarios. Regarding Ye Qingtang, Elder Qian and the rest were momentarily shocked. But they quickly forgot about her when they had to consider the top ten from the previous competition.

　　Not just them, even the weakest fighters from the previous competition would probably have ascended to at least the Fourth Heaven of the Heavenly Venerate realm. Meanwhile, among this year’s challengers, Jiang Shaobai, Jiang Yanyun, the Qiu family’s Qiu Chen and some other top disciples had all also attained the Fourth Heaven of the Heavenly Venerate realm and above. No matter how one looked at things, the Fourth Heaven of the Heavenly Venerate realm was the first barrier to becoming part of the top ten. Since Ye Qingtang had yet to reach that level, how could she have a chance of winning?

　　It was impossible.

　　“Those few people from the previous competition all experienced vast improvements since then. But luckily there are a few empty spots. The two of you don’t need to take the risk of challenging them, just make sure you secure a spot on the top ten,” Elder Qian advised as he looked at them meaningfully.