When Lou Mu Yan reached the city wall, everyone else had already arrived and the wide city wall was filled with human Sword Masters.
[ROAR ROAR!!]
Immediately, countless deafening beast roars resounded and a mass of beast figures on the plain opposite approached little by little.
After a while, the bottom of the city was filled with Demonic Beasts of Tier 5 and 6, and dozens of human figures were hovering in the air, with extraordinary momentum.
Lou Mu Yan felt two gazes locked onto her tightly, and when she looked up, she saw the man in white with blue patterns on his face that she met in the mountain last time, and a skeletal man with strong killing intent.
She realised that the skeletal man’s face was a little familiar, and after recalling a little, she remembered She Ji. This Demon Cultivator must be related to She Ji, and this time, he must want to seek revenge for her.
Her gaze turned cold, and she smiled provocatively at the two Demon Cultivators, making the two Demons eager to rush over and tear her apart.
“Human Sword Masters. According to the century-old agreement, this is the time for our two clans to fight a decisive battle. According to the traditional rules, we will fight one-on-one, then we will battle in a melee at the end.”
A cyan-bearded elderly man walked out among the Demon Cultivators. The pressure from him was restrained, but one could still judge from his aura that he was the strongest existence among the Demon Cultivators here—a Tier 8 Demonic Beast.
“The other party actually has a Late-Phase Tier 8 Demonic Beast. We’re in trouble here.” Si Nan furrowed his brows.
The strongest among them was only Advanced-Phase Sword Sovereign. Although they had the ability to skip-stage battle, but there was still a large gap compared to a Late-Stage Tier 8 Demonic Beast that was equivalent to the strength of a Sword Venerable.
Luo Ye exuded a noble aura, and his sturdy figure was wrapped in silver brocade clothes which made him appear more elegant, “We can only try together.”
He could fight Demonic Beasts at Initial-Phase Tier 8, but if he fought against a Late-Phase Tier 8, then he would undoubtedly lose.
When Yan Jun saw Lou Mu Yan’s expression without the slightest worry, but instead, filled with fighting spirit, he chuckled: “Young Miss Lou seems to be looking forward to this battle very much. Aren’t you worried about the Late-Phase Tier 8 Demon Cultivator?”
Lou Mu Yan glanced at him and smiled, “If the sky falls, don’t we still have you tall people holding it up1? The Late-Phase Tier 8 Demonic Beast leader opposite naturally would need you elite Sword Masters from superpower kingdoms to handle.”
“…” The several people couldn’t resist twitching their lips when they heard her words. So it appeared that she had never even thought about how to deal with that Late-Phase Tier 8 Demonic Beast.
Lou Mu Yan’s true thoughts naturally wouldn’t be told to them. She actually really wanted to try the strength of a Late-Phase Tier 8 Demonic Beast.
With the mutated and upgraded Spiritual Flame, she had a little more confidence in herself.
“Alright, let’s arrange ten people to battle ten Demons first.” A mature-looking human male Sword Master said.
“Who is he?” Lou Mu Yan hadn’t noticed this man before.
“He’s Xiao Jun Yao, the Crown Prince of Southern Liang Kingdom, and also the strongest person among the human Sword Masters.” Ji Xuan said.
Lou Mu Yan turned her gaze towards Xiao Jun Yao—an Advanced-Phase Sword Sovereign with a clean, delicate appearance, and a scholarly and gentle taste in his demeanour.
This man’s clean and scholarly appearance was a kind of charm from deep within his bones and was definitely different from the scholarly feel of Bing Ji.
Then the man jumped up to the top of the city wall with a gentle smile on his face: “This one is Xiao Jun Yao, entrusted by the Organisers to temporarily preside over the Great Decisive War between the Sword Masters and Demonic Beasts in this competition.
“Everyone knows that the Great Decisive War between us and the Demonic Beasts is agreed to be three days. After three days, the Demonic Beasts must not stop us from forcibly breaking through this plain and rushing to the mountain opposite to compete for the ranking in the finals.
“The old rule was to fight one-on-one first, and the duration of the melee would be determined by the number of wins and losses. If we win a battle, the time will be shorted by one hour. If we win ten battles in a row, it can be shortened by ten hours.
“There will be no less than thirty one-on-one battles in turn. I hope everyone will work together to overcome the difficulties.
“Ten people will participate in the first round, and the opponent’s ten Demon Cultivators have the right to choose first. That is to say, they can choose ten among the humans and we cannot interfere.”
Xiao Jun Yao was the strongest, which meant that he was naturally the last to go up, and he swept his eyes warmly at the people below.
“By the way, a reminder. One-on-one battles do not allow other humans or Demon Cultivators to intervene. Life and death are up to one’s fate.
“Of course, if the opponent points to one of us, but the gap in cultivation base and strength is too great, you can also refuse, and the opponent will re-select the person to fight.” Xiao Jun Yao added.
“Then isn’t that not fair? Why can they choose our people to fight first?” One of the Sword Masters said, unreconciled.
Xiao Jun Yao wasn’t angered by his questioning and explained with a smile: “I was about to explain this. Because the treaty between the two parties has a three-day time limit for Demonic Beasts, so they can choose the human Sword Master to fight first.
“Starting from the second round, the results of the first round will determine which side will pick first. If we can win six games or a draw plus winning one more battle, and our wins are greater than the opponents, then the ten opponents for the next round will be chosen by us human Sword Masters.
“So the first round of the competition is very important. I hope everyone will take it seriously. No matter who is picked by the other party, we must fight with all our strength and not give us human cultivators a bad name.”
Xiao Jun Yao had a smile on his face, but his voice was a bit oppressive.
“Finally, I would like to add that the Sword Master who wins the battle can increase the colour of their jade tablet, so whether you can successfully advance into the top hundred or not, this is also a good opportunity to win.”
After his words fell, the Sword Masters below immediately began to discuss.
“This is a good opportunity, but unfortunately, I need my life to take it!” A Sword Master who wasn’t very confident in himself sighed.
“Yeah! The dozens of Demon Cultivators opposite are all Tier 7. Demonic Beasts are stronger than humans in terms of physical strength to begin with. It’s hard to say whether we’ll win or lose. If you lose, you’ll lose your life too.” There were many who agreed.
There were also Sword Masters who were confident in themselves and said in disagreement: “How can you raise the morale of others and destroy our prestige? What’s so fearful of a few uncivilised Demonic Beasts?”
“That’s right, whoever is selected for battle better not pretend to be weak. This is not only related to the results of the Decisive War, but also the face of our human Sword Masters.”
“…” Such voices filled the entire city wall one after another. Xiao Jun Yao smiled lightly and said nothing.
“The time has come. Now, our ten Demon Cultivators can go and choose their opponents. You human Sword Masters have no objections, yes?” The cyan-bearded elderly man looked at the sky to determine the time, then looked at Xiao Jun Yao and said with vigour.
Xiao Jun Yao smiled and nodded: “Alright. Let’s start now.”
The cyan-bearded old man glanced at random, and ten Demon Cultivators dashed out in a flash. They had all prepared their targets already, and they designated their challenge opponents as soon as they appeared.
“I want to challenge her.” As soon as one of the Demon Cultivators appeared, he pointed at Lou Mu Yan in the crowd with a gaze blazing like torches.
Lou Mu Yan looked at him indifferently—this Demon Cultivator was precisely that skeletal man who looked somewhat similar to She Ji.
1a saying meaning that if anything goes wrong that’s terribly beyond her capabilities, there are still others who will take responsibility to handle it (since she is ‘weaker’ than them).