Chapter 956 – Final Fight

Long Chen had a strange feeling about Su Tian.

Becoming the City Lord’s disciple was actually very important to Long Chen, but he had been eliminated before reaching the finals.

He was someone who readily accepted reality, so he was not reactive and maintained his cool demeanor. The crowd watched as he returned to the seat next to the City Lord, and the fury in his eyes gradually disappeared.

“Long Chen ...” The Ye siblings looked at him, unsure of what to say.

“I didn’t expect this to happen. That cultivator, Lian Yun, must have gotten the Divine Confinement Talisman because of a lucky encounter. I checked his details just now. He is a prodigy from a large clan in a medium-sized city,” explained the City Lord.

The Ye siblings had not been there personally, so they could not feel what Long Chen felt, which was the feeling of being tricked.

Long Chen was privately certain this was a trick pulled by someone from Su Xue’s side.

They’re already Divine Martial Realm cultivators, and they’re still afraid of me? Was it necessary to eliminate me using such tactics?

Long Chen smirked to himself. He said to her, “Let’s watch the fights first. I’ll see if there are other solutions later.”

Long Chen was much calmer than they expected.

The City Lord thought for a moment and said, “How about this? I’ll still take you in as my disciple after the tournament, and I will still pass you Killing Tribulation. I just can’t give you the Fluttering Blood Sword anymore, which is the champion’s prize.”

This was already an amazing outcome to Long Chen.

He had not fulfilled her conditions, yet she still wanted to take him as a disciple. It showed how important he was to her. If he could become the disciple of a super-master like her, he would receive abundant cultivation resources and also protection and respect. The Su family had used the Divine Confinement Talisman to eliminate Long Chen, but they probably hadn’t predicted the City Lord’s new decision.

However, their main objective was to plant Su Xue by the City Lord’s side.

Long Chen knew that although the City Lord was powerful in cultivation, her scheming abilities were far lacking compared to Su Mo and the others. Based on their reactions just now, Long Chen was even more suspicious of Su Mo being the culprit behind Ye Xuan’s attempted assassination.

After satisfying Long Chen through an alternative method, the City Lord let the matter go and did not investigate the matter of the Divine Confinement Talisman further. She did not think of investigating its root cause either, because based on the rules, it was clear that Long Chen had lost. In her subconscious, she knew that the participants were paired up randomly and it was difficult for other people to scheme for Long Chen’s elimination.

The other people did not think of this either.

Long Chen did not seem to want to fight back, so the other people gradually calmed down. The day’s duels slowly passed. All the elite prodigies of the younger generations from cities within Underworld City’s jurisdiction successfully advanced to the next round, becoming the remaining twenty-plus participants.

After a few more days, the champion would finally be determined. The subsequent duels likely needed larger stages and they would be held in sequence. The most exciting part of the tournament was finally approaching.

As the sky darkened, the crowd dispersed. Everyone would gather here again at dawn for the new round.

***

Underworld Training Camp, Purple Mo Pavilion

Su Mo sat at the highest seat and was resting his eyes. Beneath him, Su Xue and Su Tian were both in a standoff. Su Xue was glaring at Underworld Admiral Su Tian, as if furious, then she pointed at him and said, “Father, I didn’t ask you to intervene! Isn’t he a mere Heavenly Martial Realm cultivator? I could have resolved this on my own. Don’t you think it’s a waste to spend a Divine Confinement Talisman on this?”

𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Su Tian shrugged and said, “I was just trying my luck. I’ve saved that kid Lian Yun’s life before; he is someone you can absolutely trust. Who knew that Long Chen would be so unlucky? Out of fifty-plus people, he was paired with Lian Yun, so Lian Yun had to use the Divine Confinement Talisman.”

“And you used a Divine Confinement Talisman just like that?” asked Su Xue, clenching her teeth.

Su Tian said nonchalantly, “That item is only useful for children who have not reached the Divine Martial Realm. How is it useful to us? I’ve received a few recently and was just worried that I would never have a chance to use them. But then a great chance presented itself! My good daughter, your father has helped you eliminate a strong enemy. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?”

He felt uncomfortable with how angry Su Xue was.

“Not like this!” cried Su Xue with reddened eyes. “I am literally at the Divine Martial Realm! If I needed to cheat with a Divine Confinement Talisman to eliminate a Heavenly Martial Realm cultivator, I would be a joke! What would people think of me?”

“Only the three of us know about this, so why would anyone think less of you?” Su Tian was furious too. He continued, “Have you forgotten what General Mo said? Long Chen used a technique to injure the Second Divine Martial Stage Su Yi. If that technique were used on you, you could be killed! I did this only to be safe. The Divine Confinement Talisman isn’t useful to us at our levels anyway. There is no point saving it.”

“He injured Su Yi ...” Su Xue recalled that incident too.

That incident had indeed made her nervous. However, she still did not think that it was possible for her to lose to Long Chen.

Su Mo opened his eyes and softly said, “Enough.” A cold aura radiated throughout Purple Mo Pavilion.

“Xue’er, your father only did it for your own good. The matter has passed. Focus on taking first place and getting close to Ye Xuan. Don’t waste time talking about other nonsense.”

Then he glanced at Su Tian and a flame burned in his eyes.

“Su Tian, do not make decisions without my orders next time. This is the first offense, so I will let this pass. But if there’s a second time, you’re finished.”

Su Mo never made empty threats.

“General Mo, I apologize!” Su Tian said hurriedly, lowering his head.

Su Xue’s lips moved, wanting to say something, but she stopped. In the end, she changed her tone and said, “General Mo, I will a hundred percent complete the assignment you gave me. I will help you gain control over the Red Lotus Jade Pendant as soon as possible.”

“Mhm.” Su Mo nodded.

The matter came to a close.

***

Although Long Chen had been eliminated, he still sat next to the City Lord every day to watch the duels. Her brother did not even want to attend since Long Chen was not participating, but Long Chen dragged him there every day.

Long Chen was gradually forgotten by the crowd. They watched as Su Xue defeated opponent after opponent. Still, no one could survive one strike from her. The crowd occasionally glanced at Long Chen in the stands. He was the only one strong enough to fight her, but unfortunately, he had been eliminated.

Lian Yun, who had used the Divine Confinement Talisman, was paired with Su Xue in one of the rounds several days later. The crowd speculated that because Lian Yun’s usage of the Divine Confinement Talisman had caused Su Xue to lose an opponent, she had killed him in just one strike out of anger.

The martial tournament was a brutal event. Deaths were normal affairs in tournaments like this one. Cultivators had to fight with all their strength to win, and when they used their full strength, it was difficult to control their power.

Many people had died since the beginning of the tournament, and not many people cared about Lian Yun’s death. No one guessed that Su Xue had killed him to destroy any evidence, but also, the usage of the Divine Confinement Talisman was not related to Su Xue anyway. It was something Su Tian had done on his own accord.

As the days passed, the crowd became less excited about the tournament’s winner. Based on the current conditions, Su Xue was definitely going to be the champion.

On the final day, after twenty-plus brutal rounds, two people who had not lost once would remain. One of them was Su Xue, who had an effortless journey so far. The other person was Fu Ye, the strongest member of the powerful Fu clan’s younger generation!

Fu Ye was similar to Long Chen’s previous opponent, Gongsun Wudi.

Before the City Lord’s brother and Su Xue returned, both of them had been widely recognized as Underworld City’s strongest cultivators of their age group.

The best time for cultivating was before one turned a hundred. After this age, advancing cultivation levels took decades, centuries, or even millennia. Some people never progressed for the rest of their lives.

The difficulty of the journey of cultivation was made ever more evident when one reached that point in life.

Although it was less exciting than before, the crowd still wanted to watch the finals after watching the tournament for weeks. On this day, more than a hundred thousand people had gathered. Even people who had previously been eliminated came to watch the crowning of the champion.

Song Yang and Song Yuchun were among the crowd.

“Su Xue’s definitely going to win,” Song Yuchun said dreamily. His eyes were shining brightly.

“If Long Chen had not encountered the Divine Confinement Talisman, the results would have been uncertain. Now Su Xue is surely going to win. Once she becomes the City Lord’s direct disciple, her status will become even higher,” Song Yang said wistfully.

“Grandfather, don’t overestimate Long Chen. I think he can defeat Fu Ye at most. He’s quite far away from the Divine Martial Realm,” Song Yuchun said contemptuously. “Also, why are we even talking about someone who has been eliminated?”

Song Yang shook his head and did not continue.

To be honest, it was unfortunate that they would not be able to watch a fight between Long Chen and Su Xue.

Under the instructions of several Divine Martial Realm experts, Su Xue and Fu Ye stepped on the largest stage in the Underworld Martial Arena. The stage was completely black and made entirely of metal, so it was extremely hard. Metal of this quality was suited for forging Divine-tier weapons.

The final duel had not yet begun, but the crowd below was already starting to talk among themselves.