Chapter 2673 - Fighting to Be the Strongest Ant in the Colony

When the crowd watching from outside the Five Elements Altar heard that, many of them were stunned.

What does Luo Baiting mean by that?

Luo Baiting has been working for the Malevolent Sword Venerate for a long time now. Don’t tell me that deep within his heart, he acknowledges Su Yi as Jiang Wuchen’s reincarnation?

Otherwise, why would he repeatedly stand in Huo Yunhu’s way like that?

Su Yi stopped in place, then glanced at the grinning swordsman covered in wounds. “Admit defeat.”

Luo Baiting didn’t even hesitate. “Okay.”

With that, he turned and left the Five Elements Altar.

From beginning to end, Su Yi didn’t ask any questions, and Luo Baiting didn’t offer any explanations.

But when the crowd saw this, they were certain that Luo Baiting had never really planned to fight Su Yi to the death. He’d only said that to deceive Huo Yunhu and the others!

“Luo Baiting, I’m curious. How do you plan to explain yourself to the Malevolent Sword Venerate?” asked Yu Chiyang, his gaze sinister.

“No need to concern yourself with that,” said Luo Baiting. He found a place to sit down, then started tending to his wounds.

Meanwhile, Su Yi descended the Five Elements Altar.

The fifth match of the Battle for Order was over.

Song Jue and Ping Gue were dead, while Huo Yunhu had burned his own clone.

Luo Baiting was injured and admitted defeat. He never fought Su Yi.

Thus, Su Yi was naturally the victor.

This round of the Battle for Order was not yet over, but even after a long time passed, the crowd was still shaken. The next match began shortly after, but many of the old monsters’ thoughts were elsewhere.

When Su Yi left the Five Elements Altar, he too found a place to sit down. He took some divine medicine and started recovering his cultivation base.

Su Yi had made out like a bandit on Red Pine Mountain’s Path of Blessings, so he had no shortage of precious medicines for treating his wounds and recovering his depleted cultivation base.

Xiao Jian stood not far away, one hand behind his back, the other holding a book. He watched the battle on the Five Elements Altar leisurely.

From time to time, he glanced at Su Yi, but he didn’t disturb him.

As time passed, one match after another came to an end. Lu Shi, Cang Lingzi, Yu Chiyang, and the others each emerged victorious in turn.

Relatively few combatants died during the following matches. For the most part, when someone admitted defeat, they were allowed to leave the Five Elements Altar alive.

The reason was simple. Most of the combatants were from the River of Destiny, and they knew each other. Barring a deep-seated grudge, they seldom felt the need to kill each other.

Soon, it was Di E’s turn to fight.

As soon as he appeared on stage, he became the center of attention.

Di E was among those who’d proven their Dao in the God Domain. Earlier, most of those present saw him as an insignificant member of Dao Venerate Lu Shi’s camp.

But none of them had forgotten the way he’d destroyed an Unfettered Realm Dao Lord in the blink of an eye earlier.

It was then that the crowd started to take the mysterious Di E seriously.

Di E’s match was over within moments. His expression was calm and indifferent, and it seemed he couldn’t even be bothered to speak. Every time he took a step, he appeared in front of an opponent, then suppressed them with a casual gesture.

By the time he’d taken his fourth step, all four of his opponents were severely injured and unable to do battle. In the end, they had no choice but to admit defeat.

The way he’d effortlessly suppressed multiple opponents startled the onlookers. Now, when they looked at Di E, their eyes were full of disbelief.

Everyone who’d emerged victorious since the Battle for Order began was an extraordinarily dazzling, powerful figure.

But only a few had astonished the entire audience, like the Dipankara Buddha and Su Yi.

The former had suppressed and killed all of his opponents at once just by reciting a sutra, while the latter broke the seemingly insurmountable barrier between the Eternal and Undying, killing two Unfettered Realm Eternals in a row.

The other victors might have been impressive too, but their victories were still within the bounds of the crowd’s expectations.

Su Yi and the Dipankara Buddha were obviously different from the rest.

But now, Di E had overturned the crowd’s expectations, too!

Su Yi watched Di E’s battle. He couldn’t help but acknowledge that Heavenly Sovereigns were indeed quite terrifying.

Heavenly Sovereign E had possessed Di E with a mere wisp of his awareness, yet he could effortlessly suppress Unfettered Realm Eternals. Su Yi couldn’t even imagine how strong his true body was.

More importantly, the possessed Di E never once used any power beyond the bounds of the Unfettered Realm.

Unfettered Realm cultivators’ strengths were all over the map, but Di E was the cream of the crop, just like the Dipankara Buddha. Both could easily overwhelm others of the same level.

“Could you defeat an opponent like him?” Xiao Jian suddenly transmitted. He’d noticed that Su Yi had already risen from his meditation.

“I won’t know until I fight him,” said Su Yi. He took out a jug of wine and had a sip. “I’m more interested to see how you perform.”

Xiao Jian laughed. “In the past, I disdained fighting to be the strongest ant in the colony, but now... I have no other choice. It’s not that I’m a dragon in a shallow pool, but that if I want to continue living in the present day, I have no choice but to win, and moreover, to convince you of your defeat.”

Su Yi didn’t argue. He just gazed into the dome of heaven and said, “The Malevolent Sword Venerate didn’t show up this time, but I can say with certainty that he’s watching from the endless void. He might well show himself once the Battle for Order ends."

Xiao Jian nodded. “That’s likely when the true crisis will begin. The situation is utterly perilous for you, with danger at every turn. The slightest misstep could lead to inescapable peril.”

He sighed softly. “It’s quite troublesome for me, too.”

Su Yi pondered briefly, then teased, “Are you just afraid someone else will kill me before you get the chance?”

Xiao Jian laughed. “I’m indeed concerned about that possibility, but that’s not the only thing I’m worried about.”

Su Yi put away his jug of wine, placed his hands behind his back, and said calmly, “If I really die in battle, I’ll grant your wish in the end.”

Xiao Jian was briefly stunned. A moment later, he laughed. “I don’t need you to do that.”

He looked up at the arena. “It’s time I took the stage. If you’re curious to see how I’ll perform, you’re welcome to watch.”

Before his voice had even finished echoing through the air, he vanished. A moment later, he appeared on the Five Elements Altar.

His opponents were three Unfettered Realm Dao Lords and an old monster’s clone.

Most of those present had no idea who Xiao Jian was. Only a handful knew that he was a mysterious expert from the Path of the Ancient Gods.

They knew almost nothing else about him.

But they did know that Xiao Jian was the first to speak up before they began their ascent to the Five Elements Altar. He’d publicly promised to ensure Su Yi made it safely to the top.

Thus, many of those present took Xiao Jian for a member of Su Yi’s camp.

Now that he’d taken the stage, many of the onlookers glared at him coldly.

Moreover, all four of Xiao Jian’s opponents were from factions hostile to Su Yi!

Many of the experts present had conversed privately and agreed to kill Xiao Jian as a warning to the rest. They wouldn’t give Xiao Jian a chance to admit defeat, either!

“You’re quite unfortunate,” said a white-robed man atop the Five Elements Altar. He sighed softly.

Xiao Jian laughed. “How so?”

“Because you’re soon to die an unsightly death!” the man in white said solemnly. As he spoke, he shot through the air, condensed a saber, and attacked.

Countless droplets of the power of the Laws condensed accompanying this slash, as if it were accompanied by a vast sea of stars.

Bang!

Xiao Jian stretched out his hand and grabbed. The starry sea of saber qi collapsed with a bang and withered.

The man in white, meanwhile, was pulled helplessly into Xiao Jian’s grasp, held aloft by the throat as if he were a chicken.

“Seems that you were unfortunate to have run into me,” sighed Xiao Jian.

No one saw him move, but the man in white exploded like a firecracker moments later, reduced to ash.

All that remained was his Eternal Source, which Xiao Jian stuffed up his sleeves for later.

His remaining three opponents looked at him in horror, their scalps numb with fright.

Even if you’d hit them over the head, they would never have guessed that this unfamiliar stranger would be so terrifying!

Xiao Jian glanced at them. One of them immediately made up his mind. “I admit defeat!”

“Very well.” Xiao Jian pointed at the man, who instantly caught on fire, burnt to ash.

Most unsettling of all, no one could tell just what kind of power Xiao Jian was using!

“He... He admitted defeat, and you agreed to it, so why kill him?” asked another of Xiao Jian’s opponents, a man in black. He had an unsightly look on his face.

Xiao Jian explained gently, “It’s my fault for not explaining properly, but in my eyes, ‘admitting defeat’ means ‘accepting death.’”

Splurt! Splurt!

A streak of sword qi exploded into being, and both the man in black and the other opponent beside him were slain on the spot.

It was crisp and direct, like cutting down blades of grass.

When the crowd outside the Five Elements Altar saw this, they were stunned. Astonishment was written all over their faces.

The Dipankara Buddha’s expression hadn’t so much as rippled in all this time, but now, his brow furrowed.

The depths of Di E’s gaze flashed with inscrutable light, as if he’d run into a difficult problem and were trying to figure something out.

Lu Shi’s expression was as dark as could be, while Yu Chiyang was visibly overcome with indignation.

It hadn’t been long since the Battle for Order had begun, but the Court of the Southern Heavens had already lost six Eternals!

Including five Unfettered Realm Eternals here in their true bodies!

Meanwhile, Xiao Jian elegantly descended the Five Elements Altar, the very picture of a bookish scholar. Looking at him now, no one would have guessed that he was a deeply hidden, terrifying expert.

He killed in light, airy gestures!

When Su Yi saw Xiao Jian descend, he couldn’t help but say, “Was the power you used really within the bounds of the Unfettered Realm?”

Xiao Jian stopped in place and smiled at him. “Guaranteed authentic or your money back!”

A moment later, his gaze shifted inscrutably. “You broke the ‘insurmountable’ natural barrier between the Eternal and Undying. That would have been far beyond me at your level. Here, all I did was kill a bunch of people at the same level of cultivation. With our cultivations limited to the same stage, killing them was no more difficult than taking something out of my pocket.”

In other words, in a clash at the same level of cultivation, Xiao Jian could dominate the competition!

Su Yi took out a jug of wine and sighed. “Impressive.”

Xiao Jian said modestly, “You exaggerate.”

He then took out four bundles of light, his opponents’ Eternal Sources. “I have no use for these. Do you want them?”

Su Yi shook his head. He was in unusually high spirits. “Once we’ve fought, everything you own will become mine anyway.”

Xiao Jian froze, then burst into laughter.

Straight from the heart, as if there were no one else around.

Enough time to brew a cup of tea later, the first round of matches ended.

The thirty victors advanced to the next round.

The second round would soon begin!