The area below instantly erupted in an uproar!
"A fiancé? Good heavens! This Fang Chen turns out to be Senior Sister Meng's fiancé!"
Countless gazes filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred instantly fell upon a bewildered Fang Chen.
"No wonder Senior Sister Meng came today. It turns out it was because of Fang Chen."
"Oh heavens, Senior Sister Meng's announcement like this is going to shake the entire Shendong Domain!"
Luo Ao's expression was incomparably ferocious, the look he cast at Fang Chen made it seem as though he wanted to devour him alive!
He roared, "Senior Sister Meng, y-y-you said that trash Fang Chen is your boyfriend? H-how is this possible? That trash isn't worthy of you!"
Luo Yun also spoke in disbelief, "Senior Sister Meng, that Fang Chen is nothing but trash! How could he possibly be worthy of you?!"
"Impossible! I wouldn't believe it even if I died! Fang Chen is just trash that I didn't want, garbage that I threw away! How could he possibly be... be...!" Su Wan'er's expression looked even uglier than if she had eaten shit.
Meng Yao swept a cold gaze across Luo Yun, Luo Ao, and Su Wan'er, and the three of them instantly fell silent, not daring to speak another word.
She sneered and said, "Trash? Neither his talent nor his willpower is anything the likes of you can compare to. Just watch—you will feel incomparable regret for what you've done today."
Immediately afterward, she looked toward Fang Chen, a tender yet charming smile blooming on her face: "Brother Fang, congratulations on entering the inner sect."
Fang Chen looked at Meng Yao, his eyes filled with gentleness: "Thank you."
Meng Yao beamed, alluring and moving.
"Between you and me, what need is there for thanks?"
Chapter 21: Luck?
Not far away, Lin Xueyan watched with extreme anxiety, but in front of so many people, she found it hard to rush up and voice her objection.
"What is Meng Yao thinking? How could she actually agree to this?!"
"No! After the Seven Peaks Assessment ends, I need to have a serious talk with her! She absolutely cannot agree to this betrothal!" she thought to herself.
Her gaze then fell upon Su Wan'er: "Perhaps I can get some information about Fang Chen from her."
The Seven Peaks Assessment continued, and the third round of testing commenced amidst this shocking news.
Meng Yao announced, "Passing the second round already counts as officially joining the inner sect. Participation in this third round of testing is optional. Anyone who does not wish to participate may step out."
There were a total of eighty-six disciples who had passed the second round.
Luo Ao walked up to Fang Chen's side and whispered, "Bastard, I advise you to withdraw right now. Otherwise, the moment you run into me on the arena stage, I will definitely make your life a living hell!"
"On the arena stage, a bastard like you who only knows how to hide behind a woman is certain to die."
He appeared to be threatening Fang Chen to withdraw, but in reality, he was trying to provoke him and make his blood boil.
As long as Fang Chen stepped onto the arena stage, he had a hundred ways to kill him!
Fang Chen looked at him, seeing right through his intentions.
He sneered and said, "A provocation tactic? No need to go through so much trouble. When we meet, there's no telling who will live and who will die."
Luo Ao had humiliated him again and again, which had long since thoroughly infuriated him.
The other party wanted to kill him, and he felt exactly the same way about the other party.
Seeing that Fang Chen had taken the bait, Luo Ao smiled: "Then let's wait and see. Don't get eliminated too quickly. But it's fine, even if you get eliminated, I'll still kill you. A bastard like you doesn't deserve Senior Sister Meng."
Among the eighty-six people, twenty-one ultimately stepped forward.
Either they had no interest, or their consumption in the second round was too great, leaving them with no choice but to give up the third round's arena combat.
In the end, a total of sixty-seven people participated in the third round.
Meng Yao was not surprised that Fang Chen did not withdraw, and she announced, "Since no one is withdrawing, let the arena combat begin. This arena combat will use a knockout format. Because the number of participants has one extra person, one person will receive a bye."
"Draw lots now."
The crowd moved forward one after another, lining up to draw lots.
After drawing his lot, Fang Chen looked at it: number one, not bad at all.
When everyone had finished drawing, Meng Yao said, "The arena combat will now begin. The bye lot for this round is number one. I wonder who obtained the bye lot?"
"Whose luck is so good?"
"Damn! I'm number two!"
Everyone looked around curiously, wanting to know who had number one.
Fang Chen was stunned for a moment, then slowly raised the lot in his hand: "Me, I am number one."
In an instant, everyone's gazes fell upon Fang Chen.
When they saw it was Fang Chen, everyone was stunned.
"It turned out to be him?"
"This guy's luck is this good?"
"Could Senior Sister Meng have done this on purpose?"
"Don't talk nonsense. These bye lots are determined by the elders on the stage; it's not up to just anyone to decide."
Meng Yao was also slightly stunned. She hadn't helped Fang Chen; this lot had been proposed by someone and approved by the other elders without objection, so she could only say Fang Chen's luck was rather good.
"Pretty good luck, but that's fine too. The probability of running into him in the next match will be even higher."
Luo Ao wore an indifferent expression; no matter what ranking Fang Chen achieved, in the end, he had nowhere to go but death!
After regaining her composure, Meng Yao said, "This disciple gets a bye for the first round and does not need to fight."
"The others will take turns on the arena stage, with number two facing number three, and so on for the matches."
Everyone looked at Fang Chen with envy, though they didn't pay it too much mind, chalking it up to the other party having good luck.
Immediately afterward, the first match of the arena combat began.
There were a total of ten arenas in the arena plaza, allowing ten matches to be conducted simultaneously without any issues.
Fang Chen wasn't idle either; he went to watch the fights of some fellow disciples who practiced the sword, hoping to glean some insights from their techniques.
However, to his slight disappointment, the sword Dao of these fellow disciples was somewhat crude, belonging to the initial stages with not much worth learning from.
He had forgotten, however, that he had comprehended a Dao Pattern of the word "sword"—no matter how talented those disciples were, they were by no means as freakishly gifted as he was.
This first round of matches did not last very long. The incense stick of time later, all the matches had concluded.
Out of sixty-seven people, only thirty-three ultimately advanced.
Meng Yao considerately gave everyone half an hour to rest or treat their injuries. When the time was up, she announced, "We will now hold the draw for the second match. There will also be a bye lot this time."
The second round required reshuffling the draw to prevent anyone from colluding beforehand to throw matches.
The crowd once again began drawing lots, and Fang Chen did the same.
This time, he drew number thirty-three, which made him breathe a sigh of relief while also filling him with excitement!
"I can finally go up on stage."
Fang Chen was raring to go; this would be his first time participating in arena combat since his recovery.
Meng Yao consulted with the various elders for a moment, and then announced the bye lot for the second round.
"There is still a bye lot for the second round. After consultation among the elders, this round's bye lot is number thirty-three!" Meng Yao announced.
"Who has the last number?" The crowd looked around once more.
However, no one looked toward Fang Chen; after all, once was enough for good luck, how could it happen a second time?
Yet they failed to notice that Fang Chen's expression was vacant, and for a moment he didn't know what to do.
It's over; there's no explaining this now.
Meanwhile, a young man beside him inadvertently caught sight of Fang Chen's lot number and instantly cried out, "It's him!"
Everyone's gazes instantly converged on Fang Chen, and when they saw it was him, everyone was stunned dumb.
"It's him again!"
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Yet the one in his hand really is thirty-three!"
"Good heavens! What is going on here?!"
The entire audience stared fixedly at Fang Chen. Envy, jealousy, hatred—every imaginable kind of gaze was present.
Fang Chen felt a little embarrassed himself. He had originally thought he could participate in the battles, only to get a bye yet again.
Meng Yao's alluring face also showed disbelief; she really hadn't helped Fang Chen!
Yet looking at the strange gazes of the crowd, they wouldn't believe it even if they died.
She could only give a wry smile and left it unexplained.
Because with this kind of matter, the more you tried to explain, the less anyone would believe you.
"Hmph, I want to see just how many times you can get a bye." This time, even Luo Ao's expression grew cold, his heart filled with jealousy, and his intent to kill Fang Chen grew even stronger.
"This damned bastard, how does he have such luck?! It must be that cheap woman operating behind the scenes! Absolutely!"
Down below, Su Wan'er's eyes were practically red with rage! Her heart was consumed by incomparable jealousy!
Why was she eliminated?! Yet Fang Chen got to advance with such ease!
Clearly, Fang Chen was just a bastard she had abandoned! She wouldn't believe even if she died that Fang Chen had such luck! It must be Meng Yao pulling strings behind the scenes!
Not only her, but Luo Yun thought the same way.
"Hmph, trash who can only rely on women."
Luo Yun let out a cold snort. He didn't believe Fang Chen's luck could be this good; it had to be Meng Yao manipulating things from the shadows, utterly shameless.
Yet he had forgotten how he had helped Su Wan'er during the first and second rounds, and how he had targeted Fang Chen.
"I'd like to see just how many times you can let him get a bye!"
He figured that even if Meng Yao was manipulating things from the shadows, there had to be a limit—at least she wouldn't be so blatant.
However!
The upcoming top sixteen! Top eight! Top four! Fang Chen actually drew the bye lot every single time!
By now, everyone present gradually calmed down.
Sigh, it was nothing; wouldn't one just get used to it after a while?
So-called injustice of the heavens and unfairness of the earth—before absolute strength, those were all jokes.
At this very moment, they were convinced that Meng Yao was secretly helping Fang Chen, but what could they do about it? Who would dare expose Senior Sister Meng if she wanted to help someone?
Besides, even if they exposed it, they couldn't produce any evidence.
What they didn't know was that at this very moment, the two people in question were even more shocked than they were!
Fang Chen looked at Meng Yao, and Meng Yao's alluring face was also full of astonishment.
The two of them locked eyes without speaking, nor did they use voice transmission, but looking into each other's eyes, it was as if they knew what the other was saying.
Lingfan silently asked: Is this your doing?
Meng Yao silently replied: I didn't do it! I have no idea what's going on either!
What in the world was this! They truly hadn't meddled at all!
"Hahahaha! Hahahaha!"
Yet they didn't know that a hundred miles away, atop a certain peak, a slovenly, stubbly, emaciated middle-aged man was holding his sides and laughing uproariously!
Fang Chen's so-called "too good luck" all came straight from his hands, a hundred miles away!
Chapter 22: Life-and-Death Arena
"So these are Tianyangzi's disciples? They do have some talent."
"Let me see, hmm—Sword Dao Pattern, Heavenly Dao Demonic Bones! Interesting, rather interesting."
"To think that here, there is actually a born demonic cultivation genius."
He picked up the wine gourd at his side, wanting to take a sip of wine, only to find that it was empty.
"Out? What a buzzkill. Fine, fine, let's stop playing here. The scenes from just now will probably keep these two little fellows awake for a few nights, haha!"
With that, he transformed into a streak of escaping light and vanished!
At this moment, Fang Chen had effortlessly advanced to the semifinals, completely unaware that his good luck had been entirely orchestrated by an unfathomably powerful individual.
And his good luck had also come to an end.
To contend for the rewards for entering the top four, the quarterfinals battles could be described as extremely fierce! They were essentially fighting for their lives!
Even with the elders present, quite a few people sustained injuries.
Among them, there was even a match where both parties were heavily injured and had no choice but to step down from the arena together.
Thus, the number of participants returned to four, requiring no further byes.
"Hmph, I want to see how he continues to get a bye!"
"I guarantee you! He will definitely be directly eliminated in the next match!"
"That's right!"
Everyone looked at Fang Chen with schadenfreude.
Fang Chen, however, was somewhat excited! Could he finally have a proper fight? That would be great!
Watching others fight epic battles had made his blood surge as well, and he had been waiting for his very first enemy all this time!
The top four matches officially commenced at this moment!
Having finished drawing lots, Fang Chen stepped onto the arena stage, waiting for his opponent to arrive.
Before long, a pale-faced youth with a somewhat ashen complexion walked onto the arena stage.
Although his expression was poor, his gaze was resolute!
"This senior brother, are you alright?"
Seeing the other party's pale complexion, Fang Chen asked with concern.
The youth shook his head firmly: "I'm fine! I can still fight! Defeating you is at least not a problem at all!"
Seeing Fang Chen receive four consecutive byes, the youth's heart was filled with jealousy.
When he saw that his opponent was Fang Chen, he had sworn in his heart that he must defeat him!
Seeing this, Fang Chen didn't say anything more.
Subsequently, the two stated their names.
"This is Hu Mo!"
"This is Fang Chen!"
Seeing this, the elder announced, "Let the match begin!"
Fang Chen looked at the Heiming Sword in his hand and said, "This battle is our first fight! Let me see what your strength is like!"
Bang!
Just as Fang Chen raised the Heiming Sword, he heard the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground.
Looking closely, he was astonished to see Hu Mo lying in the distance, unconscious.
The elder's expression changed slightly, and he immediately went over to check the situation.
Yet after inspecting, he shook his head helplessly, his gaze toward Fang Chen full of strangeness.
Fang Chen was stunned.
"Why is he looking at me like that? I didn't do anything."
The next moment, the elder announced, "Hu Mo's injuries are too severe; Fang Chen wins this match."
The area below fell into a dead silence.
What the hell!
Immediately afterward, a curse rang out as someone slammed their own precious sword directly onto the ground to express their inner rage.
Following that, chaos erupted.
"This works too?"
"Is this luck even real?"
"Where are his ancestors' graves? I want to move my ancestors' graves right next to his!"
At this moment, everyone felt their worldview collapsing.
If that middle-aged man from earlier were here, it was hard to imagine what his thoughts would be.
It seemed that even without him, Fang Chen's luck was still pretty good, making even entering the top four semifinals an effortless affair.
Fang Chen wore a rather quirky expression as well, feeling that his luck today was just a bit too good.
"Could it be that after five years of continuous bad luck, my luck has finally turned?" That was the only way he could think of it.
On the other side, Luo Ao, who was also participating in the semifinals, didn't have Fang Chen's good luck.
Because the person he encountered was a fellow genius of this generation, Lin Luoer.
Both were proud children of heaven among the outer sect disciples of this generation, and once they matched up, it naturally turned into a fierce battle.
Neither side held back practically anything during their exchange, going all out!
It had the crowd below cheering repeatedly, watching with surging passion!
However, Lin Luoer was only fifteen years old, and in terms of both cultivation time and experience, she couldn't compare to the eighteen-year-old Luo Ao.
In the end, she fell short by a margin and was defeated.
Even so, she had also landed a sword strike on Luo Ao, though unfortunately, it hadn't caused any real impact on him.
"That was truly wonderful!"
"In that case, the first place belongs to Senior Brother Luo!"
Everyone viewed this battle as the decisive final. As for Fang Chen, nobody had paid him any attention, nor did anyone believe he could possibly win.
Meng Yao's brows were tightly locked as she sent a voice transmission to Fang Chen: "Brother Fang, why not forfeit this match? Second place isn't bad either."
She was also worried that Fang Chen was no match for Luo Ao; after all, Fang Chen had guarded tombs for five years, and his cultivation had also been wasted for five years.
Having defeated Lin Luoer, Luo Ao was even more smug, not even planning to step down from the arena.
Standing directly on the arena stage, he pointed his saber at Fang Chen and said arrogantly, "Trash! Get on the stage and accept your death! Today I'll let you know what a true genius is!"
His voice was loud, and everyone heard it clearly.
Instantly, everyone's gazes fell upon Fang Chen. This was precisely the result Luo Ao wanted—making it so Fang Chen had no choice but to go up even if he wanted to shrink from the fight.
Fang Chen's expression remained calm throughout. He first looked toward Meng Yao, giving her a reassuring look.
Then he looked at Luo Ao, smiling faintly, "What's the fun in a regular sparring match? Why don't we raise the stakes a bit?"
"What?"
"A life-and-death arena!"
The entire audience gasped in astonishment, all thinking Fang Chen had gone mad.
Luo Ao was stunned, then smiled.
He had seen people courting death, but never someone courting death quite like this.
He had just been worrying about what excuse to use to kill Fang Chen later, and now the other party was delivering himself right to his door.
"Good! I accept!" Fearing that Fang Chen might renege, he hurriedly agreed.
High up on the platform, Luo Yun was wild with joy. Truly, there was a road to heaven which he refused to take, while barging into the gates of hell with no way out! He was seeking his own destruction!
"Dog bastard, after you die, just watch how I deal with that old woman! The Master's treasures will all be mine in the end!" Su Wan'er laughed ferociously.
Meng Yao, on the other hand, was caught off guard. She hadn't expected Fang Chen to pull off a life-and-death arena match.
Yet seeing Fang Chen's resolute expression, she knew that saying anything else was useless. She could only stamp her foot in anger and curse inwardly, "Jerk! If you die, won't this young lady be left a widow? You really are reckless!"
Fang Chen knew nothing of this. Hearing Luo Ao's agreement, he smiled faintly and also stepped up onto the high platform.
He then looked toward the referee elder: "Elder, is the life-and-death arena match between the two of us established?"
A life-and-death arena match required an elder to confirm it on the side; otherwise, it would not count.
The referee elder directly nodded: "Naturally established."
"Trash, you're quite rigorous. But none of that matters, you're dead meat." Luo Ao laughed savagely.
Fang Chen didn't speak, merely looking at him calmly.
The referee elder stated, "Since both parties have no objections, this match will be a life-and-death arena match, where life and death are up to fate. Regardless of who dies or gets injured, neither will face any punishment from within the sect."
"Array formation activate! Life-and-death arena! Begin!"
As his voice fell, the referee elder stepped down from the stage.
Simultaneously, the arena array formation activated, locking the two of them within the arena.
This way, neither of them could escape, and people outside could not interfere to rescue them.
This was the Tianyu Divine Sect's life-and-death arena!
Luo Ao gripped a black longsword in his hand! The aura of the peak Spirit Gathering Realm erupted!
"Today I'll let you see the strength of a genius. For trash like you to be able to die by my hands can be considered your fortune accumulated over three lifetimes."
As he spoke, he swung his black sword! Instantly, black mist surged up all around, gradually wrapping around his figure!
At the same time, the black mist steadily spread, covering the entire arena!
"It's Senior Brother Luo's 'Black Mist Overwhelming the Heavens'!"
"This Fang Chen is dead for sure. Within the 'Black Mist Overwhelming the Heavens' domain, Senior Brother Luo is completely unaffected, and his vision remains clear. But for anyone else inside, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say you can't even see your own hand in front of your face!"
Seeing this scene, everyone felt that Fang Chen was bound to die without a doubt.
Fang Chen stood calmly in the black mist. At this moment, Luo Ao's voice came through: "Don't worry, kid, I won't kill you straight away. I'm going to injure you bit by bit, letting you die entirely amidst pain and bleeding! Hahahaha! I'm sure your appearance at that time will be absolutely miserable and quite a sight!"
Luo Ao hid within the black mist, wanting to see Fang Chen's terrified expression.
Yet Fang Chen was not only calm, but the corners of his lips even curled up slightly.
"Is that so?"
He drew the Heiming Sword and said, "I'd also like to play along with you like this, but unfortunately my time is limited, so I won't keep you company any longer."
"That's not something trash like you gets to decide." Luo Ao sneered.