72 Joining a clan. (1/2)

The seventh day of the contest quickly ended, Li Yang breathing a quiet sigh of relief when he noticed that no one from the sects came to talk to him, it seemed like they ended up believing that it was only through Qing Luoyang's interference that he managed to block the final attack.

The contest quickly continued, Li Yang battling another four people who came from the sects. He made sure to put on a good show before amiably surrendering. With him keeping his head low, the last days of the contest quickly passed, the final day quickly arriving. Once dawn of the 10th day arrived, the judge that had spoken up the first day, the hunchbacked Yan Li, once again stepped onto the center stage and spoke out in a loud voice.

”Now, the day you have all been waiting for, the finals have arrived!”

The crowd quickly started buzzing after Yan Li spoke out. The final day was the one that featured the best battles, the fights between the strongest contestants. Yan Li waved his hand to have the audience settle down, his lips curling into a smile as he continued to talk.

”The first battle of the day will be between the contenders for the 10th place, and then we'll slowly make our way up from there!”

There would only be 10 battles taking place today, the battles to determine who would take which spot within the top 10. And of course, to build more suspense, they kept the final battle for the very end. Yan Li turned towards the seating area where the remaining contestants sat, opening his arms wide and stepping back down from the stage.

”Without further ado, let's get the two contenders onto the stage! Li Yang, Shao Yun, please prepare yourselves!”

It had been quite difficult for Li Yang to make sure that he showed enough strength to become one of the top 10 contenders, but at the same time hid enough as to not look suspicious, but in the end, he had managed it.

Li Yang and his opponent, who was a tall and brown-skinned male that seemed to have reached his 30's, stepped onto the center stage. The black-haired Shao Yun cupped his hands and gave Li Yang a slight bow, giving the standard greeting.

”Shao Yun, let's have a good battle.”

Shao Yun's solemn expression contained a mixture of graveness and resignation as he looked at Li Yang. He had seen all of Li Yang's battles, and he was very clear on the fact that he would not be able to catch Li Yang, he was simply too slow. He could only hope that Li Yang was unable to break through his defenses, leading to a stalemate he would have a chance of winning. Li Yang quickly returned the greeting, completely calm.

”Li Yang, pleased to meet you.”

Li Yang was completely calm about this battle, as there was no chance that he would lose it. Worst case scenario and Shao Yun's defenses were tougher than he thought, he would create a stalemate that would end with Shao Yun running out of energy.

After they both gave their greetings, they both immediately prepared for battle. Shao Yun caused the floor of the stage to rise up, coiling around his body and forming a thick layer of armor. He then supplemented this armor bu causing the ground outside the arena to fly towards him, forming another layer of armor around him. He could not catch Li Yang with any of his attacks, so he saw no need to even bother with anything other than standing perfectly still and focusing on his defense.

Li Yang's body turned into a blur as he shot forward, arcs of azure lightning streaking behind him as he vanished from Shao Yun's sight. Right after he vanished from sight, Shao Yun felt a strong impact hit his waist on the left, a fist imprint appearing in his armor.

He quickly used the stage and the earth around it to repair the imprint, but as he did so, several more attacks landed on his body, battering him all over. Imprint after imprint appeared in his armor, small cracks starting to appear and spread. They were all quickly repaired using the stage and the earth around it, but every instance of repairing cost him a bit of Qi.

He continued to resist the pummeling for almost five minutes, gritting his teeth and keeping an eye out for any sigh of Li Yang's getting tired. But even after five minutes passed, Li Yang's attacks had not slowed down in the slightest, even growing a bit faster. In the end, Shao Yun could only accept the truth, raising his arms in defeat.

”You cannot properly break my defenses, but neither can I catch up to you. If this battle continues, it will only end in me running out of energy and losing. I surrender.”

Shao Yun was unwilling, but there was nothing he could do. He was weaker than Li Yang, so continuing the battle would only end with him collapsing to the ground exhausted, showing a shameful display. Li Yang halted his attacks, appearing in front of Shao Yun with the sound of muffled thunder. He cupped his fists and gave a slight bow, showing proper etiquette.

”Your defenses truly were something.”

Looking at Li Yang, Shao Yun felt like cursing at the difference between them. He had already started getting a bit tired from continuously repairing his armor, but Li Yang had not even broken a sweat, his breathing wasn't rushed in the slightest, as if he had not just spent the last five minutes pummeling Shao Yun.

Shao Yun's cultivation was at the late stage of the Xiantian Rune realm, he was just a single step away from breaking through to the Ascending Heaven realm. He had a higher cultivation than Li Yang, but Li Yang had an advantage in experience and elemental purity. While his own elements were currently still in their weakest stages, he could draw upon Shenlong and Jinwu's greatly strengthened elements, using them to compress and purify his own Qi, making it both stronger and making it last longer.

With Shao Yun declaring his surrender, the battle had obviously ended. Yan Li once again walked onto the stage, heading to Li Yang and raising his arm up high, letting out a slight sigh as he spoke to the audience.

”A bit anticlimactic, but that's the end of the first battle! The winner is Li Yang, and as the one who has taken the 10th spot, he has earned the right to take part in the grand competition that the Huo clan is setting up. Let's give him a round of applause for the show he put on!”

The crowd quickly started cheering, but as the battle had been quite dull to them, the cheering was rather subdued. After Shao Yun and Li Yang stepped down from the stage, Yan Li fished an orange cloud shaped tablet out from his interspatial ring, handing the table to Li Yang and explaining its use.

”This is the emblem to prove that you have taken the 10th spot and have earned the right to take part in the competition. When the competition starts, take this emblem to the Broken Rapid's city and hand it to Huo Guanting, he is in charge of accommodating people like you.”

The tablet was engraved with the image of the Huo clan, as well as several numbers. One of the numbers showed which of the contests he had taken part in, and the other number showed what rank he had gotten. As Broken Rapid's was one of the largest cities owned by the Huo clan, the map he had bought spoke quite a bit about it, so he knew exactly where it was placed.

Li Yang accepted the token, storing it into his interspatial ring and thanking Yan Li. After Yan Li returned to the stage to start the next battle, Li Yang left the plaza and returned to his lodgings. He took a warm shower and put on some fresh clothing, sharing a warm meal with Jinwu and Shenlong. He had done his part, now he only needed to wait for the people of the sects to come to him. And if none of the sects or clans wanted him, he had already earned the right to participate in the grand competition, so he would only have to find some other way to gather resources.

Li Yang had to wait for a bit of time, five sect people coming to find him in the evening after all the other battles had taken place. Li Yang actually recognized all the people that had arrived, they had all been amongst the newcomers that had taken part in the contest. They didn't even bother to knock on the door, simply entering the room where he was quietly cultivating, stating the conditions they were willing to offer him.

The first one to speak up was a short, blonde haired man clad in a light green robe with the mark of the Tian clan, a tall mountain that pierced a lone cloud.

”Li Yang, the Tian clan is willing to accept you as a provisional disciple.”

The second one to speak up was a somewhat chubby man with long black hair and round cheeks. He was clad in white robes marked with the emblem of the Endless Horizon Sect, a forest that seemed to continue into eternity.

”Li Yang, the Endless Horizon sect is also willing to accept you as a provisional disciple.”

The third one that spoke up was a muscular woman with a bald head and the image of a bear tattooed onto her scalp. She was clad in a robe that seemed to be made out of the hide of a bear, leaving her collarbones exposed. Her collarbones bore a tattoo in the shape of the Myriad Beast sect mark, a roaring lion.

”Li Yang, the Myriad Beast sect is willing to accept you as an outer disciple in charge of two provisional disciples.”

The fourth person that spoke up was a man with short azure hair and strangely amber eyes. He was clad in deep blue robes that bore the mark of the Duan clan, a massive waterfall that fell into a vast ocean.

”Li Yang, the Duan clan is also willing to accept you as an outer disciple. If you join us, we will give you three servants.”