Cultivation: From Poor Peasant to Celestial Lord

Chapter 152: Chapter 103: An Early Outcome, the Top Ten Are Set

A single step covered dozens of yards!

This method of movement, which ignored terrain and even some barriers from Magic Techniques, was practically teleportation.

In a flash, he descended like a god from the heavens, forcefully inserting himself between two teams on the verge of merging and severing their connection!

But that wasn’t enough.

Watching Chu Bai raise his blade to slaughter again, the thought of being outdone grew stronger in Ji Li’s mind.

’I absolutely cannot fall behind.’

His eyes narrowed, and he suddenly thrust his left hand out, grasping at the empty air in Chu Bai’s direction.

Power of Primordial Magnetism—Seize!

BOOM!

An unbelievably terrifying suction force erupted out of thin air.

Chu Bai was about to strike the two people in front of him when their bodies suddenly lurched. It was as if an invisible giant hand had forcefully yanked them from their spots, and they flew screaming toward Ji Li!

’You’re even stealing this?!’

The corner of Chu Bai’s eye twitched.

To steal a kill, Ji Li was so shameless he would snatch the food right out of Chu Bai’s mouth!

”My thanks for the gift, Junior Brother!”

Ji Li replied coolly. With a backhanded slash of his sword, the two unlucky souls still in mid-air were pierced by a silver light and eliminated in a flash of white.

The Evil Qi entered his body, causing the red glow around him to intensify!

The seven-person squad he had cut off had nowhere left to run. Roaring in fury, they could only surround and attack Ji Li once more.

”Kill! Kill him!”

”Let’s give him everything we’ve got!”

Magic Techniques and Dharma Artifacts exploded like fireworks.

Facing this frenzied counterattack, Ji Li neither dodged nor evaded.

He all but abandoned defense, letting the attacks rain down on him, relying solely on his powerful Primordial Magnetic Shield to take the hits. His entire focus was poured into his Flying Sword and the Primordial Magnetic Capture technique in his hands.

’Faster.’

’Faster!’

Meanwhile, Chu Bai was also radiating killing intent.

With each person he eliminated, the Evil Qi surging into his body made him stronger, the Fire Element Ring at his feet grew brighter, and his speed increased!

’I can’t let him overtake me.’

’Absolutely not!’

The two were like a pair of madmen locked in a fierce competition.

One became a streak of crimson fire on the ground, leaving chaos in his wake. The other was like silver lightning in the sky, unleashing a storm of Sword Qi wherever he went.

Both sides were rapidly expending their energy, and flashes of white light, signifying eliminations, appeared one after another.

The once-mighty force of over twenty students was dwindling at a rate visible to the naked eye.

As for the students still struggling to survive, only a single, desperate thought remained:

’This isn’t a contest of strength between those two anymore. It’s a race to see who can kill faster!’

...

On the mountaintop, the stench of blood and an aura of slaughter mingled, forming a fog so thick it refused to dissipate.

With the abrupt end of the final beastly roar, every last Evil Qi Demon Beast in this projected Spirit Realm had been slain.

The resources were depleted. All that remained was the most primal conflict: man against man.

The students had gone from tentative probing to fighting in small groups of two or three. Now, the situation had finally stabilized. The weak were out, and the strong remained. This round of culling was nearing its end.

On a relatively flat patch of high ground.

”Have you seen Junior Brother Chu?”

Lü Qing casually eliminated a student who had lost the will to fight and surrendered. After absorbing the meager amount of Evil Qi, he turned to the graceful figure beside him, the one wielding the Cyan Wood Giant Shield.

Although his Profound Gold Armor now bore a few more scratches, his aura remained as imposing as a mountain.

Beside him, Wang Qingli’s hair was slightly disheveled, but it couldn’t conceal her heroic air. With Wu Jianfei sitting cross-legged nearby, steam rising from his body as he performed his Breath Regulation, the three of them formed a top-tier lineup on this mountaintop.

The three of them knew each other already, being third-year classmates. As the competition reached its final stage, they had naturally formed a temporary alliance for offense and defense.

With this formidable lineup, they had steamrolled their way here, having just cleanly defeated a five-person squad that tried to ambush them. They held a decisive advantage.

”I haven’t.”

Wang Qingli shook her head. Her lovely eyes scanned the gradually quieting battlefield, a flicker of confusion in their depths. ”With his speed and strength, he should have been here long ago.”

”Strange...”

Lü Qing frowned, his resolute face showing a hint of confusion.

The entire time, from the moment the last Demon Beast was killed to the final stages of the scramble for Evil Qi, they hadn’t seen a trace of Chu Bai in the core area.

”Junior Brother Chu... could he have been eliminated already?”

The moment the thought surfaced, Lü Qing himself found it unbelievable. But logic told him it wasn’t impossible.

After all, the Demon Beasts at the foot of the mountain had long been wiped out. To acquire enough Evil Qi to advance, let alone compete for the top spots, this summit was a must-contest area.

There was no reason for him not to have shown up by now.

Unless... he was already out.

”Sigh...”

At this thought, Lü Qing couldn’t help but sigh, his voice tinged with obvious regret. ”If he really was eliminated just like that, it would be a true pity.”

”I was hoping to face him in a fair fight on the tournament stage in the next round, to see just how many more tricks he has up his sleeve with those Five Elements techniques.”

Wang Qingli’s delicate brows also furrowed, her mind filled with the same doubt.

She knew Chu Bai’s strength better than anyone. How could that monstrously talented junior who had beaten her into submission in the training room possibly fail so easily?

”Could it be...”

Wang Qingli’s eyes flickered as she whispered her guess, ”Could it be that he had bad luck and ran into Ji Li early? That Ji Li targeted him?”

If that were the case...

With Ji Li’s terrifying strength, if he was dead set on kicking his most threatening rival out in this second round, then no matter how brilliant Chu Bai was, his chances would have been slim to none.