Her expression remained unchanged, but she made a silent wish in her heart.
Please don't let me draw Xiao Cen or Yan Yi.
If they actually had to fight, she probably wouldn't have the heart to deal a fatal blow.
Yun Heng reached her hand into the drawing box, casually pulled out a round sphere, and handed it to Gong Yiding.
The sphere slowly rose into the air.
In the next instant, the sphere dissipated, turning into countless golden specks of light.
Those specks of light coalesced in the air once more, ultimately forming a name.
Cheng Wantang.
Someone in the audience below immediately recognized the name.
“It's Cheng Wantang of the Eastern Region's Cheng Family.”
“An array master in the early stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.”
“It looks like Yun Heng won't have much pressure this round either.”
Her Heavenly Destiny Spiritual Root had worked its magic once again.
Standing in the line, Cheng Wantang looked at her name in midair, her heart skipping a beat uncontrollably.
From the moment Yun Heng walked toward the drawing box, she had already prepared herself for the worst.
Yet when her name actually appeared, Cheng Wantang's emotions were still incredibly complex.
Why did it have to be her?
If she had drawn any other Soul Transformation cultivator, she might have been able to give it her all and try.
But facing Yun Heng, did she really stand any chance of winning?
Cheng Wantang gently pursed her lips, her hands hanging at her sides tightening involuntarily before she finally let out a soft sigh.
Having finished drawing her lot, Yun Heng walked back to the very front of the line.
Gong Yiding continued to call out the next person's name.
“Second, Ye Zezhi.”
Ye Zezhi walked calmly to the drawing box and reached in to take out a sphere.
This time, the name of a cultivator in the mid stage of the Soul Transformation Realm appeared in midair.
The face of the drawn cultivator instantly turned extremely unsightly.
With his mid stage Soul Transformation cultivation, as long as he didn't encounter Yun Heng or Ye Zezhi early on, he would have had a perfect chance to enter the fourth round and make it into the top fifteen.
Who could have guessed that he would actually be drawn by Ye Zezhi in the third round?
Now, things were looking grim.
Next, it was Bai Chu'an's turn to step onto the platform.
He drew an opponent who was a cultivator in the early stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.
After the drawing ended, Bai Chu'an slowly walked down from the main platform.
Yun Heng had been observing his performance.
Perhaps sensing her gaze, Bai Chu'an looked in her direction a few times as he descended.
Their eyes met a few times.
Bai Chu'an did not show any abnormality, only nodding slightly to Yun Heng out of politeness.
Yun Heng also nodded slightly in return, acknowledging him.
Neither his expression nor his reaction showed any sign of anything being amiss.
Could she really be overthinking things?
Yun Heng's suspicion of Bai Chu'an had not completely vanished, but she did not intend to dwell on it forever.
There would be plenty of opportunities later.
“Xiao Cen.”
Xiao Cen stepped forward and drew a cultivator in the early stage of the Soul Transformation Realm from the box.
With her mid stage Soul Transformation cultivation, there shouldn't be any issues in this match.
Xie Wujiu likewise drew an early stage Soul Transformation cultivator.
As he passed by Yun Heng, his gaze remained fixed ahead, not sparing a single glance in her direction.
Standing at the very front of the line, Yun Heng stared at Xie Wujiu's movements, finding them stranger the more she looked.
Why did she feel like Xie Wujiu was constantly avoiding her?
Yun Heng asked, “System, what is going on with Xie Wujiu? Was he always of this personality? Why does he seem a bit cowardly?”
[The Xie Wujiu in the original book was completely different from how he is now. If not peerless under heaven, he was at least high-spirited and vigorous. No matter what kind of opponent he faced, he would never show fear.]
The System paused for a moment.
[As for now... he indeed behaves a bit like a shrinking turtle.]
Yun Heng curled her lips, unable to hide the look of disdain on her face.
“I originally thought he would cause some trouble for me, or come up with some wicked scheme to deal with me. Once he made a move, I could directly strike back to eliminate any future trouble. But now that he's keeping entirely still, I don't even know what to do.”
[Right now, Xie Wujiu's state of mind is likely rather conflicted. On one hand, swept up by the hatred of his master's death, he truly wants to seek revenge on you. On the other hand, he is filled with dread toward the host and the Yun Family. He knows he is currently no match for you, and he also knows the Yun Family is not an existence the Taihua Sword Sect can afford to provoke. Thus, he himself is at a loss as to what to do.]
Yun Heng nodded thoughtfully.
The System quickly reminded her:
[However, the host must still be careful. Just because he doesn't dare to act openly now doesn't mean he won't in the future. He might be harboring some wicked scheme, waiting to stab us in the back.]
“Understood,” Yun Heng replied in her mind.
The drawing on the platform continued.
Xiao Jingheng's luck, however, was not quite as good.
He was drawn by the Eldest Disciple of the Fuguang Sect, one of the six top forces in the Central State.
In this match, Xiao Jingheng's prospects were likely grim.
Yan Yi, on the other hand, drew an early stage Soul Transformation cultivator.
Both possessed the same cultivation, so it was impossible to tell who would win, but with Yan Yi's talismans and illusion techniques, she could certainly put up a good fight.
As the final pair of opponents was decided, the matchup list for all fifteen groups of the third round appeared on the light screen above the main platform.
With this, the second round of the Five Domains Prodigy Gathering came to a complete close.
Seven days later, the battle for the top fifteen of the Five Domains Prodigy Gathering officially began.
With only thirty participating cultivators remaining, the attention on the tournament was far higher than in the previous two rounds.
To allow the audience to see each battle as clearly as possible, this round would no longer open fourteen sparring platforms simultaneously. Instead, only four groups would compete at a time.
This way, whether it was the audience on the Five Domains Platform or the cultivators in front of the image-recording arrays in various major cities, everyone could watch each battle in its entirety.
Gong Yiding stepped onto the main platform, her voice spreading across the entire Five Domains Platform via the voice-amplifying array.
“This term's Five Domains Prodigy Gathering battle for the top fifteen officially begins! Next, would the contestants of groups one through four please take the stage!”
In the waiting area, eight participating cultivators stood up at the same time.
Yan Yi was among them.
In her previous two matches, as an early stage Soul Transformation cultivator, her opponents had been in the Nascent Soul Realm, so she hadn't faced much pressure.
This time, her opponent shared her cultivation level and was moreover a saber cultivator who excelled in close-quarters combat.
In this match, she had to take things seriously.
Just as Yan Yi stood up, Jiang Qian, who was sitting beside her, also rose.
Although she had already been eliminated in the second round, she was still allowed to remain in the participant waiting area to watch.
Looking at Yan Yi, who was about to take the stage, Jiang Qian's expression was visibly tense.
“Good luck, Senior Sister. I believe in you.”
Yan Yi turned to look at Jiang Qian. Meeting her junior sister's worried yet trusting gaze, her eyes grew increasingly resolute.
“Don't worry.”
Sitting beside Yan Yi, Yun Heng also spoke up to remind her: “Be cautious. Do not underestimate your opponent.”
Yan Yi turned her head to look at Yun Heng.
“Yes, I understand.”
Xiao Cen and Xiao Jingheng also cheered her on.
Yan Yi turned around, following the other participating cultivators out of the waiting area, and ascended her designated sparring platform.
Her opponent was already standing on the other side.
Rate on N.U.
