Chapter 2115 — The Sixth Match
The Blossom Guardian · Page 2 of 2
Still, he paid Wei Zhao no mind. In his view, Wei Zhao was merely quick with his tongue; how could Wei Zhao possibly win this match? Wei Zhao had never trained in any external martial art of endurance. He even treasured a low-grade Golden Cicada undergarment set as if it were a prize—what endurance could a man like that possibly have?
"Good. Now, contestants, please draw lots, and come forward one by one in the order drawn!" Old Master Zhao said.
Hearing Old Master Zhao's words, the contestants stepped forward to draw. Wei Zhao glanced at his lot: he was fourth in line.
"I withdraw." The first to take the stage, the Hidden Tang family's contestant, chose no test grade at all and conceded outright. This was the strategy Old Master Tang had settled on beforehand; this endurance contest was an entirely different matter from the stamina contest before.
In the stamina contest, one could withdraw upon reaching one's limit. Here, reaching one's limit meant death outright. The Hidden Tang family had no hard, head-on martial skills, nor any fine treasures to ward off attacks. So rather than choosing the Yellow rank, taking a painful blow, and still failing to win, they might as well concede outright.
"I withdraw as well!" The second to take the stage was the contestant from the Qianshan Sect. The Qianshan Sect was a sect that raised spirit beasts and had never trained in endurance at all; in battle, they mostly relied on their spirit beasts to fight, so their individual strength was not much to speak of.
"I withdraw too!" The third to take the stage was the contestant from the Hidden Pi family. Earlier, the Hidden Pi family had tried to obtain that low-grade Golden Cicada undergarment set from the Golden Bell Sect precisely in order to compete in this endurance contest—but Wei Zhao had snatched the treasure away, so what was the point of competing now? A strong fist did not mean a body that could take a beating.
Moreover, Old Master Zhao's last-minute clause banning magic treasures had rather delighted Old Master Pi. Wei Zhao had gained a treasure for nothing and yet could not use it—he must be dying of frustration, surely?
Little did he know that Wei Zhao had never intended to use that low-grade Golden Cicada undergarment at all! He had taken it back for someone else to use, and besides, anything worn by another had to be washed and disinfected before Wei Zhao would put it on—how could he be wearing it now?
"Our Hidden Zhuang family withdraws as well!" The Zhuang family's contestant made a token appearance on stage, went through the motions, and said the same.
It was plain that these disciples of the hidden families were no fools. One after another they kept their distance from a contest so prone to injury and death—and so it came directly to Wei Zhao.
This left Wei Zhao somewhat vexed. He had meant to see what grade the Golden Bell Sect's contestant would choose, so that he might raise or match it as he saw fit. But Wei Zhao had not expected that his fifth position would in fact make him first.
There was no help for it; Wei Zhao could only step up onto the testing platform, glance at the options displayed above it, and say, "I choose the mid Earth rank!"
A blow from a mid Earth-rank expert was something Wei Zhao could still withstand. Back then, the man in black of Earth-rank strength had used a martial technique, and even that had not killed Wei Zhao!