ZENITH continued on with the next round of elimination matches after just a single day of rest.
Perhaps it was because he had leaped too high earlier, or perhaps his luck just changed, but regardless of the reason, Gu Xiao’er was the first to appear on the first layer. He was first to fight in the second round of elimination matches.
Another figure appeared in front of Gu Xiao’er, still suspended in midair while being surrounded by three strands of qi and emitting a godly aura.
Many people were dumbstruck; this luck was a bit too impressive.
Lu Yin rolled his eyes; that guy was gone.
Gu Xiao’er stared blankly at the indifferent Shang Qing before him while feeling like he had just stepped in shit.
How could this happen? There were still a hundred people left, which was equivalent to fifty matches, so why had he, Gu Xiao’er, immediately run into Shang Qing? This was too much!
There was a roar from within Smoke-Eater Peaks. “You bastard! You must have visited Azure Mansion before ZENITH, causing your luck to be taken away by those girls! I’ll skin him alive when he gets back.”
No matter what anyone thought, these results would not be changed.
Gu Xiao’er raised his head with grief and indignation clear on his face. “Who set this up? Is there some grudge against my Smoke-Eater Peaks? Has there been some offense?”
Across from him, Shang Qing attacked.
It did not take long for Gu Xiao’er to be defeated, and he reappeared down on the second layer while Shang Qing remained on the first layer.
Although the first layer was not as large as the third, it was still quite big.
After winning his match, Shang Qing appeared at the edge of the first layer. This layer had no barrier around it. Instead, the barrier only isolated the battlefield.
Immediately after the first match ended, Ye Xingchen appeared up on the first layer. His opponent was Fan Shun.
Ye Xingchen, Lu Yin, Mu Rong, and Ling Que had once been called the four peerless Limiteers, but when Ye Xingchen had been a Limiteer, he had always been in the Cosmic Sea.
It was not until after the Sixth Mainland had invaded and the war reached the Cosmic Sea that Lu Yin had met Ye Xingchen.
Ye Xingchen’s innate gift was meteor shower. He was in no way weak, but there was simply too large of a gap in strength between him and Fan Shun. Regardless of if it was cultivation realm or battle strength, Ye Xingchen could not compare at all.
In the end, he lost without any surprises during the battle.
Experts both known and unknown appeared on the first layer, and the winner of each match would stay behind while the losers reappeared on the second layer. This stage was the greatest platform in the current universe.
Autumnfrost Qing lost to Qiu Shi, Lilyrose lost to a man named Ze Cu, and Qian Zou lost to God Taiyi. No matter how unbelievable Qian Zou’s strength was, God Taiyi simply weakened his runes, rendering Qian Zou’s strength nothing more than ordinary.
Dao Bo lost to Liu Tianmu, and Liu Shaoqiu lost to Yao Xuan. These two battles in particular attracted a lot of attention since both users of the Thirteen Swords had appeared.
However, Liu Shaoqiu never revealed anything to do with the Thirteen Swords throughout his battle.
Yao Xuan smiled. “I want to see Liu Tianmu’s Thirteen Swords, not yours.”
This single phrase was all that was said before Liu Shaoqiu collapsed. Yao Xuan’s spiritual force was unfathomable.
Long ago, Liu Shaoqiu had been a favorite to win the Astral Combat Tournament, and he had been expected to eventually replace one of the Ten Arbiters. However, he was not able to make any waves in ZENITH at all. The level of this tournament was just too high for him.
On the first layer, the Leaf King was defeated by Yōu Qi. The Leaf King possessed powerful battle techniques and was able to transform his opponents’ star energy into leaves, but Yōu Qi simply ignored all of his opponent’s attacks while the Leaf King was unable to do anything to Yōu Qi.
If he had fought against almost literally anyone else, then the Leaf King would have been able to put up a fight. However, he was perfectly countered by Yōu Qi.
Even at this stage of ZENITH, there were still a few people who had managed to rely on their luck to get through, such as Ku Wei. He ran into a Limiteer for this round, but Ku Wei was quickly running out of luck.
The goal of ZENITH was to determine the top ten youths, and any position outside of the top ten was completely meaningless. Also, it was impossible to enter the top ten with sheer luck, as even getting into the top twenty by being lucky was impossible.
Yao Ji was frustrated, as he had encountered Yuhua Mavis.
As the Cosmic Sect’s fourth true disciple, even if he knew that he was destined to lose, he still had to do his best. Otherwise, he would not be able to face his sect after returning.
Of course, as soon as he appeared on the first layer, he was stunned by a fist.
With only fifty matches in this round, there were eye-catching battles every few matches.
After the battle between Yao Ji and Yuhua Mavis ended, Bai Ling appeared, and her opponent was Yōu Ye’er.
Most people were unfamiliar with Yōu Ye’er and had no clue who she was.
Only a small number of people knew that she was from the Yōu clan and that the Yōu clan was a part of the Court of Seven Names.
The Innerverse and Outerverse believed that the Innerverse’s Yōu family was a branch of the Seven Courts’ Yōu clan, but Lu Yin was aware that the Innerverse branch was actually the main branch of the family as they possessed the Yōu clan’s secret technique.
Down on the foot of Zenith Mountain, Yōu Qin stared at a screen showing Yōu Ye’er with a complicated expression. On the bright side, Yōu Ye’er was a descendant of the Yōu family, but unfortunately, it turned out that the family’s true inheritor was a little girl who only looked like she was eleven or twelve years old.
The first layer was directly below the highest point of Zenith Mountain, and it was very close to the peak.
Yōu Ye’er looked up at the peak, remembering the warning that Elder Su had given her.
There were too many powerhouses in ZENITH, and if Yōu Ye’er continued to hide her strength and her secret technique, then it would practically be impossible for her to enter the top ten. Elder Su wanted Yōu Ye’er to give up on ZENITH and look at the bigger picture. News of the Yōu secret technique could not be revealed to the world as it was information that could not be allowed to spread.
Although Yōu Ye’er was the Yōu family’s inheritor, she was also nothing more than a vessel for the clan’s secret technique.
But Yōu Ye’er was not willing to accept this outcome. She had given up too much for her family, and she was not even allowed to make any decisions regarding her own marriage; why? She wanted to try to climb the highest mountain. She was not seeking the position of Pinnacle Youth, as she simply wanted to enter the top ten. Although it was an extravagant hope, it would be wonderful to end up in the top ten. She really wanted to go all out.
Across from Yōu Ye’er, Bai Ling completely disregarded Yōu Ye’er, as she was nothing more than an Explorer.
Strange lines entwined towards Yōu Ye’er. She still had the appearance of a little girl, and she stared at those lines in a pitiful manner.
Many people could not bear to watch this battle.
Down on the second layer, Liu Shaoqiu frowned. He was betrothed to Yōu Ye’er, and although he did not care about it, the girl was truly his fiancée.
Liu Shaoqiu clenched his fists when he saw Bai Ling attack.
In the Innerverse, the Yōu family watched. In the Neoverse, near the Netherworld River, many people from the Yōu clan were also watching the battle.