Chapter 177

Chapter 177: Do Not Come Any Closer!
The Martial Practice Field was packed with people.

From far away, all Yu Zhao could see was a dense sea of heads.

Bu Yan’s lips moved for a moment. He almost blurted something out, but swallowed the words at the last second. He quickly took out his wooden fish and knocked it twice.

Yu Zhao stared at the scene before her, deeply shocked.

In her previous life, when she arrived on the Five Elements Dao Sect’s flying boat, the Individual Competition had already entered the third round. There had been many onlookers, but the participating cultivators had numbered fewer than a thousand.

But now, just gathered here, there were at least one hundred thousand cultivators, and more were still pouring in from all directions.

A grand event that appeared only once in a hundred years in the cultivation world really lived up to its name.

“Yu Zhao!”

A bright, lively young woman’s voice sounded from behind her.

Yu Zhao turned around and saw a woman in red, sitting cross-legged on a Scarlet Spider, flying toward her. It was Yao Wuji.

A trace of strange emotion flashed through Yu Zhao’s eyes.

So in this life, Yao Wu Jihad not missed the Cultivation World Grand Tournament.

“Hey, when did you pick up a monk as a friend?”

Yao Wu Jijumped down from the Scarlet Spider and put it away in her spirit pet pouch. Then she looked Bu Yan up and down with open curiosity.

Bu Yan let her stare as much as she liked. He said calmly: “This poor monk is called Bu Yan.”

“Bu Yan?” Yao Wu Jiraised her brows. “Did your master name you that because you talk too much?”

“You must be joking, Benefactor.”

Bu Yan’s tone was still calm, but the hand holding his wooden fish mallet was starting to itch again.

Luckily, Yao Wu Jiwas not very interested in him. After saying her own name, she turned all her attention back to Yu Zhao.

“So that is why I could not beat you last time. You were clearly already at Late Golden Core stage, but you hid your cultivation level. You are so sneaky!”

When she saw Yu Zhao, Yao Wu Jicould not help thinking of what had happened in the Marsh Forest. That had been her first time losing to someone her own age, and it had left a deep impression.

Yu Zhao only smiled and did not answer.

While they were talking, the elders and disciples of Wending Pavilion arrived and called all the cultivators taking part in the competition to gather on the Martial Practice Field.

Yu Zhao said goodbye to Bu Yan, then entered the Martial Practice Field with Yao Wuji, holding her number token in hand.

As soon as she took her place, Yu Zhao felt countless gazes fall on her, a few of them especially intense.

She looked over one by one and saw that the owners of those gazes were Yao Ji, Tang Rui, Ten-Thousand-Slayer, and one person she had not expected.

Si Tu Xuan hurriedly pulled his gaze back and clenched his fist in regret.

He had only wanted to see who the woman beside Yu Zhao was. He had never thought she would catch him right away.

Would Yu Zhao misunderstand and think he had improper thoughts about her?

By heaven and earth, he really did not have any such intentions.

While Si Tu Xuan was caught between hope and fear, several elders of Wending Pavilion stepped onto the high platform in the middle of the Martial Practice Field. The noisy voices vanished in an instant. On the vast ground, only the elders’ steady and dignified voices could be heard.

Because there were so many cultivators taking part in the Individual Competition, Wending Pavilion had racked their brains over the first two rounds, to make sure those with weak strength would be filtered out early.

“When the first round begins, the spell formation inside the Martial Practice Field will be activated. The five thousand cultivators who can endure the attacks of the spell formation and hold on until the end will enter the second round. Crushing your number token will be treated as giving up voluntarily.”

The elder hosting the competition was Elder Ji Dao, who wanted to take Yu Zhao as his disciple. He explained the rules simply and clearly. Then, without giving anyone time to react, he joined the other elders in opening the spell formation.

Several lines of golden light spread out under everyone’s feet, then quickly flowed to the edges of the Martial Practice Field. After that, they shot straight up into the sky, covering the entire field.

A huge pressure fell all at once. Many cultivators’ spirit power shields shattered in less than a single breath. Their bodies were pressed flat on the ground, their faces grinding hard against the rough stone.

“Ah!”

Someone could not help crying out.

The next second, his body was transported outside the Martial Practice Field.

He looked up with a blank face.

How had he ended up out here?

“Oh, right, I forgot to add something just now. Anyone who makes a sound will also be treated as having given up.”

Elder Ji Dao leisurely?????.

The cultivators who had wanted to vent their stress by shouting all shut their mouths at once and focused on withstanding the ever-increasing pressure around them.

On the high platform, Elder Ji Dao clicked his tongue to the elders beside him. “Look at Yu Zhao. His face is not red and his heart is steady. First place in this Individual Competition will definitely be hers.”

Another elder sighed. “The Five Elements Dao Sect is getting more and more ambitious. It is not enough for them to fight for first place in the Sect Competition. Now they even want first place in the Individual Competition.”

“There are countless rogue cultivators in the world, but very few chances like this. For the Five Elements Dao Sect to fight with rogue cultivators over even such a tiny benefit is really lacking in style.”

The elders all had different opinions, but they shared one thought in their hearts.

Yu Zhao was without a doubt the leader of this Individual Competition.

An hour passed.

One quarter of the cultivators on the field had already been eliminated because they could not endure the growing pressure.

The ones still standing were all Golden Core cultivators.

Plop. Plop.

Drops of sweat as big as beans fell from their faces.

Some of their faces were flushed red. Some had veins bulging on their foreheads. Some could not bear the power pressing down and fell to one knee, struggling to hold on.

The later it got, the more obvious it became that this test was not only about cultivation level and defense. It was also about willpower and patience.

Those were exactly what Yu Zhao did not lack.

She stood calmly where she was and even had the energy to study the people nearby.

Besides Yao Wuji, there were two young cultivators close to her.

The distance between them was small. It seemed they were companions.

One of them was not doing well at all. His face was pale, and his body swayed like he could fall at any moment.

Yu Zhao saw him raise his arm with a trembling hand.

Just when she thought he was going to crush his own number token, he suddenly snatched the token from his companion’s hand and crushed it hard.

“No!”

His companion appeared outside the Martial Practice Field with a face full of despair and unwillingness.

“Hahaha, if I cannot pass, you can forget about passing either!”

The man laughed like a madman, and a moment later, he too was eliminated.

Yu Zhao fell silent.

In just a simple first test, she had already seen how sinister human hearts could be.

She felt a sigh rise inside and subconsciously turned to look at Yao Wu Jibeside her.

Yao Wu Jihappened to be looking at Yu Zhao too.

Their eyes met.

Yao Wuji’s eyes went wide. She staggered back a few steps and raised her guard.

Yu Zhao could not help smiling and pulled her gaze back.

Then, out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of Tang Rui standing diagonally in front of her, and a perfect idea came to mind.

Since the rules for the first round did not forbid the competitors from attacking each other, she could drive Tang Rui and the others out early.

They would meet sooner or later on the battlefield anyway. It was only a matter of time.

If she eliminated them in advance, she could save the lives of many people. Why would she not do it?

Yu Zhao made up her mind. Bearing the heavy pressure, she lifted her foot and walked toward Tang Rui.

Tang Rui had already become more alert when he saw the crazy cultivator betray his companion.

When he noticed Yu Zhao coming closer, his first feeling was not surprise, but fear.

If the rules did not say they could not make a sound, he would have loved to yell at her: [Do not come any closer!]