“The second stage is simple,” Demon General Typhoon said slowly. His gaze swept past everyone and eventually stopped on Long Chen. He had witnessed Long Chen’s growth and felt much more friendly towards him.


    Of course, many others were also looking at Long Chen as the dark horse of the assessment.


    He was the dark horsest time, but it had barely been more than a month since he revealed his dazzling strength. Who wouldn’t focus their attention on him after such a massive improvement? Everyone thought Long Chen’s talent had been exhausted and he wouldn’t grow anymore, but they were surprised!


    The Red Ghost King was the one who had lost them most. Because of his mistake, he was now at risk of having to apologize to the Clear Shallows King if he lost.


    The Red Ghost King was currently scolding his disciples harshly, and everyone else chuckled at his misfortune.


    Demon General Typhoon’s voice rang out and everyone snapped out of it.


    “The second stage will be the usual, an elimination match! There are twelve of you, so you will be separated into six pairs. The first half of this stage will involve you fighting your pair to determine the top six. The winners will then be separated into three pairs to determine the top three. As for the top three, the champion will be decided with a melee! The three will fight each other and thest man standing will be the champion! The one who falls first will take third ce and so on! These are the rules. Are we clear?”


    “Yes!” Long Chen and the others replied.


    The rules were simple, but the melee at the final stage was the highlight. It would be the hardest yet the simplest stage because the third person would benefit from the fight between the other two. Not only did one’s strength matter, but also their wits and experience. It was a test for the truly strong to stand at the peak!“Good!” Demon General Typhoon smiled and looked at the crowd. “Of course, the second stage will be a much more brutal fight, but the rewards are equally good! Those in the top six will get five hundred thousand Heavenly Passage Pills, while the one in third ce will get a million! Second ce will get three million Heavenly Passage Pills!”


    The rewards were indeed extremely good. A million Heavenly Passage Pills was usually the entire worth of someone at the Ninth Passage Stage. Second ce could even get three million! Someone at the Eighth Passage Stage would be considered wealthy the moment they obtained it. They wouldn’t need to worry about advancing into the Ninth Passage Stage, and they could even use it as currency!


    But the champion’s rewards would be even better!


    Demon General Typhoon smiled. “As for the champion, not only will they get the Emperor me Pearl, they will also get a single royal crystal!”


    Everyone eximed in surprise when they heard that.


    “A royal crystal! What an incredible prize! Normally, the champion only gets five million Heavenly Passage Pills!”


    “A royal crystal is equivalent to ten million Heavenly Passage Pills! In fact, you might not be able to get one even if you have the pills! To think that someone who hasn’t reached the Three Martial Realms would get a royal crystal! Today’s champion is definitely going to earn a fortune!”


    “I wonder who will win? Chen Feng? Liu Dongtian? Ying Shaotian? Or maybe Jiang Cheng?”


    “I don’t think Jiang Cheng will win since he’s only at the Seventh Passage Stage. Ying Shaotian and the others will probably get second ce. The champion will undoubtedly be Chen Feng! He’s at the Ninth Passage Stage and is already considered a grand elder. Hisbat strength must be incredible!”


    “That’s true!”


    Everyone shared the same thought.


    <em>Royal crystal? </em>Long Chen was very interested. He wanted to see what item would be worth ten million Heavenly Passage Pills. Royal crystals, emperor crystals, and divine crystals were all important items for those cultivating at the Three Martial Realms. He assumed that they were simr to spirit jades and divine jades but with better quality.


    <em>Within the royal crystal is a sliver of Martial Essence, something that’s instrumental for those at the Three Martial Realms …</em> Long Chen was still unclear as to how the cultivation at the Three Martial Realms would go. He decided to find an expert to exin it after getting the Emperor me Orb and reaching the Ninth Passage Stage.


    After announcing the rules, Demon General Typhoon asked them to step forward to draw lots. The twelve disciples had to be separated into six groups and naturally, there were gaps between their strengths. Those who had to fight Chen Feng were destined to lose. Long Chen only needed to fight against someone at the Seventh Passage Stage and he would be destined to win.


    Long Chen’s performance in the first stage was amazing, but if that was all he had to show, then his strength wasckingpared to the others. In fact, because he was only at the Seventh Passage Stage, the others didn’t really take him as a threat. The Red Ghost Pavilion still had a chance to win against the Clear Shallows Pavilion because they had someone like Ying Shaotian, who would probably squeeze into the top three spots.


    When they were drawing lots, Ying Shaotian walked past and red at both Long Chen and Liu Yiyi. “I hope you don’t have to fight me, or I will make sure you have a bad time!”


    He was clearly directing that at Long Chen.


    Long Chen had stolen everyone’s attention during the first stage, leaving Ying Shaotian burning with envy.


    He then went and drew his lot. The next person was Chen Feng, who hated Long Chen for stealing his limelight. He thought this would be a great chance to showcase his skills, but Long Chen had stolen everyone’s attention.


    “If Ying Shaotian doesn’t beat you down, I will. I hope you don’t get matched against the two of us, or we will make sure you won’t be able to walk down the arena.” Chen Feng chuckled and grabbed his number.


    Liu Yiyi looked at Long Chen with worry. “They want to hurt you. What are you going to do?”


    Long Chen smiled when he saw her worried face. “Do you not trust me? I can handle them. We don’t know who the victor will be until we fight …”


    He wasn’t worried, but Liu Yiyi was.


    “Focus on your fight and win for your mother. Don’t worry about me,” Long Chen whispered to her.


    “I understand.” Liu Yiyi nodded and drew her lot. Long Chen did the same. His number was seven, and Liu Yiyi was ten.


    Now that everyone had their numbers, Demon General Typhoon smiled. “This is easy. Numbers one and two will remain on the stage and the others will go down for now. Once they are done, I will call for the third and fourth person toe up to the stage. Also, you are not allowed to trade numbers with each other!”


    Long Chen and the others got off the stage.


    He and Liu Yiyi stood together while the others stood with their own groups. There were some who stood alone. Everyone was watching the contestants, so none of them dared to change their numbers.


    The first and second person were both at the Eighth Passage Stage. This was normal since they had drawn their lots randomly, but unfortunately, one of them would have to lose today even though both of them would have entered the top six if they had been a bit luckier.


    Long Chen didn’t know the numbers of the other contestants except for Liu Yiyi. Many of them didn’t know who had what number, so everyone was nervous.


    The battle soon started and the two disciples at the Eighth Passage Stage shed. They were simr in strength, and everyone cheered at how exciting the battle was. Both contestants were the eldest disciples of their respective pavilions, so they refused to lose!


    Everyone was pleasantly surprised by how entertaining the first battle was.


    It was as if two pavilions were fighting against each other, so the disciples shouted and hollered.


    Half an hourter, the battle finally ended. One of them came out victorious, but he had to pay a steep price. He was immediately ushered to get treatment because he had to fight again soon.


    The one who got defeated was naturally treated too, but his treatment was much simpler.


    Everyone was excited to see who would go up next.


    Two people moved amidst the remaining ten, and everyone was stupefied. It was a fight involving two Seventh Passage Stage disciples! There were six Seventh Passage Stage disciples including Long Chen and Liu Yiyi, but to think two of them had to fight each other.


    This was unfortunately a random chance thanks to the lots, so nothing could be done about it.


    “Two Seventh Passage Stage disciples? I wonder what will happen for the next few pairings?” Demon General Typhoon smiled and started the match.


    No one knew who they were going to fight, so everyone was excited to see who would go up on stage. Long Chen did a rough calction and ascertained that there were tens of fights before the second stage would conclude. Those who managed to endure until the final challenge were undoubtedly very strong.


    The two contestants fought vehemently. One of them belonged to the Azure Purgatory Pavilion, the same pavilion as Chen Feng. His me Pearl had been given to him by Chen Feng, but his strength was not amazing. In just fifteen minutes, he was defeated by the other contestant.


    Chen Feng scowled.


    “Next! Contestants number five and six!” Demon General Typhoon announced.<blockquote>


    Doge & Chacha''s Thoughts</blockquote>