Nine Dragons Saint Ancestor
Chapter 173 Did I arrive late?

Chapter 173: 173 Did I arrive late?

Jade Pot Sect Outer Sect, Arena Hall!

As the Outer Sect Grand Competition approached its end, the hall became increasingly lively, attracting not just many Outer Disciples, but even some Inner Sect Disciples came to watch the battles.

Especially today, although it was not the final championship bout, it was to decide which two Outer Sect geniuses would advance to the Inner Sect, making today’s fights particularly crucial.

Moreover, this Outer Sect Grand Competition was different from the past because two newcomers, who had only joined the Jade Pot Sect for three months, astonishingly broke through to the decisive battles in both the upper and lower brackets—a truly remarkable situation.

At this thought, many Inner Sect Disciples inside the Arena Hall cast furtive glances at two figures in the northeast corner. One of them, draped in a flowing black robe and dress, was none other than Mo Qing, currently the top genius of Inner Sect’s Medical Pulse.

The veteran Inner Sect Disciples all knew that when Mo Qing first joined the Outer Sect of Jade Pot Sect, she displayed an outstanding talent. During that Outer Sect Grand Competition, she dominated her peers and caught the attention of the Great Elder, Lu Zhan.

Over the years, Mo Qing remains the only one who, as a new Outer Disciple, directly won the Outer Sect Grand Competition title and advanced to the Inner Sect.

One could say such an achievement was unprecedented, and whether there would be successors remained a matter of perspective. At least in these past years, no such extraordinary talent had emerged.

Who would have guessed that in this year’s Outer Sect Grand Competition, two dark horses would appear—Yun Xiao and Ling Wan. These two young lads, new to the Outer Sect, fought their way through numerous challenges and entered the final showdown of their respective brackets.

However, when many talents from both Inner and Outer Sects shifted their gaze to two specific individuals, they were not optimistic about Yun Xiao and Ling Wan’s chances, for these two were up against ultra-talented Cultivators who had broken through to the Early Stage of the Meridian Rushing Realm.

Even compared to some Inner Sect geniuses, Feng Hang and Shen Xiao would not be much weaker. It was common knowledge that Yun Xiao and Ling Wan were both only at the Late Stage of the Meridian Gathering Realm. Should they manage to defeat their opponents across such a cultivation gap, it would utterly overturn everyone’s views on cultivation.

Feng Hang and Shen Xiao, each standing in a corner under the main central arena, exchanged subtle glances filled with a fierce desire for battle. Perhaps in their hearts, the other was the only rival worthy of them in the Jade Pot Sect’s Outer Sect.

"The Great Elder and Second Elder have arrived!"

A voice echoed from somewhere, directing everyone’s attention to the north. There, three venerable figures were stepping out in succession, and these genius disciples of both Inner and Outer Sects were certainly not strangers to them.

With the arrival of the three Elders, Feng Hang, who was by the main central arena’s right side, casually ascended the stage. At this stage of the Outer Sect Grand Competition, the remaining fights were bound to take place on this central arena.

However, Feng Hang, having climbed onto the arena, furrowed his brow after scanning the hall—his opponent for the day had yet to show up.

"Is that little bastard Yun Xiao scared?"

This entirely plausible thought crossed Feng Hang’s mind, and an arrogant, cold smirk appeared on his face. Honestly, in previous battles, this was the outcome he had hoped for, but today, he did not want to miss the opportunity to slay Yun Xiao.

In the past, both inside the Yurong Volcano and the Task Hall of the Outer Sect, Yun Xiao had caused Feng Hang significant embarrassment, making it hard for him to save face. Therefore, the top talent of the Mortal List had long marked Yun Xiao for death.

Aside from Jade Pot Cave and the Arena Hall, the Jade Pot Sect forbids fratricide among disciples, so Feng Hang had not found an opportunity until the end of yesterday’s Outer Sect Grand Competition.

Initially, Feng Hang never thought Yun Xiao stood a chance against him. But due to a twist of fate, that boy of only Late Stage Meridian Gathering Realm fought through numerous obstacles all the way to the final battle of the upper bracket, even eliminating Guan Tong, who ranked third on the Mortal List.

For Feng Hang, such an opportunity was most welcome and long-awaited. He had set his mind to execute Yun Xiao on this central main arena to satiate his grudge.

Yet at this moment, Feng Hang felt a touch of disappointment, pondering the possibility that "Yun Xiao is too afraid to fight"—such an outcome was indeed likely. After all, what does losing face matter compared to one’s life?

Just like Xuan Zhi did previously, knowing he was no match for Yun Xiao and that Yun Xiao would not show mercy, he wisely chose to avoid combat.

Seeing the mocking smile on Feng Hang’s face, almost everyone in the Arena Hall realized the fact that Yun Xiao had not appeared. Their thoughts varied, but, of course, most shared Feng Hang’s belief that Yun Xiao had chosen to back down.

However, for Yun Xiao’s decision, people mostly felt disdain and mockery in their hearts. Nobody thought he was wrong to do so. After all, for a Meridian Gathering Realm Late Stage Cultivator to fight against a Meridian Rushing Realm Early Stage genius, the chances of defeat were almost certain.

Even some Outer Disciples knew about the grudge between Yun Xiao and Feng Hang; stepping onto the arena to battle him at this time, wouldn’t that be courting death?

The two battles today had ample time allotted, but if Yun Xiao failed to arrive at the Arena Hall before noon, it would be considered an automatic forfeiture. In that case, Feng Hang would win without fighting and automatically advance to the final showdown.

As time ticked away, both Feng Hang atop the arena and the surrounding Inner and Outer Sect Disciples grew increasingly impatient, and the volume of discussions grew louder.

Moreover, within these discussions, many complaints targeted Yun Xiao; in their eyes, even if Yun Xiao chose not to fight, he should have appeared early at the Arena Hall to concede defeat willingly, or at the very least, let someone send a message like another person did.

What was this now? Making everyone wait in the Arena Hall for nothing—it was simply toying with them. So at this moment, nearly everyone felt discontent with Yun Xiao.

These young talents already had little faith in Yun Xiao, and now they felt even more indignant. Even if Yun Xiao appeared now and had the courage to battle Feng Hang, it was likely that he would have very few supporters.

As the sun rose higher and yet another time passed, nearing noon, Ling Wan Tan Yun and others started growing anxious, secretly wondering if something unforeseen had happened to Yun Xiao in his room.

"Tsk tsk, Yun Xiao, this young man, really has a big face, making me and the Great Elder wait here for nearly half a day!"

From a seat in the north, Fu Du’s complexion was rather unpleasant. His seemingly lamenting remark, in fact, harbored a hint of veiled mockery and dissatisfaction.

Indeed, as Fu Du said, within the entire Jade Pot Sect, save for the Sect Leader, there probably wasn’t a second person who could make them wait this long. His statement was clearly intended for the Sixth Elder Su He to hear.

It seemed that Su He had detected the slight dissatisfaction in Fu Du’s words and finally stood up. At this time, there was barely half an incense stick’s worth of time left until noon. Since this Elder was growing impatient, ending this meaningless wait a bit early was not entirely unreasonable.

Given the current circumstances, it seemed utterly unlikely that Yun Xiao would show up, so why keep waiting? Besides, with Su He’s status significantly lower than Fu Du’s, he dared not offend the Second Elder of the Poison Vein.

"Midday is upon us. I hereby announce... the victor of the upper bracket’s final battle is..."

Swoosh!

However, just as Su He was about to declare Feng Hang the winner, a young figure clad in coarse cloth robes swiftly entered at the entrance of the Arena Hall.

Su He caught a glimpse of the shabby-robed figure from the corner of his eye and his loud announcement came to an abrupt halt, for with his special Power of Soul, he had sensed exactly who had arrived.

The unusual actions of the Sixth Elder and the sudden halt in his voice drew the attention of everyone in the Arena Hall to the entrance. Upon seeing the newcomer, their expressions undoubtedly became incredibly animated.

Because that shabby-robed figure was none other than Feng Hang’s opponent for the day, Yun Xiao, the one who had kept everyone waiting for two to three hours. When the crowd recognized Yun Xiao, a surge of indignation welled up in their hearts.

He didn’t show up early or late, but he chose to appear just before noon. Was this intentional? Letting everyone wait for him for so long just to draw their attention and make a grand entrance?

Almost everyone’s thoughts went there upon seeing Yun Xiao’s figure, feeling even more displeased with him, and they wished even more fervently that Feng Hang on the stage could give this boy, who had toyed with everyone, a good thrashing.

"Sorry, got held up by some things. I haven’t arrived too late, have I?"

Entering the hall was indeed Yun Xiao, who didn’t mind the various gazes around him and instead turned his head toward Su He who had stood up in the north, calling out loudly with his question.

Su He was taken aback and, glancing at the daylight outside, responded, "If you were any later, it truly would have been too late!"

Su He meant that Yun Xiao had just managed to arrive on time for this arena battle. After saying that, he sat back down without paying heed to the slightly gloomy gaze of Fu Du beside him.

Hearing Su He’s words, Yun Xiao let out a huge sigh of relief, thinking to himself that his luck really wasn’t too bad. If that was the case, he might as well take to the stage and meet this so-called number one prodigy of the Mortal List.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, Yun Xiao walked step by step toward the main stage at the center. And on this main stage, stood an impatient figure, the number one talent of the Jade Pot Sect’s Outer Sect and the top of the Mortal List, Feng Hang.