"Why are you always overthinking things!"
"I'm not insulting your character, I'm insulting your body!"
Taishan chuckled wickedly and continued, "Think about it, you excel at offense, which consumes more stamina! In comparison, defense conserves a lot, and you'll definitely last longer than me."
"Taishan, you bastard, I challenge you to a duel!"
Although what Taishan said had some logic to it, his preceding words still infuriated Ci Dao. It was clearly hinting at something!
"Stop!"
Seeing Ci Dao approaching him, Taishan immediately extended his hand, stopping him.
He then looked at Ye Cangtian and quickly said, "Boss, you've already decided who's going to compete, right? Just announce it!"
At his words, Ci Dao paused. He felt there was some truth to it, as Ye Cangtian usually had things planned out.
With that thought, Ci Dao calmed down and turned his gaze to Ye Cangtian.
Seeing this, Ye Cangtian smiled slightly and said, "Actually, I intended for Ci Dao to compete to temper him, but there are simply too many opponents in this martial arts gathering."
He paused, then continued, "If the goal is to achieve ultimate victory, I think Taishan would be a good choice."
"Hehe, little Ci Dao, I'm sorry, but the boss has spoken, so I won't hold back!"
Hearing Ye Cangtian's words, Taishan's face lit up with a smile, and he said triumphantly to Ci Dao.
Hmph!
Ci Dao snorted lightly and said unhappily, "You better be careful. If you lose, the boss won't let you off lightly!"
Uh...
At that remark, Taishan's expression changed again.
He had been trained by Ye Cangtian himself and understood Ye Cangtian's personality well.
Simply put, Ye Cangtian wasn't afraid of them causing trouble, but if they caused trouble and got beaten, that was absolutely unacceptable.
Ye Cangtian would first teach the opponent a lesson, and then subject the bullied brother to grueling training.
In short, as long as they fought, they had to win!
Therefore, upon hearing Ci Dao's words, Taishan couldn't help but swallow his saliva, his gaze becoming incredibly serious. No matter what, he had to win.
On the other side, Ye Cangtian returned to the main hall.
Amidst the music and dance, the people from Misty Rain Pavilion had finished compiling the list of registered contestants and presented it to Qing Yan.
The next moment, Qing Yan waved his hand, dismissing the musicians and dancers.
"Everyone, the list of contestants is out. Let's all proceed to the Misty Rain Pavilion's martial arts arena!"
The crowd naturally had no objections and followed Qing Yan to the arena.
The arena was vast, but it only had one stage, which inevitably caused some people to doubt.
After all, with so many factions, if they all used this single stage, how long would it take to finish?
Would everyone be allowed to go up together? Wouldn't that be utter chaos?
As the crowd was puzzled, Qing Yan's voice already reached them.
"Everyone is quite conservative!"
"Activities like this should be participated in more, as it gives young people opportunities!"
"However, since this is everyone's choice, I will not force the issue any further."
Qing Yan's gaze swept across the entire hall, and then his expression turned serious as he continued, "To get to the point, there are a total of four registered participants for this martial arts gathering.
We will adopt a two-on-two elimination format to directly decide the champion..."
Huh!
As the words fell, Ye Cangtian's expression turned peculiar, and the people beside him, like Qiang Wei, cast him confused glances.
There were quite a few factions present. Even if each sent one person, it shouldn't result in only four participants!
Sensing the gazes from Qiang Wei and the others, Ye Cangtian offered a helpless smile and explained faintly.
"I thought it was a normal sparring match, but I didn't expect it to be full of schemes!"
Ah?
Qiang Wei looked at Ye Cangtian in confusion and asked, "There are schemes here too?"
"Of course!"
Ye Cangtian glanced at Qiang Wei and said, "Think about it, the rewards for this martial arts gathering are prepared by Misty Rain Pavilion. Setting aside the pills and weapons for now, how could Misty Rain Pavilion easily hand over the remaining martial arts manuals to others!"
Ye Cangtian's meaning was simple: even low-level martial arts manuals were priceless treasures in the ruins.
This meant that the Misty Rain Pavilion's reward was intended only for their own people.
"Isn't this like lifting your pants to shit?"
Taishan looked at Ye Cangtian and continued, "If Misty Rain Pavilion wants to give it to their disciples, why would they offer it as a reward? They could just give it to their disciples directly. Besides, doing so carries significant risks!"
"Hmph! So young!"
Ye Cangtian glanced at Taishan and snorted lightly, "Misty Rain Pavilion is doing this to see how many factions dare to defy them."
In Ye Cangtian's view, this was akin to calling a deer a horse.
If anyone dared to covet these rewards here, they would inevitably contend for treasures with Misty Rain Pavilion in the subsequent exploration.
Therefore, Misty Rain Pavilion used this method to identify and guard against these factions in advance.
"These old geezers from Misty Rain Pavilion are truly insidious!" Taishan said dismissively upon hearing this.
Qiang Wei, standing beside him, snorted and remarked, "You analyze things so thoroughly, yet you still fell into their trap?"
Ye Cangtian shot a glance at her and said helplessly, "How could I have known that Misty Rain Pavilion, a peak faction, would be so shameless! After all, so many factions were watching..."
Ye Cangtian truly hadn't expected Misty Rain Pavilion to pull this stunt, nor did he expect these factions to not only not object but to cooperate readily.
It now seemed that most factions had developed a habit from previous peak gatherings.
In fact, Ye Cangtian's guess was only part of the reason.
Another part was that these factions still relied on the peak factions during exploration missions, so they dared not covet these rewards.
"Boss, then tell me, should I take it seriously or just go through the motions and go easy?"
Taishan hesitated for a moment before asking.
Ye Cangtian turned to look at him and said indifferently, "If you dare to go easy, see how I deal with you when I get back!"
This...
Taishan was slightly taken aback. He glanced at Ye Cangtian and continued, "Boss, if we really win the reward, aren't you worried that Misty Rain Pavilion will target us?"
Hmph!
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian snorted disdainfully, "If they were to act honorably, I wouldn't say anything. But if they play such petty tricks, then don't blame me for being impolite!"
He paused, then continued, "Besides, since we're participating, we're aiming for the championship! As for whatever Misty Rain Pavilion intends, they can bring it on, I'll accept it!"
Listening to Ye Cangtian's words, Taishan felt a surge of excitement. He admired Ye Cangtian's fearless attitude towards power.
"For the sake of fairness, the duels will be decided by a draw. Now, the four contestants will come forward to draw lots!"
Just then, Qing Yan's voice rang out again. Ye Cangtian patted Taishan's shoulder as a signal.
Taishan nodded and then stepped onto the stage.
On the other side, Ye Cangtian scanned the other figures who had appeared on the stage.
As he had guessed, the four factions represented were Imperial Dragon Villa, Gale Tower, Misty Rain Pavilion, and the Hidden Group.
The only peak faction that did not participate was Blazing Fire Academy.
Thinking about it, Ye Cangtian could understand. Blazing Fire Academy had not sent any Heavenly level experts, so Ye Zheng Hao chose to abstain from such a potentially offensive matter.
Furthermore, seeing that Misty Rain Pavilion's contestant was quite young, around twenty or thirty years old, Ye Cangtian became even more convinced of his theory.
Judging by his age, this young man had reached the quasi-Heavenly level triple heaven, possessing exceptional talent and being a promising prospect.
Misty Rain Pavilion, by doing this, not only passed on treasures to their disciples but also enhanced their disciples' reputation, killing two birds with one stone!
While Ye Cangtian was contemplating, the draw had been decided.
Taishan was matched against Chen Gong, the captain of Imperial Dragon Villa, while Misty Rain Pavilion's Su Yu Bai was pitted against Wang Xiu Quan of Gale Tower.
After the draw, the first match immediately commenced.
Taishan and Chen Gong remained on the stage.
The next moment, Chen Gong drew his long sword, and Taishan also took out his giant shield.
As the match began, Chen Gong's figure flickered.
His long sword thrust out like a spiritual snake, constantly probing for weaknesses in the giant shield while intentionally trying to provoke Taishan into making a mistake.
However, Taishan stood firm as a rock, having already seen through the opponent's intentions.
After all, Taishan's usual sparring partners were Wu Ying Jian, who specialized in assassination, and Ci Dao, who possessed sharp attacks. Thus, facing Chen Gong now, he appeared to be handling the situation with ease.