Chapter 96: Debating First Half

— Martial Exchange Grand Stage —

The broadcast continued as Wei Chen controlled the camera to focus on the stage where the qualification round of the Azure River Province was currently underway.

On the Azure River Province stage, Yun Feng stood among the other participants. His crippled state, with only his left arm remaining, was like a magnet that drew attention from everyone around him.

Dressed entirely in black, with a dark and tattered cloak covering his severed right arm, he stood out sharply from the other participants. He gave off the impression that he had just crawled out of hell.

In the sparsely filled audience seats, most of the spectators were rogue cultivators. Some sect elders from various sects of both provinces were also present, staying only to scout talent among the rogue cultivators.

The referees standing outside the arena began recounting the rules of the current round.

“Participants, listen!” The powerful voice of the head referee reverberated throughout the arena, drawing the attention of all the participants.

Seeing that everyone was paying attention, the head referee continued.

“The rules for this round are simple. Anyone who goes out of the arena bounds loses. Anyone who loses the ability to fight, whether by being crippled, knocked out, or even killed, loses!”

Hearing this, Wei Chen frowned. This meant that the Martial Exchange allowed killing, at least during the qualification round for rogue cultivators, since there was no need to fear offending sects behind the fallen cultivators.

Wei Chen guessed that in the official tournament, the killing rule would change, since many cultivators would come from powerful factions with significant influence. These people would not want to provoke powerful enemies.

As Wei Chen finished his thoughts, the head referee concluded his speech.

“These are the rules. Is there any objection?” the head referee asked as he looked around the arena.

“Then…” Before the head referee could continue, a voice rang out.

“I object!”

The head referee, an expert at the half step Soul Transformation Realm, turned toward the voice. He was clearly annoyed and irritated. Asking for objections was merely a formality. He never expected someone to actually speak up.

He saw a short haired man wearing a green and blue robe with a white inner robe and black pants. The man wore a signature smirk that looked extremely punchable.

It was none other than Wei Chen, who was slowly descending from the air.

The head referee’s eyes narrowed as he frowned. Wei Chen was descending directly from the sky, and there were clear traces of space manipulation around him.

In this world, anyone who could fly without an artifact was at least at the Core Formation Realm. Flying while showing signs of space manipulation meant this man was at least at the Nascent Soul Realm.

What made the head referee even more wary was that, despite being at the half step Soul Transformation Realm, he could not sense any trace of cultivation from the man in front of him.

It was as if the man before him was nothing more than an ordinary mortal.

If he had not seen Wei Chen flying without an artifact and manipulating space, he would have already assumed this man was an insolent mortal.

There were only three possible explanations. First, this man’s cultivation was more than two realms above his own and was deliberately concealed. Second, the man was using an artifact to obscure his cultivation, but the head referee sensed no interference with his spiritual perception, so this was unlikely. Third, this man was at a similar cultivation level, but practiced techniques focused on stealth and assassination, which were common among members of information guilds or assassination sects.

The head referee did not know which category this man belonged to.

“I am Wu Zheng, head referee of the Martial Exchange Grand Stage for this event. May this humble one know the name of this esteemed guest?” Wu Zheng asked, deciding to play it safe by showing courtesy and respect.

“My name is Wei Chen. Just a vagabond,” Wei Chen replied with a smile.

Hearing that Wei Chen was a vagabond, Wu Zheng felt a hint of contempt. Even if this man was an expert on par with him, a lone vagabond without sect or clan backing could not achieve much.

How could such a lonely vagabond dare to object? If this man were an elder from an influential sect, he might at least have the qualifications to object.

In Wu Zheng’s mind, he categorized Wei Chen as belonging to the third group. A vagabond who survived long enough to reach the Nascent Soul Realm usually cultivated stealth oriented techniques, which were not strong or competitive in direct combat.

Still, for the sake of appearances, Wu Zheng decided to tolerate this insolence and asked further.

“Which rule does Mr. Wei find inappropriate?” Wu Zheng asked, though the contempt in his voice was obvious.

Hearing the contempt in the old man’s voice, Wei Chen shook his head and smiled.

Why did everyone with high status in this world love looking down on others? Wei Chen could not understand it. This world was full of hidden experts. No one could guarantee they would not one day kick an iron plate.

Keeping his thoughts to himself, Wei Chen spoke plainly.

“There is one thing I find inappropriate. Since this is a Martial Exchange, I do not think killing should be allowed in the qualification round,” Wei Chen said.

This was his true goal. He wanted to reduce the death rate and help his boss avoid having too much work.

… Inside the chat room …

Little Wealthy Demon: [Ugh…. this troublemaking idiot. If he did not cause trouble, could he not have a good night’s sleep? Why did he interrupt the event like that?]

Azure Sky Elder: [Hmph! A qualification round without killing? Who does he think he is? He is just a demonic path cultivator. What a hypocrite. He practices death related combat techniques. To form that kind of string death avatar during his broadcast would require countless sacrifices in human lives. I think the blood of the people he killed would have already formed a river by now!]

Little Butterfly: [I do not think so, Elder. Since this humble woman knows Lord Wei, he has never killed anyone without justification. Even the thieves who attacked Immortal Dream Garden were spared. They were only knocked out and had their cultivation sealed.]

Azure Sky Elder: [Judging from your name and what you said, you must be Lady Dream Butterfly, the most beautiful woman on the continent and the top courtesan of Immortal Dream Garden.]

Azure Sky Elder: [A word of advice. As a mortal and also a courtesan, your judgment may not be as clear as those with virtuous discernment. Seeing a great demon as a saint is quite normal. I advise you to learn more about the ways of the world rather than the art of entertainment, so that you will not be blinded by demons.]

Little Butterfly: [But it is the truth. Besides, I do not think what Mr. Wei practices is a combat technique from the demonic path. I have received many guests from the demonic path, and they all carried a cold aura and bloodlust. Mr. Wei is different. Of course, his technique looks terrifying, but I do not sense any bloodlust or cold aura from him.]

Azure Sky Elder: [Hmph! As a prostitute, what do you know?]

Drinking till Dawn: [Gu Tianhe, if you do not speak, people would not think you are mute. You should keep your mouth only for eating.]

Azure Sky Elder: [Who are you? Do you dare announce your name so I can know who you are?]

Drinking till Dawn: [I am Hua Zuixian. People call me the Drunken Immortal. Now that you know who I am, what are you going to do about it?]

Azure Sky Elder: [….]

Handsome Tall and Rich: [I do not know what all this fuss is about, but logic tells me not to stick my nose into this matter.]

Little Wealthy Demon: [Impossible! Ximen Hao is getting smarter? The sun must be rising from the west!]

Handsome Tall and Rich: [Oi!]

…

Wu Zheng nodded, faking his understanding.

“I understand your concern. The loss of life should be prevented if possible. However, in this scenario, there are many participants. Blades and swords have no eyes, and there are also many people in one arena. In this case, the loss of life may be beyond our supervision.”

Wei Chen nodded and asked, “I see. Does this rule also apply to the elimination round, where cultivators from major sects and clans participate?”

“Of course not. In the elimination round, it will be one on one duels. We referees can supervise the safety of the participants,” Wu Zheng said with a smile.

In truth, they had a formation prepared to prevent fatal blows from occurring. That was the safety net arranged for the elimination round. However, in this round, there were too many participants. The spirit stones required to maintain such a formation for so many people were considered wasteful, so they did not bother to use it in the qualification round.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep