Zhu Shaojing's opponent stepped into the fighting ring at the same time as him. He was a chubby young man.
As soon as they stepped into the fighting ring, a dazzling ray of light emitted from their respective jade tournament badges, and soon took the form of a dragon, circling their bodies.
This was their Talents' Luck, also known as Dragon Luck.
There was a distinct difference in their Talents' Luck, with the chubby young man's dragon aura only at five feet tall and bordering on being transparent.
Conversely, Zhu Shaojing's dragon aura was solid and almost 140 feet long, with a healthy golden shine. His dragon aura resembled a real dragon, fierce and powerful.
Being the chubby youth's first Top-100-talent competition, his dragon aura belonged solely to him.
Zhu Shaojing ranked 86th in the last Top-100-talent competition, so he had already taken the dragon aura of many other talents. This explained the vast difference between their dragon auras.
When the chubby youth saw that he was paired against a Top 100 Talent as his first opponent, his brows immediately knitted together.
"Porky, you're no match for me! Just admit defeat!" Zhu Shaojing said confidently with a slight smile.
"You must be tired of living!" The chubby youth shouted angrily and sent a punch with a powerful fist force across the air toward Zhu Shaojing.
Considered a genius in his hometown, this chubby youth was also highly regarded within his sect. No one had ever dared call him 'Porky', hence Zhu Shaojing's words ignited his anger. Though he didn't have the confidence to defeat Zhu Shaojing, he showed no hesitation in making his move.
"A fool who doesn't know his own ability. How silly!" Zhu Shaojing smiled scornfully. With that, his aura rose rapidly, and he sent a palm across to his opponent.
"Ferocious Palm of Mount Tianshan!"
A big mountain appeared from Zhu Shaojing's palm with a loud rumble.
Boom!
That chubby youth was no weakling either. He was thrown back dozens of steps by Zhu Shaojing's palm, but was not defeated.
"You're going down!"
"Nine Spiral Killers of Mount Tianshan!"
Zhu Shaojing felt some embarrassment after not being able to take out his opponent with one move. Thereafter, he quickly used his best move.
"Poof!"
This time, the chubby youth was no match for Zhu Shaojing, and was sent flying, spitting out blood as he landed with a loud thump on the fighting ring.
Roar!
After defeating the chubby youth, Zhu Shaojing's Dragon Luck pounced and swallowed one foot from the length of his Dragon Luck.
The chubby youth's Dragon Luck was now only four feet tall. Should he continue to lose his following matches, the light of his jade tournament badge will continue to dim until his Dragon Luck falls below a certain height and he's eliminated.
After swallowing the chubby youth's Dragon Luck, Zhu Shaojing's Dragon Luck didn't grow significantly either. This little bit of Dragon Luck didn't make a difference to his towering Dragon Luck.
Next, matches continued to be held across the fighting ring.
Those who were defeated would have their Dragon Luck swallowed, while the winners' Dragon Luck would increase.
Contestants continued to duel across the four other fighting rings.
Ao Wushuang stood tall on the Central Fighting ring, his hands behind his back.
A tall youth in black named Wang Yu stood across him. This man was no pushover either, ranked 95th on the List of Top 100 Talents.
"Ao Wushuang, I will not admit defeat!" Wang Yu said seriously.
Ao Wushuang nodded and said, "Wang Yu, I acknowledge your strength. Perhaps you can withstand a punch with 10% of my power!"
"10 percent?"
Wang Yu's face changed at Ao Wushuang's words as he sized up his opponent. "Ao Wushuang, don't be too arrogant! You may have reached the Peak Lv 4 True Spirit Realm, but I'm at Lv 4 too. You're being ridiculous if you think I'll be defeated by only 10 percent of your strength!"
Ao Wushuang remained unmoved as he shook his head saying, "Arrogant is what you'd call people with no true strength. To those with true strength, this is known as confidence!"
"Is that so?" Wang Yu said with a cold smile. "Everyone shall learn the truth from this duel!"
Wang Yu drew his saber and slashed at Ao Wushuang.
"Shadowmoon Sabermanship!"
Crescent moon-shaped saber shadows filled the sky with that one slash, heading towards Ao Wushuang.
Ao Wushuang remained calm as he stretched out his right hand, lightly throwing out a punch.
An unparalleled fist radiance burst forth like a meteor flying across the galaxy, crushing everything in sight.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The saber radiance instantly dissipated in the face of the fist radiance, and Wang Yu was thrown out of the fighting ring with just one punch.
Meanwhile, at the other fighting rings.
Both Wu Sheng and Mo Yue defeated their opponents with ease on the south fighting ring.
Wu Sheng lopped off his opponent's bun with a single slash, and his opponent voluntarily conceded defeat thereafter.
Had Wu Sheng not shown any mercy, he would have lopped off his opponent's head.
The aura from Mo Yue's abundantly rich blood Qi was enough to turn his opponent's face pale. A palm from him shortly after sent his opponent flying.
At the north fighting ring, Hong Qingtian released a powerful aura as strong as a mountain, and his opponent conceded defeat even before the fight began.
At the east fighting ring, rings of fire burst forth with a wave of Huo Ling's long saber, forcing his opponent to keep retreating until he stepped out of the ring.
As for that veiled ninth princess, she was also at the east fighting ring. She too, displayed incredible strength. With a wave of her slender white hands, petals filled the sky and formed a cocoon around her opponent, transporting her opponent out of the ring.
It might be her first time participating in the Top-100-talent Competition, but her Dragon Luck stood at 20 feet tall, towering above the other new contestants.
Intense duels took place at each fighting ring and continued round after round.
Soon, it was Su Mo's turn at the west fighting ring.
His jade tournament badge buzzed and pointed him toward a fighting ring.
Su Mo flew up into the sky and landed on the west fighting ring.
As soon as he landed, his dragon aura appeared from his jade tournament badge and was 40 feet tall.
Su Mo was taken aback by the sight. An average new contestant's Dragon Luck was about five to ten feet tall, with the ninth princess having the tallest Dragon Luck at 20 feet, yet his was 40 feet.
"Goodness! Su Mo's Dragon Luck is so tall!"
"He's also a first-time participant in this Top-100-talent Competition, right? His Dragon Luck is impossibly tall at 40 feet!"
"He appears to be a man of great talent!"
Those who were watching Su Mo's battle started to break into excited chatter at the sight of Su Mo's Dragon Luck. They had no doubt that those who naturally possessed such tall Dragon Luck were extremely talented.
Su Mo's opponent was a thin youth who frowned when he realized that his opponent was Su Mo.
Due to the uproar caused by the earlier talent assessment, almost everyone present knew of Su Mo.
The thin youth's heart sank. At Rank 5 Blue Class talent, Su Mo ranked way higher than him, so he started to lose confidence in winning this duel.
Luckily, Su Mo and he shared the 'same' cultivation at Peak Lv 3 True Spirit Realm.
"You're Su Mo, right? I'll definitely win this round!" The thin youth shouted, hyping himself up for the duel.
He hailed from Daqing Country, a small country South of Yan River, and it took him more than ten years for the chance to take part in the Top-100-talent Competition. He did not wish to be defeated in the very first duel after all the expectations his Sect elders had placed on him.
Whoosh!
The thin youth drew out a spear and shot a strong spear radiance toward Su Mo.
This move was just a probing attack. If Su Mo proved to be weak, he would then start to relentlessly attack him. If Su Mo proved to be strong, he would be able to activate his defense.
"Too weak!" Su Mo shook his head and slashed out with his sword. The air was as still as water, without a single ripple.
"What? I can't catch the sword radiance!" Alarmed, the thin youth saw his spear radiance breaking apart the next moment, and an invisible razor-sharp force hacked at his body-protection Genuine Vitality.
Boom! Swoosh!
The thin youth was sent flying, landing outside the fighting ring, but he was not injured as Su Mo had shown him mercy.
"He's so fast!"
"Powerful! Su Mo managed to defeat a talent of the same rank with just one slash. Indeed a Rank 5 Blue Class talent!"
The spectators of this duel were all abuzz at the strength Su Mo displayed.
After a quick glance at Su Mo, Duanmu Ying, ranked 10th on the List, said to Prince of the North, Han Qianze, "This Su Mo displays excellent swordsmanship, on par with Han Yijian. Their swordsmanship relies heavily on speed!"
Han Qianze shook his head, sneering. "So what if he's fast? In the face of great strength, he won't be able to display that speed, even if he wants to!"