Chapter 565 - First Round
After introducing the contestants, a servant approached the stage while carrying a small box.
"This is what will decide your matchups. Whoever holds the same numbers will be fighting that round. That is all."
A moment later, the contestants picked their number.
Yuan looked at the paper in his hands.
'Number 1'
"The matches will be in the order of the number, so whoever has number one will be the first to fight," said the announcer on the stage.
"I am first," Yuan said.
The announcer nodded and looked at the other seven. "Who has the other number 1?"
"Haaa…"
Someone there sighed as he raised his hand into the air.
"It's me…" Wang Ming said in a defeated voice.
He turned to look at Yuan and smiled bitterly, "I didn't expect to lose on the first round. What bad luck."
"Everyone but the fighters for the first round please leave the stage!" The announcer said.
Very quickly, everyone but Wang Ming and Yuan left the stage.
"What about our weapons?" Yuan asked.
"They are coming." The announcer said.
A few moments later, two people could be seen walking onto the stage with a sword in their grasp.
"Here you go, Young Master Yuan." One of them approached Yuan and offered him a sword made out of steel, which was out of Yuan's expectation, as he'd expected to be using a wooden sword from the training hall.
However, upon closer inspection, Yuan noticed that the blade of this sword was very dull— so dull that if used to slash somebody, it wouldn't even cut their skin, much less their flesh.
With that being said, that didn't mean the sword wouldn't do any damage, as it could break one's bones if struck hard enough.
"The match will end when either someone surrenders or faints. Stepping outside the stage will also be considered an automatic loss. Lastly, you are not to inflict serious bodily harm on your opponent purposefully." The announcer quickly went over the rules.
"The match will begin when you're both ready."
Wang Ming bowed to Yuan and said, "Please go easy on me."
"Likewise." Yuan returned the bow.
After bowing, they held their swords in front of them.
Seeing this, the announcer said, "Match begins!"
The moment the announcer started the match, Yuan took a step forward and used his movement technique, instantly closing their distance and appearing in front of Wang Ming.
Wang Ming saw this coming after dueling with Yuan many times, so he was prepared for it.
Clang!
The sound of metal colliding echoed in the area as Wang Ming defended Yuan's sword strike.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The two of them continued to challenge each other without giving themselves any time to rest.
Wang Ming knew that a prolonged fight against Yuan would immensely lower his chances of winning due to Yuan's seemingly inexhaustible stamina, so he could only go all out at the beginning and hope that Yuan makes a mistake.
"Heavens… I have never seen anyone pressure Wang Ming in such a manner! I have heard about Player Yuan's talents, but I didn't think he was this skilled!"
"Look at Wang Ming struggling to defend against Player Yuan's relentless assault!"
"The two of them have been going at each other's throat without taking a second to rest for many minutes now. I don't think this round will last long."
And just like many spectators had predicted, the fight between Yuan and Wang Ming didn't last long, lasting only 10 minutes when Wang Ming got tired and Yuan taking advantage of this, instantly seizing the victory.
"Victor— Daoist Yuan!" The announcer shouted out loud.
"Good fight." Wang Ming bowed to Yuan after the fight ended.
"Good fight."
After the fight, both of them left the stage and went to take a seat at the participants' area where the other contestants were waiting for their turn.
"Yuan, I thought you had been practicing the polearms recently. How come you're so much stronger than our last fight? Don't tell me you practiced in secret." Wang Ming said to him after they sat down.
"No, I haven't picked up the sword in the last few days," he said.
"Then you've been going easy on me this entire time?" Wang Ming looked at him with a look of disbelief.
"That's not it either. I don't know how to explain it, but I definitely wasn't going easy on you before."
"If you say so…" Wang Ming said.
He didn't get the feeling that Yuan was going easy on his when they fought previously, so he trusted Yuan. However, that only made him more curious about Yuan's sudden growth.
'Can someone improve by doing nothing?' Wang Ming wondered to himself.
Meanwhile, the second round started between Wang Bingbing and Hong Xiuquan.
Hong Xiuquan was a handsome young man in his mid-twenties. As for Wang Bingbing, she was a very beautiful young lady also in her mid-twenties.
"She has the same surname as you. Are you two related?" Yuan asked Wang Ming out of curiosity.
"Yes, she's my elder sister."
"You never mentioned having a sister."
"Well, you never asked. Hmm? Are you interested in her? I can introduce you to each other after the competition." Wang Ming said with a somewhat smug look on his face.
"I don't really care, but if you want to." Yuan nodded, misunderstanding Wang Ming's intentions.
On the stage, Wang Bingbing and Hong Xiuquan started fighting shortly after greeting each other.
Wang Bingbing wielded a sword just like Wang Ming, but as for Hong Xiuquan, he had metal gloves around his hands and half of his arm.
"He's using gloves to fight?" Yuan raised his eyebrows when he saw Hong Xiuquan's choice of weapon.
"They are called gauntlets, and they're for people who mainly use their fists to fight, turning their hands into even deadlier weapons. Is this your first time seeing someone using gauntlets?" Wang Ming asked him.
"Yes…" Yuan nodded, and he focused on Hong Xiuquan, as he wanted to see how Hong Xiuquan was going to fight someone with a sword using those gauntlets.