With Li Jianxing and Mo Qian, this year's Sinkhole Secret Realm trial might bring pleasant surprises.
Seeing that no one in the audience came up to challenge for a long time, Duan Xuan did not want to waste any more time and directly announced the results.
"Since there are no challengers, then this seat contention..."
"Wait a moment."
A slightly hurried voice interrupted Elder Duan Xuan's words.
The people in the audience looked towards the entrance of the martial arts arena for the source of the sound.
They saw a youth who was slightly out of breath, clearly having rushed there.
Liu Fuyao, who held the first seat, couldn't help but blink her beautiful eyes. "It's him!"
"Boss!"
"Little Xin Xin!"
Luo Fei and Liu Mu Ming stared at the figure at the entrance in disbelief, then their expressions turned excited.
"This guy finally made it!"
Xin Ci had just returned from Fengyang Mountain not long ago. When he returned to Four Symbols Academy, he found Vermilion Bird Court to be unusually quiet.
After inquiring, he learned that today was the day of the seat contention.
So, he rushed over and managed to arrive just one second before it ended.
"Who is this guy? He dares to be late on such an important day as the seat contention."
"I don't know, but judging by his appearance, his strength probably isn't that great."
"The seat contention is over now, so it's useless for this guy to come."
Everyone chattered about the youth who had suddenly appeared.
Duan Xuan also slightly furrowed her delicate brows. She did have an impression of this youth.
It was from the entrance test a year ago.
She had suffered a backlash of her spiritual energy when she tried to probe the youth's sea of consciousness, and she was quite injured at the time.
"Esteemed student, the seat contention has already concluded. If you wish to challenge for one of the top ten seats, you can only wait for the next time."
"Hold on, Elder Duan. Seeing how urgently this young man rushed here, let's not let him come for nothing. Allow him to go onto the stage and challenge."
Liu Yuanhao, from the dean's seat, suddenly spoke. Duan Xuan had no choice but to agree.
After all, the Vermilion Bird Court's seat contention was ultimately conducted with the consent of the sub-dean.
"Since the sub-dean has agreed, the seat contention will continue."
"Thank you, Sub-Dean."
Xin Ci bowed to Liu Yuanhao in the dean's seat and then walked onto the martial arts stage.
Only after going on stage did he notice that among the top ten seats, there were quite a few familiar people.
For example, Liu Fuyao, Li Jianxing, and Mo Qian. They were all among the top five seats.
"Junior brother is not familiar with the seniors on the top ten seats. How about this: you all just come down and challenge me."
As soon as Xin Ci finished speaking, the audience was stunned.
"Good heavens, this kid is turning the tables, asking the top ten seat holders to challenge him!"
"This guy is too arrogant."
"But I have to say, this student's move is quite astonishing."
Liu Yuanhao, from the dean's seat, looked at Xin Ci and smiled faintly. "This kid is rather interesting. I wonder if he can bring me any surprises."
"No way, why has Boss become so much more arrogant after returning?" Luo Fei's eyes widened in shock as he looked at Xin Ci on the stage.
As the entire venue buzzed with noise, the person holding the fifth seat suddenly left his position and leaped onto the martial arts stage.
He snorted dismissively at Xin Ci. "So arrogant. Let me, Guo Sheng, teach you a good lesson."
"Oh, Guo Sheng actually came onto the stage."
"Although Guo Sheng isn't the strongest among the top ten seats, his physical defense is extremely formidable. Even high-grade spiritual artifacts would find it difficult to leave a scratch on him."
"Those who ranked high on the Heavenly Ranking would fight Guo Sheng for a long time because of his almost monstrous physical defense before they could defeat him."
"Even more preposterous, those who defeated Guo Sheng always suffered more serious injuries, while he would be fine as if nothing happened. If the academy allowed death matches, Guo Sheng would likely be the winner."
"Facing such a troublesome opponent, I wonder how that kid will cope."
"I think it's unlikely. That kid probably won't win."
Many people agreed with Guo Sheng's physical defense and believed Xin Ci had little chance of winning.
Guo Sheng was very confident in his physical defense. He patted his steel-like chest and declared.
"Esteemed junior brother, feel free to attack. As long as you can leave a single scratch on me, I will immediately concede."
"Since senior brother is so confident in his physique, I will only use my body to fight you." Xin Ci also said confidently.
He wanted to test exactly how strong his physique had become after being tempered by the Undying Phoenix Flame and completing two nirvanas.
However, his words sounded particularly harsh to Guo Sheng's ears, more like a mockery.
This kid wanted to fight him with his body, which clearly showed he looked down on Guo Sheng's physical defense.
For a moment, Guo Sheng's face turned red with anger.
He took a step with full force, leaving a deep pit in the ground.
He then charged forward like a cannonball, shouting, "How dare you look down on me? Today, I must make you realize my might!"
Facing Guo Sheng's charging impact, Xin Ci did not dodge. He simply threw a punch with his bare body, without using any martial techniques.
Many people in the audience seemed to foresee Xin Ci's arm being crippled and lowered their heads in regret.
The next moment, a deafening bang echoed from the martial arts stage.
Everyone looked up towards the stage.
They saw Guo Sheng, who had been sent flying and was now lying at the edge of the stage.
His chest, which was like a bronze wall and iron bastion, actually had an indentation from a punch.
"Uh... too much force?" Xin Ci had thought that Guo Sheng, being a body-refining expert, would be able to withstand his punch.
He hadn't expected him to be knocked unconscious and foaming at the mouth with a single punch.
The audience fell into silence once again.
They couldn't fathom that the physically robust Guo Sheng had been defeated by a relatively unknown student with a single punch.
Even Senior Sister Liu might not have been able to achieve this.
Duan Xuan watched this scene, biting her cherry lips slightly. Her thoughts became somewhat complicated.
From the entrance test a year ago, she knew Xin Ci possessed powerful soul force, comparable to her own.
But she hadn't expected this kid's physique to be so formidable. It was truly astonishing.
"Xin Ci's challenge is successful, becoming the fifth seat of Vermilion Bird Court."
With Xin Ci becoming the fifth seat, the Vermilion Bird Court's seat contention officially concluded.
Liu Yuanhao, the dean of Vermilion Bird Court, smiled with satisfaction.
He had initially thought that this year's Top Ten Seats of Vermilion Bird would be as uninteresting as usual.
He hadn't expected so many dark horses to appear, whether it was Li Jianxing and the others, or Xin Ci.
They had all raised the overall strength of Vermilion Bird Court's Top Ten Seats.
Making it the strongest Top Ten Seats in history.
Liu Yuanhao was filled with confidence for this year's Sinkhole Secret Realm trial. With Xin Ci and the others, plus his daughter.
Perhaps they could contend for the first place among the four academies.
After the seat contention ended, Xin Ci returned to his own separate courtyard as usual.
However, upon arriving at the scene, he discovered that his separate courtyard had already become a pile of rubble.