Chapter 800: Chapter 800

The Martial Arts Venue is a rather large open space, about the size of two or three football fields. At this moment, there are quite a few masked people guarding the surroundings.

Ding Fan has probed the cultivation of these people, and their cultivation levels are all above Earth Level Grade Eight.

It's worth noting that individuals of Earth Level Grade Seven or Eight are considered the pillar elders in other Sects. Here on Serpent Island, however, they merely serve as watchmen.

With this, Ding Fan couldn't help but feel a deep sense of admiration for the profound foundation of the Immortal Sect.

Around the Martial Arts Venue hang many flags, and there are even some war drums nearby, which are obviously there to cheer on the competitors during the matches.

Since today is the official day of the Martial Arts Tournament, many people have gathered here already.

"Distinguished guests, the Martial Arts Tournament is about to begin. Those who have not yet received their bamboo tokens, please go to the stage on the left to collect them," came a voice from mid-air at this moment.

The voice was projected using Inner Strength, making everyone feel as if it was spoken right in front of them, so it was clearly audible.

Yesterday, Ding Fan had already received a bamboo token. His token had four characters written on it: "Area C 1 2 3."

Huan Er, Bian Zixuan, and Wu Die had also received their tokens. Even Mu Zi, whose cultivation was not high, joined in for fun, and so she got a token as well.

"Now we announce the official start of the Martial Arts Tournament. Given that the skill levels of the Martial Artists here are uneven, and their cultivation levels vary, we will take measures to avoid any discord in the first round by conducting a strength test," the organizer conveyed once more using Inner Strength.

There was no excessive courtesy or empty talk at this Martial Arts Tournament; they went straight to the tangible events. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵※𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮※𝓷𝓮𝓽

"Please go to your designated areas as marked on the bamboo tokens, and gather at either the A, B, C, or D areas. At each area, there will be twenty pieces of Adamantine Stone. Each piece weighs a thousand catties, and anyone who can lift five thousand catties will be able to proceed to the next round. Let's begin," said the organizer, concluding the announcement as the crowd at the Martial Arts Tournament began to move towards their indicated marks.

At this moment, Ding Fan took notice of Nalan Xiong.

After all, Nalan Xiong is considered an absolute potential powerhouse in this Martial Arts Tournament. If he was too ordinary, the Immortal Talisman would not have appeared on him.

Nalan Xiong was located in Area B.

"I am your referee. Those in Area C, let's line up in the order indicated on the bamboo tokens, and then we can proceed one by one." Just then, a middle-aged man wearing a mask, his hands behind his back, used a voice-transmission technique to send these words directly into the ears of everyone in Area C.

Because the transmission was directly into their ears, only the people in Area C could hear it. Others couldn't hear a thing. This technique was quite an exquisite show of skill indeed.

Ding Fan glanced at the Adamantine Stones within the venue.

The size of the Adamantine Stones was not large; each piece was only the size of an ordinary brick. Ding Fan took one look and knew straight away that some remarkable smelting technique had been employed to condense such a heavy Adamantine Stone into its current size.

From this smelting technique alone, it was clear that the person was a master of Artifact Refining. Even Ding Fan himself could certainly not condense Adamantine Stone in such a way.

"I'm Number One in Area C; I'll go first!" At this moment, a burly man stepped forward.

After the burly man stepped out, he walked directly into the Martial Arts Venue without a care. Arriving in front of the brick-sized Adamantine Stone, he clearly didn't take it seriously and casually reached for it.

To his surprise, the small-looking Adamantine Stone was still as heavy as before it was condensed, and its weight had not changed.

After failing to lift it at the first attempt, the burly man's expression became slightly serious. He took a couple of deep breaths, then placed one Adamantine Stone on a stepping-stone set aside for that purpose.

The stepping stone was really just for convenience when moving the Adamantine Stones around.

After placing one Adamantine Stone down, the burly man consecutively added four more. According to the rules of the competition, only those who could lift five stones would be considered as having passed.

Ding Fan shook his head slightly.

The burly man may look robust, but his cultivation is still far from sufficient. It seems that at this moment, he can barely reach the Human Level Sixth or Seventh Grade.

Probably two to three thousand catties would be his limit. To lift five thousand catties is now even less likely.

The burly man, after positioning the Adamantine Stones, went down on all fours, trying to lift the five pieces with all his might.

"Ah..." In a moment, the burly man's face turned red with the effort, yet he couldn't budge the five Adamantine Stones at all.

"Eliminated..." the referee directly announced.

At this, the burly man shook his head and promptly left the field.

After the burly man left, another Martial Artist stepped onto the Martial Arts Venue.

Ding Fan didn't have much faith in this person either. The man appeared to be about Ding Fan's age, with a cultivation of at most Human Level Grade Seven or Eight...

The requirements of this Martial Arts Tournament dictate that all participants must be under thirty. At this age, the Human Level cultivation is the common standard.

As expected, the Martial Artist who went up next also failed to lift the five Adamantine Stones.

One after another, five or six people went up, and none could lift five thousand catties at once.

"This isn't the Olympics; what's the point of lifting this stuff? Is it possible that we all have to go participate in weightlifting or something?"

"Exactly, who can lift five thousand catties..."...

At this time, many of those who were eliminated did not leave; instead, a lot of them started complaining incessantly.

However, while these people complained for just a short while, Area A suddenly erupted into cheers and shouts of encouragement.

Everyone looked over to see someone at the Area A lifting eight Adamantine Stones directly, meaning this person lifted eight thousand catties all at once...

To everyone's surprise, the person lifting eight thousand catties was not a man, but a woman—a strikingly beautiful woman around twenty-six or twenty-seven years old.

Taking a closer look, Ding Fan realized that the woman was none other than Huan Er.

Huan Er had received the true teachings of Chen Yuanyuan, and her cultivation was extraordinarily heavenly. Although she was only in her mid-twenties, her cultivation had already reached the Peak of Earth Level.

If it weren't for Ding Fan's appearance, Chen Yuanyuan still would have had great confidence in Huan Er winning the first place in this martial arts competition...

"Why not just lift five pieces? Why suddenly lift eight?" At this moment, someone asked in confusion.

The rules made it quite clear that lifting five pieces would suffice for advancing to the next round. Lifting eight pieces meant exceeding three thousand jin.

"Let me add something for everyone." Just then, the referee spoke again to the people in Area C using a method akin to telepathy.

"If you can manage to come first in the group, there will be many benefits for the subsequent competition... And the way to get first in the group is quite simple – it depends on who lifts more Adamantine Stones."

For a moment, the people of Area C started whispering among themselves.

The referee then continued, "Moreover, I know none of you here could possibly accomplish it, but I still want to tell you, if anyone manages to break the record, you will receive considerable good fortune."

The volume of people's discussions suddenly grew louder.

Although no one speaks of it, who doesn't know that this is a major martial arts event where the Immortal Sect selects disciples from the Mortal Realm? The significant fortune mentioned by the referee might well be the chance to become a disciple under one's guidance.

If there is indeed personal guidance from an immortal, then the speed of progress in one's cultivation would be like soaring through the skies...

"What is the record, referee?"

At this point, there were indeed some who were tempted.

"Twenty-two thousand jin..." the referee said indifferently.

Twenty-two thousand jin...

Damn! Everyone present was stunned.

Five thousand jin was already a hurdle for them, not to mention twenty-two thousand jin... This was simply an insurmountable chasm...

No wonder they talked about good fortune – who could possibly lift that weight...

"Alright, next up, let's continue, no one from Area C has lifted an Adamantine Stone yet; you should first focus on making it to the second round." The referee urged everyone.

The crowd was eager to try.

While they did not plan to break the record, competing for the top spot in the group still seemed appealing.

People began to attempt weight-lifting one after another on the martial arts venue.

While seizing the opportunity, Ding Fan sized up the martial artists of Area C; from the front to the back, there were roughly over two hundred people.

Ding Fan also glanced at the other areas – the number of people in those areas were similar to theirs. Hencing four areas in total, by this count, there would be around nine hundred participants in this martial arts event.

From the current situation of the competition, if nine hundred people advanced to the second round, it would be a fine achievement to have a hundred remain.

As Ding Fan was daydreaming, the competition was still ongoing.

Under the referee's encouragement, Area C consequently saw a few individuals lifting five thousand jin.

Among those few, one directly lifted seven thousand jin, temporarily ranking first in Area C.

The competition continued, and the record of Area C was soon broken by eight thousand jin, and quickly after, it was surpassed by nine thousand jin...

Subsequently, for a lengthy period, nine thousand jin became an unbridgeable gulf for Area C.

At that moment, a woman stepped up to the martial arts venue of Area C.

Ding Fan glanced at the woman, who happened to be Qi Luomei.

During the grouping phase, Ding Fan had noticed that he was in the same group as Qi Luomei; however, due to some misunderstandings between them, Ding Fan didn't greet her.

After entering the martial arts venue, Qi Luomei directly grabbed five Adamantine Stones and placed them on the stepping stone.

After placing the five stones, Qi Luomei did not choose to stop; she continued to pick up more and swiftly added three more stones on top.

"Eight pieces? Can this woman really do it?"

"Yeah, that's eight thousand jin..."...

The people of Area C started discussing fervently.

But Qi Luomei did not stop; she picked up two more pieces and added them on top.

"This woman's ambition is certainly not small, but it remains to be seen whether she has the strength to back it up..."

As if not hearing the words of those around her, Qi Luomei calmly walked over to the ten thousand jin of Adamantine Stones, squatting slowly and gripping tightly at the bottom stone.

After a moment of breathing, Qi Luomei abruptly stood up.

To the astonishment of the onlookers, Qi Luomei lifted the ten thousand jin of Adamantine Stones and slowly straightened her body.

"Damn! That's too fierce..."

"Fierce! Truly fierce!"

Watching Qi Luomei, Ding Fan's gaze became rather grave...