C432 Early Morning Flower(1)

The sky remained dim, and the light rain showed no sign of stopping. Amidst the drizzle, a massive city stood, weathered by time. The city walls and gates had been washed by the rain for countless years, showing only slight wear. The name "Azure Sun City" was still clearly visible.

Today, the name Azure Sun City is rarely mentioned. Instead, it’s known for the power it represents: the Azure Sun Martial Mansion.

After passing the first round, a vast crowd entered the outer martial practicing field of Azure Sun City. In the field, ten large platforms stood prominently. The rules for this round were simple: all who passed the first round could step onto any platform and fight freely until only ten people remained on each. The only rule was that all fights must be one-on-one; otherwise, participants would be disqualified.

Each village had its own strategy for the Thousand-village Martial Competition. Larger, more powerful villages often spread their participants across two or even three platforms to maximize their chances of getting into the top hundred. Meanwhile, mid-sized or weaker villages concentrated their efforts on a single platform, sometimes sacrificing some participants to ensure their strongest contenders advanced.

Smaller villages, however, left their fate to chance. With the strength on each of the ten platforms being relatively even, they were often the easiest targets. For them, reaching the top hundred was a distant dream. Their goal was simply to stay on the platform as long as possible or eliminate as many opponents as they could, as these factors contributed to their village's ranking.

In this year's Thousand-village Martial Competition, an unexpected twist emerged: both Great Leaf Village and Blue Jewel Village seemed to be holding back on making their choices, as if they had a secret agreement.

The seven strong contenders from Great Leaf Village made many smaller villages nervous, as their performance could affect the rankings. However, the larger and more powerful villages didn't seem too concerned about Great Leaf Village. After all, even if their seven fighters advanced, and their joint attack strategy was impressive, it wouldn't help in the one-on-one duels required at this stage.

As for Woo Zhengyang, his odd behavior raised eyebrows. Whether he truly had the skills to back it up was still up for debate. Even if he did have some talent, could he really stand up to the prodigies from the super villages? Those were the peak martial masters, and with the resources Great Leaf Village had, it seemed impossible for them to train someone to that level at such a young age.

Meanwhile, every move from Blue Jewel Village was closely watched by the other villages, causing many to hesitate in choosing their opponents. They were waiting for Great Leaf Village and Blue Jewel Village to make the first move.

"Those who haven't chosen yet, make your choice quickly!" urged the overseer from the Azure Sun Martial Mansion, seeing that many were still undecided.

With this prompt, some of the less confident villages made their decisions, while others remained cautious, continuing to observe. They were hoping to find a clever opportunity, especially if Blue Jewel Village decided to target Great Leaf Village, which would temporarily take the pressure off them.

Seeing the folks from Great Leaf Village still chatting and laughing, Ye Fengchun grew impatient. He walked over with a slight smile and said, "What's the matter? Afraid that once you make your choice, we'll send everyone after you? Relax, to deal with you guys, Blue Jewel Village only needs one person."

As he spoke, Ye Fengchun pointed to a young man in a purple robe standing behind him.

Woo Zhengyang glanced at the purple-robed youth and smirked, "Since you shaved your head, you really haven't been thinking straight. Can't you see we're waiting for you to make your choice so we can take you all down in one fell swoop?"

Being called bald right to his face made Ye Fengchun's face flush with anger. He gritted his teeth and pointed at Woo Zhengyang, "You... so full of yourself. If you have the guts, make your choice!"

Ye Fengchun didn't want to argue with Woo Zhengyang anymore. He had already lost once, and time was running out.

"Alright, since you went bald, let's make the choice," Woo Zhengyang said, carrying Rice on his back as he headed toward one of the arenas, with Dahu and the others following closely behind.

This arena was the only one among the ten that didn't have a Peak Martial Master. It was deliberately left for Blue Jewel Village by the other super villages.

Seeing Woo Zhengyang choose this arena, many people exchanged curious glances.

With the Old Village Chief and Sun Li around, Woo Zhengyang and his group surely knew this arena was Blue Jewel Village's turf. In other words, Blue Jewel Village's strongest fighters would definitely appear here to secure as many top hundred spots as possible.

If the folks from Great Leaf Village chose any of the other nine arenas, Blue Jewel Village would follow, but they couldn't go all out. Doing so would mean clashing with the other nine major villages too soon. But Great Leaf Village picked this one, giving Blue Jewel Village a chance to go all in without any worries.

Were they being overconfident? Or did they really believe Ye Fengchun's claim of sending just one person? Anyone who knows Ye Fengchun would never trust his words. Could they really be unaware of this?

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