The audience was shocked. They were silent for a long time, no one moving or saying anything. Even the experts on the stage had frozen in place.
The first one to react was Xue Wei. "You killed my good friend!" he exclaimed with a trembling, grieving tone of voice. "I know he was from a major sect, but he was not a bad person! To be killed for loot, have you no shame?!"
Xue Wei did not stand still while yelling. He was not even using a tenth of his strength, but he made it seem as if he had deployed his entire cultivation base.
It seemed as if he was truly displaying his might, but the truth was that he had not even activated Forbidden Rush as he moved towards the surviving experts.
The first expert he headed for was the one who had killed the member of the Crimson Sunshine Sect.
Arcane Fist!
Xue Wei used his flashiest ability. He did not use it to the fullest, but used roughly ten percent of his strength.
Still, the Qi from his punch danced in the air, leaving behind afterimages in a most flashy, outstanding way.
Even if Xue Wei only used a slight amount of energy, it was impossible to hide the fact that this was a profound martial arts technique.
The moment the illusive fists made contact with the head of the expert, the head exploded, turning into a mist of blood.
Xue Wei was shocked. He was certain that he would struggle when only using ten percent of his strength against a foe of equal rank, but the profound martial arts technique coupled with the fact that they were seriously shocked was enough to instantly kill one more person.
This had been the bloodiest arena so far, in terms of intensity. Four experts had died in one round. This was something no one had seen coming. Even worse was the fact that the round was still ongoing.
"The two of you seem very weak now!" Xue Wei yelled out, loudly enough to ensure that everyone heard him. "I can take your lives as a token of apology to my dear friend!"
Very few realized that Xue Wei did not mention the name of his dear friend, nor did he look particularly sad about it, so all that the majority felt was that he was being a good friend who was taking revenge.
Those with a keener eye felt awkward and uncomfortable in the face of this. They could not put their finger on what exactly was happening, especially the ones unaware of the relationship between Xue Wei and the Crimson Sunshine Sect's disciples.
However, the ones from the Crimson Sunshine Sect were the most uncomfortable of those present.
They knew that this expert had not wanted to die to protect Xue Wei due to their relationship with one another, but they could say nothing to refute Xue Wei's claim.
If they did inform them about the fact that this expert was not Xue Wei's friend, and that he was actually trying to plot behind his back, then they would become the joke of the tournament. Then everyone would feel that he deserved to die, while right now he had died a heroic death, befitting of a hero from their sect.
Xue Wei did not dawdle after dispatching the first person. He rushed towards the second one, and used the same attack again.
Arcane Fist!
It was a repeat of the previous moment - ten percent power and a sky full of illusive fist imprints as Xue Wei rushed at one of the two remaining experts.
This time, his fist landed consecutive punches all over the upper body of his victim and blood sprayed from his mouth as he shot back like a kite let loose from a string.
He collapsed at the end of the stage, never to move again. His eyes were opened and filled with despair, and the last thing he had seen in this life was the Arcane Fist’s many afterimages converging upon his chest consecutively, swiftly taking his life.
The audience fell silent. Now five had died in one round. The experts that had forfeited all felt incredibly fortunate that they had not been driven to such lengths, but now only two remained on the stage.
Both were looking at one another. One had a slight smile on his face and seemed somewhat casual, while the other was wounded and had a hateful look on her face.
"I forfeit," she said through gritted teeth. Albeit so reluctant to yield, she understood better than anyone else that she was in no condition to contend with someone whose attacks could easily decimate the ones before her.
Although Xue Wei had displayed rather significant prowess, it was still believably within the margins of the third layer Sky Warrior rank because he had limited himself so severely, so the higher tier contestants were none the wiser and believed they had one less thing to worry about.
Xue Wei looked on as the woman was removed from the stage before he proceeded to rummage through the pockets of all the dead experts on the stage.
He started with the expert from the Crimson Sunshine Sect. He went through through all the pockets and places where valuables could be hidden but found nothing.
This made him frown, until his eyes landed on the disciple’s hand. There was one simple ring on his finger, and Xue Wei suddenly remembered the treasure he had seen in the Golden Chambers back in Heping Kingdom – the storage ring!
Thinking like this, he swiped the ring from the disciple's finger, and glanced at the other Crimson Sunshine Sect's members. Their faces turned ugly, so Xue Wei could not help but smirk. Even if it was not a storage treasure, it was still some treasure!
Xue Wei quickly went to the other corpses and searched through their clothes, securing a few silvers and some medicinal herbs, but none of them had a lot of wealth or items on their person.
Shrugging his shoulders, Xue Wei stepped down from the stage after being announced as the winner of their round.
He had not expected to gain much from his dead enemies because they were likely to carry the absolute minimum for the tournament.
Only those who had come alone were likely to carry all their valuables with them - and even then it was not certain, as they might have left the majority of their stuff behind in the inns.
He could feel all the gazes from the entire arena concentrating on him right now. Even the ones from the other stages were looking at him.
Some looked at him with greed because he had taken the wealth of a member from the Crimson Sunshine Sect. Others looked at him with bafflement, unable to comprehend how the battle had turned out the way it had.
Yet some were looking at him with hostility. These were mainly the experts from the Crimson Sunshine Sect, while the majority of the competitors and the audience were looking at him with disdain.
He had done nothing for the majority of the fight, and now he had been announced as the winner. Many of them had gone through bloody battles and had flirted with death to emerge as the victors, so they looked down on Xue Wei.
Xue Wei was completely at ease in the face of those many judgmental gazes pointed at him, his behavior casual and carefree. In the midst of all this attention, however, he also sensed a few questioning glances.
Looking towards them, he locked eyes with Lin Yuelong, the leader of the group from the Cerulean Starlight Sect.
It was clear that Xue Wei had sought to stay lowkey in the tournament, which he had pulled off smoothly, but he could not have done that without the disciple from the Crimson Sunshine Sect.
When he looked at the other members of the Crimson Sunshine Sect, he could see them gnashing their teeth with anger and disgust on their faces. It was clear that they had not worked together with him. Then how had he managed to do it?
Xue Wei snickered when he saw the confused frown on Lin Yuelong's face, but he said nothing.
The grounds within the arena were quickly emptied out - only the winners were allowed to stay, while the defeated were sent away as soon as their injuries were healed enough to move.
The deceased were moved away as well, to a freezing house where they would be kept until someone came to pick them up, although at most for a total of half a year.
From this, it was clear to see that Wan Qiang had not expected many to die in this tournament. Although killing your opponent was accepted, not many had the power to do so truly.
Xue Wei was curious about the ring in his pocket, but he dared not start fiddling with it right now.
If others realized that he had taken a storage ring or some sort of treasured ring, then they would stop at nothing to take this ring for themselves.
Xue Wei was not so narrow-minded that he thought he could defeat anyone who came for him, especially not those who had come to observe the tournament but were too old to partake themselves.
He might seem casual on the outside, he might seem as if he was carefree when one looked at him, but in fact, his spiritual energy was spread to every corner, keeping everything under surveillance.
The battles continued, and soon the sun had set in the distance, but the entire arena was lit up by illuminating orbs that were placed everywhere in the arena, ensuring that it was as brightly lit as it had been during the day.
The battles continued until the sun started shining in the sky again. Only then was the final battle of the first round finished. Although there were not as many experts of the higher ranks, their battles were much more ferocious. They displayed abilities that were heavenly to look at, and it was as if they would rather die than give up.
The results were as expected: the members of the Cerulean Starlight Sect, the Crimson Sunshine Sect, and the Argent Moon Sect all won their rounds.
Some of them had encountered a rough patch as their opponents had banded together against them, but others had breezed through their opponents as if taking a stroll in the park.
When the final battle finished, everyone was more or less exhausted, but no one dared leave the arena. Who knew when the second round would begin?
"Well done, all of you winners!" the sound of Wan Qiang’s voice sounded throughout the entire arena. Xue Wei looked into the sky only to see that the man in question was standing on air, looking down on them all.
"You have all fought bravely in life-and-death battles. Return now to the inn and rest up. The second part of the tournament will begin at sunrise three days from now!"
Hearing this, many of the experts on the field slumped in relief. They had feared that they would go straight to the next stage of the tournament while exhausted.
On the other hand, Xue Wei was energetic and happy. He had gotten some spoils from the last battle, so he was expectant to find out whether or not it would be beneficial for him.
Wan Qiang said nothing beyond that and instead floated up into the sky, vanishing in a beam of light.
The audience and the participating experts waited for a few moments to see if he would return, but he did not, so the most wounded and injured started leaving.
When the first started leaving, the rest were set in motion like a tide ebbing away. Everyone flooded out of the arena and went back to either their homes or their inns.
Xue Wei did not rush back to his inn; he waited for Hei Gou for protection. At this point, both of them went back to the inn together, both observing their surroundings and keeping up their guard, a feeling they knew all too well.