No. 2107 Lucky Son

The situations in the other eight matches varied. Tuoba Yang, Tuoba Shuang, Hai Chenggong, Garina, and Jiang Fangzhou all easily secured first place in their respective groups, relying on their formidable strength.

In another group, Lu Xueman and Hu Yaoyao were surprisingly placed together. Both defeated their other opponents and ultimately stood together on the Duel Stage.

The two women, whose horoscopes clashed, stared at each other. A moment later, Hu Yaoyao let out a chuckle.

"Fine, besides beauty and men, I'll let you have everything else."

With that, she turned to the referee next to her and declared simply, "I concede."

Soon, the final outcomes of the other eight groups were decided.

Zhang He publicly announced the nine individuals who advanced: Ye Bufan, Tuoba Yang, Tuoba Shuang, Garina, Hai Chenggong, Jiang Fangzhou, Li Qingzhu, Lu Xueman, and Shao Feng, a dark horse who emerged halfway through.

Shao Feng's strength was not exceptionally high; he was in the Middle Stage of Body Refining. However, his luck was good, as there were no overly strong opponents in his group. After a bitter struggle, he finally emerged victorious.

He was indeed a rare dark horse, but no one paid any attention to him.

At this moment, the scene was in an uproar, not for any other reason than the Heaven-Defying performance of the Tianfeng Empire this time.

In previous New Talent Ranking Tournaments, they were undoubtedly the first to be eliminated, always at the bottom in terms of strength.

But now, there was a complete 180-degree reversal, with four of their members appearing among the top nine.

This achievement was unprecedented, even surpassing the Daxing Empire Imperial Family, which had the Great Prince and the Eldest Princess.

Although everyone had witnessed the strength of Lu Xueman and others in the previous team battles, they still couldn't suppress their shock.

"Oh my goodness, what on earth is going on? When did the Tianfeng Empire become so strong…?"

"Four out of nine advanced, can it get any more Heaven-Defying…?"

"Is the Tianfeng Empire about to rise? When did it become so powerful…?"

The Grand Elders on the viewing platform also watched all of this with interest. These nine individuals not only qualified to enter the Tianluo Secret Realm but were also very likely to represent Tianluo State in the Genius Prodigy Battle.

Zhongli Mei said, "The Little fellow from the Tianfeng Empire is quite interesting. No wonder he concealed his cultivation; it turns out they are the strongest."

Qin Biyao said, "The show has just begun. The Little fellow surnamed Ye hasn't made a move yet. I wonder how many more surprises he can bring to us old fellows."

The group stage ended, and there was no extra rest time for the contestants. The next round of elimination matches quickly commenced.

As they entered the drawing of lots again, everyone focused intently on the nine individuals on the field, with most gazes falling on Ye Bufan.

Since the start of the tournament, he had created one miracle after another, unconsciously becoming the focal point of the entire competition. The attention he received even surpassed that of the Great Prince next to him.

Tuoba Yang also sensed this and let out a cold snort through his nostrils.

In his opinion, the other party was merely a cunning individual who lacked true strength and would not go far in this competition.

The drawing of lots was still presided over by Zhang He. He addressed everyone present, saying, "Now we have nine people drawing lots. Those who draw a white ball will get a bye, and the others with matching colors will face each other in pairs."

After announcing the rules, he waved his hand, and nine glowing orbs enveloped in white light appeared before everyone.

Tuoba Yang was the first to step forward, reaching out and grabbing an orb, followed by Tuoba Shuang.

Ye Bufan was the last, taking the remaining orb.

Once the drawing was complete, Zhang He withdrew his Qi, and the true colors of the orbs were quickly revealed.

At this moment, everyone's gaze was fixed on Ye Bufan's palm, wanting to see who his opponent would be this time.

In everyone's opinion, no matter what, he would finally have to make a move this time, because only by defeating his opponent could he advance to the next round, and this was unavoidable.

But when the light dispersed, revealing the true color of the orb, a gasp immediately rose from the scene. Ye Bufan's palm was clearly holding a white orb.

This meant he received a bye in this round and directly entered the top five.

"My heavens, is he the child of fortune? How does he get all the good things?"

"He got a bye again. When will I finally see him make a move?"

"Oh my goodness, his luck is truly unmatched…!"

Everyone present looked over, their eyes filled with envy, jealousy, and even resentment.

Ye Bufan looked at the orb in his hand, speechless. He felt as if the old eunuch had intentionally arranged it, yet he couldn't find any flaws to confirm whether it was his Heaven-Defying luck or if the drawing of lots had been tampered with.

He glanced at Zhang He, but the old eunuch didn't even look at him, his expression calm, showing no flaws whatsoever.

"Who cares? At least I've advanced another step."

Ye Bufan stopped worrying about it and happily looked at the others.

In this round's drawing, Great Prince Tuoba Yang and Li Qingzhu were grouped together, Eldest Princess Tuoba Shuang faced Lu Xueman, Hai Chenggong faced Jiang Fangzhou, and Garina faced Shao Feng.

Seeing this result, he increasingly speculated that this was Zhang He's doing. It was to give him a bye and then use the others from Shui Mu University to wear down his opponents' strength.

Undoubtedly, for him, this was the best possible draw.

However, speculation was just speculation. The old eunuch's methods were too clever; he couldn't figure out how the other party operated.

The others, however, didn't have many thoughts. Firstly, they were unaware of the transaction between Zhang He and Ye Bufan.

Secondly, the drawing of lots was conducted under everyone's watchful eyes, so normally there would be no opportunity to tamper with it.

After the drawing, everyone returned to their seats.

Jiang Fangzhou excitedly said, "Ye Dage, we really drew the best possible lot."

You can rest assured, even if we can't win, we'll still tear a piece of flesh off our opponents."

Although the others didn't speak, they all understood, intending to do their best to deplete their opponents' strength.

After all, the individual competition was ending today, and each person would not just fight one match. Endurance was also a key factor in the final victory.

Ye Bufan said, "Just do your best in these matters; never take risks, and especially don't get yourselves injured."

Several people nodded in agreement, their eyes showing immense determination.

Soon, the matches officially began. Unlike before, this time it was individual duels, one after another, not simultaneous matches.

It was understandable. At this stage of the competition, it had entered the most exciting part, and it would be a pity not to enjoy each match individually.

According to the match order, the first match was Great Prince Tuoba Yang against Li Qingzhu.

Under everyone's gaze, the match began. The stubborn Li Qingzhu fought with a reckless, suicidal style, but her cultivation was one Rank lower than Tuoba Yang's, and her practical combat experience was far less.

Strength is strength; when the gap is too large, even fighting with all one's might cannot compensate.

Tuoba Yang responded with ease and grace. After ten moves, he shattered Li Qingzhu's palm with a punch, then curled his fingers like a sword, pointing directly at her face.

"You lose!"

His moves were graceful and fluid, executed in one go, making them extremely pleasing to the eye and quite magnificent.

Although Li Qingzhu was stubborn, there was nothing she could do at this point but bow her head and concede.