"What kind of joke is this?"
"What exactly is going on here?"
Deputy City Lord Jiang Boyuan felt his head buzzing; he was having trouble processing it.
He lost.
The Heaven-grade Seed, the hope of Cangyue City, was just gone like that.
The main issue was that the process was too fast—so fast that he had only managed to take a single sip of his tea.
If Han Xuanji had fought Zhou Yunhe for three thousand rounds and won with great difficulty, he could have accepted it.
The problem was that this completely defied logic.
Zhou Yunhe's strength wasn't just talk; he had genuinely fought many a Prodigy and was a recognized top-tier Prodigy.
How could he possibly be defeated in a single move by Han Xuanji, who had previously been unknown and only gained a little fame in recent years?
Deputy City Lord Jiang Boyuan wanted to say that this couldn't be real, wanted to accuse Han Xuanji of cheating, and wanted to claim that the yingtian mirror's matchmaking was flawed.
But he held it in for a long time and didn't say a word.
Saying these things in front of Elder Meng would only be asking for trouble.
Meanwhile, Hun Qianxue sat beside him with a complex expression.
He was almost unable to hold back his laughter, repeating the word "dignity" to himself several times before finally forcing himself not to laugh out loud.
"Brother Jiang..."
Hun Qianxue put down his teacup and said in a calm tone:
"Victory and defeat are common occurrences in military affairs. Sometimes, surface-level strength is just surface-level strength, while true ability is another matter entirely, right?"
Hearing these last two words, Deputy City Lord Jiang Boyuan took a deep breath and squeezed out a smile that was uglier than crying:
"Brother Qianxue is right. It is just that Zhou Yunhe's skills were not refined enough; he has no grievances about losing."
After speaking, he turned his head away, stopped looking at Hun Qianxue, and simply closed his eyes to play dead.
He had no mood left to watch the remaining matches.
The only reason he hadn't left on the spot was that he didn't dare to offend Elder Meng.
On the other side, Elder Meng picked up his teacup, took a light sip, withdrew his gaze from the light screen, glanced at Wang Chong once more, and said nothing.
He looked again at the tall, upright figure on the light screen.
This result had truly exceeded his expectations. He naturally remembered the name Han Xuanji. The people from Dasheng had strongly requested to facilitate this Law Conference, and it likely had something to do with this person.
Initially, he had intended to designate Xiao Yan as a Heaven-grade Seed and Han Xuanji as an Earth-grade Seed, but the former strongly opposed it, so in the end, they were both designated as Earth-grade Seeds.
He had intended to pay attention to them, but he hadn't expected the performance to be so stunning—it had completely exceeded his expectations.
A glint of sharpness flashed deep in Elder Meng's eyes; perhaps the spots for the Great Dao Association would be useful after all. However, on the surface, he remained as calm as water, without any extra expression.
It seemed as if Han Xuanji's performance had not garnered any of his attention.
Representatives from other factions saw this scene, each with their own thoughts.
"Qianhun City has produced a good seedling."
The voice of the Holy Court representative came from the side, his tone indifferent:
"Perhaps we might really see an Earth-grade Seed take the championship once again."
Wang Chong nodded slightly, his estimation of Han Xuanji rising a few notches in his heart.
Watching Xiao Yan still locked in a fierce battle with a Heaven-grade Seed, he felt that his own boy had genuinely been outclassed.
The many spectators in the stands had also almost all noticed that Han Xuanji had defeated a Heaven-grade Seed.
"Wait, this guy can even crush a Heaven-grade Seed?"
A scion of an aristocratic family who had previously paid attention to how Han Xuanji won was horrified, becoming somewhat incoherent:
"I was saying he actually had the strength of a Heaven-grade Seed, but it turns out he has the strength to beat a Heaven-grade Seed to a pulp!"
"Could it be just good luck, and Zhou Yunhe's abilities just happened to be countered?"
Another supporter of a Heaven-grade Seed chimed in sourly.
"This can be called luck?"
Another voice immediately retorted loudly:
"If you went up there, you'd probably surrender at the first exchange."
Wang Ping's words immediately left the person speechless.
How could he dare to go up there? Let alone Heaven-grade Seeds, even those Earth-grade Seeds were not to be trifled with—wasn't everyone a Genius?
And being a Genius was merely the threshold for participating in this conference!
"He won! One punch! Even Heaven-grade Seeds are just one punch!"
Wang Ping waved his fists, looking as if he had been injected with chicken blood:
"Did you see that? That so-called Zhou Yunhe is nothing compared to Big Brother Han!"
Hun Jiuge was also flushed with excitement, but still feigned calmness as he tugged on Wang Ping's sleeve:
"Keep it down, keep it down. You know that Young Master Han has never liked to be ostentatious."
How could Wang Ping care about being low-key? He continued to wave his fists:
"Low-key, what low-key! Anyone in his shoes would brag about this for a lifetime!"
Hun Qianling and Li Tiantong did not speak, but the smiles on their Faces could not be suppressed no matter how hard they tried.
...
Centurion Zhou Lie was covered in blood, his robes full of tears, but his eyes were filled with excitement.
He had won.
His opponent was also an Earth-grade Seed, with cultivation on par with his own and a very profound mastery of the Dao.
The two had fought fiercely for a long time, from the sky to the ground. Fortunately, after his battle with Han Xuanji, his Law of Destruction and his Creation Dao had been honed to be even sharper. He had faced danger several times and made several desperate counterattacks, finally seizing a flaw in his opponent to settle the outcome with a single punch.
His spiritual power was almost exhausted, and he had seven or eight wounds on his body, but he did not fall; he stood straight.
At this moment, Centurion Zhou Lie suddenly thought of Han Xuanji.
With Han Xuanji's strength, as long as he didn't encounter a Heaven-grade Seed early on, entering the top sixteen was highly probable.
"Don't let me down."
He muttered to himself, his voice very low.
If possible, he hoped to encounter Han Xuanji in the next match to wash away his shame!
Meanwhile, in the stands, Commander He Guanshan's gaze fell on Centurion Zhou Lie, and he nodded slightly. This child has indeed improved quite a bit over these years.
Being able to reach this stage in the Law Conference had already exceeded his expectations.
However, that was as far as it would go.
He would likely find it difficult to win the upcoming battles. Commander He Guanshan withdrew his gaze and let it fall on another light screen.
There, Han Xuanji's name was exceptionally eye-catching.
He shook his head slightly, a bitter smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.
After seeing Han Xuanji's performance, he really couldn't muster any interest in Centurion Zhou Lie's achievements.
Soon, the day's matches all concluded.
On the light screen above the square, the names of the top sixteen shone brightly.
In the vast square, countless gazes fell in unison upon that light screen; some cheered, some were silent, and some left in despondency.
Among them were eleven Heaven-grade Seeds and five Earth-grade Seeds.
Three Heaven-grade Seeds had been eliminated in internal fights.
Ling Cang lived up to expectations, breaking Karma with a single sword strike and winning cleanly and efficiently. The other two internal fights were equally brutal; although the winners advanced, they all bore significant injuries.
What truly shocked everyone, however, were the two duels where Earth-grade Seeds staged upsets against Heaven-grade Seeds.
Han Xuanji defeated Zhou Yunhe of Cangyue City with a single punch.
Xiao Yan, who was using the pseudonym Yan Xiao, fought a fierce battle against a Heaven-grade Seed and ultimately won.
"Who is this Yan Xiao? I've never heard of him before."
"Just like Han Xuanji, both are Earth-grade Seeds, and both defeated Heaven-grade Seeds. What is going on with this conference? Are dark horses gathering in bunches?"
"Has anyone looked into his background? It's said he is a Loose Cultivator from another major continent, with no background and no master."
"A Loose Cultivator? Impossible! With that level of Dao mastery, it's impossible to train without guidance from a famous master."
"They've hidden themselves so deeply; it's the same approach as Han Xuanji."
Amidst the discussions, two names were repeatedly mentioned.
Han Xuanji, Yan Xiao.
These two names, which previously had no fame, became the hottest topics at the Law Conference within a single day.
The three-day rest period passed in the blink of an eye.