Chapter 2680: The Human World

How long does it take for boiling water to overflow and then for all sounds to fall silent?Chen Yanxun's answer is... "one arrow".Once the white arrow was loosed, those who knew what they were seeing fell silent. By the time Shen Lian appeared, the outcome had almost been decided.From the beginning of this battle, Jiang Anan’s only action was struggle, struggle, struggle, and ultimately defeat.From tactical arrangement to battle choice, from battle will to grasping opportunity... it was a complete crushing.The most anticipated preliminary match of the Dao Calendar 3933 Yellow River Assembly ended in a way no one had expected.The pre-match favorite for the championship, Star Moon Pearl Jiang Anan, didn't even manage to draw her sword.From Shangqiu City in Song Country, Chen Yanxun... became famous overnight!Song Country is a major regional power, and players, heaven's favored ones, representing such a country are widely watched and studied.But the pre-match attention seemed far from enough.Today's Long River is almost boiling with this question— Who is Chen Yanxun?From the south of Ying City to the north of the highest Royal Court, everyone is asking!But for the person involved, it was just a matter of moments, a rabbit chasing a falcon, over too quickly.Just before her divine soul was about to be extinguished and her physical body about to die, Jiang Anan was naturally caught by immortal light and disappeared from the stage.The "Knowledge-Seeing Bird" that flew to this stage soared into the sky, trailing a ribbon-like stream, loudly proclaiming—"The winner of this match, Song Country's Chen Yanxun!"At the same time, a beam of clear light fell on Chen Yanxun's body, representing the Yellow River Assembly's protection over him.No one below the stage was allowed to interfere with him because of matters on the stage.Only then did the young man with the bunned hair, clutching the shattered large bow in his hand, raise his head and open his mouth. Countless words of knots seemed like jade liquid and precious syrup that he drank down.After swallowing the wine, the young man's face showed a touch of redness, his eyes joyful yet restrained. He only offered a salute to the "Get Hear Fish" by the side of the arena.The people of Song Country naturally excitedly welcomed him down.And the discussion about this battle spread throughout the world with explosive speed."Song Country's Chen Siwu is a proper Confucian gentleman, known as 'proficient in the Six Arts', but at the time of his divine arrival, he clarified 'Attaining Dao with Five Shoots'—"The husband of the Great Shepherd King, sitting by the arena, lifted that 'face that tilts the world' and said softly: "This Chen Yanxun, his archery ritual does not lose to his father, truly the student surpasses the master.""Why didn't Chen Siwu come?" Jade Rhythm Great Long Princess asked.Left Guangshu Crack God Nine Intent, all cultivating diligently in the Yuan Shen Sea, only this single thought remaining in the body, could still leisurely sit by the arena and casually say: "Probably to make people underestimate the enemy. He certainly also wouldn't want to encounter Anan in the first round.""Based on the killing methods currently displayed, combined with intelligence from Song Country, Chen Yanxun's paper strength is not much stronger than Anan's, but in battle talent, there's a significant difference." Great Qi Bowang Marquis, teasing his son on his belly, slowly said: "This kind of absolute top battle opportunity grasp, a wonderfully peaked battle rhythm, looking back, on this View River Stage, there are only Jiang Wang, Dou Zhao, and Chong Xuan Zun.""Adding Li Yi, who didn't draw his sword initially but seized the first opportunity, that's only four people.""And now, just in the first preliminary match, such a character has appeared."He was somewhat thoughtful: "This session of the Yellow River Assembly may surpass all previous sessions."He then pinched Chong Xuan Yu's little finger again, laughing as he asked: "Little rascal, can you get on stage next session?"Chong Xuan Yu still didn't speak, only babbling.Fourteen chuckled softly by the side."Just how high the quality of this session's heaven's favored is, it doesn't just depend on the upper limit of the heaven's favored displayed on stage, but more on what kind of legends will occur in the next ten or so years." Zhu Weiwo stood up, planning to go see Chu Yao: "The matter of a player from the last session being a referee in the next session... has only occurred once so far, don't know if there will be a follower."Huang Jinmo only said one sentence: "After all, the land produces talent, but it's still hard to say."The husband and wife were sitting far from the Chu people. They left the arena together at this time, a handsome man and beautiful woman, a fine scene, which even drew a glance from Huang Sheri.Xu Xianggan rubbed his large forehead, always feeling that he had somehow influenced Anan, feeling very sorry in his heart. While unrolling a horizontal scroll, he said: "These several arrows were truly fierce, I wish I could have taken them for her."He was very good at saying polite words, but sometimes also genuinely sincere.The discussions were only these... and nothing more.They were all incapable of interfering with the matches, and even less likely to bully people after they lost.Before the match, everyone talked about expecting Jiang Anan and Chu Yao to meet in the finals, turning the Yellow River Assembly into an internal sparring match for the White Jade Capital Wine House.But in reality, everyone knew it was impossible.How vast is the world, how many heaven's favored are there?The "Yellow River Chief" is not an emperor's golden jade crown, it cannot be inherited through bloodline.Only with day and night effort, with unique talent, incomparable will, battle skills honed to the limit... and a little bit of courage tempered in blood and fire, grasping the inspiration that erupts in battle, only then is there a chance to eclipse the stars and become the most dazzling one.It is a scepter of heaven's favored, a blood-dripping long sword, a hero's peak with thorns growing all over the roadside and knife-edged rubble paved on the road.Jiang Anan is still far from it.Of course, there is also some regret. After all, no matter how you look at it, with Jiang Wang personally teaching her, and her inheritance, even if she had fumbled through, she should have been able to make it through a couple of rounds in the main competition.Sometimes you can only say luck isn't good."Luck... how to put it, alas!" White Shopkeeper was also watching the match at this moment, just sighing under the stage.Because most of the relatives and friends group had gone to cheer for little Anan, even Yu Chan had gone to the match arena where Chu Yao was located.Of course, by the arena side, there was also Chu Yao's mother, Zhang Cuihua, who came from Tile Kiln Town and is currently working at De Sheng Business.The well-connected Bowang Marquis naturally didn't forget to bring her, and even conveniently arranged an official duty for her in the nearby Wo Country, allowing this strong mother to steal a few days of leisure to support her son after finishing her work.White Yuxia, fearing he might be a hindrance to his own people, didn't participate on either side and came to the arena of a "potential competitor".Yes, he was watching Er Zhu He's match.The rain of letters flying to White Jade Capital a while ago really bothered him. If he couldn't beat Hong Junyan, he would at least shave off half of the Eternal Saint Winter Peak—He could still brew wine with what he shaved off.He truly didn't expect Jiang Anan to fall in the first round...He even went to the Long Kong Casino to place a bet! He had bet on Jiang Anan having a smooth journey and reaching the top sixteen this session.The odds weren't high, but he bet a lot. Calculating it, it was a significant extra income.This loss made him tremble.Just as he was trembling, the ferocious bear cub from the snow plains had already crushed and pulled apart its opponent, ending the battle.By the side of the arena was an ocean of Li Country flags. On the stage, Er Zhu He had already shouted his declaration of "must seize the chief's name".A chorus of cheers."Distant people", "current people", at this moment, they are all Li people.People always feel the snow plains people are cold, but when Er Zhu He waved his arms and shouted, the area under the stage actually became a boiling cauldron.White Shopkeeper didn't quite understand what kind of courage and belief it takes for someone to be frozen for thousands of years in ice and then participate in future wars. And not just one or two, but tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of people's collective choice.Having been trapped and locked in the ice plains for too many years, they yearned to walk out.This kind of yearning cannot be frozen, they are flames within the ice.Glancing at the "Knowledge-Seeing Bird" flying into the sky, White Shopkeeper silently put away the horizontal scroll cheering for Er Zhu He.He hid himself in the crowd.By the time White Shopkeeper got the match results, it was already quite late. In fact, the number of people paying attention to Star Moon Pearl's first match in real-time was in the hundreds of millions!The scope wasn't just the View River Stage site, and it wasn't limited to the Taixu Illusion Realm.After Yong Country's Mengdu obtained the high-priced authorization for the Taixu Illusion Realm, they even used mechanical Xuanbirds to display spirit mirror sky screens, using the Mohist's most advanced recording technology to broadcast the Yellow River matches in real-time, allowing ordinary people who couldn't access the Taixu Illusion Realm at any time to all move a stool and sit in the street to watch.It truly was a case of ten thousand people emptying the streets.Once the spirit mirror sky screen was opened here, all sides followed suit. Those overlord countries that originally had certain authority in the Taixu Illusion Realm even actively raised the price for authorization fees...In view of the excessive number of people gathered outside the View River Stage, for the safety of the audience, Cabinet Member Huang Sheri, representing the Yellow River Assembly Special Affairs Group, reached an exclusive match hospitality cooperation with the nearby Wo Country.The scenic areas of the various countries in Wo Soil Country sincerely welcomed the wealthy guests to check in.Cabinet Member Huang didn't just look at money. Under the View River Stage, four squares each capable of holding ten thousand people were opened up, with huge spirit mirror sky screens suspended in the air, providing free live broadcasts of the matches for those who had traveled thousands of miles to the View River Stage but couldn't buy tickets.There was no one to explain this – or perhaps the audience themselves were the explainers – in short, everyone was just watching the spectacle.And there was no choice of matches, they just showed whatever was being broadcast live.Old Quan, pushing a single-wheel cart, stood on tiptoe in the crowd. On the left side of the cart lay an old yellow dog, and on the right sat Ni Er, an inverted but quite special sight.He wasn't allowed to sell melon seeds and peanuts because even setting up a stall on the edge of the View River Stage required a sealed contract from the Yellow River Assembly Special Affairs Group.But he had worked hard to push a cart here, and the water race guards maintaining order also tacitly agreed to let him finish selling this cart, only saying that he wasn't allowed to have any more – the guards responsible for maintaining order at this session's Yellow River Assembly were drawn from armies of the six great overlord countries, as well as the Dragon Palace guard team reorganized by the water race.All led by Cabinet Member Chong Xuan, after all, in terms of "martial arts", he was second only to the former Wu An Marquis.However, he wasn't patient enough to do these things, so he invited a person wearing a mask called Wang Tianfu to manage.Some people say that's Wang Yiwu.But Old Quan didn't recognize Wang Yiwu either, only knowing that he was a very powerful general from Qi Country... too far away."Eh eh eh, Young Master Chen won."He didn't understand the fighting, only knew that the Song Country person won, and was very happy in his heart."Aiyo!" Beside him, a person who seemed to understand a lot suddenly slapped their thigh: "Song Country is completely finished now.""How so?" Someone immediately came to ask.The person who came over had slightly dark skin, very white teeth, and a flame-shaped tattoo on their forehead – wearing a rather strange outfit, which looked like a sacrificial robe. He didn't know where he was from, it didn't match any sect in Old Quan's memory.However, here, he wasn't conspicuous either.There were many strange clothes and ornaments on the View River Stage, his was just one of many.The person who slapped their thigh explained: "The one who lost is Town River True Monarch's sister. Town River True Monarch is the referee of this session's assembly, with one hand covering the sky. The Song Country player beat his sister so badly, can he give Song Country a good time?""True Monarch Jiang isn't that kind of person." Old Quan subconsciously retorted: "Arena martial arts, win or lose is one's own responsibility. True Monarch Jiang benefits the world, why would he be so petty?""What do you understand!" That person glanced at Old Quan and said disdainfully: "Another pitiful person who is sold and still helps people count money. These big figures high above, what do they do without purpose? Do you really think they are good to you? Still benefiting the world... laughable. Just wait and see, Song Country will soon suffer this lesson."Old Quan was not someone who could argue with people, so he just shut his mouth after being retorted.Instead, the one with the flame tattoo on his forehead laughed and welcomed him over: "Elder brother truly understands a lot. I also always felt that person wasn't pure, everyone has been deceived by the surface... don't know if there are any bad things he does that can be shared?""I can only say, no profit no early." The person who slapped his thigh pinched his beard again: "Many things can only be implied, not spoken. I may not want to be made an example of – look at those water race people, aren't they? Now they all have the surname Jiang. If you dare to say a bad word, they can all fight you desperately."The flame-tattooed man looked left and right, and deeply agreed."Let's find a place to sit and chat." He cupped his hands: "I am Qing Ming. I've long been unable to stand the hypocrisy of the current world! I just want to make friends with a scholar who dares to speak like elder brother."Old Quan saw them hook arms and leave, and curled his lip. Pointing out others' faults is one thing, but if they themselves are useless, he had seen many such people in brothels.At this moment, he noticed that Ni Er and the old yellow dog were both a little listless.He couldn't help but worry, perhaps they were suffering from heatstroke?Although the Long River water race specially cast spells to drive away the heat, the area within the View River Stage wasn't that hot, but Ni Er was small and Big Yellow was old, both were prone to getting sick..."Ni Er, Ni Er, Ni Er, drink some water.""Big Yellow, Big Yellow, what's wrong?"Old Quan anxiously turned around, shouting this and that.This made the two who were pretending to be sculptures jump in fright.Aiyo my ancestors, don't call people back!In a moment of crisis, the old yellow dog used its head to rub his hand, looking very obedient and gentle, like a very clingy owner.Old Quan was pleasantly surprised and rubbed it twice affectionately. The old yellow dog whimpered aggrievedly.Ni Er also didn't pretend to be stupid. She held a bamboo tube in her small hand and gulped down the water.Too scary...How did the highest divine master of the Floating Land world also come to the site?Although their strength is suppressed when they arrive in the current world, they are still not experts that casual people can touch.To ensure the order of this session's Yellow River Assembly, just how many people with the surname Jiang has he mobilized? On the surface there is already a heap, and in the dark, they are still everywhere...Old Quan had no idea what thrilling things were happening. He just tested Ni Er's forehead temperature, found it wasn't hot, and put his worries aside. He unintentionally looked up and found that the match on the spirit mirror sky screen had already changed.Standing on the field now was an ordinary-looking young man with slightly yellowish skin. He still carried that stick-shaped sword wrapped in cloth strips on his back. He had just changed into a neat martial outfit, immediately showing an extraordinary aura—His posture was too good, even the falling point of his hair seemed to be trained in etiquette.He stood there with his head held high and his spine straight, just cupping his hands and saying... "I accept the courtesy."The one who fell in front of him was Duan Qifeng from Li Country—Fan Wushu's direct disciple.Those who can reach the View River Stage are all renowned figures. In their respective countries or sects, they are all top-notch geniuses. But when genius meets genius, ultimately only one can continue forward.Star Moon Pearl Jiang Anan, losing to the Song Country's Chen Yanxun, who emerged out of nowhere, is a little regrettable. But stopping here... who doesn't feel regret?The proclamation of the Knowledge-Seeing Bird cut through the long sky: "The winner of this match, Star Moon Plain... Chu Yao!"Old Quan was surprised for a long time, then surprised again!The young man who broke into the Shangqiu Three Points Fragrance Building last year turned out to be... Hug Wealth Heavenly Monarch's disciple!He subconsciously tightened his grip on the dog hair in his hand, making Big Yellow's eye widen. Then he frantically let go and stroked it non-stop: "Didn't hurt, oh... didn't hurt, oh..."The old yellow dog bared its teeth, finally enduring it.Fan Wushu, with that branch of "Huang Jiulei" folding fan tucked into his waist, somewhat helplessly held the young man in his arms.Duan Qifeng, who lost the match, cried bitterly, his tears falling like rain. He had used his full strength, his extreme Dao techniques were exquisite, but his opponent was too steady and too dense, his offense like mercury pouring over the ground, pressing him so hard he couldn't even breathe, finally suppressing him into a bloodied state.Having his Dao technique realm broken head-on was a huge blow to him. This genius born from a branch of the Li Country imperial clan was also just a sixteen-year-old young man."It's nothing, it's nothing." Fan Wushu had little experience in coaching children, but he felt he should comfort him similarly to how he would Zhong Li Yan: "You didn't lose, it's just that Li Country's inheritance is not as good as Town River True Monarch's inheritance, and you are younger than him, plus you were just careless, and you're not familiar with the arena..."Duan Qifeng cried even more sadly: "I just came to touch the arena yesterday..."Fan Wushu was amused and exasperated at the same time. Just as he was about to randomly say a few comforting words, he suddenly heard another round of even more miserable crying.He looked up—He saw a very neatly dressed middle-aged woman rush onto the stage, hug the young man who had won, and howl with grief.She cried heartbrokenly, cried with a belly full of grievances, cried... making people's eyes sting a little as well.The young man who had won the battle was just half-squatting on the ground, a little at a loss. The pair of hands that had just displayed incredibly precise Dao techniques clumsily stroked the woman's hair.He had won, but it was as if he had done something wrong, only repeatedly saying: "Mother, I'm not injured... it doesn't hurt... not tired... not bitter..."Then he also cried.