Chapter 587: The Battle Tournament Begins

All along, no matter what matter he handled, he used the library or the Eye of Clarity or the like. This time, relying on the knowledge he had learned in his mind and the hints on the stone pillars, he comprehended the rules and played a game of hand-talk.

He had thought that since others could place six stones, he wouldn't be too bad either. Unexpectedly... he couldn't even place the second stone. Could it be... he had overplayed his hand and would be eliminated?

Could his comprehension really be that poor?

Zhang Xuan felt like crying but had no tears.

He had passed three consecutive levels smoothly, never expecting to stumble here.

Hong Shi's face also twitched.

He couldn't even place the second stone. This time... how would he smooth things over? He couldn't very well say that Teacher Zhang was exceptionally gifted and that placing one stone counted as passing, could he?

If he had known this, why did he stop him? He should have let him go first and be done with it!

Now it was fine. The other wanted to go first, but he didn't allow it. If he got angry because of this, he would definitely be in big trouble...

What kind of thing was this? A dignified five-star master teacher, the host in charge of the assessment, yet a selection tournament made him so anxious and aggrieved. He was speechless.

"If he can't place the second stone, it means... he didn't pass! Alright, the selection tournament is over. Let's proceed to the battle tournament..."

Gritting his teeth, Hong Shi spoke. Just as he was about to continue, he saw the puppet opposite Zhang Xuan suddenly push the chessboard in his hand, stand up, and a voice resounded in all directions.

"I lose!"

"Lose?"

"What does that mean?"

"Teacher Zhang... played the Heavenly Star Chess and actually beat the puppet, making it willingly admit defeat?"

"Aren't the rules of Heavenly Star Chess very hard to comprehend? He watched for a while and not only comprehended them but also beat the puppet?"

Everyone was stunned, feeling like they were going crazy.

They thought Teacher Zhang couldn't place the second stone because he hadn't understood the rules and hadn't passed. They never dreamed that with one stone, he made the opposing puppet push the board and admit defeat...

This was no longer just about comprehending the rules; it was... becoming a master among masters, making others look up to him.

"Really?"

Luo Xuan, Song Chao, and the others also widened their eyes.

They had personally experienced the assessment and knew the difficulty of this Heavenly Star Chess. Being able to exceed six stones was already very impressive, with top-notch comprehension. But this guy, with one stone, made the puppet collapse...

He really didn't give others a way out!

Unlike the shocked expressions of the crowd, Hong Shi's body swayed again.

Every time he made a fuss, just as he was about to announce, there was a reversal...

Did he have to be so ruthless?

If this continued a few more times, it wouldn't just be about feeling sorry for the treasures; more importantly, he would have a heart attack and die here...

The crowd was dazed, surprised, gritting teeth, grinning, twitching, kicking, rolling... all kinds of expressions were present. And Zhang Xuan, the person involved, was also dumbfounded.

This time he hadn't used the library or the Eye of Clarity; he had only relied on his own understanding. He wasn't very confident about whether he could pass.

Because of this, when he saw that he couldn't place the second stone, his heart also skipped a beat, and he was a bit anxious.

But... he never dreamed that not only would he pass, but he would also make the puppet voluntarily admit defeat...

Just as he was about to say something to the puppet, he saw the old man bow, and a voice sounded in his mind: "Although you only placed one stone, you blocked all paths of life, death, forward, and backward. I cannot break it. Heavenly Star Chess finally... has an inheritor!"

Immediately after, he felt a stream of consciousness drill straight into his mind.

Boom!

Countless pieces of chess knowledge, along with the consciousness, became his own knowledge.

"Soul transmission?"

His eyes widened.

To have a puppet perform soul transmission—how powerful must the creator of the puppet be?

While he was puzzled and hadn't had time to examine the content he received, he saw the puppet in front of him, as if losing its power, with countless cracks appearing on its surface after transmitting the knowledge.

"Oh no?"

His pupils contracted, and Zhang Xuan quickly reached out to stop it.

From the transmitted information, he also knew that the purpose of this thing's existence was to pass on the Heavenly Star Chess. Now that the transmission was complete, the residual consciousness within it disappeared, and it could no longer maintain its operation, so it naturally disintegrated.

But...

If you're going to disintegrate, at least wait until after my assessment, when no one is paying attention. Breaking down now... how am I supposed to explain this?

His hand reached the old man, and the true energy in his body surged into the other's body, trying to keep it intact. Unexpectedly, if he hadn't applied true energy, it would have been fine, but as soon as the true energy touched it...

"Boom!" The puppet directly exploded, turning into powder.

The nearby chessboard and small pavilion also seemed to lose the power to sustain themselves, collapsing into a pile of ruins.

"Holy crap..."

Zhang Xuan was frantic.

I really meant well, wanting to keep this puppet around a bit longer. Who would have thought... this would happen!

Actually, thinking about it carefully, he understood. The puppet was sustained by a strand of consciousness, and that consciousness used soul witchcraft methods; otherwise, it couldn't have easily transmitted knowledge through the soul...

For soul witchcraft, his Heavenly Dao true energy was the greatest nemesis. Originally, it was just ordinary cracking, but once it came into contact with his true energy, it exploded...

He turned his head to look around and saw everyone staring at him with wide eyes, as if seeing a monster.

"See? It exploded again!"

"I told you it would break, but you didn't believe me..."

"The puppet had already admitted defeat, yet Teacher Zhang still wouldn't let it go and forcefully blew it up... That's too much!"

"Yeah, but if he didn't do this, how could he live up to his reputation as the demolition maniac?"

...

The crowd lowered their voices.

They thought that just playing chess would be safe, but unexpectedly, just like the first three levels, no matter how precious the treasure, when it fell into Teacher Zhang's hands, there was only one outcome... destruction!

If it was stubborn... he would find a way to make it break down...

"..."

Hearing these comments, Zhang Xuan felt like spitting blood.

I really didn't mean it. My intention just now was truly to save him...

In the first three levels, one thing led to another, and I had no choice. Now... I really just want to be a good person!

"Broke again?"

Hall Master Kang and the others looked at each other, simultaneously feeling relieved that during the selection in Ten Thousand Kingdoms City, they hadn't used any treasures... otherwise, their Master Teacher Pavilion would have been left destitute.

"My Heavenly Star Chess..."

His vision went dark, and Hong Shi's lips trembled.

He had accumulated who knows how many years to get treasures like the Ghost Domain Phantom City, the Alien Clan, the Book of Panning the River, and the Heavenly Star Chess... and after one assessment, they were all wiped out by this Teacher Zhang, returning to square one.

His heart felt as if stabbed by a knife, bleeding profusely.

However, although others hadn't seen clearly what happened, he was close and had good eyesight, so he saw it very clearly.

The puppet shattered on its own; Teacher Zhang wanted to save it, but... it backfired, and he ended up helping to blow it up.

But even so, it was because he made the other admit defeat that led to this result...

If he had known this would happen, why bother with the selection tournament? He might as well have gone straight to the challenge!

After struggling for a while, he exhaled a breath and forcibly held back.

Now he could only go to the Hongyuan Empire, find Hall Master Mo, and explain the situation to see if he could get some compensation. Otherwise... he really wouldn't be able to cry even if he wanted to.

"Teacher Zhang made the puppet admit defeat with one stone, indicating that he has fully understood the rules of Heavenly Star Chess. Everyone has no objection to this, right?"

Suppressing his frustration, he looked around.

"Mm!" Everyone nodded.

Although they thought this fool on the stage was an undeniable demolition maniac, they had to admit that he indeed possessed skills and means that ordinary people could hardly match.

"Teacher Zhang is the last one. Since he passed, it means the selection tournament is over. It's getting late now, so without further ado, let's proceed directly to the battle tournament!"

Hong Shi continued.

With the four-level selection tournament over, it was time for the battles.

"The rules of the battle tournament are simple: draw lots to determine the order. Those who are drawn will face off in pairs. They can compete in martial arts or in various master teacher abilities, such as mental state calibration, teaching and nurturing, understanding of cultivation, pointing out flaws and deficiencies, etc."

"The winner advances, the loser is eliminated, until the top ten are selected!"

Hong Shi looked around: "Any questions?"

"No!"

Everyone quickly nodded.

This was not much different from a normal master teacher competition; the rules were very simple.

"Alright, now after the selection, there are 27 people left. For the first round, it's fairest to have 16 people advance. That means... in the first round of battles, five people will directly advance without needing to compete!"

Hong Shi said.

For an elimination tournament to be fair, there is a specific competition method. No matter how many participants there are, after the first round, the number must be a multiple of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32...

Only with such a match-up can it be ensured that in the end, only two people compete for first place.

"Alright, let's start drawing lots!"

After explaining the rules, Hong Shi waved his hand, and someone below handed over the prepared items. The remaining twenty-seven people stepped forward one after another to draw.

Zhang Xuan also followed and quickly drew one.

He glanced at the content and shook his head.

It seemed his luck wasn't good; he hadn't drawn one of the five byes.

"I got a bye..."

Just as he was lamenting, he saw Ruohuan Gongzi looking over excitedly. He took his slip and indeed saw the words "Group A, Number 1, Bye" written on it.

While his slip read "Group D, Number 2."

"The competition is divided into four groups: A, B, C, D. Each group has numbers 1, 2, 3, 4. Those who draw the same number will compete. Those marked with 'bye' will directly advance to the top sixteen!"

Seeing that everyone had finished drawing, Hong Shi said.

"For the competing pair, the content of the competition is determined by the ranking of the previous grand competition. That is... the higher-ranked faction from the last master teacher grand competition has the priority to choose the competition content. Of course, the opponent can refuse, but only once. The second time, they must compete according to the opponent's requirements!"

This was the same as the previous competition rules; no further explanation was needed for everyone to understand.

"Alright, now the competition begins. Group A, Number 1 has a bye. The two who drew Group A, Number 2, please come to the Group A arena!"

After speaking, he waved his hand, and the last patch of mist on the round platform disappeared, revealing four small arenas, each marked with the large characters A, B, C, D below.

Two young men, holding their slips, walked up at the same time.