Overdraw the future and become a peerless martial god

Chapter 73 Challenge
After reading the letter, his hand, which was clenched tightly, had turned slightly white, his knuckles were white, and the corners of the paper were unconsciously crumpled, but he stubbornly refused to shed a single tear.

"My sister is your safest haven."

The handwriting is elegant and the signature reads "Chu Yun".

At that moment, Chu Ning felt as if a sharp blade had ripped open his chest and then quietly stitched it back together. He slowly closed his eyes, his breathing heavy, his chest heaving violently, as if he were enduring a storm.

"Sister..."

His throat tightened, and his voice sounded like it was being squeezed out from between his teeth. He abruptly stood up, only to sit back down heavily, his shoulders trembling slightly. He knew that if he took even one step, his emotions would completely break down.

Suddenly, he took a deep breath, as if trying to swallow all his surging emotions. He wiped his eyes hard, the movement swift and decisive, as if he could hide his joys and sorrows in the palm of his hand.

After a long while, he finally folded the letter again and again, carefully hiding it inside his clothes.

"Don't worry, sister. I'll bring you back after I win the Qingyun Tournament."

His voice was calm, but his eyes became sharper than ever before.

The wind swept across the roof of the Benlei Martial Arts School, making the bells under the eaves jingle, as if bidding farewell to the young man who was about to embark on his journey.

Just then, the cry of an eagle echoed through the sky.

A gust of wind tore through the sky as three black-feathered eagles swooped down from the clouds, their iron wings cleaving through the mist, their lightning-infused talons carving three scorched tracks into the ground. The lead black-armored guard landed with a tumble from beneath his black iron mask: "Black-armored guards of the Marquis of Wu's mansion, come and deliver military orders."

The three knelt down together, holding up a gilded token in their palms, the blood-stained characters "Zhenwu" on it glaringly obvious: "Reporting to the Inspector, Miss Xie has personally delivered a secret order—'Young Master Xie Jinghong, return to the manor, and be sure to come back soon.'"

"Xie Jinghong?" Chu Ning's fingertips caressed the fox-head pendant around her neck, the icy crystal patterns piercing her palm. The young master Jinghong, who mysteriously disappeared five years ago, had suddenly reappeared on the very day the Qingyun Arena opened.

He suddenly remembered the lightning-patterned ring on the corpse of the Thunder Sect disciple, with the six blood-red characters "A startled swan appears, the azure clouds are in chaos" engraved on the inside. At the time, he had only taken it as a prophecy of the martial world, but now it felt like an ice pick piercing his bone marrow.

"Xie Jinghong is back?" he repeated in a low voice, the rusty knife humming in its sheath.

A thought flashed through Chu Ning's mind: "Could it be that this Qingyun Arena was a setup from beginning to end?"

But then he shook his head. "No matter what, I am determined to get the Nine Heavens Thunder Codex."

He leaped to his feet, his robes fluttering, lightning flashing in his eyes, his voice firm as thunder: "Let's go, back to the prefectural city."

Dark clouds obscured the sun, and the cold wind was like a blade. A thousand feet in the sky, a dark figure cut through the wind, its wings like iron, slicing through the blue clouds.

It was a black-feathered eagle with a wingspan of three zhang (approximately 10 meters), its battle feathers dense, its golden eyes like torches, and on its back stood a man and a guard.

Chu Ning stood on the back of a flying eagle, his robes fluttering in the wind, and lightning flashing in his eyes.

He gazed at the neatly arranged arena array on the ground, like a chessboard, and asked in a deep voice:
"How's the Qingyun Arena going? What's the competition format?"

The black-armored guard knelt down and replied in a deep voice, "Reporting to the Inspector, this Qingyun Arena is being personally presided over by Prince Duan of the Great Qian Dynasty."

"Prince Duan?" Chu Ning's gaze sharpened slightly.

"Yes. Prince Duan and the Marquis have always disagreed on politics and often fought openly and covertly in court. Now that the Marquis is not in court, Prince Duan took the opportunity to set up the Qingyun Arena in Qingzhou, claiming it was for the greater good, but in reality, he clearly wanted to use the opportunity to suppress the prestige of the Marquis of Wu's mansion."

"Hmm." Chu Ning simply nodded, her expression unchanged, but a hint of coldness appeared in her brows.

The black-armored guard continued, "This year's Qingyun Arena uses a points system. All contestants are randomly divided into ten groups, with twenty people in each group. You have been assigned to the tenth group. Each contestant starts with three points and can challenge anyone in their group at will."

"The winner gets one point, the loser loses one point, and those with zero points are eliminated. The player with the highest score in each group advances to the next round."

Chu Ning nodded, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly asked, "I'm half a day late, so is there any unusual activity on the arena?"

The black-armored guard's expression changed slightly, and he said in a low voice, "This subordinate dares to be bold, sir, your late arrival does indeed raise the possibility that you may be disqualified by the organizing committee. That is why many people have submitted challenge applications under your name in advance."

"If you are disqualified and unable to fight, they will gain a point for free." "As far as I know, there are no fewer than a hundred people challenging you now."

Chu Ning narrowed his eyes, lightning flashing in them, and said in a deep voice, "So greedy?"

"Not only that."

The black-armored guard paused slightly, then said, "Your battle at the Marquis of Wu's mansion ten days ago, in which you killed Feng Li, a mid-level ninth-rank cultivator from the Li Huo Palace, has already spread throughout the seven states."

"Li Huo Palace is furious, and all its direct descendants have applied to the tournament to challenge you, seeking revenge for Feng Li."

"In addition, the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Zhao family of Southern Continent, Jinling Academy, and several mysterious but extremely powerful prodigies without a sect have all expressed interest in you. They... also want to test just how good you are, this 'dark horse'."

Upon hearing this, Chu Ning laughed instead of getting angry, his voice deep and thunderous: "So, I've already incurred a debt of over a hundred battles before even entering the arena?"

The black-armored guard lowered his head and remained silent, simply handing over a thick stack of challenge letters.

"Your Excellency Inspector, this is your challenge..."

Turning to the first page, the blood-red handwriting was wild and unrestrained, like a knife, slashing and piercing:

Feng Jin of Li Huo Palace challenges Chu Ning.

Note: We swear to burn our enemies to the ground and pay for our blood debts with blood!
Chu Ning's eyes narrowed, and a cold light flashed from them.

The next instant, his gaze swept towards the ninth arena.

There, waves of fire were rolling.

In one corner of the arena, a girl dressed in a crimson battle dress slowly walked out, dragging a heavy, crimson-gold halberd on the ground. The halberd tip dripped not water, but scorching hot magma. With each step she took, the floor tiles were scorched and cracked, and dragon-shaped flames rose and coiled around her body.

"She is... the wielder of the Heaven-Burning Halberd?"

"Feng Li's younger sister, Feng Jin! The most ferocious woman in Li Huo Palace!"

Upon seeing this, everyone quietly retreated several steps, feeling a stinging sensation on their skin even when they got close.

Page 2: Tianjian Sect's Jiang Rushuang challenges Chu Ning.

Note: Judging by the speed of its lightning blade, is it capable of entering my sword formation?

His gaze swept across the high platform, where a white-robed youth stood behind the disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

He stood with his eyes closed, a smile playing on his lips. Behind him, a main sword and six secondary swords floated and circled in the air, forming the Big Dipper Formation. The sword light was like a flowing river of stars, and the sword intent surged three hundred feet away. Two inner disciples had already inadvertently approached the viewing platform, their bodies slashed by the sword energy, and their sleeves were torn to shreds.

"Jiang Rushuang, the master of the Seven Star Sword Formation."

"It is said that he once single-handedly broke through a thousand-strong army formation with his sword."

Chu Ning's eyes flickered slightly as he brushed his fingertips over the next challenge letter.

Page 3: Wang Chen of the Wang Family challenges Chu Ning.

Note: After testing the blade's edge, the power to burn the heavens has been achieved.

He raised his gaze and looked towards the VIP section of the Wang family's residence.

A young man dressed in dark blue armor sat quietly among them, his posture as swift as a spear and his face as sculpted as a statue. He did not speak, but a moment before, an outer disciple who had jumped into the arena to challenge Chu Ning passed in front of him. With just a flick of his sleeve, the force of the punch exploded, sending the man flying three zhang away, coughing up blood and falling unconscious.

Wang Chen withdrew his fist, without even raising his eyelids, and simply uttered two words: "Too weak."

(End of this chapter)