Against Heaven's Will

"This man… He has got some balls. I like it," the Elf lady smiled at Xuefeng's bold move while her friend nodded, licking her lips as she eyed his body. 

All the other experts widened their eyes instead with most showing anger and annoyance. How could they not be mad? They already paid to join this group yet Xuefeng turned everything upside-down. 

He rolled up his sleeve, displaying his Elemental Bracelet to the public while grinning in their direction. 

Swooosh!

The air inside the Arena vibrated and sudden wind burst out of nowhere, blowing at the crowd. The Air Elemental Stone on the bracelet shone brightly as Xuefeng flew up, taking control over the whole Air Space. 

The ones not knowledgeable enough simply enjoyed the pleasant breeze during the hot day while the rest of the experts stood up in shock, rubbing their eyes to check if they were seeing right. Most of them were the Elders of various powers and leaders of families but a lot of individual Cultivators also joined them. 

After all, how could one achieve anything in this harsh world if they didn't even know about the Godly Treasures? Everyone who aimed high should be familiar with them!

"W-wait a second!!! Are my eyes deceiving me?! Can you see what I can see?!" The Commentator cried out in surprise, stuttering from the excitement. The people began realizing what was wrong with so many people standing up and joined them, squinting their eyes as the sun burned their eyeballs. 

All screens suddenly shifted the scene and aimed at Xuefeng's forearm, giving everyone a nice close-up. It was shaky as Xuefeng moved fast but everyone could tell what it was, a golden bracelet with one white stone in one of its nine sockets. 

"Ladies and gentlemen! It's a Godly Treasure! Liu Xuefeng has a Godly Treasure!" the Commentator finally revealed. Hearing the name, more and more people began releasing what was going on. Even if they didn't know all Godly Treasures nor did they know how they looked, at least they knew the term. 

It was the dream of every Cultivator after all. 

"Not only is his bracelet a Godly Treasure, but it's also one of the top ten strongest! I can't believe it! Wait, wait, wait! I need to get confirmation on this! Can the management of the Arena confirm it! Is this really Elemental Bracelet?!" the Commentator asked in wonder, not even knowing the truth himself. 

Xuefeng only smirked and pulled out his Dragon Edge, heading straight towards the main stage like a burning meteor. He aimed straight at the middle where nine participants of the top ten seeds stood tall. 

When they saw him coming right at them without any stop, they jumped back as if scared of him. That was exactly what he wanted. 

Swooooosh!

Golden wings spread wide near the stage and Xuefeng swung them with all his strength, stopping himself at the last moment. Although he landed gently, the momentum of the wind he carried with him crash at the stage, blasting at the other nine participants. The two girls in the group had to literally hold their chest and skirts to avoid exposing any of their privates. 

 "Everyone! I just confirmed it and it's true! The Artefact on Liu Xuefeng's arm is real! It's the Authentic Elemental Bracelet!" 

The Commentator's announcement couldn't be even more well-timed. Xuefeng gazed at the nine participants and called out casually, "Hope I didn't make you wait for too long." 

He got pleasantly surprised when his voice echoed across the Arena, reaching everyone's ears. It just couldn't get any better. They gave him all the stage to shine, just as he liked. 

Thud!

He dropped the tip of Dragon Edge on the stage floor and it instantly cracked under its weight. 

"Whoops, I guess it is too heavy," Xuefeng commented as he smiled coolly. "I guess I will be taking this stage so none of you have to fight on the broken Stage. I don't want you to use it as an excuse once you lose." 

"Oof!" the Commentator gasped. "Shots fired! Liu Xuefeng single-handedly facing all nine top Seeds! As expected of the Elemental Bracelet owner!" 

The nine top Seeds glared at him but they didn't even have the chance to speak as a stern voice warned them.

"Don't let him provoke you. He is trying to get a mental edge against you so you make mistake and fail to make finals. Stay strong and do your best in the battles. We expect big things from you." 

They all turned to the side and Xuefeng saw the very same judge that gifted him Upgrade Fragments earlier. He couldn't be happier to see him. 

"Yes, Judge!" the top Seeds nodded hurriedly, no longer bothering with Xuefeng as if the judge had some supreme authority.

"Sir! Nice to see you! To think Sir would be my judge once again. Nice!" Xuefeng called out as he pulled up his sword and walked up to him. "I'm sorry for ruining the Stage. I can battle here, no problem. I only need one attack to win anyway." 

"Confident, aren't you?" the judge asked back as his lips curved. "Sure, you can battle on the main stage but first, go line up with others. I have a few announcements to make." 

"Great! Thanks, Sir!" Xuefeng bowed in gratitude and walked towards the rest. 

He could instantly tell who did he stole the Stage as the first man from the left kept glaring at him. To spice him more, Xuefeng winked at him playfully before joining the rest. 

"Ah! And here I thought we will see some action between top Seeds right of the bat," the Commentator sighed dejectedly before introducing with newfound, "Anyhow, please welcome to the stage, our Main Judge for this Tournament! Sir Liu, take it over." 

The crowd naturally cheered but a few seconds later, they all turned quiet like a trained army, giving Sir Liu a stage to talk. 

"Everyone, thank you for coming to our Water Land Capital and attended this Grand Tournament that will display the best talents from our Land. I hope you have a great time," Sir Liu spoke calmly, causing another round of applause before finishing with a banger. 

"I don't want to stall for long so I will be short. There has been a change to the Tournament Reward System and I would like to inform everyone about it now. We happened to have a surprising number of new Sponsors who wanted to support the whole event with money and their Experience. Because of that, after the Elimination Round, over fifty of the finalist will have the chance to be taught one supreme Art by one of the Experts. All Arts will be that of at least Celestial Rank." 

Boom!

The crowd exploded with chatter. Naturally, everyone was overjoyed aside from one person and that was Xuefeng. 

'Tsk, so you want to use them to kill me, huh? Good luck with that!' Xuefeng snickered in his mind. He didn't even need Ming or Ling to figure that out. 

"The rewards will change as followed: The Tournament Winner will receive a total of one hundred and fifty thousand Upgrade Fragments of all nine elements with an added bonus of a hundred million credits. The losers will be left with nothing so try your best to win! There is a lot to fight for!" 

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Author's Real-life update: My girlfriend is safe! I'm sorry everyone for being away but I just couldn't think of writing the last couple days. My girlfriend was missing after the Typhoon and massive flood in her country and I was panicking. I'm still in Shanghai and tomorrow the Literary Convention will start. I will be busy, so don't worry if there are no chapters. I will try to write in the morning tomorrow. Cheers, and enjoy the chapter!