Sect Leader's Rise to the top!

Kai sized up Hou Zhou and the hidden cultivator. These two were the strongest people here that he would likely have to fight himself.

[Human -[699 Qi] E- Rank]

[Human -[812 Qi] E- Rank]

"There will be six participants on each side. You will all battle at once. The side that has the last person standing will win the challenge for their side...begin!", said the Twin Lions Sect's liaison.

Kai gestured for Craftsmaster Lee to stay put then motioned for his disciples to move forward. Mina brandished her twin pick hammers and jumped and took the lead with old Lao and Ryu following closely behind.

As for Kai, he made no moves while keeping an eye on Hou Zhou and the mysterious figure. He wanted his disciples to gain some battle experience, so he didn't intend to do anything unless there was a real threat of danger.

Hou Zhou and the mysterious figure also seemed content to do nothing and just watch for now. Hou Zhou sent his three men and Xu Wei forward while he folded his arms and observed.

"Be careful, they don't seem ordinary...", Hou Zhou said to Xu Wei Inna serious voice.

Xu Wei nodded her head casually as she pulled out her barbed whip. With one simple motion, she cracked the whip towards Mina. The attack was so fast that it only made a sound when it was halfway to reaching Mina's head.

However, Mina was able to dodge the attack by easily sliding left. This came as a surprise to Xu Wei who had not expected her attack to be dodged so easily. After her battle with Kai, Xu Wei learned how difficult it was to attack a target that could dodge her attacks, so she had practiced her whip speed and accuracy to the point of exhaustion. Her speed had improved drastically within this short time, so seeing this was frustrating to her.

Mina had no idea what was going on inside Xu Wei's head as she sprinted forward. When the gap between the two was shortened, Mina brought her twin-hammers down towards Xu Wei's head, forcing her to move backward. Xu Wei noticed the attack's lack of force which raised her alertness level.

"Something is off...was that a feint!?", she thought as she moved her body to the right, narrowly dodging Ryu's incoming claw attack aimed at her head. The attack was perfectly timed and came from her blind spot. Mina's casual attack had been a ploy to catch Xu Wei off guard. Had Xu Wei not moved at that exact moment, she would have been dead.

Xu Mei took multiple steps back when she realized the amount of danger that she was in. "Disengage! and regroup!" she yelled. The three veterans understood what she meant and immediately stopped their charge and tried to disengage, however, it was too late. They were face to face with old Lao who had used their slight hesitation to launch a surprise attack. With one long stride, he reached the closest of the three and thrust his spear toward the man.

The spear connected with the man's scale armor, violently pushing him back. The man was sent rolling across the ground. When he finally landed, he felt a sharp pain in his chest and realized that his armor had started to crack.

"What force!... If that spear was of higher quality, I would have been dead already..." thought the veteran with beads of sweat running down his brow while he watched old Lao slowly walk back to his group.

"It seems their armor is better than anticipated. We will have to go for the gaps rather than their vitals...", old Lao said to Ryu and Mina who had also regrouped.

Kai was more than pleased by the result of that engagement. "They don't hesitate and are now able to take advantage of their enemy's lapse in judgment. They lack killer instincts, but that should come with time I hope.", Kai thought as he overlooked the battlefield.

Hou Zhou on the other hand had a small frown on his face. The first engagement ended with his side's complete loss. He had also noticed a terrifying fact after he saw the masked people fight.

"They're all internal cultivators..." He thought with beads of sweat running down his neck. When they arrived, he knew that they had to be strong, but never in his wildest dreams would he have thought that they were all internal cultivators.

"What's going on here, Why would they fight for the Lee family?...", Hou Zhou thought as his gaze shifted back to Kai who was clearly keeping tabs on him.

The two groups were preparing to re-engage. They each knew what they were going up against.

"Hou Zhou!, what are you doing!, finish them already!", yelled Chen Dou. He had also seen the initial exchange between the two groups and it was clear that he was on the losing side. If things continued like this, then they might really lose the challenge.

He had bet his personal wealth on this challenge so he couldn't afford to lose. Hou Zhou and the mysterious figure were his only hope, but they were both just standing around doing nothing.

Hou Zhou ignored the screaming and continued to watch the fight with a serious expression on his face.

Mina re-engaged with Xu Wei, however this time she wasn't holding back. every few clashes left a small mark on Xu Wei's armor, slowly wearing it down. Xu Wei knew that were it not for Mina's low-quality hammers, her Grade-3 armor would have shattered a long time ago.

"The best I could do now is focus on attacking her. I need to end the fight before my armor is destroyed..." Xu Wei thought in a panic as her attacks increased in ferocity.

Mina continued to dodge the flurry of attacks, but this forced her to be defensive. This delay tactic was working, however, Xu Wei quickly became worried about her companions. If the other two masked people were as strong as the person she was fighting, then they would have no chance of winning without Hou Zhou and the mysterious person's help.

"Then there is that man..." she thought as her eyes subconsciously moved towards Kai. She remembered fighting him a few months ago, but compared to then, the air around him had changed completely. There was a new and terrifying aura surrounding him now.

On the other side of the battlefield, Ryu and old Lao were engaged in battle with the three body-cultivator veterans. The fight had been somewhat even when it was just Old Lao vs the three warriors. However, when Ryu joined the fight, it instantly became one-sided.

Old Lao thrust his spear aimed at the gaps between one of the men's armor. The attack was quick but predictable, so the man was able to dodge it, showing his battle experience. However, at the same moment, a perfectly timed claw-like weapon cut into his leg, making him lose his balance. The man turned around and saw Ryu yanking the chain then quickly dodging an attack from another one of the veterans.

Old Lao wouldn't let the chance slip past him as he reappeared before the now injured man. He thrust his spear into the gap in the man's shoulder armor, piercing through the man's body. This attack was initially aimed for the man's throat, but their necks were covered in thick armor.

"Too powerful!...what are these people?", yelled one of the veterans who was trying to help his downed comrade. However, Old Lao gave him a violent kick which pushed him back. Before he could rebalance himself, he felt a sudden and sharp pain in his neck, as the world around him turned dark.

"Noo!", yelled the man on the floor as he watched his comrade get decapitated. Old Lao's spear was pinning him to the ground so he could not move. He could only watch as that strange claw weapon sliced his companion's head clean off his shoulders.

Old Lao did not waste time and plunged his spear deeper into the grounded man, then stomped hard on the man's exposed head, ending his life.

The third man could do nothing but watch as his companions were killed within a matter of minutes. He had been chasing Ryu around, but Ryu had a knack for dodging all of his attacks while launching surprise attacks at his distracted companions. Before the man knew it, both of his companions were dead.

"This isn't a fight, it's a slaughter...", said the young Lee teenager as he looked on in complete horror. He subconsciously took a few steps backward, while chiding himself for being overly confident.. This wasn't a fight he could be a part of.