That idiot from the Sword Sect turned out to be a lucky charm.

Chapter 13 Knockout Round

Lin Jun only realized Lin Zhifeng was there after he finished speaking; Lin Zhifeng had genuinely been a fool before. Now that their relationship had improved, it wouldn't be good for his brother to misunderstand him by speaking like this.

He quickly tried to smooth things over: "Brother, don't take it to heart. I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about that idiot who got promoted directly!"

Lin Jun's brothers had all checked their results, and none of them had won. They all cursed and grumbled together, but they had found a common goal.

Lin Zhifeng, however, was in no hurry to check. He had a vague guess—he was probably the one who would be the target of everyone's criticism and condemnation. So it was best not to check in such a public place.

Lin Jun, being a curious fellow, put his arm around Lin Zhifeng's shoulder and said enthusiastically, "Little Lin, what lot did you draw? Why don't you take a look? What if it's you!"

Lin Zhifeng sighed and reached into his sleeve to touch the bamboo skewer. He thought to himself, "You guys are asking for trouble, so don't blame me!"

He fumbled for a while before finally pulling out the bamboo skewer, which had already dampened Lin Jun's impatient nature. Lin Jun snatched the bamboo skewer and wanted to examine it first.

"Damn it!" Lin Jun couldn't help but curse after just one glance.

He held Lin Zhifeng's bamboo skewer, his mouth agape.

His brothers, who had been making a lot of noise just moments before, realized what was going on when they saw Lin Jun's expression. However, they wisely kept quiet.

Lin Jun jumped up and shoved the bamboo skewer into Lin Zhifeng's arms, saying to Lin Zhifeng, "You should hurry home while things are in chaos. If others find out you're the lucky one, they might eat you alive."

Lin Zhifeng was touched that Lin Jun was so considerate of him. It seemed that his assessment of him as a kind-hearted playboy was accurate.

Lin Zhifeng smiled slightly and said, "In that case, I'll take my leave first. Good luck, senior brother. I'll be watching your match and cheering you on."

Lin Jun felt conflicted after hearing this: on the one hand, his newly made good friend was there to cheer him on, which made him feel very proud; on the other hand, he was likely to be eliminated in the first round, which made him feel very embarrassed.

In the end, Lin Jun chose the former. After all, in his opinion, if Lin Zhifeng hadn't had a bye, he would likely have lost in the first round just like them. Since everyone was a loser, then no one should laugh at anyone else!

Three days later, the first round of the Golden Core stage competition was held in the training ground.

The Sword Sect's training ground is actually a magical artifact. From the outside, it looks like a stadium. Inside the stadium's main gate is a protective barrier.

Inside the barrier is a vast space capable of accommodating tens of thousands of people simultaneously for martial arts competitions. Furthermore, the barrier contains a special defensive array. This ensures that even the greatest damage inflicted by the competitors is contained within this training ground.

Fortunately, there was such a barrier and the support of the magic array; otherwise, if the Sword Sect disciples started practicing their swordsmanship, their sword energy would have razed the Sword Sect to the ground long ago.

The elders of the Sword Sect who were in charge of the competition had divided the arena into a thousand arenas early in the morning. The Golden Core disciples of the Sword Sect who were participating were divided into pairs to fight, and this process was repeated several dozen times to complete the first round of selection.

Since Lin Zhifeng had said he would cheer for Lin Jun, he actually went to Lin Jun's martial arts arena that day.

Fortunately, there were still quite a few people who hadn't had their turn yet, watching from the sides of the various arenas. Otherwise, the fact that Lin Zhifeng was a "lucky bye" wouldn't have been able to be kept secret.

Lin Jun is also very tight-lipped.

He was the only one who actually saw Lin Zhifeng's signature. Although his brothers guessed it, since Lin Jun didn't say anything, they wisely kept quiet.

So, apart from Lin Jun and his group, no one else knew that Lin Zhifeng had a bye.

With a command from the elder, the first round of the competition officially began.

Lin Jun jumped onto the arena. His opponent was a senior disciple in the late Golden Core stage, an inner disciple without a master. He was already quite old, with gray hair and beard.

The lifespan limit for the Golden Core stage is three hundred years. If one cannot form a Nascent Soul before that, then one has to start a new life. Therefore, this senior brother cultivated extremely diligently and showed no mercy in his duel with Lin Jun. He hoped to break into the top one hundred to obtain the sect's rewards, which would allow him to break through to the Nascent Soul stage.

Lin Jun, being only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, was two minor realms weaker than his opponent, so his defeat was inevitable. However, he had the advantage of agile movement, as his father, the Seventh Elder, possessed the best lightness skill in the Sword Sect. With his family's inherited lightness skill manual, he was quite adept at dodging his senior brother's attacks.

The senior apprentice wanted a quick victory, but he was helpless against Lin Jun. Lin Jun was as slippery as an eel, dodging his attacks with skillful footwork. Later in the fight, Lin Jun even sheathed his sword and darted around the arena.

Lin Jun's brothers on the sidelines were slapping their thighs and laughing uncontrollably. Lin Zhifeng shook his head helplessly and said, "Senior Brother Lin Jun, you should just admit defeat and not waste your time. Save your energy for the next match."

Lin Jun thought to himself, "That makes sense. We definitely can't win this match. Why waste our energy?"

So he stopped running and decisively admitted defeat.

The senior apprentice, who had been chasing him for half a day, had his hair and beard all disheveled. He was also furious, pointing at him with a trembling right index finger: "You..." He couldn't say anything for a long time.

Lin Junchao clasped his hands in a fist salute and then jumped off the stage with a "whoosh".

Lin Jun took the spirit tea that Lin Zhifeng handed him, took a big gulp, and then said with a grin, "How was it? Did I do a good job, brother?"

Lin Zhifeng made a six with both hands and praised, "Your movement technique is quite impressive!"

Lin Jun said with a smug look, "That's right! I didn't expect you to have such good taste."

Next, Lin Jun's cronies also went up to compete one after another. The result was that they all lost, and they all ended up competing together for the final 100 spots.

Lin Zhifeng watched dozens of matches this time. There were some players stronger than him, but not many. He roughly calculated that he was almost certain to rank 100th, and 50th shouldn't be a problem either. But ranking higher was uncertain, since there were too many outstanding disciples in the Sword Sect.

It was getting dark when this round of the competition finally came to a complete end.

The presiding elder announced the new competition date. Three days later, the second and third rounds of the elimination group would take place.

That day, Lin Jun won in the second round. Although he missed out on the prize, he also avoided the punishment. Finally, he could go home and explain to his father! Lin Jun was overjoyed!

Lin Jun's brothers mostly won in the third round of the competition. Only a dozen or so of his underlings suffered two consecutive defeats, putting them in a precarious situation.

Lin Jun got angry just looking at these guys. "Why don't you guys ever work hard? You can't compare to us! We play games because we're naturally gifted. Do you even have the right to play?"

All the younger brothers: "..."

You played just one game today and managed to keep your ranking from being relegated. You're really something! Anyone who didn't know better would think you won the championship!

The underlings dared not speak out in anger, suffering a double blow to their spirit and body.

Seeing their dejected looks, Lin Zhifeng couldn't help but laugh and said, "Don't worry too much! In my opinion, it's not a big problem. From what I've observed today, the stronger ones have all managed to avoid relegation. Most of the rest are about the same level as you, and there are many who are even worse than you."

"I've done a rough calculation, and you might need to play six or seven matches in the next competition. In the first few matches, if there's a significant gap in skill between you and your opponents, and you're certain you can't win, then concede as soon as possible and don't waste your energy and stamina. In the last match, everyone will be roughly equal in skill, and everyone will be exhausted. If you can conserve more energy, you'll win."

His underlings, seeing how logically he spoke, naturally chose to believe him.

You know what, you really can't believe it, after this fool's soul returned to its place, not only was he no longer foolish, but he was even smarter than the average person. How come?

Three days later, Lin Zhifeng and Lin Jun gathered at the martial arts arena again.

There are far fewer people watching the match this time. First of all, those who won in the first round definitely won't come to watch this "battle of the weak." Almost none of the winners from last time came either.

Lin Jun's group of brothers, those who hadn't passed the test yet, used the method Lin Zhifeng had suggested in today's match.