After messing around like any other day, Shen Tianyu and Rong Jian arrived at the plaza again . The tension in the air was so thick, one could practically see it, completely unlike the day before when the atmosphere was still somewhat amicable . The official again took the center stage to announce more details of the second round .

"The second round will be held right here on This stage . In this round, only two pairs, in other words, four people are allowed to advance . However, do not be too discouraged . The fifth place in Jing Country's roster will be decided by the individual performance of those that lost . With that said, there is only one fifth place spot so you need to stand out amongst the rest . Brave cultivators, we all wish you good luck!" The official stepped down from the stage and started walking away with several guards . He then walked to a table with a big roll of paper and picked it up . With the he had help of some guards, he managed to pin the map-sized paper on the billboard covering up all the advertis.e.m.e.nts on it .

He then turned back to the cultivators . "This is how the tournament will go . You have all been paired up already . I no a tournament format, you will fight with the opposing pair . The one that wins will move on and fight the next pair . The last two remaining pairs will be the elected winners and proceed to the Finals, which will decide their placings on the roster . "

Shen Tianyu looked over at the map like paper . On it were drawn various lines, just like the typical tournament outline . She and Rong Jian were placed on the furthest left, maybe because they were both the first to finish in the first round and one of the first to register for the second round as a pair . Their first opponent was not someone she knew or had any recognition of . They probably were not from the Second Stage in the last round . She looked around a bit more and found some more names she more or less recognized . The Junzhu Wen Ya wasn't placed in the middle of the ma.s.s of names, they'll probably meet in the semifinals of this tournament then . The Crown Prince was placed on the other end, opposite from them, on the right . She didn't need to question why that was if the names were listed by order of registration . Rong Jian and her battle prowess were not a mystery and a man that could become the Crown Prince out of all the princes in the palace would not be an incautious man . Well, Shen Tianyu currently has no beef with him so she didn't care care what he did .

She turned away from the listing and led Rong Jian onto the stage . They were up first . When they got on the stage, she turned to the official and asked a question . "What would be considered forfeiting a match? How long does a contestant have to wait for the opposing side isn't it considered forfeit of the match?"

The other contestants started looking at each other, perhaps not sure why she would ask that . Some were secretly hoping she would voluntarily drop out . Others were a bit more skeptical .

"Since this is an important event and time is precious, half a s.h.i.+chen would mean a forfeit . " The official responded .

Shen Tianyu nodded her head and faced forward again . She folded her arms waiting for their opponent . Before long, she glanced at the Tournament listing again . "Who's our opponent? Hurry and come up, I don't have all the time in the world . One can do a lot in half a s.h.i.+chen you know . "

When she said that, a pair of young men that were looking at the tournament listing blushed heavily and hurriedly rushed onto the stage . They were the opponents but had been too preoccupied to notice that it wasn't their names were second .

One of the youths, who wore a plain gra.s.s green robe, bowed with cupped hands and hurriedly apologized . "This Miss, I my very sorry for the delay . " The other, in a purple robe, followed along to apologize .

Shen Tianyu relaxed her posture and waved her hand . "Since you have apologized, I not hold it against you . Do forgive us if we are too hard on you during the duel . "

The two youths replied back with courteous words . And the official signaled the start of the match . The courteous youths immediately dropped their respectful faces and took on guarded expressions . Shen Tianyu's expression was then same as before and Rong Jian's expression didn't change at all . Or rather, even if his expression had changed, no one could tell since they couldn't see it beneath that golden mask .

The youth in a gra.s.s green robe attacked first . He lunged at Shen Tianyu with the wooden sword provided, the wooden swords would be provided throughout the tournament . Rong Jian, to everyone's surprise, just stood back . The man who would threaten a favored second-rank princess for her in broad daylight would just stand back as another cultivator attacked her? Many people could not make sense of his action . Though they did remember that she finished her stage in the first round the quickest, many had already made various excuses to degrade her overwhelming and dominating victory . After all, women were supposed to be beneath men, how could a woman with no t.i.tle that came from nowhere, be above them? The other female contestants too, they must have pulled some tricks or used their beauty to win .

The second youth then launched himself at Rong Jian . 'Looks like they are trying to separate our manpower?' Shen Tianyu thought as she looked on .

Shen Tianyu's opponent was almost right in front of her yet she still hasn't not made a move . Some were starting to seriously doubt her earlier prowess, thinking that she was scared .

The formerly courteous youth swung down his sword with ferocity . However, Shen Tianyu blocked it with one arm holding her sword again . The same thing she did at the beginning of the first round .