sinovels Chapter 530 Han Yueshan! The Grand Competition Begins!
Chapter 530 Han Yueshan! The Grand Competition Begins!
Afterwards, Master Feihe led the group from Shangyun Sect through the city gate and walked along the main street paved with bluestone toward the center of the city.
The prosperity of Huangzhou City far surpasses that of Qingyun City.
Shops lined both sides of the street, selling pills, magical artifacts, talismans, and spirit beasts in close succession. Cultivators came and went in an endless stream, with Foundation Establishment cultivators everywhere, and occasionally one or two Core Formation cultivators walking with their hands behind their backs.
A faint spiritual aura permeated the air; though not particularly strong, it was far superior to that of Luoyun Mountain.
Most of the disciples of Shangyun Sect had never been to Huangzhou City before, and they looked around with great curiosity.
Lu Xiong stared so intently that he almost bumped into a stone pillar while staring at a roadside stall selling spirit beasts.
Chen Fan followed at the back of the group, his divine sense habitually scanning the surroundings. There weren't many Nascent Soul cultivators in the city. Besides Master Feihe, there were three or four others, one of whom was exceptionally powerful, far surpassing ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators. He was likely the city lord of this Desolate Continent City.
After passing through several streets and alleys, the group soon arrived at the main hall of Huangzhou City in the center of the city.
The main hall occupies a vast area and is entirely constructed of white jade, which gleams softly in the midday sun.
Two ten-zhang-tall stone pillars with coiled dragons stood before the hall, each dragon holding a fist-sized luminous pearl in its mouth, which emitted a faint glow even in daylight. The hall doors were wide open, and on each side stood a row of guards clad in black armor, all at the late Foundation Establishment stage, their eyes fixed straight ahead, exuding an imposing aura.
"Fellow Daoists, please follow me." A middle-aged cultivator dressed in a blue official robe came out to greet them, leading them into the hall with a smile.
The interior of the hall is even more spacious, enough to accommodate a thousand people.
In the center stands a high platform, upon which sits a rosewood chair, the back of which is carved with a lifelike golden roc spreading its wings as if about to take flight.
Three rows of seats were set up on each side of the stage, and many cultivators had already taken their seats.
Chen Fan glanced around and saw people from the Golden Sword Sect, Hundred Herbs Valley, Iron Sword Manor, Wind and Thunder Pavilion, Yellow Sand Sect, and Spirit Ruins Sect.
The six sects each occupied a region, clearly distinct from one another.
The Shangyun Sect is located at the very end, right next to the palace gate, and furthest from the high platform.
This is a clear sign of looking down on the Shangyun Sect.
Master Feihe remained calm and led the group to take their seats at the end of the table.
Although Li Changhe and the others looked angry, they dared not say anything and could only swallow their anger.
After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the hall suddenly fell silent.
A powerful aura surged from the back of the hall, pressing down on the entire area as if it were a tangible force.
Chen Fan's eyes flickered slightly. The aura of this person was far more profound than that of Master Feihe, and he was already at the peak of the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, only half a step away from the late stage.
The newcomer was none other than Han Yueshan, the Iron-Crowned Scholar and the city lord of Desolate Continent.
Han Yueshan looked to be in his forties, with a thin face, a long beard on his chin, an iron-gray square crown, and a black official robe embroidered with a silver-lined eagle.
He walked steadily to the high platform, sat down on the rosewood chair, and his gaze swept slowly across the entire venue.
The hall was completely silent.
Han Yueshan spoke, his voice not loud, yet clearly reaching everyone's ears: "Fellow Daoists, you have come from afar, and on behalf of the Great Yu Cultivation Kingdom, I extend my warmest welcome. Today's Great Competition in the Desolate State will proceed as usual. It will be an elimination system by drawing lots; the winners will advance, and the losers will be eliminated. On the arena, life and death are irrelevant. Whoever is stronger will stay—it's that simple."
These words immediately caused a low commotion inside the hall.
Those disciples who had initially held onto a sliver of hope, their expressions changed.
You should know that many of them had heard that the selection of those to be enshrined was based on innate talent and comprehension, and that cultivation level was not the only criterion. That's why so many Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators were scrambling to participate.
But now, with just one sentence from this city lord, all illusions have been shattered.
Without the ability, they don't even have the right to enter.
Han Yueshan seemed oblivious to the commotion below and continued:
"The seven sects have a total of one hundred people. The competition will be held over three days. The top thirty-two will be determined on the first day, the top eight on the second day, and the top three on the third day. The top three will qualify to participate in the Great Yu Kingdom Grand Competition."
He waved his hand, and a row of disciples stepped out from the side of the hall, each holding a bronze plate with a jade slip on it.
"Each person infuses a wisp of spiritual energy into the jade slip, which will randomly generate a number. Those with the same number will be opponents."
The bronze plates were presented to the disciples of each sect in turn.
Chen Fan took the jade slip, and with a slight release of spiritual energy from his fingertips, a number appeared on the jade slip!
Forty-three.
He glanced at the jade disc facing him without leaving a trace.
One hundred people, fifty pairs, his opponent is number forty-four.
The information about the opponents has not yet been displayed on the jade disc; it will be announced after everyone has drawn their lots.
The drawing of lots was completed quickly. Han Yueshan stood up and waved his sleeve: "The arena is set up in the martial arts training ground behind the main hall. Please follow me."
The crowd filed out, passed through the back door of the main hall, and suddenly a bright and open space opened up before them.
The training ground was several times larger than the Asking Heaven Platform, covering a radius of nearly a thousand feet. The ground was paved with hard, dark blue stone, and the stone surface was engraved with defensive array patterns.
At each of the four corners of the training ground stood a pillar, with a fist-sized spirit stone suspended atop each pillar, emitting a soft glow.
There was a viewing platform set up on the sidelines, with seven seats arranged in a row, with no distinction between high and low ranks, treating everyone equally.
Chen Fan was not scheduled to participate in the first day's matches and was instead placed on the viewing platform to watch.
Disciples from the seven sects took turns ascending the stage, their movements accompanied by bursts of spiritual light and the resounding booms of magical treasures. The disciples of the Golden Sword Sect were the most eye-catching, their sword light unparalleled in its sharpness, often dispatching their opponents from the stage in just three to five moves.
Although the disciples of Baicaogu are slightly weaker in combat, they have a variety of strange poison techniques that are hard to guard against.
The body cultivators of Iron Sword Manor possessed formidable physical strength, charging about like ferocious humanoid beasts.
What's most chilling is the ruthless killing on the ring.
In the first match, a Foundation Establishment Grand Perfection disciple from the Golden Sword Sect faced off against a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator from the Spirit Ruins Sect.
The two exchanged no more than ten moves when the Golden Sword Sect disciple cleaved his opponent and his magical weapon in two with a single sword strike.
Blood splattered on the dark blue stone ground, slowly flowing along the grooves of the array patterns. The elders of the Lingxu Sect had ashen faces, but could only order their men to collect the corpses.
In the third match, a Core Formation stage early-stage body cultivator from the Huangsha Sect faced off against a Foundation Establishment stage perfect-stage cultivator from the Iron Sword Manor.
The body cultivator's fist strikes were as powerful as a mountain, each punch carrying terrifying force. The cultivator from Iron Sword Manor barely managed to block three punches, but when the fourth punch landed, his protective aura shattered, and he was smashed into a pile of minced meat.
In the fifth match, a female disciple from Baicao Valley faced off against a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from Fenglei Pavilion.
The female disciple looked frail, but her attacks were extremely vicious.
She merely flicked her sleeve, and a wisp of colorless and odorless poisonous mist drifted over. Before the Wind and Thunder Pavilion cultivator could react, his entire body turned black, blood flowed from his seven orifices, and he screamed as he collapsed to the ground, lifeless within moments.
The stench of blood lingered in the air above the training ground for a long time.