Chapter 167 - 167
Chapter 167: The Tiansheng Grand Tournament (1)
Atop Chengtian Mountain, Lu Xiaoyao did not enter the Secret Realm alongside the other Primordial Sacred Land disciples. Instead, he wandered Chengtian Mountain on his own.
After all, in his entire life, aside from the time spent in Secret Realms, he had never truly walked anywhere by himself.
Looking at the crowds flowing across Chengtian Mountain, Lu Xiaoyao was filled with emotion.
Before long, he would be leaving the Tiansheng Continent. When he might return was anyone's guess.
After taking in the sights of Chengtian Mountain, Lu Xiaoyao finally turned toward the entrance to the Tiansheng Grand Tournament's world. He took a single step and appeared inside the Stellar Realm.
"Brother, where did you go?"
Inside the Stellar Realm, Lu Xiaoyao returned to Lu Qingyun's side. She looked at him with some curiosity.
Lu Xiaoyao shook his head lightly.
"Nowhere special. Just looking around. By the way, where's Dad?"
"I'm right here."
Having just finished dealing with the Ghost Lightning Immortal Emperor, Lu Xunxian suddenly appeared. His eyes were calm, and a single glance was all he needed to take in the entire situation within the Stellar Realm.
With the Heavenly Dao's assistance, the Stellar Realm had been divided into countless arenas to accommodate the participants' battles.
At that moment, Ye Wushuang walked up to Lu Xunxian and handed him a roster.
"Senior Lu, this is the participant list for this Tiansheng Grand Tournament."
Looking at the roster in his hands, Lu Xunxian furrowed his brow in confusion.
"So... why are you giving this to me?"
Ye Wushuang looked slightly embarrassed but spoke up nonetheless.
"Senior, I felt you might need it."
But Lu Xunxian pushed the roster back to him and waved his hand.
"I don't. Unless you think someone here can defeat the three of them?"
Ye Wushuang glanced toward Lu Xiaoyao and the other two and fell silent.
Indeed. They were at the Peak of the Saint Emperor Realm. There was really no need to worry about the other participants.
Nearby, Chen Wangu also sidled over, his gaze fixed on a figure in the distance.
"Well, I didn't expect the Qingfeng Sacred Land's prodigy to have broken through to Saint Emperor."
"If not for Xiaoyao, Qingyun, and Qianxue, the championship of this Tiansheng Grand Tournament would probably be his."
By the end, Chen Wangu's voice carried genuine admiration.
Never before in the history of the Tiansheng Grand Tournament had there been a Saint Emperor participant. This time, four had appeared at once. It made Chen Wangu wonder whether some major upheaval was about to befall the Tiansheng Continent.
But he didn't dwell on it. With this guy beside him, what could possibly go wrong?
Before long, the matchup information was distributed to Lu Xiaoyao and the other two.
Their opponents didn't hail from any major forces--at least, not major when compared to the level of the Primordial Sacred Land.
None of the three faced particularly strong opponents. They were all merely at the Emperor Realm.
In any other Tiansheng Grand Tournament, such opponents might have secured a respectable ranking. Unfortunately, this tournament was extraordinarily terrifying: there were several hundred Saint Kings alone, to say nothing of the Emperor Realm participants.
The total number had exceeded ten thousand. The scale was staggering.
But the Tiansheng Grand Tournament's format was simply a larger version of any ordinary sect competition.
After the matchups were released, the actual matches would begin the following day. Then it was one round per day, with losers eliminated, until the last one standing was crowned the champion of the Tiansheng Grand Tournament.
As for how opponents were assigned, it was done randomly by a Spirit Artifact forged by a Twelfth-Grade Artifact Forger from the Heaven-Forging Sect. The process was scrupulously fair.
Looking at the information on her opponent, Feng Qingyu's expression was grave.
Her opponent was a Late Emperor Realm cultivator.
"Qingyu, do you think you can handle it?"
Gu Tiansheng stood at Feng Qingyu's side, also reading the matchup.
"Don't worry. As a disciple of the Qingfeng Sacred Land, if I can't even beat a Late Emperor Realm cultivator, I have no right to call myself a Qingfeng Sacred Land disciple."
Feng Qingyu didn't take this opponent seriously at all.
But her expression remained grave nonetheless.
Whatever information the Primordial Sacred Land could obtain, the Qingfeng Sacred Land could as well.
Upon learning that several hundred Saint Kings were participating in this Tiansheng Grand Tournament, Feng Qingyu knew she probably wouldn't crack the top hundred.
How frustrating. If she had just ten more years to break through to the Saint King Realm, she could have made the top hundred.
But time was part of one's fortune.
So she could only hope she wouldn't encounter a Saint King opponent too early, leaving herself enough time to attempt her breakthrough to the Saint King Realm during the tournament itself.
As for Gu Tiansheng, his opponent was not weak--a Saint King.
But relative to Gu Tiansheng himself, it was still far from enough.
In the blink of an eye, the second day arrived.
The Tiansheng Grand Tournament didn't have many formalities. All one needed was to register. There were no cultivation restrictions; the only requirement was that participants be under five hundred years of age.
And of course, there were no rules against killing. One could choose to surrender.
Otherwise, after seeing how many Saint Kings were participating, what Emperor Realm cultivator would be foolish enough to enter?
"Everyone, these are your identity tokens. Simply channel your Spiritual Energy into the token, and you will be transported directly to your designated battle arena."
The Grand Elder of the Thunder Sacred Land addressed the assembled participants.
They had been given identity tokens upon registration, also forged by the Heaven-Forging Sect. The tokens had quite a few functions.
For instance, the moment a token's owner uttered the word "surrender," they would be immediately transported out of the Stellar Realm and forfeit their right to compete.
Hearing the Grand Elder's words, the participants' expressions grew solemn. One after another, they channeled their Spiritual Energy into their tokens and were transported to their respective battle arenas.
"Old Shen, who do you think will win the championship this time?"
Once the participants had all entered, the Grand Elder of the Heavenly Light Sacred Land strolled up to the Thunder Sacred Land's Grand Elder, his tone familiar and at ease.
The two shared a close friendship. After becoming their respective Sacred Lands' Grand Elders, they had always been the ones to lead their disciples to the Tiansheng Grand Tournament.
The Grand Elder of the Thunder Sacred Land, Shen Leiyuan, shook his head.
"Hard to say, but I'd wager the Qingfeng Sacred Land's Holy Son has the best odds."
With that, Shen Leiyuan's piercing gaze turned to the arena where Gu Tiansheng was fighting.
With a single strike, Gu Tiansheng had effortlessly killed his Mid Saint King opponent. On top of that, the Qingfeng Sacred Land had protected Gu Tiansheng well--he wore a Twelfth-Grade Spirit Treasure that concealed his cultivation.
So even a Late Saint Emperor powerhouse like Shen Leiyuan couldn't discern Gu Tiansheng's true realm.
However, being able to kill a Mid Saint King in one blow meant Gu Tiansheng's strength was at minimum at the Peak of the Saint King Realm.
At such a level, he would be considered an extraordinarily rare existence in any previous Tiansheng Grand Tournament.
The Grand Elder of the Heavenly Light Sacred Land, Xu Wanguang, nodded in agreement.
As for their own Sacred Lands, neither had any particularly outstanding seedlings, so they didn't believe their disciples could claim the championship.
On another front, Lu Xiaoyao's opponent was an Early Saint King.
Upon seeing his opponent, Lu Xiaoyao couldn't help but sigh. He looked at the man before him, his eyes full of pity.
"Just surrender. You're no match for me."
A mere Early Saint King--what right did he have to trade blows with a Peak Saint Emperor?