722 Ranking
Xu Jingming gazed skyward. Through the hazy clouds, he could barely make out the massive arena suspended in the sky.
Most of the preliminary contestants are above Level 50, and the air is like water to them; they can run effortlessly through it. Xu Jingming frowned. But stepping on air… it’s never as fast as true flight!
A winged alien could flap its wings, slicing through the air. Relying on one’s feet to step on air was much slower.
“All preliminary contestants are prohibited from touching each other during the first round of the preliminaries,” announced the golden AI robot hovering in the sky. “Once a preliminary contestant makes contact with another, they will be instantly teleported out of World Center City and disqualified from the current Myriad Species Tournament.”
The myriad species’ powerhouses expressed their surprise.
“Of course, interfering with others via intense vortices produced from your flight is permitted,” the golden AI robot continued.
Airflow interference is allowed? Xu Jingming’s heart stirred, and Shadow, Yu Yangwei, and Fengke grew serious.
The airflow unleashed by a powerhouse is still very terrifying, thought Shadow.
For example, Xu Jingming’s breath could pulverize a hill several kilometers away. The shockwaves produced by powerhouses stronger than Xu Jingming when traveling at top speed were even more terrifying.
“With more than five million powerhouses charging into the sky simultaneously and deliberately releasing shockwaves to interfere with others, a terrifying turbulence will form,” Yu Yangwei said with concern. “The weaker ones will be torn apart by these turbulences.”
The portly Fengke added, “If we can harness the air turbulence, it can instead greatly increase our speed.”
“It’s not that easy to exploit that,” said Shadow, his expression grave.
Each of the five million-plus contestants harbored their own thoughts. To them, this wasn’t just a competition but a matter of survival! Being first in the Myriad Species Arena was their only chance to make it out alive.
The golden AI robot in the sky smiled and announced, “Since the rules have been disseminated, all contestants, please get ready. Countdown begins: 5… 4… 3…”
Everyone on the vast grounds waited solemnly. An invisible electromagnetic force restrained all the preliminary contestants.
“2… 1! Begin!” The moment the golden AI robot finished speaking, the suppressive electromagnetic force vanished instantly.
“Charge!”
Xu Jingming, Shadow, Yu Yangwei, and Fengke simultaneously kicked off the ground and exerted their strength. They shot into the sky like cannonballs!
Those with wings rapidly gained altitude with a single flap.
In the blink of an eye, more than five million shockwaves erupted, and all the preliminary contestants soared towards the sky.
“What!? I…”
The previous Myriad Species Arena champion, Giant Celestial Kabermah, stood tall and burly. He immediately kicked off the ground and rocketed towards the sky! However, his Level 47 strength lagged far behind among the other contestants. Coupled with the immense resistance from his massive body, his ascent was painfully slow.
With just one leap, Kabermah surveyed his surroundings as he ascended and made a disheartening realization. I’m actually in the bottom 10,000?
There were over 5.03 million participants in the preliminaries, and only 10,000 would be selected after the first round.
As for Kabermah, he found himself in the bottom 10,000. His past pride shattered, and he gained a clear understanding of his strength.
The Myriad Species Arena had once been his pride. Now, there was no hope for him to clear the first round of preliminaries.
Forget it, forget it. The gap is too great. I’ll only embarrass myself if I continue trying. Kabermah ceased struggling, and his upward momentum gradually weakened under the resistance. He began his free fall when he was only about 1,000 meters away.
Soaring up and a natural descent! Kabermah looked up and calmly watched millions of figures ascend into the sky.
Many others fell naturally like Kabermah.
The gap is too great. Many of the preliminary contestants who had given up were natives, and some of them were high-dimensional lifeforms who knew their limits.
The high-dimensional lifeforms who had descended into weaker species and ranked in the bottom tens of thousands knew their place from the beginning. They harbored no thoughts of perseverance.
I can forget about the first few tournaments. I’ll focus on cultivating for thousands of years. Only when there’s not much difference in strength will I be qualified to compete. These high-dimensional lifeforms weren’t foolish. The gap was ridiculously wide, so persisting was suicidal.
…
Boom!
Airwaves surged in his ears as Xu Jingming soared skyward at breakneck speeds.
With his current strength, he could only rise to a height of 10,000 meters with a single leap! Of course, Xu Jingming naturally had to step through air to exert his strength to reach the main competition venue as quickly as possible.
Thousand Shadows Flying Crane!
Xu Jingming spread out his arms.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As Xu Jingming charged forward, he pounded the air repeatedly. With his terrifying speed, the air seemed solid, and he borrowed the force from every step to soar upward.
He swung his arms, and like a bird gracefully gaining lift from the flapping of their wings, pushed his speed to its limits.
Xu Jingming immediately saw more than a thousand figures in the sky. Most of these figures had wings.
I’m now ranked between 1,200 to 1,300. Most of the people in front of me are from the various flying species, Xu Jingming thought to himself. The flying species have a massive advantage in the first round of the selection.
However, there are many without wings who are faster than me. Xu Jingming had a solemn expression. These powerful species are indeed much stronger than me.
The one ranked first was a huge golden bird. With a flap of its wings, it stirred up terrifying shockwaves. It soared into the sky, sending shockwaves at all the preliminaries contestants below.
Of the top 20, 17 had wings, and three didn’t.
Ninth was an eight-meter-long Fire Dragonborn powerhouse.
Fifteenth was the 12-meter-tall one-armed Giant Ape King.
20th was a 63-meter-tall Mountain Demon powerhouse.
Xu Jingming was extremely afraid of these three wingless powerhouses. These three don’t have wings like me, and their bodies have greater resistance! However, they are still faster than me. It’s obvious that their strength exceeds mine.
When the three of them pounded the air, every step they took seemed to shatter space. The terrifying shockwaves they formed affected the area below, and their might was extremely terrifying.
What? This Fire Dragonborn powerhouse is faster than me? thought the one-armed Giant Ape King, secretly surprised. Despite the slight difference in height between them, the fact that the Fire Dragonborn powerhouse was flying faster made him feel threatened.
There’s also the Mountain Demon powerhouse behind me, he thought. At 63 meters tall, he faces great resistance when soaring, but he’s only slightly slower than me. He’s also a formidable opponent.
The Mountain Demon powerhouse remained expressionless. His feet were enormous, and every time he kicked off from the air, it produced a terrifying rumble, causing his huge body to constantly accelerate.
One-armed Giant Ape and Fire Dragonborn? The Mountain Demon powerhouse’s eyes turned cold. My species is currently at a life-and-death juncture, and I’m its greatest pillar! Myriad Species World… I have to become first. Nobody can stop me!
The dragons in the Myriad Species World had many family branches, including the stronger Five-Colored Dragons, Fire Dragons, and Demon Dragons. Dragons that mated with other species formed some mixed-blood Dragonborns, who were usually servants of the Dragons.
The wingless Fire Dragonborn powerhouse was ranked ninth, attracting the attention of many high-dimensional lifeforms.
“Fire Dragonborn powerhouse, who is he?”
“How strong.”
“This Fire Dragonborn powerhouse is at least in the top three in this Myriad Species Tournament,” many high-dimensional lifeforms commented.
The Fire Dragonborn powerhouse remained calm. He looked up, as if he were searching for something in the sky. So what if I’m an invincible legend? I can’t put up a fight in front of a third-realm powerhouse. I was dragged into his world and made to abide by his rules.
When will I reach the third realm? he thought.
He was a traveler, who had experienced too much in the endless dominions. His only goal now was to reach the third realm.
I’ll leave this world in the first Myriad Species Tournament, the Fire Dragonborn powerhouse thought.
To him, this was a matter of course. It had been a long, long time since he had encountered an opponent.
I hope an opponent that surprises me will appear among these five million-plus high-dimensional opponents, the Fire Dragonborn powerhouse thought.
…
“We’re already placed around 9,000. If we make a single mistake, we’ll be eliminated in the first round.” The two Giant Celestial powerhouses were very anxious. They didn’t have wings and were huge, so they suffered immense resistance.
“Attack.”
The two Giant Celestials were very decisive. They waved their palms, and terrifying shockwaves blasted in all directions.
Despite their placement at around 9,000, the two of them still held a significant advantage in strength. With a single wave of their palms, the avian species suffered a blow, causing many of them to suffer injuries and their speed to decrease.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The Fire Dragonborn, the one-armed Giant Ape King, and the Mountain Demon led the charge, stepping on the shockwaves formed by the air with all their might. Some powerhouses even took the initiative to blast out shockwaves to stop the other contestants.
Under the influence of the massive shockwaves, the airspace became terrifying.
“Pfft.”
Boom!
Some weaker avian species had their bodies shattered by the shockwaves. If they were lucky, they could rely on their severed limbs to slowly recover. If they were unlucky, they would lose their lives from fatal injuries.
Instantly, blood and feathers flew everywhere.
“Everyone’s gone insane.”
Yu Yangwei, Fengke, and Shadow stared in shock as a large number of shockwaves came from above. With too many attackers, the shockwaves affected each other, causing the airspace to become terrifyingly chaotic.
Pu.
Yu Yangwei suffered the impact of the shockwave and couldn’t help but bleed from the corner of her mouth. Fengke and Shadow struggled to hold on.
Thankfully, our area isn’t that dangerous, Yu Yangwei thought. After receiving Xu Jingming’s body tempering technique and years of cultivation, their strength ranged from Lv. 53 to 55. As small humans, their bodies were incredibly tough. Therefore, they only suffered minor injuries under the chaotic shockwaves.
Yu Yangwei, Fengke, and Shadow gazed up at the sky.
The chaotic airflow above was even more terrifying, and a large amount of blood flew everywhere. The contestants who were inferior were either dead or injured.
“We’re about 500,000th. It’s too late.” Yu Yangwei, Fengke, and Shadow could tell from the situation that they had no hope.
“Some high-dimensional lifeforms died in the first round of the preliminaries.” Yu Yangwei, Fengke, Shadow, and the others slowed down and deliberately avoided the most intense shockwaves above.
“The weaker ones moved fast thanks to their wings. They are naturally first on the chopping block.” Fengke shook his head and said, “The first round of the preliminaries seems beneficial to the flying species, but it’s also perilous. Blessings and misfortunes are two sides of the same coin.”
“The ones at the forefront have arrived at the arena,” Shadow noted.
…
The majestic golden bird led the procession onto the arena, followed by a flurry of powerful avian species.
Suddenly, with a deafening roar, the Fire Dragonborn powerhouse burst onto the scene, causing a stir far greater than that of the birds; he was the sixth to arrive.
Boom.
Shortly after, the one-armed Giant Ape King made his grand entrance as the tenth contender.
The Mountain Demon powerhouse arrived in 17th place.
One after the other, powerhouses from the strongest species took their place among the first hundred, along with other avian species. It was clear that the weaker species were no match for them in terms of physical prowess.
Boom!
Xu Jingming and more than ten powerhouses arrived at the arena almost at the same time, taking their place around 860-880.
I’m here. Xu Jingming passed through the invisible barrier and laid eyes on the main competition arena. He finally relaxed and observed his opponents with great care.
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