King of Ten Thousand Years

Chapter 334: Chapter 332: Ranking Competition

When the elimination round ended, the entire arena’s Barrier Array trembled, alerting all participants.

At the same time, all the Genius Orders were sealed, no longer able to absorb Celestial Fate Qi!

Jiang Daoyun stared at Luo Tian with cold eyes but didn’t make a move.

Violating the rules of the Celestial Pride Conference could even lead to expulsion from the competition.

"It’s over!"

Young Master Hai stood where he was, feeling uneasy.

He clutched a Genius Order he had just snatched, but he couldn’t plunder its Celestial Fate Qi.

Looking at the glow of his own Genius Order, Young Master Hai felt uncertain, unsure if he would advance.

Suddenly, a stream of gray-white light descended from the sky, sweeping up several nearby geniuses and sending them directly out of the arena.

"No! I can’t accept this!"

A genius roared.

But he couldn’t defy the power of the Array and was swiftly ejected from the arena, eliminated.

"I... I’m out?"

The one-armed man sighed as he watched a stream of gray-white light descend upon him.

"Brother Jiang, avenge me!" the one-armed man said to Jiang Daoyun.

Both were elite geniuses from the Celestial Ring Alliance and had a decent relationship.

"Rest assured!" Jiang Daoyun said in a low voice.

Throughout the arena, geniuses were continuously being sent out.

Young Master Hai breathed a sigh of relief, shot Luo Tian a resentful glare, and turned to leave.

Of the nearly one thousand participants, only two hundred remained.

Based on the brightness of the glow, one could determine everyone’s results for this round.

Among them, the Yellow-robed Man, who had slain the Triangular Viper, ranked first in Celestial Fate Qi, while the green-robed woman, Song Luyao, ranked second.

Third... was Luo Tian!

Fourth was Xia Bingyue!

Ji Qingrong was fifth.

Jiang Daoyun ranked ninth.

Cheng Wanli ranked thirteenth.

Only the audience could clearly discern these rankings.

Naturally, the top thirty from the first elimination round attracted a great deal of attention.

These geniuses all had the potential to place in the top fifty of this Celestial Pride Conference.

The top fifty was one tier, the top twenty was another, and then there was the top three!

Of the Yunxiao Sect disciples—aside from the mysterious woman in white, Ye Feng, Yi Jingwen, and Qiao Hai—a total of seventeen had participated in the first round, and thirteen had passed. The results were quite good.

After all, they were one of the Four Major Sects of the continent and followed an elite path.

This outcome left the upper echelons of the Yunxiao Sect overjoyed.

Luo Tian’s final result in the elimination round was especially noteworthy. He had placed third, second only to the two Earth Element Realm geniuses, which brought great honor to the Yunxiao Sect.

Of course, this was only the first elimination round; the results didn’t signify anything definitive.

"The second round of the Celestial Pride Conference, the Ranking Match, will begin in one day!" the referee announced.

The one-day break was for all participating geniuses to rest, recuperate, and restore their condition.

At the same time, the top twenty on the Spirit List also began to enter the arena!

’The Ranking Match!’ Luo Tian repeated to himself.

’This is the most crucial part. The one-on-one, head-to-head confrontations between geniuses will determine the final results of the Celestial Pride Conference!’

’The top one hundred all get rewards, but only the top twenty receive truly substantial ones!’

Not only to prove himself, but also to complete the goal set by Mu Yunshi and to win those generous rewards, Luo Tian was determined to enter the top twenty.

He found a quiet spot, sat down cross-legged, took out the Celestial Yin Jade, and continued to absorb the Yin Cold Essence from within it.

The Nether Dragon Divine Vein was one of his greatest trump cards!

Right now, the Cold Power of his Nether Dragon Divine Vein had a powerful effect even on geniuses at the Half-step Earth Element Realm.

In the previous free-for-all, without the Attribute Power of his Nether Dragon Divine Vein, Luo Tian would have had a much harder time.

’Hm?’

Luo Tian suddenly sensed an incredibly terrifying aura approaching and immediately opened his eyes.

He saw three figures appear not far away, seemingly just passing by.

These three were the mysterious woman in white, the Eastern Domain’s number one genius, "Ye Feng," and the Northern Domain’s number one genius, the "Extreme Ice Fairy"!

Although the three were just passing by, their gazes were clearly directed at Luo Tian.

The woman in white had a complicated expression, which Luo Tian found strange.

Ye Feng’s expression was rather cold, his thoughts unreadable.

As for the Extreme Ice Fairy, she exuded a biting cold pressure toward Luo Tian!

’Looks like Young Master Hai of Bishui Palace getting embarrassed has made the Extreme Ice Fairy a little unhappy with me!’

Luo Tian shook his head and smiled.

This was all Crow’s fault. A simple distraction would have been enough, but it just had to sing that "seaweed, seaweed" song, forcing a group of geniuses to dance awkwardly in front of a hundred thousand spectators.

Luo Tian didn’t dwell on it and continued absorbing the essence of the Celestial Yin Jade.

Half a day later, more than forty percent of the Energy from the last piece of Celestial Yin Jade had been absorbed.

Luo Tian took a temporary break. While refining the Cold Power, he took out Spiritual Essence Coins and began his Cultivation by circulating the Guiyuan True Skill.

Inside his Qi Sea, the completion level of his Eighth-Layer Spirit Sea Vortex rapidly approached fifty percent.

Three hours later, it reached exactly fifty percent and continued to rise steadily.

At this point, Luo Tian could take a Qi Pushing and Root Strengthening Pill and attempt a breakthrough.

However, he decided to wait a little longer and build up his foundation more.

A day passed quickly.

"The second round, the Ranking Match, will now begin! All participants, please gather at the center of the arena!"

The referee’s voice echoed in all directions.

Luo Tian got up and hurried over.

Before he even arrived, he witnessed an utterly shocking scene.

RUMBLE!

The earth cracked and split as five enormous mountain peaks slowly rose from the ground.

The top of each peak was a flat expanse, which also served as a Martial Arts Arena!

The positions of the five Martial Arts Arenas seemed to symbolize the Five Great Domains.

"What an incredible display! The Celestial Ring Arena truly lives up to its name as the Dongchen First Arena!"

From all directions, the participants for the second round gathered, all of them stunned by the scene.

"Who is this kid?"

The Yellow-robed Man stared at Luo Tian.

He was the first-place winner of the elimination round, a genius from a Hidden Family who was expected to contend for a spot in the top ten of the Celestial Pride Conference.

Yet Luo Tian, a mere cultivator at the Eighth Layer of Spirit Sea Realm, had a Genius Order whose glow was remarkably close to his own!

"Luo Tian?"

Ji Qingrong saw Luo Tian, unable to hide her astonishment.

Luo Tian, whom she had previously looked down on, had actually scored higher than her in the first round.

Ji Qingrong had to admit she was wrong and re-evaluate this mysterious youth she had met once before.

The blue-haired woman, Lu Lin, also arrived. Her jaw dropped, and she rubbed her eyes fiercely, wondering if she was hallucinating!

"Brother Luo, I’m truly impressed!"

Cheng Wanli walked over in astonishment.

The participants had limited information during the first round, but now that all the advancing geniuses were gathered together, their respective achievements were obvious.

The vast majority of the geniuses were highly skeptical of Luo Tian’s results!

How could someone at the Eighth Layer of Spirit Sea Realm possibly suppress all the Half-step Earth Element Realm cultivators and rank third, surpassed only by the two Earth Element Realm geniuses?!

Just then, Luo Tian saw a peerlessly beautiful woman who looked like an Ice Immortal. She was also looking right at him!

"Luo... Tian!"

Xia Bingyue’s eyes, usually like ten-thousand-year-old glaciers, seemed to thaw. Ripples flickered within them, a tangle of complex and indecipherable emotions.

During the elimination round, she had learned that Luo Tian was also participating in the Celestial Pride Conference, but the two hadn’t run into each other.

"Bingyue, your performance in the elimination round was excellent," the dark-skinned man from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect said with a smile.

Xia Bingyue’s thoughts were in turmoil. She didn’t seem to hear the dark-skinned man’s words and didn’t respond.

’Hm? Bingyue knows this kid?’

The dark-skinned man’s gaze turned cold and arrogant as he immediately looked toward Luo Tian!

He had a fairly strong impression of Luo Tian. When he had mocked Luo Tian earlier, that mysterious woman in white had nearly come to blows with him.

"Miss Xia, I didn’t expect we’d meet here... Have you been well?" Luo Tian started the conversation.

Many of the surrounding geniuses, especially the disciples of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, fixed their gazes on them.

Luo Tian actually knew Xia Bingyue, and judging by her expression, their relationship was clearly more than a simple acquaintance.

Those from her sect who knew her well had never seen her look at any man like that, and they were instantly filled with envy and jealousy.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH...

Five figures flew over from the distance. They were all Earth Level Martial Artists capable of Crossing the Void, and they were also the referees for the second round.

After the referees arrived, everyone began to draw lots and were assigned to one of the five Martial Arts Arenas.

A total of two hundred and twenty-three people were participating in the second round.

Each Martial Arts Arena had over forty people.

"Luo Tian, number 110, South Martial Arts Arena!" the referee announced.

The drawing of lots ended quickly.

The five great prodigies of the Dongchen Continent did not draw lots and were directly assigned to the five Martial Arts Arenas.

East Martial Arts Arena, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect’s Celestial Evil Sword!

South Martial Arts Arena, the Bishui Palace’s Extreme Ice Fairy!

West Martial Arts Arena, the Yunxiao Sect’s Ye Feng!

North Martial Arts Arena, the Purple Luo Hall’s Shangguan Su!

Central Martial Arts Arena, the Celestial Ring Alliance’s Qi Yuntian!

The Celestial Ring Alliance made this arrangement to prevent the five great prodigies of the Dongchen Continent from meeting too early, saving the most exciting duels for last.

"Hahaha, Luo Tian!"

Jiang Daoyun’s wild, uninhibited laughter rang out.

He looked extremely excited, as if to say, ’Luo Tian, you’re a dead man.’

’The South Martial Arts Arena, too?’

Luo Tian guessed, his heart completely calm.

His goal was the top twenty of the Celestial Pride Conference. If he was afraid of even Jiang Daoyun, that goal would be a joke.

"The second round begins! Each person will fight in ten battles! You will also have three opportunities to issue a challenge!"

"Victory will earn you one-third of the loser’s Celestial Fate Qi. Anyone who loses three consecutive matches will be eliminated immediately!"

"After the second round, the top four from each of the five Martial Arts Arenas will advance to the ’Battle for the King of the Celestial Pride’!" the referee solemnly announced.

The second round officially began.

On the South Martial Arts Arena, the referee called out, "Number five, number seventy-two!"

A genius at the Half-step Earth Element Realm walked to the center of the arena and said with a calm gaze, "My opponent, come on up!"

Luo Tian had a slight impression of this person. He seemed to be ranked eighty-first on the Spirit List, and he looked full of confidence.

WHOOSH!

Suddenly, a storm of ice surged onto the Martial Arts Arena. A cold tide rolled to the sides, and a graceful, hazy figure emerged.

Number five was none other than the Extreme Ice Fairy!

"Extreme Ice..."

The Half-step Earth Element Realm genius was instantly dumbfounded, his words slurring.

He was the first to take the stage, intending to make a name for himself in his first battle, but his opponent turned out to be the Extreme Ice Fairy!

WHOOSH!

The Extreme Ice Fairy floated silently in mid-air and blew a breath from her jade-like lips.

A sliver of ice-blue cold light gusted out, instantly expanding dozens of times into an ice-blue storm that swept over her opponent.

The Half-step Earth Element Realm genius was covered in blue ice, frozen stiff in place like an ice sculpture, his horrified expression locked on his face!

The referee immediately intervened, rescuing the genius from the Martial Arts Arena and dispelling the ice from his body.

The man seemed unharmed, but if he had been frozen for too long, it would have caused incurable permanent damage, halting his progress for the rest of his life!

WHOOSH!

The Ice Fairy’s dim Genius Order instantly received a large amount of Celestial Fate Qi, bursting forth with a bright golden light.

Without a word, she slowly flew off the Martial Arts Arena.

「Meanwhile, on the North Martial Arts Arena.」

Shangguan Su, the number one genius of Purple Luo Hall, had long, strangely bewitching purple hair that danced in the air. An invisible, sinister aura enveloped the area.

Across from him, a woman trembled and began to speak, "I for..."

Before she could finish, her face twisted into a crazed expression. She began to roar madly, clawing at her own body with her fingers, even scratching shocking bloody marks onto her face.

No one saw Shangguan Su make a move, yet his opponent suffered a mental breakdown and flew into a self-mutilating frenzy.

"Shangguan Su wins!"

The referee immediately announced the result.