Chapter 1226: Chapter 1224: Candidates for the Tripartite Battle (Part 1)
Japan invaded the Central Plain over five years ago, and during these five years, led by the Demon Blade clan and the Fujiki Family, the Japanese forces successively captured a vast expanse of land.
Among them, the Flying Horse Dynasty lost five cities, the Daxia Dynasty lost six cities, and because the Bei Liang Dynasty was farther away, its losses were the least, losing three cities. As for the hundred countries of the Western Region, more than half of their territories lost control.
Although the Flying Horse Emperor deterred the master of the Demon Blade, there was still a significant gap in strength at the lower levels.
There was already confirmed intelligence that Japan controlled a drug that could stimulate human potential, and consuming it could significantly enhance one’s power. Coupled with the Demon Blade’s ability to manipulate hearts, the conquered armies and martial experts from the Central Plain feared death no more and won continuous victories.
In the end, it was only by the joint effort of the three great dynasties and the Western Region that the claw of Japan was barely held off. Consequently, the map of the entire East Victory continent changed from a balance of power among four to one among five.
Such rapid changes in the situation within a mere five years left the people of the world astonished.
It was in this situation that all martial artists discovered that the spiritual energy of the East Victory world was increasing daily, changing almost overnight. The grass in the mountains grew stronger, the petals more vivid, and the vegetation and animals more vibrant than before.
Some ordinary people with chronic illnesses, for unknown reasons, experienced significant improvements in their physique and gradually recovered.
Many elderly people with not much time left to live not only did not die, but their complexion became rosier and their health improved day by day.
This was not an exception but something that was happening in every corner of the world.
The most noticeable changes were within the martial artist community.
Countless individuals who were stuck in bottlenecks made breakthroughs in recent years, their strength surged, equivalent to decades of hard training in the past. Previously in the East Victory continent, a Dragon Gate Realm Lord was a top-notch expert, capable of supporting a first-rate sect.
Now, Dragon Gate Realm Lords are emerging in large numbers. A first-rate sect possessing dozens of Dragon Gate Realm Lords is no longer surprising, to the point where such sects are being downgraded to second-rate.
This is because the once elusive Earth Immortals of the Divine Barrier Realm have begun appearing more frequently, becoming the standard for a first-rate sect.
This remains so in the ordinary areas—if one is in places like Tian State, at least five peak Earth Immortals of the Divine Barrier Realm are needed to barely qualify as a first-rate sect.
But that’s not the most astonishing part; for the upper echelons of the Martial World, the increase in Martial Emperors of the Void Origin Realm is the key factor deciding the trends in the Martial World.
According to information released in the Martial World, in the past five years, just in East Victory continent alone, there has been an increase of a whopping one hundred twenty-six Martial Emperors of the Void Origin Realm. And in Miaojiang and the South Sea, this number is even greater, approaching five hundred when combined.
It must be noted that in the past hundred thousand years, through the entire world, the increase of Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors every hundred years was just above one hundred, sometimes even less. The stark contrast has caused an uproar among martial artists worldwide.
Even with such a surge in the number of Void Origin Realm Martial Emperors, the so-called rules of mutual enmity have not occurred, which indicates that the world’s capacity to accommodate experts is increasing.
More powerful experts will emerge in the future!
This is the best era, and after more than a hundred thousand years of decline and development, a golden age truly belonging to martial artists has arrived!
The Martial World is livelier than ever before.
It seems every moment there are new faces making their debut, challenging the long-established martial experts, with one dazzling name after another emerging and floating through the skies of the Martial World.
Some secret realms that have appeared, some obscure corners have also frequently produced rare treasures rarely seen in the world, sometimes taken by famous and powerful experts, sometimes snatched by unknown underdogs, weaving one enchanting Martial World dream after another.
East Victory, South Sea, and Miaojiang have already become one entity, and all the strong, all the geniuses, are placed on one stage for people to discuss.
Naturally among the stars in the sky, there are always a few that shine the brightest.
First are the sixteen heavyweights, representing the strongest force in the East Victory world.
They are the six legends of the South Sea, the five Great Witches of Miaojiang, and the three Elders of East Victory.
The strength of the master of the Demon Blade and the Flying Horse Emperor is significantly different, but both wielding artifacts can exert the power of the Sky Origin Realm temporarily, though at a great cost.
Of course, such power of the Sky Origin Realm is said to be imperfect, only activated by the power of the artifacts, lacking the might to crush all of life, therefore, they also entered into the ranks of the heavyweights, making up exactly sixteen individuals.
Below the sixteen heavyweights are the seven Heaven Kings.
These seven individuals are East Victory’s Che Renzhong, Flying Horse National Master, Shi Xiaole, Miaojiang’s Scorpion Lady, Black Abyss Elder, and South Sea’s Xuanyuan Di and Qi Muchu.
Che Renzhong is the Martial Emperor, which is also his given name. As more and more ancient historical records were unearthed, naturally, no one dared to address him as the Martial Emperor, and no one would call him that.
In fact, the strength of Che Renzhong, the Scorpion Lady, and the Black Abyss Elder is obviously stronger than that of Shi Xiaole. And according to the latest confrontation, Shi Xiaole is clearly stronger than Xuanyuan Di and Qi Muchu.
As for the Flying Horse National Master, he wields an incomplete artifact and can explode with extremely terrifying power in the short term, so it’s not appropriate to group them together.
But for some reason, perhaps to create a group or perhaps to deliberately generate conflict, this title has still been widely spread by many who love to gossip.
Below the seven Heaven Kings, naturally, are the Heavenly Martial Emperor, Thousand Swords Emperor, Undying Ancestor, Golden Silkworm, and others.
In various intelligence organizations of the Martial World, a ranking list is jointly compiled, clearly sorting the strength of these individuals to form the highly esteemed fifty rulers.
Take note, the current Martial World is unlike before; titles such as Emperor, Monarch, or Sovereign are not for just anyone to use.
Ordinary masters of the Void Origin Realm can only take on impressive-sounding nicknames, while only the top-tier warriors of the Heavenly Realm Martial Emperor level or even the Forbidden Martial Emperor are entitled to be called "King".
As for suffixes like Emperor, Monarch, or Sovereign, only the fifty rulers are worthy of using them. If your strength isn’t up to par, even if you boasted and claimed such titles yourself, they won’t be recognized by the world. Instead, it could bring you tremendous trouble!
Because in the hearts of all warriors, these titles represent the highest honor, the objective for which they strive their entire lives. How could such esteemed distinctions be sullied by the undeserving?
Setting aside the top three tiers of power, the focus isn’t on the fourth tier but rather on the roster of top talents from the East Victory world, known as the ’Pride of Heaven’.
Nobody can accurately state how many people there are in the East Victory world; certainly, there are at least hundreds of billions. Among them, those under the age of three hundred, at the very least, number over a trillion.
And yet, within such a frightening population, merely one hundred individuals have the good fortune to be ranked on the ’Pride of Heaven’. One can imagine just how significant such recognition is.
Moreover, it is understood that every great era has its predetermined fateful champions. To be born in this time, and to stand out among their peers, they would be the best of the best in any era, which adds to the prestige of this list.
Out of the one hundred Pride of Heaven members, South Sea holds forty-three seats, Miaojiang has thirty-one, and East Victory has the fewest, with twenty-six.
However, in the top ten, the underdog East Victory boasts four individuals, all of whom are amongst the four great aberrations: "Bird King" Gui Zhihang, "Phoenix King" Duanmu Keren, "Lion King" Mu Ling, and "Mystic King" Mu Yuanhao.
Mu Yuanhao is ranked second, Gui Zhihang third, Mu Ling fifth, and Duanmu Keren eighth. Those who are observant have noticed that three out of these four hail from Nine Profound Mountain on East Victory continent.
Apart from these four, the highest-ranked individual from East Victory is Gao Kun from the Yiling Barrier, placed at the twenty-eighth position.
A youth named Fu Shuijing is ranked twenty-ninth.
Wudao Xuan of the Daxia Dynasty is ranked thirty-ninth.
Yao Mie Sheng of the Destroying Saint sect is ranked forty-first.
The Golden Rainbow Fairy is ranked forty-sixth.
Hua Yiyun, also from Nine Profound Mountain, is ranked fifty-seventh.
The Fiery Flame Child Emperor, who had been quite imposing in the earlier stages, is now in an awkward spot at the seventy-eighth position, as he was considered to have strength not commensurate with his natural talent, having been appointed by three masters.
As for the number one spot, which caught everyone by surprise, it was won by a girl named Wang Xi. It is said that she came from the depths of Miaojiang, and no more is known about her.
In fact, based on eligibility, Shi Xiaole, Xuanyuan Di, Qi Muchu, Liu Ruofei, and Zhang Xiangfeng also qualified to be ranked. However, the first three are among the Seven Heaven Kings, and the last two have been selected as part of the fifty rulers. After several rounds of discussions amongst the evaluators, they were ultimately removed from the list.
Countless young people, gazing upon the one hundred shimmering names on the roster, are filled with longing and a sense of helplessness.
And who knows how many seasoned warriors in the Martial World sigh at being inferior, imagining if they could return to three hundred years of age, they, too, would likely gaze up in admiration at these one hundred towering mountains.
The renewal of the Martial World is swifter than at any time before; only the strongest individuals in each tier have the chance to remain in sight of the people of the world for a long time.
Thus, this is the best of times and also the worst of times, for if you are not careful, you could be overtaken and gradually forgotten by this cruel Martial World.
The rate at which spiritual energy in the world is increasing continues to rise, and everyone knows that the three Fate lands are soon to converge. This also signifies that the great battle over the fortunes of these three territories is about to begin.
"The three-way battle determines the final location of the land of Fate. Now that just the three parts are merging, it has already led to such a significant increase in spiritual energy. If the land of Fate were to be placed within East Victory, it is unimaginable what this vast land would become!"
"And it’s not just spiritual energy; it’s said that nearing the land of Fate even makes the aura of the Supreme Great Path more accessible. Though it remains exceedingly difficult, akin to ascending to heaven, it’s an opportunity that top experts must compete for!"
"For this battle, we must dispatch the strongest lineup from East Victory continent."
Countless warriors of East Victory continent are anxious, speculating which seven individuals the Three Elders of Dust and Wind will choose. There’s a flurry of discussions across regions, and numerous versions of the battle roster abound.
Broadly speaking, the six individuals who received public endorsement are the Three Elders of Dust and Wind, the Divine Instruments trio group, Che Renzhong, and Shi Xiaole are certainly on the list, while opinions differ regarding the remaining two spots.
As everyone eagerly awaited the announcement.
One day, it was seen that the Heavenly Destiny Divine Fortune Teller had entered the Flying Horse Emperor’s castle.
That night, news emerged from the Flying Horse Emperor’s castle that the Flying Horse Emperor had accepted the invitation and would represent East Victory continent in the three-way battle. Meanwhile, the Flying Horse National Master, being slightly inferior in strength and with the Divine Instrument incomplete, politely declined the invite.
At the same time.
In South Sea, where a bloody storm was stirred by Xuanyuan Lang and the five great witches, the Qin Elder, who nearly fought them to the death, entered Shuntian Capital alone, the stronghold of Japan’s forces.
The next day, Japan announced to the outside world that the Demon Blade master would participate in the three-way battle.
