Li Ling smiled and sent Shen Ziyan and Bai Ruyi back into the stands with a simple push through his manifested portal, the two won not resisting as they left. After all, they understood that Li Ling was done with his announcent, and the show must go on.
Li Ling moved to stand with the rest of the competitors, smiling with amusent when he noticed those around him subconsciously shift away as if he were the plague. He simply shrugged and ignored them, glancing at the referee with raised brows as if prompting him to get on with it.
Coughing audibly, the overseer of the yearly tournant was from the Divine Deva Hall as usual, and he stepped forward with a dignified deanor to address the crowd with a sharp look in his eye.
"Welco, competitors and spectators, to the 774,511th Annual Six Paths Ascension Tournant! Unlike previous competitions, the rules have been changed in this one due to changing requirents from the Upper Sect and the new landscape in the upper echelon of the cultivation world."
His words made the crowd murmur, more than ninety-nine percent not having a clue what the fellow ant by that, while the remaining one percent beca slightly grim, knowing how dire the situation was. Li Ling especially seed a bit interested, sothing which was noted by Ming Yue as his eyes never left Li Ling the entire ti.
"The format for the tournant has changed from three tests and one elimination round to five tests and one elimination round. All participants will be considered to have passed the preliminaries after completing the five tests, and those in the top 32 will fight in an elimination round bracket to determine the top eight who will ascend to the Middle Layer of the sect!"
Such harsh rules made many who heard them feel a bit worried and unhappy, even though they had long heard rumors. However, hearing it confird from the mouth of the officials of the sect made many want to protest and caused an uproar, but given the level of viewership this ti, none dared.
The Divine Deva overseer smirked slightly, seeing that people didn’t dare complain due to the powerhouses in the stands, and continued calmly. "The Five Tests include the forr three tests with two new ones added to the mix. For those entering the tournant for the first ti, I will give a brief explanation of them."
The overseer raised his index finger. "The first test is the Test of Combat. Combat power is the most important thing for a demonic sect disciple and what sets us apart from those fools who preach righteousness despite their hypocrisy. You will enter a special realm where you will be instanced, fighting against an endless horde of enemies until you finally fall. The longer you last and the more enemies you kill, the higher your point score."
The fellow raised his second finger. "The second test is the Test of Comprehension. Your ability to comprehend Daoist arts and cultivation doctrines is more important in the Spirit Path of cultivation than in the Qi Path. Without this basic comprehension, you will never be able to go far in the Spirit Path, so it’s best you remain in the lower sect where you belong."
He raised his ring finger, the third so far. "The third test is the Test of Soul. Once again, the Spirit Path has high demands in terms of soul talent for those who want to walk it, ultimately deciding where you will be stuck in the fourth realm, the fifth realm, or even the sixth realm. Of course, for those who will be forever stuck in the third realm, this is where you will be weeded out."
He raised the fourth finger, which was his pinky. "The fourth test is the Test of Dao Heart. This is normally the kind of test that those righteous fools like to parade about, making them think they are better than us, but we also have our own demonic Dao Hearts, don’t we? How dedicated are you to the demoniac path when put under an illusion challenging your beliefs? We shall see."
He raised the fifth and final finger, his thumb. "The fifth test is the Test of Karma. This test is mysterious, and even I do not know much of its details, so it will be for you to experience individually."
Saying all this, the fellow put down his hands and waved to the side. Imdiately, a large circular portal array that had been placed in the tournant grounds from the very beginning was activated, revealing a passage to a secret realm that was visible to all parties.
"We are already behind schedule, so there is no ti for introductions and speculations. All competitors, enter the secret realm and begin the Test of Combat!" he instructed with a loud shout.
WHOOSH!
The people on the ground wasted no ti, charging into the secret realm at the fastest speed, leaving those who were more confident in themselves to waltz in slowly. Li Ling naturally went in last after everyone else, once again bowing exaggeratedly to the crowd with a smarmy grin.
Once in the secret realm, the world shifted from the familiar tournant grounds to a square arena with no stands, only ending in mist that extended all around. The movable area was about 10 kiloters in all directions, with so parts of the stage giving way to slightly different bios, like a small desert to the south, a lush forest to the west, a large lake to the east, and a freezing blizzard to the north.
Li Ling’s Dharma Sense imdiately reacted, detecting incoming enemies from all directions that were at the third realm of cultivation, being of different races and types. Raising an eyebrow, Li Ling smiled and decided that now was a good ti to test out his newly learned Daoist arts, as he raised a finger and charged a full-power Li Fire Golden Sun at Perfection.
Heatwaves erged and surged in the 10-kiloter space, which was too small to cover the full range of the Perfection-stage Daoist art, especially since Li Ling wantonly allowed it to grow to its limit. Rising to the sky and glancing downward, he saw, with much amusent and boredom, hundreds of beings burning to death as the carefully prepared secret realm began to lt in all directions.
The lake dried up and turned the water into vapor that rose to the sky, the desert’s sand instantly turned into unrefined glass, the forest completely turned to wood and left ashes that surged outward, while the blizzard cooled down to water and then also turned to vapor that surged upward.
A tornado ford in the secret realm that grew terrible, with wood ash and splinters, as well as hot steam that was increasing in temperature, whirling around, capturing all the beings that spawned and rending them into nothingness.
Unfortunately, these kills did not generate any Slaughter Points because these were obviously not real beings, but generated creatures through so formation or Daoist art by soone among the higher-ups. This caused Li Ling to beco disinterested as he maintained the Li Fire Golden Sun as it was, no longer charging Dharma Power into it.
anwhile, outside, many disciples were eagerly comnting on the performance of various competitors in the secret realm as they were allowed to view it in a ’stream-like’ manner using their sect tokens, and in the case of the outsiders, they had to use their Spirit Senses to view it.
"Wow, Shi Gaolin is truly a master! Look at his usage of the halberd, he is like a whirlwind of death and dismbernt!"
"Pfft, he is not even able to match one percent of Hu Lili’s ferociousness! Look at her tear into her foes with her fangs and claws!"
"Only an amateur needs to use flashy moves to kill. Look at Bei Dongshi, seated in the center of the arena without moving as every being that cos within 100 ters of his body simply ceases to exist!"
"How boring, how can he compare to Wang Feng, who is covered with his Blood Power, reaping the lives of multiple creatures at once while looking absolutely demonic!"
"And what of it? Can’t you see Bai Yegui using his Perfection Yin Daoist arts to turn his foes into his own warriors without wasting any movents or energy?!"
"Oh please, and look at young master Shen Jian! His Sword of Light is sweeping through the entire secret realm, even shaving that fake forest in half with a single swing!"
"Don’t ignore Cao Xian, she is performing well for being from the non-combative True Human Hall!"
Argunts flew here and there as many focused on their personal idols and praised their progress with grandiose words, even glaring at each other angrily when they were refuted.
This caused the entire spectator area to beco hyped with energy as ti passed and so competitors were quickly eliminated, unable to keep up with the intense onslaught, wearing pale faces as they were ejected from the secret realm like pieces of trash.
The first round was heating up!
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