On the stage, the Divine Deva Overseer raised his hands. "The preliminaries are now complete, and the top thirty-two have been decided. From this point on, life and death are up to your thods, as the sect will honor all results within the bounds of the tournant rules—"
The fellow’s words slowly ca to a halt as his eyes widened with shock and confusion.
The reason for this was that the formation lines, which had begun to rearrange themselves for the first elimination bout, were interrupted as one person casually stepped onto the main platform, their robes fluttering.
Li Ling!
The roar of the crowd stuttered, then weakened into a puzzled murmur as the Asura War Demon stopped at the center of the arena, hands tucked into his sleeves, his expression mild as usual.
His dark blue eyes swept once around the circular sea of faces—from the Lower Sect, to the Middle Sect, then the Upper Sect, and finally to the foreign guests from the Seven Sins Demon Sect—before he inclined his head politely toward the Divine Deva Overseer.
"Senior, this junior has a small announcent to make before the matches begin. I hope the sect will indulge ," the young man said, his tone perfectly courteous and respectful, his voice amplified by the arena array.
The Divine Deva Overseer swallowed, then forced a smile. "As long as it does not delay the proceedings excessively... speak."
Are you kidding? The Sect Master himself had stated that he only ca here to see this fellow, and Li Ling’s performance so far indicated one thing clearly: this young man was going to soon be the face of the entire sect.
Heck, if Li Ling ca up saying he wanted to host a musical, the Divine Deva Overseer would still agree!
anwhile, Li Ling turned back to the crowd, his smile widening a fraction.
He began calmly. "Firstly, this tournant has been quite enjoyable so far. The sect’s tests were thorough, the illusions enlightening, the karma wheel... amusing."
A ripple of laughter, half-nervous and half-genuine, ran through the stands.
He continued as if chatting over tea. "Secondly, I would like to reassure all seniors, elders, and fellow disciples of one thing."
The air subtly tightened.
"From this point onward, any opponent who faces on this stage... will die," Li Ling said, his tone still light.
Silence bore down as heavy and cruel tension gripped everyone by the throat.
Li Ling’s smile didn’t change as he turned to his fellow top thirty-two competitors. "Regardless of your standing, regardless of your backing, regardless of any sect rules—written, unwritten, or yet to be invented."
His eyes glittered with cruel amusent as his voice deepened slightly. "If you stand across from in this round of thirty-two, or in any round afterward... then your karma, fate, and breathing privileges will end here."
BOOM!
The arena erupted with shock, fear, and anger, all aid at the usually praised Li Ling.
"What did he say?!"
"Is he insane?! This is still the sect’s territory!"
"He’s declaring a killing field in front of the Sect Master?!"
Even among demonic cultivators, open and absolute declarations like this were rare. Chills crawled up spines as weaker disciples unconsciously leaned away from the white-robed youth, as if distance alone could save them from his words.
In the Asura Blood stands, so disciples howled with manic joy and pounded their chests like monkeys, while others swallowed hard, suddenly unsure whether they wanted their nas drawn against him.
On the lower Hall Masters’ platform, Tang Huo’s eyes flickered, then he burst out laughing, slapping his knee. "That’s my lower-layer Asura seed, haha!"
His voice sounded strained and off, though, as if he were faking support and joy.
Gu Mugui’s lips thinned. "He honors us by using our sect as a slaughterhouse."
Hu Wulei’s grin turned savage. "Good! Let’s see how many cubs he can trample before soone bites back!"
Yan Moqing’s brows drew together beneath her veil. "This child... does he intend to provoke everyone?"
Cao Tian raised her eyebrows. "Hm! Well, at least he’s honest about it."
The Path Saints’ reactions were sharper.
Sha Ren leaned forward, blood-colored eyes shining brighter than ever. "Now that is the declaration of a true Asura! Very good!"
Hei An’s empty sockets seed to smile. "His karma cloak of killing will only grow heavier with such an attitude. I’m curious to see if even the Wheel of Reincarnation can still bear it in a few decades."
Pang Po chewed slower, then sighed. "Haa... and here I thought he might settle into a stable production template. Guess not."
Zhang Luo’s lips twitched, shifting downward into a slight frown. "Hmm, not very good for managent and quite abrasive."
Wang Kuangnu barked a laugh. "Hu Lili, if you fight him, rember to go all out! Otherwise, you’ll die before you can enjoy it!"
Zhen Mingshen’s bandaged face tilted, voice low. "If he truly follows through, the Desolate Hell Path will be very busy tidying his leftovers."
In the Seven Sins pavilion, the true inheritors also stirred.
Rong Aotian’s lip curled. "Hmph, how arrogant! Doesn’t he know pride cos before a fall?"
Yan Liehu’s fists clenched with excitent. "Good! This is how a warrior should speak!"
Qin Taishou rubbed one of his rings casually. "I wonder how much I can buy him for? Maybe... three rings’ worth?"
Liu Qingying’s nails dug into her armrest as her gaze turned feverish. "Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!"
Zhou Lanxue actually opened both eyes fully for the first ti that day. "...Okay, I’m awake now."
Guo Manman swallowed the long piece of sausage in her hand. "...Yep. Definitely spicy."
Su iluo’s crimson eyes narrowed behind her veil, and the corners of her mouth curled upward. "How banal! And I thought this man might be interesting. He is just another brute lost in the way of a demon!"
Down below, Li Ling inclined his head once more to the Overseer, his expression still pleasant. "Senior, thank you for the ti. Please, continue."
The Divine Deva Overseer’s mouth twitched as he forcibly smoothed his expression and raised his jade slip.
"...Very well. The round of thirty-two begins now!"
As the formation lit up and the first pair of combatants were selected, the entire Six Paths Demon Sect watched with bated breath.
"First match, Bi Luo versus Cao Xian!"
Two beautiful young won stepped onto the stage, one from the Divine Deva Hall and the other from the True Human Hall.
Their battle was preceded by respectful greetings before things got underway, with the two won fighting for under a minute before Cao Xian ca out on top with a relatively easy victory.
The second and third matches ca to pass with young talents who made the top thirty-two cut fighting it out and producing a winner after prolonged and desperate battles, as their power levels were similar.
"Fourth match, Di Tian versus Wang Feng!"
Two young n stepped up, one from the Desolate Hell Hall and the other from the Asura Blood Hall.
Their fight was quick and intense from the get-go, Wang Feng unleashing his thick Blood Power mixed with a certain malevolent black energy that doubled its potency at the cost of his own sanity.
His opponent seed helpless at first until he was ’killed’, revealing to the crowd that everyone had been duped by an illusion of the fellow.
Yet maintaining the illusion against such a powerful foe caused Di Tian to beco pale-faced and weak, eventually surrendering with a sigh when Wang Feng brutally crushed his second illusion clone.
"Fifth match, Shen Jian versus Qin Yu!"
One handso young man stepped up from the Divine Deva Hall while a voluptuous young lady from the Hungry Ghost Hall ca to et him.
"Heng? Why are you so... full and lush? Aren’t you Ghost Freaks supposed to be deathly pale and skinny?" Shen Jian asked bluntly, a puzzled look on his face.
Qin Yu chuckled sultrily and gave Shen Jian a look. "I co from a family of yang-sucking demonesses, so I rged my special heritage with the nature of my Path, and this is the result."
All eyes turned to Gu Mugui and Hei An, with the forr being prompted to explain since the latter didn’t seem inclined to talk.
Gu Mugui chuckled dryly. "Our Path focuses on burning yang to cultivate yin, which is why most of our practitioners are n and why they beco pale-skinned, skinny, and gloomy, because they have lost yang and been inundated with yin."
He gestured to Qin Yu, whose eyes curved upward from the positive attention. "She has bypassed the main hurdle by sucking yang from n through whatever ans her lineage has and using it to cultivate Hungry Ghost Yin Power."
Shen Jian’s eyebrows rose. "So you used others as cultivation materials in order to preserve yourself and also obtained very strong power from it?"
Qin Yu nodded with a slightly crazed smile. "This is my path as a demonic cultivator, and with this, I shall rise to the top of Firmant Heaven!!"
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