61: Is Chapter 61 merely a hollow title, or can it truly enable the killing of gods beyond one's level?

Precisely because of this, Lin Ye and Ye Feng instantly became the two most abrupt anomalies in the entire arena.

One possessed an F- rank discarded god rating, boasting a divine kingdom foundation that could be called rock-bottom in Quanzhou;

The other possessed an ordinary A-rank divine kingdom, which similarly appeared mediocre and out of place among the crowd of S-rank prodigies.

Looking across the fifty people present, only the two of them broke away from the S-rank starting category. Although they seemed out of place, no one dared to truly look down on them by even half a fraction.

Able to stand out from the brutal slaughter of a city's prodigies, steadily secure a spot in the top five of the City Tournament, and step onto the State Competition arena, not a single person was to be trifled with.

All the geniuses, mentors, and high-ranking officials present knew very well that the initial rating of a divine kingdom was merely a congenital foundation. True combat power, tactical vision, on-the-spot maneuvering, and resource utilization were the core elements that decided the victory on the arena.

Although Cangnan City's foundation ranked near the bottom among the ten cities, Lin Ye could crush a crowd of S-rank geniuses with an F- rank divine kingdom, and Ye Feng could forcefully break into the top four of the City Tournament with an A-rank divine kingdom while holding an S-rank trump card. This was sufficient to prove that the true combat power of the two had long broken through the shackles of their ratings.

The gazes everyone cast toward the two contained no mockery, leaving only apprehension and scrutiny.

Everyone was clear that these two anomalies, whose ratings seemingly dragged, definitely harbored terrifying strength no weaker than the top S-rank geniuses.

Once all competitors assembled and were in position, the arena broadcast officially announced the four-day schedule rules for this State Competition, clearly finalizing the entire competition system, which was fair yet cruel.

This fifty-person State Competition was divided into four rounds of progressive duels throughout the entire process, filtering layer by layer to determine the Quanzhou champion:

On the first day, the all-member melee points match would determine the top ten seats in Quanzhou.

Fifty people would be randomly drawn to duel, with accumulated points ranking them and eliminating the remaining forty people. Only ten top prodigies could successfully advance, locking in the upper-tier spots of the first round.

On the second day, the sole challenge mechanism would be activated.

The forty people who failed on the first day would each have one ultimate challenge opportunity, allowing them to choose any of the top ten competitors to initiate a single combat challenge. Those who succeeded in the challenge could replace them and squeeze into the top ten;

Those who failed the challenge would be completely eliminated and miss all subsequent schedules.

Each person had only one chance, and the error tolerance rate was zero.

On the third day, the top ten would duel one by one to contend for the top three in Quanzhou.

The brand-new top ten, after being shuffled by challenges, would start a round-robin elimination tournament. Through high-intensity consecutive games, the top three top-tier prodigies of Quanzhou would ultimately be decided, locking in the final seats.

On the fourth day, the ultimate peak grand finale.

The three powerhouses would duel in turns, with points accumulating to finally determine the number one spot in Nantan Prefecture's State Competition, reaching the pinnacle of the State Competition, and harvesting ultimate glory and top-tier rewards.

The four-day schedule progressed step by step without luck, with everyone speaking through pure strength.

There was both the opportunity for a comeback in a single battle and the risk of a complete curtain call from a single misstep. It was extremely cruel and also extremely blood-boiling.

After the rules were broadcast, the hundred thousand spectators boiled completely, and the arena atmosphere was instantly maxed out!

"A grand melee of fifty S-rank and above prodigies! This is the true scale of Quanzhou's top duels!"

"Four days to vie for the crown, and the losers still have a chance for a comeback. The schedule is too fair yet too cruel!"

"Those two anomalies from Cangnan are too eye-catching! Lin Ye of the F- rank and Ye Feng of the A rank—are they truly all bark and no bite, or can they actually slay gods above their rank?"

"Waiting for the match to start! I bet these two will definitely create another dark horse miracle. Able to slaughter their way out from the city level, not a single one of them is easy to deal with!"

In the VIP seating, instructors from major prestigious schools had burning gazes, staring intently at the slender figure of Lin Ye in the arena.

Others might only look at surface ratings, but they could perceive clues from the City Tournament recordings—this F- rank youth's tactical thinking, subordinate race linkage, and forbearance of trump cards far surpassed the vast majority of S-rank geniuses.

The military and government high-ranking officials also nodded slightly, secretly noting down the names of Lin Ye and Ye Feng.

People who could break the shackles of talent and counter-slaughter high-tier geniuses were always worthy of high regard.

Amidst the crowd, thunder spiritual power around Ye Feng faintly churned, and his breathing was slightly hurried.

All around were Quanzhou's top geniuses, and the sense of oppression rushed head-on. Yet deep down in his heart, not only was he devoid of fear, but he grew increasingly excited.

Holding the S-rank Hell Three-Headed Hound trump card and blessed and polished with A-rank resources, he now possessed full confidence.

Quanzhou's top ten, top three, and number one—he wanted to contend for every single one of them!

Moreover, under this universal spotlight, he would frontally crush and even kill Lin Ye, completely washing away all humiliation!

In contrast, Lin Ye stood among the crowd of prodigies with a straight posture and an expression that remained calm and waveless.

The surrounding sky full of S-rank prodigies, universal attention, and top factions watching the match were, to him, nothing more than changing to a larger arena.

The dual S-rank subordinate races had already taken shape: the Shahun Hound's frontal crushing, the Soul-Devouring Owl's high-tier soul checks and balances, the Shadow Fox's cryptic assassination, the Iron-Bone Turtle's ultimate defense, the Demonic Blood Python's poison and powerful constriction strength, and even the terrifying Plague Seed Mosquito—forming a nearly perfect closed-loop system.

This Quanzhou feast was the ultimate arena to vie for the summit in the eyes of others, but to him, it was merely the necessary path to display his sharpness, crush formidable enemies, and pluck the final rewards.

Arena staff quickly got into position, and the drawing ceremony for the first round points match officially commenced.

Fifty Quanzhou prodigies stepped forward sequentially to draw combat numbers, randomly matching their first-round opponents. The entire process was public and transparent, leaving zero room for manipulation.

In just a few minutes, the first-round combat list refreshed on the giant arena screen. Under universal attention, Lin Ye's first-round opponent was settled.

The top S-rank genius from Linchuan City in Nantan Prefecture—Lu Zhou.

This person was a veteran prodigy who steadily ranked in the top three of Linchuan City. His divine kingdom rating was standard S-rank peak, with a solid and profound foundation. He had quite a high reputation among Quanzhou's new generation, most adept at cultivating tribal humanoid subordinate races, famous for overwhelming numbers and suppressing with Star Clan secret techniques. His combat power was extremely balanced.

When Lu Zhou's profile and subordinate race information were publicly displayed, the hundred thousand spectators instantly stirred up a wave of heated discussions.

"It's actually Lu Zhou! A prodigy from Linchuan City; his subordinate race configuration can be called perfect!"

"I remember his natal subordinate race is the Star Clan, a pure humanoid intelligent subordinate race capable of invoking the power of the heavens' stars, omnipotent in offense and defense arts!"

"Not just that! He also matched it with four formed A-rank main combat subordinate races, supplemented by various auxiliary subordinate races, breaking a total subordinate race count of two thousand! This scale and configuration are definitely in the first tier among the first-round competitors!"

On the arena, Lu Zhou stood with a straight posture and a calm smile, his gaze falling onto Lin Ye beside him, his eyes carrying a hint of solemnity!

In his view, although Lin Ye and Ye Feng were the two most unorthodox rated individuals in the entire arena, not a single one could be underestimated.

Being able to steadily hold onto the top five seats amidst the brutal slaughter of dozens of prodigies in a city meant every single one of them was a crafty veteran with meticulous minds, seasoned tactics, and bountiful trump cards. There were no duds who won purely by luck.

Especially Lin Ye, who used an rock-bottom F- rank divine kingdom to counter-crush a crowd of S-rank geniuses and reach the top five of the City Tournament. It was definitely not done by bluffing with arena information gaps; his hidden layout and cross-rank combat power had long far surpassed ordinary city-level geniuses.

It was just that he had deeply cultivated the Star Clan subordinate race system for many years, with a perfect legion configuration and a profound formation foundation. Benchmarked against city-level geniuses, he had an absolute tier advantage. He believed he had full confidence to frontally defeat Lin Ye, treating the first-round draw as the match's most worth-taking-seriously opponent rather than a weakling who could be casually manipulated.