162: The competition begins, Li Zhengzhi against the Knights Templar

Several days passed.

On the Holy Union Grand Training Ground.

At this moment, countless commoners were waiting there, seemingly anticipating something.

And not long after.

Six teams emerged almost simultaneously from the six passages of the Holy Union Grand Training Ground.

Thirty-six Knights, thirty-six Mages, thirty-six Assassins, thirty-six Warriors, thirty-six Summoners, and thirty-six Priests appeared at the gates of their respective training grounds.

They were all adorned in the iconic equipment of their own Temples.

At the very front of the Knight Temple stood a tall and handsome middle-aged man, clad in crimson-gold armor—the armor of the Throne of the God of Doom and Slaughter, emitting layers of terrifying aura that instantly overshadowed everything around him.

That was the Knight Temple’s leading Temple Master, Long Xingyu!

Beside him were Long Tianyin, the Divine Seal Knight of Control and Restraint, wielding the Divine Seal Armor of Order and Law, and Han Zhige, the God's Seal Knight of Destruction and Forgiveness, wielding the Divine Seal Armor of Fear and Sorrow.

Behind them were thirty-three Adamantite Base Knights!

One could say that the Knight Temple’s current lineup was arguably the most luxurious.

And to the side.

Were the Magic Temple led by Li Zhengzhi.

The Assassin Temple led by Saint Moon.

The Warrior Temple led by Qiu Yonghao.

The Priest Temple led by Ling Xiao.

And the Soul Temple led by Chen Hongyu.

At this moment, the leading Temple Masters of the five great Temples all looked at Long Xingyu with somewhat complex expressions.

“Long Xingyu’s aura is so strange?”

“His Doomsday and Slaughter Armor seems to be more than just a divine artifact?”

Li Zhengzhi looked at Long Xingyu’s position, a flicker of confusion in his eyes, full of doubt.

In his memory, the Throne of the God of Doom and Slaughter that Long Xingyu wielded seemed to be only a divine artifact-level existence, and not even the most terrifying kind of divine artifact.

Leaving aside the full set of equipment, it was not even as good as his own divine artifact robe and staff?

But why did he feel such a disparity now?

Li Zhengzhi did not hesitate, immediately conducting a preliminary investigation.

He believed.

With his own abilities, investigating Long Xingyu would be simple.

Moreover, he would certainly surpass him.

After all, he had long since broken through that threshold, and Long Xingyu had not successfully broken through it; therefore, he would definitely not be his opponent!

Thinking of this, Li Zhengzhi immediately began his investigation.

He wanted to thoroughly understand Long Xingyu’s current strength.

However, this investigation would have been better left undone.

As his spiritual power flew towards Long Xingyu, powerful divine senses emerged from Long Xingyu, and a vast aura erupted at that moment, incredibly surging.

That was divine sense.

That was the divine sense from the Blessed One of the God of Slaughter!

And now, it immediately backfired.

Suddenly, Li Zhengzhi felt his mind go blank, instantly suffering a backlash. If not for his inherent powerful cultivation and abilities, he would have likely become an idiot then and there.

“What’s going on?”

“Long Xingyu’s spiritual power is actually above mine, and from this feeling, it’s not just a small difference, but a complete and utter disparity?”

“What’s going on?”

Li Zhengzhi was somewhat stunned.

This sudden change truly astonished him.

It was too terrifying.

Similarly, Li Zhengzhi was certain.

He had only conducted a simple investigation just now. If he had been more rigorous and directly unleashed absolute spiritual power to investigate.

Then Li Zhengzhi was very certain.

Although he would not become an idiot due to the backlash.

He would inevitably be dazed for several days due to the backlash, and Long Xingyu might even take action due to the excessive backlash.

Similarly, he would be in the wrong.

After all, forcefully investigating others—wasn't that purely asking for trouble?

Therefore, Li Zhengzhi was also fortunate that Long Xingyu did not erupt on the spot.

At the same time, he looked at Long Xingyu with great surprise.

Although he did not know what kind of fortuitous encounter Long Xingyu had, or if he had obtained some powerful treasure that allowed him to now surpass his own spiritual power as a Mage.

It was truly terrifying.

But he could confirm and be certain of one thing.

“Perhaps, during this period, Long Xingyu has channeled all the Knight Temple’s resources into himself. Otherwise, with his strength, it would be impossible for him to be like this.”

Qiu Yonghao thought to himself.

Subsequently, he remained unconvinced.

He stopped sensing Long Xingyu’s abilities.

Instead, he turned to look at the other Knights.

The Temple Competition not only focused on top-tier powerhouses.

Such as the Divine Seal Knights of the Knight Temple, the Elementals of the Magic Temple, and so on.

It also looked at the foundations of the various Temples, apart from these top-tier powerhouses.

The Temple Competition will first involve drawing lots, with one-on-one matches held over the first three days.

All are elimination rounds.

After each elimination round, the next round of matches will begin immediately, with no additional rest time.

For the 180 contestants from the other five great Temples in the individual elimination rounds, points are calculated as follows: one point for each victory. Two additional points for passing the second round. And so on, the points gained for each additional round are multiplied.

It was precisely because of this that these competitions heavily relied on underlying strength.

After all, a single powerhouse could at most complete one round of victory. Even if they won the championship, they would only gain forty points over three days.

At the same time, there were also strong restrictive clauses in the individual elimination rounds: first, no use of any equipment or elixirs. Contestants must rely entirely on their individual strength.

Second, during the competition, no crippling or injuring of opponents is allowed; otherwise, one will be directly eliminated. This is the Temple Competition, not a fight to the death. These two seemingly simple rules are extremely restrictive. One might ask, the contestants are at least rank eight and above; under such intense confrontation, how high must one’s self-control be to avoid injuring an opponent?

Within three days, all individual matches must conclude. Then, points will be ranked. This is also the first round of the Temple Competition.

And these rules, strictly speaking, also limited many situations.

Similarly, it was because of all this that Li Zhengzhi now had some thoughts.

He immediately investigated those Knights.

He skipped over Yang Haohan, the Starry Sky Knight hidden among them. Although he didn't know Yang Haohan was there, he could sense that existence was very dangerous.

So he skipped him.

And soon, all the Knights were scanned by him.

But...

After seeing all this.

He was also stunned.

A flicker of shock passed through his eyes as he stared blankly at Long Xingyu’s position.

For no other reason.

Because he had sensed it.

“Among these thirty-six people from the Knight Temple, all of them are actually rank nine?” (End of chapter)