146: Chapter 146 The Points Race Begins

Two days later.

Above the Tianyuan Arena, the voice of the eye of destiny echoed across the sixty-seven star sectors.

[The points race has officially begun.]

[Format Explanation: Each of the 375 qualifiers will participate in thirty matches. Each victory earns 3 points, a draw earns 1 point, and a loss earns 0 points. After thirty matches, the top eight participants with the highest points will advance to the elimination rounds.]

[Schedule: Three matches per day for ten consecutive days.]

[All participants, please enter your respective world pods.]

Su Bai stood up from the sofa and walked out of the lounge.

The pillar of light from the winner's passage enveloped him once more, its silvery-white glow supporting his body as he descended slowly back into world pod number 1987.

He stood on the circular platform, and the light screen in front of him had already refreshed.

[Participant Number: 1987]

[Name: Su Bai]

[Affiliated Star Sector: Tianxuan Star Sector · Qinglin Province]

[World Rank: Rank 6]

[Matching for Points Race Match 1...]

[Matchmaking complete.]

[Opponent: Tianxuan Star Sector · Yunyuan Province, Zhao Qingyun, Mid Rank 6, World Type: Sea of Clouds World.]

Su Bai looked at the name with a calm expression.

Three minutes later, the world bridge connection was completed.

The opposite side was a world composed of layers of clouds. The white sea of clouds surged like a tide, and creatures condensed from cloud and mist were faintly visible within the layers.

Cloud Whales, Cloud Birds, and Cloud Beasts.

Zhao Qingyun stood in his world pod, his face tense.

He had watched the match between Su Bai and Bei Chenyao. Nine peak Rank 6 Astral Gods had been torn to pieces by the Netherworld World. He was only at the mid Rank 6, and the strongest hero in his world was just a single peak Rank 6 Cloud Whale King.

The outcome of this battle was already known without even fighting.

However, Zhao Qingyun did not admit defeat.

He took a deep breath and sank his consciousness into the Sea of Clouds World.

"Cloud Whale King, all forces—"

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because the Ghost King was already standing at the boundary of the Sea of Clouds World.

The ghost king sword was unsheathed: Nether Slash.

The grayish-white sword qi sliced through the sea of clouds, cutting the Cloud Whale King along with the 1.5 million Cloud Clan warriors behind it in half with a single strike.

Everywhere the sword qi passed, the sea of clouds was torn apart, the cloud layers evaporated, and the bodies of the Cloud Clan turned into a mist that filled the sky, dissipating into nothingness under the erosion of Yin Qi.

Zhao Qingyun stood dazed in his world pod, watching his Sea of Clouds World be split in two by that single sword strike.

His lips were trembling, his fingers were trembling, and his entire world was trembling.

Three seconds later, he clicked the button to concede.

[Match 1, Su Bai wins. Points: 3.]

[Current Ranking: 1st Place (Tied).]

The voice of the eye of destiny had not even finished fading above the Tianyuan Arena when the audience in the viewing stands exploded.

"One strike! Another single strike!"

"A mid Rank 6 world, split in one strike?"

"The Ghost King wasn't this strong when fighting Bei Chenyao, was he? It's only been a few days, and he's gotten stronger again?"

In the Qinglin Province viewing stands, Chu Kuangren's mouth hung open.

"One strike... holy shit, another single strike..."

Sitting in the front row, Chu Zhentian watched the grayish-white sword qi on the light screen, a slight smile playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Glimmer-moss," he said softly. "The Yin Qi circulation efficiency has increased by thirty percent, and the Ghost King's strength has risen accordingly."

He paused.

"This is only the beginning."

In the second match of the points race, Su Bai's opponent was Lin Ruoxue from Minglan Province in the Tianquan Star Sector, mid Rank 6, World Type: Flower Spirit World.

Lin Ruoxue's world was a boundless sea of flowers where millions of Flower Spirits lived. Her strongest hero was a peak Rank 6 Flower Goddess, beautiful and powerful, capable of controlling ten thousand flowers and releasing soul-bewildering pollen.

But before the Flower Goddess's pollen could even drift out of the sea of flowers, it was completely eroded by the Yin Qi.

Black and White Impermanence slipped in from the flanks, unleashing Smiling Soul-Hooking and the soul-locking chain among the Flower Spirits. When the Flower Spirits saw White Impermanence's smile, their consciousness blurred and their steps slowed; Black Impermanence's soul-locking chain wrapped around their necks, tearing their souls out of their bodies one by one.

The Flower Goddess tried to counterattack, but Golden Shackle and Silver Lock had already appeared before her.

Golden Shackle's golden hammer fell, sending the Flower Goddess's body flying and crashing through three hills in the flower sea. Silver Lock's silver hook wrapped around her neck, and the power of soul-detention eroded her soul, causing her aura to plummet all the way from the early Rank 6.

Three minutes later, the Flower Goddess was heavily injured, and the Flower Spirit World had lost over thirty percent of its combat power.

Lin Ruoxue's face turned pale as she clicked to concede.

[Match 2, Su Bai wins. Points: 6.]

[Current Ranking: 1st Place (Tied).]

In the third match of the points race, the opponent was Zhou Tiangang from Tiangang Province in the Tianshu Star Sector, high Rank 6, World Type: Lightning Law World.

Zhou Tiangang's world was a realm shrouded in thunder, where lightning was perpetually striking from the sky. The ground was composed of Lightning-struck Stone, and the air was thick with the scent of ozone.

His race was the Lightning Spirits, condensed from pure lightning energy, numbering over three million.

His strongest heroes were three high Rank 6 Thunder Emperors, who controlled the Divine Thunder of the Nine Heavens with infinite power.

This was the strongest opponent Su Bai had encountered in the points race.

Zhou Tiangang did not wait for Su Bai to attack like the previous two opponents. The moment the world bridge connection was complete, he launched an all-out assault.

"Thunder Emperors, Nine Heavens Lightning Array! All Lightning Spirits, output full power!"

The Thunder Emperors raised their Thunder Hammers, and nine bolts of purple heavenly lightning descended from the sky. Each bolt was as thick as a water bucket, carrying world-destroying power as they blasted toward the boundary of the Netherworld World.

Three million Lightning Spirits released their lightning energy simultaneously, merging into a massive pillar of lightning that joined with the nine heavenly bolts to form a torrent of lightning capable of destroying a peak Rank 6 world.

The purple lightning collided with the grayish-white Yin Qi in the void, erupting in a deafening roar. Lightning darted through the Yin Qi, evaporating it into nothingness; Yin Qi surged within the lightning, eroding it into ash.

The two forces were at a stalemate for three seconds.

The power of the Six Paths of Reincarnation's laws acted.

A grayish-white pillar of light rose from the core of the Netherworld World and collided with the lightning torrent. There was no roar, no explosion, only devouring.

The lightning torrent was decomposed by the Six Paths of Reincarnation into countless tiny purple specks of light that scattered to every corner of the Netherworld World. Those specks of light fell to the ground and turned into Lightning Crystals; those that fell onto the Glimmer-moss were eroded by Yin Qi and converted into new energy.

Zhou Tiangang's strongest strike was effortlessly devoured by the Six Paths of Reincarnation.

His face instantly turned deathly pale.

"How is this possible... the Nine Heavens Lightning Array combined with the full output of three million Lightning Spirits couldn't even break the defense of the Six Paths of Reincarnation?"

He didn't finish his sentence.

Because the Ghost King was already standing at the boundary of the Lightning Law World.

The ghost king sword was unsheathed: Nether Slash.

The grayish-white sword qi sliced through the thunderclouds, slashing toward the Thunder Emperors.

The Thunder Emperors raised their Thunder Hammers to parry, and the purple lightning collided with the grayish-white sword qi. The first crack appeared on the Thunder Hammers, then a second, then a third.

Boom!

The Thunder Hammers shattered.

The Thunder Emperors' bodies were sent flying by the sword qi, crashing through seven Lightning-struck Stone mountains in the Lightning Law World before slamming into the ground, creating a deep pit three hundred zhang in diameter. Their bodies were covered in cracks, and purple lightning gushed from the fissures, flowing like blood.

Zhou Tiangang closed his eyes and clicked to concede.

[Match 3, Su Bai wins. Points: 9.]

[Current Ranking: 1st Place (Sole).]

After three matches, Su Bai stood alone at the top of the points leaderboard with 9 points.

Above the Tianyuan Arena, the voice of the eye of destiny carried a rare trace of fluctuation.

[Points Race Day 1 Report: Su Bai (Tianxuan Star Sector · Qinglin Province) won all three matches, with a total elapsed time of eleven minutes. Maximum single match time was seven minutes (Match 3), minimum single match time was thirty seconds (Match 1).]

The public discourse across the sixty-seven star sectors was ignited once more.

"Three matches, eleven minutes. That's an average of less than four minutes per match."

"Thirty seconds for the first match, two and a half minutes for the second, seven minutes for the third. Even a high Rank 6 Lightning Law World couldn't last more than seven minutes."

"Just how strong is this monster Su Bai?"

"He didn't even move a finger. From beginning to end, he just stood there, watching his heroes tear his opponents' worlds to pieces."

"The Netherworld World... what exactly is it?"