84: Chapter 84 Tianyuan Arena

Great Xia Calendar Year 12187, 15th day of the Frost Moon.

On this day, the territory of human civilization spanning dozens of star sectors was pulled into a single timeline at the same instant by a Fifteenth-Order God using the "Time Zone Synchronization" authority.

Thousands of star sectors, tens of thousands of provinces, and trillions of citizens looked up at the same night sky in the same second.

Because in that night sky, the largest annual live broadcast was about to emerge.

The final battlefield of the National Zhuangyuan Hegemony Competition.

But before that, a concept needs to be clarified.

Strictly speaking, the national prodigy list Su Bai previously participated in was only an internal ranking of the Tianxuan Star Sector where Qinglin Province is located.

The Tianxuan Star Sector governs 3,700 provinces, and Qinglin Province is just one of them.

The top 100 from each province enter the star sector rankings, and only the top 100 Creators in the star sector are qualified to participate in the actual Great Xia Kingdom Zhuangyuan Hegemony Competition.

In other words, the 89th place Su Bai reached before was 89th in the Tianxuan Star Sector.

Today, he will face the ultimate showdown against a total of 3,000 heavenly prides from dozens of other star sectors.

Three thousand people.

Three thousand types of worlds.

Three thousand completely different paths of growth.

Converging today.

Tianxuan Star Sector, Qinglin Province, Chu Family Main City - Qinglin City.

This provincial capital with a permanent population of thirty million was like a machine with its mute button pressed today.

All aircraft were moored on dedicated tracks, all floating billboards were turned off, all factories stopped work, and all schools suspended classes. No one walked the streets, no one spoke in bars, and even the vagrants who usually bickered at the entrances of slum alleys were now squatting quietly in front of light screens, looking up.

The entire city, thirty million people, were doing the same thing.

Looking at the sky.

Above the sky of the Chu Family Main City, a giant light screen with a diameter of over five hundred kilometers was slowly unfolding. It was no ordinary light screen, but a real-time broadcast image constructed by a Seventh-Order Creator using the "Sky Screen Projection" authority.

In the center of the image was the final arena of this year's Zhuangyuan Hegemony Competition.

[Tianyuan Arena].

It was a giant arena floating in the void, five hundred kilometers in diameter, cast entirely from Void Crystal Steel.

The outer wall of the arena was grayish-black, with countless fine silver patterns flowing on its surface; those were the authority Brands left by the seven Twelfth-Order Creators who participated in the construction.

The interior of the arena was divided into three thousand independent "world pods," each ten kilometers in diameter, enough to carry the deployment of a complete world's army.

Surrounding the Tianyuan Arena were 3,600 "Spectator Stars."

These were observation platforms modified from Eighth-Order unowned worlds, used by dignitaries and judges from various star sectors. The true audience, however, was the trillions of citizens scattered across dozens of star sectors.

They synchronously watched this annual grand event through the light screens above their respective planets.

At this moment, the light screen in Qinglin Province was playing the entry countdown for contestants from each province.

"There are forty-five minutes until the opening of the Tianyuan Arena."

The announcer's voice was calm and solemn, but the heart of every person in Qinglin Province was pounding wildly.

Because this year, someone from Qinglin Province had qualified.

Someone had entered the top 100 among the heavenly prides from 3,700 provinces!

It wasn't the "sending someone just to make up the numbers" kind of qualification like in previous years, but a genuine entry, securing one of the three thousand tickets with a rank of 89th in the Tianxuan Star Sector.

"They're here! The Chu Family's motorcade!"

No one knew who shouted first, but the gaze of the entire city instantly shifted from the light screen to the ground.

On the central avenue of Qinglin City, a motorcade composed of twelve floating armored vehicles was slowly passing by. At the very front was an all-black extended limousine, with the Chu Family's crest engraved in silver patterns on its body.

A Dark-Gold Roc with its wings spread.

On both sides of the motorcade, thousands of Chu Family private soldiers dressed in battle armor held ten-meter-high banners, with two large characters embroidered on them:

[Qinglin]

Wherever the motorcade passed, people on both sides of the street spontaneously cleared the way and raised their right fists.

In Qinglin Province, this was a etiquette used only when seeing off soldiers going to war.

The last time someone enjoyed this treatment was seven years ago, for the last Creator from Qinglin Province to break into the star sector's top 100. That time, the person ranked 2,800th in the final selection of 3,000 and returned in disgrace; since then, no one had mentioned the word "Zhuangyuan" again.

But this time, it was different.

Because the person stepping out this time was named Su Bai.

The limousine's windows were one-way transparent; people outside couldn't see in, but everyone knew Su Bai was sitting inside that car.

The space inside the car was much larger than it appeared from the outside.

This was an "Expanded Carriage" that the Chu Family had paid a high price for a Space Creator to modify, with an internal area of over two hundred square meters, complete with sofas, a bar, and a small world core monitoring device.

Su Bai sat by the window, wearing a deep green formal suit custom-made overnight by the Chu Family. The suit's material was Fourth-Order "Gloom Silkworm Silk," which would show faint grayish-white patterns under the light.

That was specifically requested by Chu Kuangren, saying it would match the temperament of his Netherworld World.

He wasn't quite used to these clothes.

Even less used to such a spectacle.

"Nervous?"

Sitting opposite him, Chu Kuangren took a swig of wine and asked with a grin.

But Su Bai could see that this guy's hands were trembling slightly.

"Not nervous."

Su Bai glanced at the scene outside the window.

Tens of thousands of people were on both sides of the street, banners fluttering, and a giant light screen in the sky was counting down. His tone was very calm, as calm as if he were talking about what to eat today.

"Who are you kidding?" Chu Kuangren took another swig. "Even though I'm not the protagonist, my legs are shaking right now."

Su Bai didn't respond.

He really wasn't nervous.

Not because he was arrogant, but because all his emotions were currently settled within the Netherworld World.

Ghost Gate Pass stood tall and majestic.

The River of Oblivion flowed quietly.

The Ten Great Yin Marshals were each performing their duties.

The five major races were thriving.

Over three million units of Power Of Faith, like an invisible river, surged from the Living World into the Underworld Space and gathered into his world core.

"Su Bai."

A middle-aged man sitting in the deepest part of the carriage spoke.

His voice was deep and resonant, carrying an aura of natural authority. He wore a dark-gold formal suit, his hair was graying, and his features were sharp, bearing a seventy percent resemblance to Chu Kuangren but with more of the weight of accumulated years.

Chu Zhentian. Chief Executive of Qinglin Province, Head of the Chu Family, and a peak Twelfth-Order Creator.

"Yes."

Su Bai bowed slightly.

Chu Zhentian looked at him and fell silent for a moment. Those eyes, which had witnessed countless world wars, held no scrutiny or evaluation now, only a nearly heavy sense of entrustment.

"The last time someone from Qinglin Province made it to the final selection of three thousand was seven years ago," Chu Zhentian's voice was calm. "That year, our representative ranked 2,800th; after returning, the entire province was mocked for a whole year."

He paused.

"Do you know how the title of 'the weakest province' came about?"