86: Chapter 86 Match Successful

Qinglin Province, Chu Family Main City.

The motorcade arrived at the Teleportation Plaza.

The Teleportation Plaza was a circular platform three kilometers in diameter, with a two-hundred-meter-tall portal standing in the center. The portal was forged from "Void Stone," and tens of thousands of spatial runes were engraved on the door frame, emitting a faint blue light.

This gate led directly to the Tianyuan Arena.

Su Bai stepped down from the armored vehicle.

The plaza was already packed with people. They weren't ordinary citizens, but every notable Creator in Qinglin Province. From Rank 1 to Rank 10, from ages sixteen to sixty, hundreds of people stood in neat formation, watching him in silence.

The looks in their eyes were complex.

There was expectation, nervousness, envy, and something else that was hard to define.

It was an emotion that said, "We have waited for too long."

Chu Zhentian walked up to Su Bai.

“One last thing,” he said. “Do you know why Qinglin Province is called Qinglin?”

Su Bai shook his head.

“Because this land was once a primeval forest. When the first batch of Creators awakened here, they said the forest was green—the color of hope.”

He patted Su Bai on the shoulder.

“Go. Carry that hope with you.”

Su Bai nodded.

He didn't look back, didn't wave, and didn't say anything sentimental.

He simply strode toward the portal.

Behind him in the plaza, hundreds of Creators simultaneously raised their right hands, performing an ancient and solemn military salute.

It was the highest etiquette of the Qinglin Province Creator Association.

A send-off for a warrior going to battle.

Su Bai's silhouette disappeared into the light of the portal.

The light faded away.

On the plaza, a young Creator whispered,

“Will he win?”

No one answered.

But everyone was silently thinking the same word in their hearts.

Yes.

...

Tianyuan Arena · Core Control Room.

This was a circular room without any decoration. Three thousand six hundred light screens were embedded in the walls, each corresponding to a spectator star.

In the center of the room, a golden sphere three meters in diameter was suspended.

That was the core of the Tianyuan Arena, the [eye of destiny].

A super divine artifact jointly forged by seven Rank 15 Creators, it was responsible for monitoring, judging, and synchronizing all combat data for the three thousand contestants.

A person stood before the eye of destiny.

The man looked to be about thirty years old, wearing a minimalist white robe. His long hair was casually tied back, and his face was so ordinary he would be impossible to pick out in a crowd.

But in his eyes, stars were swirling, and worlds were being born and extinguished.

A Rank 15 Creator.

Code name: [Tian Heng].

The youngest existing Rank 15 Creator in the Great Xia Kingdom and the Chief Judge of this year's Zhuangyuan Hegemony Competition.

“All three thousand participants are in position,” the eye of destiny spoke in a cold, mechanical voice. “world pod allocation is complete. Time zone synchronization is complete. Live broadcast links are connected. Star sectors covered: sixty-seven. Provinces covered: twelve thousand four hundred. Estimated audience: thirty-two trillion.”

“Thirty-two trillion,” Tian Heng repeated the number softly, the corners of his mouth curling slightly. “Two trillion more than last year.”

“Shall I begin the final countdown?” the eye of destiny asked.

Tian Heng did not answer immediately. His gaze fell upon one of the light screens, which displayed a distribution map of the contestants. Three thousand points of light were densely distributed across the maps of the sixty-seven star sectors. Every point of light represented a Creator, a world, and the pinnacle of a civilization.

Among these points of light were the “Mythology World” of the Di Family from the Tianshu Star Sector, the “zerg world” of the Jun Family from the Tianxuan Star Sector, and the “Chaos World” of the Ye Family from the Tianquan Star Sector.

And there was also a point of light from Qinglin Province in the Tianxuan Star Sector.

That point of light was very small and dim, located at the edge of the map, almost drowned out by the radiance of the other points.

But it was there.

Tian Heng looked at that point of light and remained silent for a second.

“Begin.”

At that same instant, the light screens for sixty-seven star sectors, twelve thousand four hundred provinces, and thirty-two trillion citizens lit up simultaneously.

In the center of the screen was a panoramic view of the Tianyuan Arena.

The massive arena, five hundred kilometers in diameter, was currently floating in the void. Three thousand world pods, like three thousand stars, orbited the periphery of the arena, emitting various colors of light.

The scene switched.

The names, star sectors, and rankings of the three thousand contestants poured down from the top of the screen like a waterfall of light.

Tianxuan Star Sector · Qinglin Province · Su Bai · Rank 89.

Tianshu Star Sector · Zhongzhou Province · Di Wu road · Rank 1.

Tianquan Star Sector · Guixu Province · Ye Qingxue · Rank 7.

Tianji Star Sector · Liehuo Province · Yan Pojun · Rank 4.

As each name flashed by, it was accompanied by the cheers of hundreds of millions, or even billions, of people from that province.

And in Qinglin Province, thirty million people held their breath, staring at the name on the eighty-ninth line.

“Su Bai.”

Someone softly uttered those two words.

...

Tianyuan Arena · world pod · No. 1987.

Su Bai stood in the center of the world pod.

This was a spherical space ten kilometers in diameter. The interior was a void, with only a circular platform three meters in diameter floating beneath his feet. The surface of the platform was covered in spatial runes, glowing with a faint, eerie light.

A transparent light screen floated in front of him.

[Contestant Number: 1987]

[Name: Su Bai]

[Star Sector: Tianxuan Star Sector]

[Province: Qinglin Province]

[World Rank: 6]

[World Type: Yin Qi World (Unpublished)]

[Current Rank: 89 (Tianxuan Star Sector)]

[Please prepare. The first round of matching will begin in thirty seconds.]

[Matching Rules: Three thousand contestants will be randomly paired for battle. Winners advance, losers are eliminated. Three rounds of elimination will be held to determine the top 375. After that, the points competition will begin.]

Su Bai looked at the screen with a calm expression.

He didn't look at those rankings and numbers anymore.

He closed his eyes, and his consciousness sank into the Netherworld World.

Grayish-white Yin Qi surged like a sea.

Before the Ghost Gate Pass, the Ghost King floated in mid-air. His golden vertical pupils watched Su Bai as he bowed his head slightly.

By the River of Oblivion, Black and White Impermanence stood side by side—one white, one black, one gentle, one fierce.

At the entrance of the Tongue-Pulling Hell, Ox-Head and Horse-Face stood silently, their steel forks and chains drifting slightly in the Yin Qi.

The Four Great Demon Underworld Envoys were scattered in the four directions, the Day Wanderer and Night Patroller floated high in the sky, Lan stood at the edge of the Deep Blue Sea Abyss, and Chen Ming knelt before the church in the New Era Ruins.

Five major races, 4.5 million units, all lined up in formation.

Silence.

Stillness.

Like a pack of ferocious beasts waiting for the starting command.

Su Bai opened his eyes.

“The first round of matching will begin in ten seconds.”

“Ten.”

“Nine.”

“...”

“Three.”

“Two.”

“One.”

“Matching complete.”