50: The first round of selection begins

"Yun Feng, girl, stop staring. I'm in a good mood today, so I can give you this Great Sun Divine Spear. However, you must make time to come here and use your Sun Flame Power to help me melt Materials. You need to be on call whenever I need you."

"Of course, it won't interfere with your normal duty assignments."

Elder Tie looked at Yun Feng with a playful expression.

"I agree, I agree! Thank you, Elder Tie, hehe."

Yun Feng reached for the long spear impatiently, fearing Elder Tie might change his mind.

Yun Feng, who usually appeared boisterous and forceful in Zhou Xing's eyes, rarely showed such a girlish side.

For an Awakened One, the value of a divine weapon was immeasurable. Even someone like Yun Feng, a captain of an ace squad, wasn't qualified to have the Weapon Forging Department craft weapons or armor for her.

The value of a piece of divine equipment was at least over a billion. If it suited one's own divinity, the price could even double.

This time, Yun Feng was essentially benefiting from her association with Zhou Xing.

Normally, the conditions for obtaining a suitable divine weapon were far too harsh... After chatting with Elder Tie for a while, the two left the Weapon Forging Department. Yun Feng was currently holding a large iron box containing her new spear. She looked at Zhou Xing.

"Elder Tie is a top-tier Great Master of weapon forging, ranked among the best in Star City and even all of China. He himself is also a powerhouse of the Celestial Phenomenon Realm."

"It's obvious that both the Chief and Elder Tie think very highly of you. This is essentially an early investment."

"Regardless, I have to thank you. You know, I've had my eye on this divine spear for a long time, but the exchange requirements were just too high."

In the entire Star City Watchers, only the three battalion commanders whose strength has reached the Peak of Control each possess a piece of divine equipment.

"Whether it's the Materials or the forging craftsmanship, this Great Sun Divine Spear can be used for a long time, even after reaching the Celestial Phenomenon Realm."

"The conditions Elder Tie proposed are practically no different from giving it to me for free."

Zhou Xing was also startled, clearly not expecting Elder Tie's strength to also be at the Celestial Phenomenon Realm.

Three days later, at a specially built arena within the Watcher Stronghold, many seats surrounded the area.

In the center of the venue were over a dozen platforms, each reaching a diameter of a hundred meters. Countless energy sensors were embedded inside the platforms to record the energy fluctuations of every battle in real-time.

Furthermore, these platforms were all made of a special self-repairing material to ensure that the use of each contestant's abilities would not be hindered.

After sustaining damage, the platforms would automatically repair themselves within a short period.

At the very top of the venue was a giant holographic screen capable of simultaneously broadcasting the footage from over a dozen platforms, allowing spectators to clearly see any angle of the matches.

However, since this was an internal selection for the Genius Awakened Ones of The Watchers, ordinary people were not allowed entry.

The silver-gray alloy gates slowly closed behind them as Zhou Xing and the many contestants entered the arena's preparation area in an orderly fashion.

Before entering the arena, all contestants had undergone the strictest scrutiny by The Watchers.

Today, the many spectators also needed to pass divinity checks and special identity authentication. Anyone not a member of The Watchers would trigger the alarm System if they came within 500 meters of the venue.

This was to prevent organizations like Divine Gene from infiltrating and stealing intelligence from The Watchers as much as possible.

Similarly, the Genius selections within Divine Gene, The Officials, and the Furnace Fighting all had layers of security checkpoints.

At this moment, Zhou Xing looked toward the distant spectator stands, which were already packed with people. Even Elder Tie had appeared, sitting in the front row alongside Bei Chen.

Others included team leaders from various strongholds, analysts, and many members from various squads or battalions within the Star City Watchers, as well as numerous staff members.

Zhou Keer was currently wearing a combat suit and staying with Yun Feng.

Everyone had signed a non-disclosure agreement after entering the arena.

"Everyone, quiet!"

Just then, a low shout rang out, and the entire arena instantly became so quiet that one could hear a pin drop.

Bei Chen stood up and looked at the many selection participants below, slowly speaking: "I am very glad to see so many elites of The Watchers come to Star City to participate in the first round of selection for the Special Training Camp."

"You are all absolute elites from your respective strongholds, and many are even among the top one or two in your locations. But here, I hope you forget your past glories and treat yourselves as ordinary contestants."

His voice echoed through the venue, "This selection concerns each of your futures. I believe you all understand the detailed circumstances."

"Now, I announce that the first round of selection battles for the Star City Watchers Special Training Camp has officially begun."

As Bei Chen's voice fell, bursts of applause immediately rang out from all around.

Following that, ten referees in deep blue uniforms descended to the edges of the platforms simultaneously.

One of the referees looked at the crowd and read out the rules for this competition—

1. Battles will take place on ten platforms simultaneously until the random one-on-one matches for the 216 participants are concluded.

2. Conditions for victory: (1) The opponent loses combat capability. (2) The opponent voluntarily surrenders.

3. The use of divine equipment is prohibited, the use of banned divine potions is prohibited, and intentional injury is prohibited (conventional weapons are not prohibited).

4. After the first round of battles, everyone will have three hours of recovery time. Once the three hours are up, the matches will continue.

By the end of the first day, only 54 people will be able to advance; everyone else will be eliminated.

A moment later, Zhou Xing appeared on platform number seven.

His opponent was a burly man with a fleshy face named Xu Zhen, who came from the medium-sized city of Yang City.

Looking at Zhou Xing, Xu Zhen grinned. "I'll try to go as easy as possible..."

Just then, the referee's voice announcing the start came from the edge of the platform.

Just as Xu Zhen was about to make a move, he found that with a simple wave of Zhou Xing's hand, his feet were frozen in place.

He was even more shocked to find that frost was spreading up his legs at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Even if he activated his full state now, he couldn't break free.

"Titans Strength!"

Unwilling to give up, Xu Zhen immediately unleashed his powerful ability.

Whoosh!

However, Zhou Xing had already walked to within three steps of him. An ice spike was now pressed against the center of his forehead like a bolt of lightning.

"Do you want to continue?" Zhou Xing asked with a calm expression.

"I..." Xu Zhen found that no matter how hard he tried, he still couldn't break the frost, especially since it was already about to reach his neck.

A look of loneliness flashed in his eyes as he looked at Zhou Xing and said, "I surrender!"

The match, which ended without any suspense, surprised many of The Watchers in the stands.

"Unlucky fellow!"

As for Yun Feng, she could only feel pity for Zhou Xing's opponent.

After ending his match, Zhou Xing returned to the rest area. The holographic screen was broadcasting the situation of the other platforms.

Just as he stepped down, Qin Yue followed him and stood on platform number seven.

Qin Yue was currently looking at his opponent with a serious expression.

Compared to Zhou Xing, Qin Yue knew his strength didn't give him an advantage, so he had to give his all every time.

However, in Zhou Xing's view, as long as Qin Yue had a bit of luck and didn't run into a contestant at the Initial Control Stage, there basically wouldn't be any major problems.