169: Chapter 169 The Tournament: Divine Will Power Enters the Third Stage!

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

In the exclusive training room of Jingdu Martial Arts University, Lu Qingyun slowly opened his eyes, a barely perceptible wisp of black light trembling at his fingertips.

[Ding! Spirit Arts "Void Transformation" has broken through to the Mastery Realm!]

[Ding! Spirit Arts "Divine Will Storm" has broken through to the Mastery Realm!]

[Ding! Spirit Arts "Return to Void of All Laws" has broken through to the Mastery Realm!]

Three system prompts fell in succession. Lu Qingyun stretched, his bones popping and cracking, feeling refreshed.

All three high-level Spirit Arts were maxed out.

Driven by his pure-to-the-extreme Psychic Power, their power was extreme!

"Just in time, I can start now."

Lu Qingyun pulled out his phone, scanned the schedule notification, and followed the map navigation, leisurely strolling toward the largest national-level martial arts arena in Jingdu.

At this moment, the Jingdu central arena was already bustling with noise, waves of heat surging.

Over two hundred thousand spectators filled the tiered stands, their shouting and cheering soaring into the sky, almost lifting the arena's dome.

As the largest and highest-spec national martial arts event since the High Martial Era, this tournament almost pulled at the nerves of the entire Huaguo.

The fierce beast battlefield front lines were constantly being breached.

Everyone was holding their breath, wanting to see if the top young geniuses of Huaguo could really uphold the future of humanity.

The contestant waiting area at the back of the arena was crowded with thousands of people, their auras mixed; from Xiantian Martial Artist to Yukong Realm peak, all kinds of martial artists were rubbing their hands, their eyes full of eagerness.

As soon as Lu Qingyun stepped into the waiting area, the Yukong Realm peak aura inadvertently emitted from his body instantly dampened the surrounding noise.

Gazes swept over him in unison, mixed with dread, vigilance, and a hint of avoidance.

Yukong Realm peak was almost a ceiling-level existence in the first stage of the qualifiers.

No one wanted to run into such a ruthless character right at the start and end up going home after one round.

Lu Qingyun turned a blind eye to this, just frowning slightly and complaining to himself.

According to the competition rules, he needed to conduct twenty matches of the same realm in this stage.

And the so-called "same realm" here referred to the two major realms of Xiantian and Yukong Realm.

Therefore, it was very likely that a passionate collision between a newcomer just entering the Yukong Realm and a Yukong Realm peak expert would occur.

He, however, felt that this competition format was too much of a waste of life.

With these guys who hadn't even touched the threshold of Divine Intent, how many experience points could fighting twenty full matches give him?

He sat down in an empty seat with a sullen face, the coldness of "strangers keep away" around him intensifying, causing surrounding martial artists to subconsciously shift away.

Lu Qingyun leaned back in his chair, bored, his gaze sweeping over the two Xiantian Martial Artists fighting back and forth on the stage, feeling it was no different from watching children play house.

He had wanted to quietly be a melancholy handsome man until the start of the match, but someone had to approach him.

"Brother, you look unfamiliar!"

A voice with a hint of lewdness sounded. A man with a thief-like appearance and a thin figure sat down in the empty seat next to him without ceremony, cupping his hands with familiarity, "I am Huang Shulang, a rogue cultivator with Yukong Realm peak cultivation. Looking at your aura, brother, you must be an expert of the same rank!"

Lu Qingyun glanced at the glaring "LV39" above his head, having no interest in talking, and withdrew his gaze to continue watching the "chickens pecking at each other" on the stage.

Being ignored, Huang Shulang was not annoyed, but instead chuckled, looking knowing: "Understand, understand, experts all have this style! Aloof! I used to be like this too!"

He rubbed his hands, his tone carrying a hint of schadenfreude: "Don't you think this competition format is interesting? In a same-realm melee, if those newbies who just entered the Yukong Realm draw us, won't their faces turn green? Just thinking about their desperate little expressions after getting on stage makes me excited."

As he said this, he sighed and changed the subject: "But it's a pity, we still have to endure in these qualifiers. Some monsters have already entered the third stage directly, without even having to fight in the second stage melee; their starting line is a big chunk higher than ours."

"Huh?" Lu Qingyun finally turned his head to look at him: "Enter the third stage directly? Why?"

Seeing him respond, Huang Shulang immediately became spirited and lowered his voice: "What else could it be based on? Hard strength! They are all heaven's pride children raised by major sects and families pouring resources into them since childhood. Things like Supreme Sword Body, Xiantian Spirit Body, one is more outrageous than the other. Just look at Lin Jingxian of the Sword Sect; he comprehended Sword Rhyme before the age of thirty. If they really fight, ordinary early-stage Divine Intent cultivators might not even be his match."

"There are several others who are either already Divine Will Celestial, or have combat power comparable to Divine Intent. According to the tournament rules, contestants possessing Divine Intent Level combat power can skip the first two stages after verification and be listed as seeded players."

"That's what you call a genius. Our Yukong Realm peak, in their eyes, is just so-so."

After hearing this, Lu Qingyun blinked. There's such a rule? When he signed up offline, he hadn't looked closely at the detailed rules online.

He immediately took out his phone, opened the official tournament rules page, his fingers swiping quickly, and found that rule in a few seconds. It was really there.

As long as one demonstrates Divine Intent Level combat power, they are directly guaranteed a spot in the third stage!

"Should have said so earlier, wasting my time." Lu Qingyun muttered softly and stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

Huang Shulang next to him watched his reaction, his heart skipping a beat.

That's not right... Why didn't this guy show any shock or admiration when hearing about Divine Intent Level geniuses? Instead, it's like... he thinks this is commonplace?

Could it be... An absurd thought just emerged, but he forcibly suppressed it.

Impossible, impossible, Divine Intent is not that cheap; this kid must be putting on an act.

Just then, the referee's voice on the stage resounded throughout the arena through the loudspeaker: "Next match, Yukong Realm group, Universe Invincible Tyrannosaurus God of War... versus, Zhao Kun!"

As soon as the name was read out, the whole arena was dead silent for a second, and then a roar of laughter erupted like a tsunami.

"Hahahaha! Universe Invincible Tyrannosaurus God of War? What kind of chuunibyou name is this!"

"Laughing to death, is he here to compete or to be funny? I'm afraid he's just here to grandstand!"

"I bet fifty cents, this guy won't last three moves!"

There was laughter all over the stands, and many people in the waiting area were covering their mouths, holding back laughter.

Huang Shulang was laughing so hard he was swaying back and forth, patting Lu Qingyun's arm and saying: "Brother, did you hear that! Universe Invincible Tyrannosaurus God of War! What a talent! Taking this name, he must be a moron, won't he get beaten to death on stage... Eh? Brother, why aren't you laughing?"

Lu Qingyun twitched the corner of his mouth, letting out two symbolic dry laughs. Then, he stood up.

Huang Shulang's laughter stopped abruptly, the expression on his face instantly froze, his eyes wide open, like a duck with its neck strangled. It can't be...

Lu Qingyun patted his shoulder without speaking. His figure floated into the air and landed steadily toward the central battle stage.

The aura of the Yukong Realm peak was revealed without doubt at this moment!

The roar of laughter in the arena was like someone had suddenly cut off the switch, instantly stuck.

"Yu... Yukong Realm peak?!"

"The one who took this name is actually a Yukong Realm peak big shot? Is he playing so wildly!"

On the battle stage. Zhao Kun, that is, Lu Qingyun's opponent, a martial artist who had just entered the mid-stage of Yukong Realm, who was laughing the loudest just now, now had a smile on his face that was uglier than crying.

He had originally thought about encountering a clown grandstanding and just picking up an easy opening win. It turned out the other guy was Yukong Realm peak? This luck was too bad!

He pursed his lips, having already made up his mind that after the opponent made a move or two, he would immediately admit defeat; preserving his face was the most important thing.

But to his surprise, the Lu Qingyun opposite him didn't look at him at all, but instead turned his head to look at the referee next to him.

"Referee," Lu Qingyun asked in a flat tone, "I remember the rules say that possessing Divine Intent Level combat power allows one to directly advance to the third stage, right?"

The referee was stunned for a moment. Why ask this instead of fighting? But professional ethics made him nod: "That's right, those verified to have Divine Intent Level combat power can be promoted exceptionally."

As soon as the words fell, hum—! A cold, vast, and terrifying Psychic Power storm that seemed to be able to crush the soul suddenly rose from Lu Qingyun's body!

It didn't spread to the whole arena, just barely covering the range of the battle stage, but that oppressive feeling originating from the soul level made the referee's hair stand on end, his heart feeling as if it were gripped by an invisible big hand, and even breathing became difficult.

Divine Intent! No, this is even more terrifying than ordinary Divine Intent pressure! This is a high-level Spirit Arts—Divine Will Storm! A Spirit Arts that only experts who have truly stepped into the Divine Intent realm are qualified to practice!

"Stop!!" The referee was so scared he almost jumped up, shouting at the top of his lungs, fearing that if he were a second late, this lunatic would smash the Spirit Arts onto his face.

Can a person who can use a name like "Universe Invincible Tyrannosaurus God of War" in such a formal occasion have a normal mental state? If he really hit him, who could he cry to!

The pressure receded like a tide. Lu Qingyun retracted his aura, looking at him with an innocent face.

The referee clutched his chest, gasping for air, and waved his hand exhausted: "Alright, you go. I will report your information."

In the waiting area, Huang Shulang's hair stood on end, and he was frozen in his seat, not daring to move. Div... Divine Intent?!

Thinking about how he had mocked the other's name just now, Huang Shulang felt his legs go weak and almost slapped himself on the spot.

Just then, Lu Qingyun's gaze swept over lightly, landing on him, indifferent and without a trace of emotion.

Huang Shulang shivered all over and almost slid off the chair. It's over, it's over, I've been remembered!

Lu Qingyun had no intention of arguing with him and turned to walk down the stage.

On the battle stage, Zhao Kun watched Lu Qingyun's departing back, breathing a long sigh of relief, his back already soaked with cold sweat. I saved my life!

But before he could catch his breath, the referee on the stage cleared his throat again, picked up the list, and read: "Next match, Zhao Kun versus Huang Shulang!"

On the battle stage, the smile of relief that had just appeared on Zhao Kun's face, upon seeing the Yukong Realm peak aura on the standing Huang Shulang, instantly sank again, uglier than crying.

(I'm broke, let's set a rule for extra updates.)

(Every four hundred free "Powering with Love" or gifts of equivalent value will add one chapter, which can be accumulated.)

(One person can send three per day, with five or six thousand readers following the updates every day, it should... not be difficult, right? Sad—)