477: The competition begins

The Starry Sky Pavilion, though a pavilion, covered an area of one hundred thousand li. Its layout bore a striking resemblance to Ji Xinghe's Star River Royal Manor.

Beneath their feet, flowing stardust shimmered, and with every step, silver-blue ripples spread out.

Looking up, three hundred and sixty Eternal stars slowly rotated according to the celestial trajectory, their starlight weaving into a net that illuminated the entire space, making it seem dreamlike.

Those stars appeared distant yet also within reach—Xu Yuan lightly touched one, and it obediently descended into his palm, transforming into a tea cup glittering with starlight.

Xu Qing stepped on the Void Realm ripples and appeared at the peak of a verdant mountain. Clouds and mist wreathed the summit, where Xu Yuan, dressed in white, sat cross-legged on a green jade platform. Twenty-two strands of purple Hongmeng Primordial Qi encircled his body, flowing around him like roaming Dragons.

"Big Brother."

Xu Yuan opened his eyes, which seemed to hold rotating star rivers. As he rose to salute, the movement of his sleeves stirred ripples of Dao rhyme, clearly indicating that his Cultivation had reached an extremely high Realm.

Xu Qing surveyed his younger brother, his gaze lingering for a moment on the twenty-two solidified strands of Hongmeng Primordial Qi around him, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Not bad. To reach this stage in forty thousand years is much faster than I was then."

During his decade-plus journey, Xu Yuan rarely appeared in the outside world, mostly Cultivating on his Qiankun Continent, though it had only been a little over forty thousand years.

However, Xu Yuan Cultivated very quickly, and he had now reached the Late Stage Dao Monarch Realm. Coupled with his Cultivation of supreme Dao Arts, his Battle Intent was comparable to an Immortal Giant.

"Big Brother personally created such a Cultivation ground for me and provided so many resources, so my Cultivation naturally isn't slow," Xu Yuan's voice was calm, but his eyes flashed.

Xu Qing smiled. He waved his hand, and the clouds and mist on the mountain peak instantly transformed into a scroll, revealing the scene of the various Chaos Race Prodigies arriving earlier in the day.

"Did the Prodigies arriving today put any pressure on you?"

Xu Qing suddenly asked, his gaze sharp.

Xu Yuan chuckled at the question, flicking his sleeve. The images on the scroll immediately shattered into specks of starlight.

"Of course there's pressure," Xu Yuan stood with his hands behind his back, his Battle Intent growing stronger in his eyes, "but there's more anticipation."

He turned to look in the direction of Tianyang Pass, his voice steady: "The only ones worth my attention are Ming Hao, Ying Jiu, and Jian Qingshuang!"

Xu Qing nodded slightly, seemingly quite satisfied with this answer.

"If you are confident, then Second Uncle and the others won't steal your thunder. However, since we promised Ji Changge, just in case, Second Uncle and the others will hide their Cultivation and participate!"

"I understand!" Xu Yuan didn't think much of it.

Although he was confident, the honor of the Sacred Hall was at stake, so multiple layers of security were not a bad thing.

"The Competition is imminent, so I won't stay long," Xu Qing left the mountain hall. "Remember, a true strong Cultivator isn't about defeating many enemies..."

"But about surpassing oneself."

He flicked his sleeve, and his figure vanished like a bubble into the clouds and mist on the mountain peak.

Xu Yuan stood still for a long time. Only after Xu Qing's aura completely disappeared did he sit back down on the green jade platform.

He closed his eyes and focused. The twenty-two strands of Hongmeng Primordial Qi reappeared, only this time, a faint silver sword Dao fluctuation was subtly added to the Origin Qi.

The mountain wind blew, rustling his white clothes.

The distant bells of Tianyang Pass were faintly audible, as if counting down to the Competition.

A month's time was but a flick of a finger in the eyes of Cultivators, and in a blink of an eye, the day of the official opening of the Tianyang Competition arrived.

At dawn, the fourteen thousand eight hundred inverted immortal mountains above Tianyang Pass simultaneously glowed with brilliant light. Even the three hundred and sixty-five immortal palaces displayed different colors of light, clearly also paying attention to this Competition.

"Dong!!!"

With a bell chime that shook heaven and earth, the clouds surrounding the thousands of battle stages suddenly surged.

Innumerable clouds condensed into tiered spectator cloud platforms, blooming like lotus flowers. The large platforms were ten thousand zhang square, and even the small ones were a thousand zhang square. From the lowest vantage point, they resembled a celestial palace in a sea of clouds.

"Look! Those are the Starry Sky Cloud Seats prepared for the top ten races of the previous Competition!"

A Cultivator exclaimed, pointing at the ten golden cloud platforms at the highest point.

Those ten cloud platforms were arranged in the posture of ten Dragons guarding, their surfaces covered with carpets woven from Chaos Star Sand, and their seats were carved from complete star cores.

The slightly lower silver cloud platforms were the seats for representatives of other races and participating Prodigies, and below them were other spectator Cultivators.

"Silence!"

A majestic voice resounded through the sky.

A three-zhang giant appeared, stepping on golden light, followed by over a hundred terrifyingly powerful beings from various races. Each held a blood-colored battle flag, on which the characters "Tianyang" were written in Dao blood.

"This Venerable, Ju Lingzi of the Heavenly Hall, will serve as the chief judge for this Competition!"

This was a Dao Ancestor strong Cultivator from the Heavenly Hall. Although Prodigies from the Luanshen Territory participated in the Tianyang Competition, it was ostensibly dominated by the Human Race and the Myriad Chaos Races. Therefore, the judges were presided over by the three great evil groups of Luanshen Territory.

"There are three rules for this Competition!" Ju Ling Dao Ancestor waved his sleeve, and golden characters appeared in the air:

"Firstly, life and death are disregarded; the strongest is supreme!"

"Secondly, on the arena, all forms of forbidden artifacts are prohibited!"

"Thirdly, those who surrender are judged to have lost!"

As he spoke, thousands of giant water mirrors suddenly rose from various parts of the city below.

These water mirrors floated above streets, plazas, and taverns, projecting the scenes from the battle stages in real-time. Cultivators unable to enter the cloud platforms gathered before the water mirrors, and for a time, the streets were deserted.

Of course, this did not lack some quick-witted individuals.

Peddlers weaved through the crowds, hawking "Jade Slips for Recording Images" and "Battle Strength Assessment Charts"; many young men and women cheered for their favored Prodigies; wealthy powerful beings set up gambling tables, sparking heated debates among the crowd about which Prodigy could enter the top ten.

"Bets are open, bets are open! Ming Hao 1.2 to 1, Ying Jiu 1.5 to 1, Qin Tieyi 3 to 1..."

"What? Qin Tieyi is only 3 to 1? Are you blind? He is..."

"Are you buying or not, you bastard? If not, get lost!"

"Buy! I'm betting on Ming Hao for first place!"

"Damn it!"

"..."

Scenes like these were playing out across Main City Number One, and the atmosphere was extremely lively.

"Silence!!!"

Ju Ling Dao Ancestor's voice, like a great bell, spread throughout Main City Number One, causing Main City Number One to instantly fall silent.

"Sacrifice to the Heroic Spirits—"

Ju Ling Dao Ancestor's powerful voice boomed above the Dao Artifact Plaza, like thunder rolling across the Chaos Sea, causing every living being in the Main City to respectfully quiet down.

In an instant, the entire plaza, spanning hundreds of millions of li, suddenly trembled. The Dao Artifacts that had been dormant for countless years seemed to suddenly awaken.

"Zheng—"

The first sword cry came from beneath their feet; a broken ancient sword broke through the earth, its body covered in cracks, yet still emanating an unyielding sharpness.

Immediately after—

"Qiang!", "Weng!", "Dong!"

On the Dao Artifact Plaza, hundreds of millions of Dao Artifacts simultaneously soared into the sky!

Broken sabers, damaged spears, cracked bows, shattered armor... each weapon carried the last trace of its owner's Battle Intent, emitting deafening wails in the Void Realm. These sounds intertwined, forming a battle song that shook heaven and earth.

Xu Qing looked up, seeing the sky-obscuring torrent of Dao Artifacts circling in the firmament.