"There's some skill to it," Elder Yuan of Shanku replied.
The celestial phenomenon on Qing Ling's Dragon Void Arena naturally drew the attention of many cultivators.
It even caused some Great Golden Immortals to glance over.
Behind the Ancestor of the Black Dragon, a blue-robed youth looked up, silently thinking that the brat had to hold on. Otherwise, all his efforts would be in vain. He had even acted subtly under the Ancestor of the Black Dragon's nose, though the Ancestor had implicitly agreed.
Above them, on the Dragon Void Arena, Qing Ling endured endless pressure, taking step after step until he finally reached the sky above the Primordial Divine Mountain.
The even more terrifying gravity of the mountain almost made him collapse, but a hundred iron-stemmed trees with branches and leaves of pure white instantly grew around Qing Ling, alleviating the immense, boundless pressure from all directions.
Qing Ling straightened his body, closed his eyes, and brought his palms together before rotating them again, his left palm rising and his right palm descending. The Sky Profound Vine in his dantian drew upon the vast sea of spiritual energy, instantly manifesting Qing Ling's form.
A colossal green vine, reaching from heaven to earth, originated from Qing Luo's body and grew in both directions, upward towards the nine heavens and downward to the nine netherworlds.
It connected heaven and earth, majestic and boundless, like a ladder to the heavens!
The phantom of the Sky-Connecting Jianmu appeared in an instant. The vast green wood crushed eight mountains and broke through the sky's peaks. A single phantom swept across the eight layers of mountains, causing boundless winds and clouds to rage, and the powerful forces mixed together, creating dust and smoke that rose everywhere.
In an instant, the phantom of the Sky-Connecting Jianmu disappeared, leaving only Qing Ling standing amidst the swirling dust. Beneath him was a Golden Immortal Venerable whose divine abilities had been shattered, suffering a backlash.
"I concede!" the middle-aged man said without hesitation, seeing the peculiar color of Qing Ling's eyes.
Seeing this, Qing Ling returned to the arena, bowed to the Great Luo's divine manifestation, and then sat cross-legged on the arena.
The middle-aged man, looking dejected, walked off the arena, his golden magic beads having been withdrawn.
The Great Luo's divine manifestation also vanished. On the vast arena, only Qing Ling sat cross-legged, recovering. The arena's illusory light flickered, erasing all traces, returning it to a vast expanse of gray-white Dragon Void Arena.
His Sky Profound Vine Dao manifestation was formed by contemplating the Sky-Connecting Jianmu. Although the vine buds were small, they already possessed its divine aura. How majestic was Jianmu! Though not as vast as the heavens and earth, it was undoubtedly the second tallest entity connecting heaven and earth. Even a sliver of its divine aura was something that ordinary Golden Immortals could not resist.
Qing Luo's golden magic beads suddenly rose, followed by eighty-eight horizontal beams of light, representing the rankings from the previous Saint Sacrifice at Xi Mountain.
As the fourth round gradually concluded, more and more arenas began to display similar beams of light.
After several more days, the fourth round of the Saint Selection Battle finally concluded!
Nearly eighty arenas displayed these beams of light, indicating that over eighty participants from the previous Saint Sacrifice had maintained their rankings.
A dozen more were eliminated in the fourth round, and their positions were taken by their victors.
The Golden Dragon Elder waved his hands, and the hundred Dragon Void Arenas began to rotate. Starting from the arena with the hundredth beam of light, from bottom to top, from one hundred to one, according to their rankings, the hundred arenas formed a diagonal ladder to the heavens.
Qing Ling's arena was at the very bottom, with twelve arenas below him and eighty-seven above him.
At the highest point, the top ten Saint Sons and Saint Daughters sat or stood, overlooking the Saint Sons of myriad races.
Countless Saint Sons and Saint Daughters looked with longing at the top ten positions, which represented not only honor but also strength, and a symbol of their clan's power.
The top ten entities were always the ten great races.
Among the top ten Saint Sons' rankings, the first was always the Great Sea Clan, the Whale Clan. Second was the second Great Sea Clan, the Spirit Turtle Clan. Third was the Merman Clan, fourth was the Thousand-Legged Spirit Clan, fifth was the Sea Snake Clan, sixth was the Myriad Clam Clan, and seventh was the Sea-Seeking Yaksha Clan.
These seven great clans were the seven royal clans among the vassals of myriad races, possessing transcendent status. Nominally, they were vassals of the Dragon Clan, but in reality, they maintained a cooperative relationship in secret.
The remaining three Saint Sons were the top three great clans among the vassals of myriad races: the Ancient Ephemera Clan of the West Sea, the Violent Cold Clan of the North Sea, and the Fire Essence Clan of the South Sea.
These ten clans were far superior in strength to other Primordial races. Take the Black Lizard Great Clan, for instance. Its strength was not much less than the Bloodworm Clan of the Western Wilderness, which was ranked fourth among the great clans. They were mostly in the same tier, but the Bloodworm Clan was close to the Underworld Blood Sea, with an endless supply of members and a terrifyingly large population, hence its position above the Black Lizard Great Clan.
However, within these ten clans, there were supreme powerful beings at the twenty-ninth level of the Great Luo realm and above.
Over the years, Qing Ling was no longer ignorant. The Great Luo realm had thirty-three heavens. Each heaven was a minor realm, and ten heavens constituted a major realm.
Minor realms could be surpassed, but major realms could not.
Within the ten heavens were known as powerful ancestors. Above that, up to the twentieth heaven, they were called Heaven and Earth Mighty Ones. Above that, up to the thirtieth heaven, they were called Supreme Mighty Ones!
As for the realms of the last three heavens, no one in the world knew. Only those who truly reached them could perceive them.
Taigeng, the Ancestor of Xi Mountain in the past, was a supreme mighty one at the twenty-ninth level of the Great Luo realm.
Supreme mighty ones transcended heaven and earth, free from constraints. All laws and dao were close to the origin, surviving countless major and minor tribulations without perishing. Even Taigeng, the Ancestor who perished in the immeasurable fierce beast tribulation, did not completely perish.
This was also the reason for the transcendent status of the ten clans compared to other myriad races. How powerful must the Saint Sons nurtured by the accumulated heritage of such clans over long ages be?
In the Primordial World, unless one was born a Great Luo, it was impossible to achieve anything alone. How could an individual's cultivation and enlightenment compare to the heritage of a thousand races and ten thousand generations of ancestors? How could an individual's search for rare materials, spiritual treasures, and opportunities compare to the search of millions of clan members across the world?
The future was uncertain, but this was the reality of the Primordial World in this chaotic era.
The rise of every powerful being was accompanied by the rise of a race, mutually reinforcing and indispensable!
Looking up at the top ten Saint Sons, with myriad races bowing before them, Qing Ling silently assessed his situation. His position was precarious because none of the hundred participants were early-stage Golden Immortals; they were all mid-to-late-stage Golden Immortals.
Furthermore, there was only one Heavenly rank among them!
It was impossible not to be noticed, drawing the attention of all. Yet, Qing Ling remained as steady as a mountain, sitting still.
Below, the Golden Dragon Elder began to announce the rules for the arena battles. The more than four hundred Saint Sons and Saint Daughters who won the fourth round could challenge any arena, but they could only challenge arenas in the latter fifty positions first. If they won, they could then challenge the top fifty arenas. Additionally, any arena master who successfully defended their position five times could no longer be challenged and would directly obtain their current ranking.
Each challenger had only three chances to challenge. Once used up, they could no longer initiate a challenge. This would prevent every arena from being constantly challenged.
Moreover, at most ten arenas could be challenged simultaneously to prevent accidental casualties.
Ten Great Luo Golden Immortal powerhouses had now flown up and stood on the Dragon Void Arenas, personally present, no longer needing to use divine manifestations.
Below, Venerable Chi looked at the crowd staring at Arena Eighty-Eight with ill intentions and worried, "Clan Leader, can our Saint Son really defend his position five times this time?"
Grandma Hua Geng's expression was grave. "I don't know either. We can only wait for the result. No matter what, he has done his best."
Elder Yuan of Shanku chuckled, "Clan Leader Hua Geng, there's no need to be so discouraged. I specifically instructed Shan Yao not to challenge your Xi Mountain's Saint Son. It's one less opponent, isn't it?"
Grandma Hua Geng smiled, "Thank you, senior, for considering my clan."
"Alas, with his Heavenly rank cultivation, it's hard for other Saint Sons and Saint Daughters not to challenge him. He's still too young," Elder Yuan sighed, as if he had already seen Qing Ling being defeated and removed from the arena.
Ahead, the Golden Dragon Elder Xuan He announced, "The battle for arena positions begins!"
As soon as the words fell, dozens of streams of light shot into the sky. The Saint Sons and Saint Daughters rushed towards Qing Ling's arena, fearing they would be too late and miss out, as such an easy target was rare.
The scene of these lights flashing towards Qing Ling made the tens of thousands of异族 (other races) present unable to help but laugh. This was the first time in history!
The Ancestor of the Black Dragon also noticed. Originally, a Heavenly rank could not last until this arena battle. He glanced at the Golden Dragon Elder, then at Lan Kui behind him, his expression thoughtful.
The two Great Luo Dragon Clan members trembled, fearing they would displease the Ancestor of the Black Dragon.
Meanwhile, Qing Ling, the center of everyone's attention, looked at the approaching cultivators and smiled calmly. He pointed his magic beads, and the eighty-eight beams of light instantly targeted nine beams of light.
Everyone was stunned, thinking they had misread. A late-stage Golden Immortal woman was the first to step onto the arena.
But it was too late.
The magic beads around Qing Ling enveloped him, and he slowly rose, leaving Arena Eighty-Eight.
He had challenged others before they could challenge him!
Since battles were inevitable anyway, defending the arena was a waste of effort and would force him to reveal his trump cards. It was naturally better to challenge others directly, not only demonstrating his strength to intimidate others but also improving his ranking if he won.
Qing Ling looked at the persistent crowd waiting outside his arena and couldn't help but smile. "You walk your path, and I'll block your way!"
Everyone was shocked, even the Great Luo ancestors couldn't help but wear strange expressions.
Using an advanced challenge to avoid a defending battle was not a bad idea, but was this Heavenly rank Saint Son mistaken?
A Saint Son ranked eighty-eighth was challenging the Saint Sons at the very front!
Which clan's Saint Son was this, so arrogant, or perhaps so spoiled in his clan that he thought himself invincible?
Qing Ling slowly descended from high in the sky, stopping at the ninth arena. He bowed and said, "Eastern Desolation, Xi Mountain Serpent Clan."
Below, the cultivators asked doubtfully, "Hey, have any of you heard of this Xi Mountain Serpent Clan? Which great clan is it?"
"I haven't heard of it either. Perhaps it's a newly promoted great clan, otherwise, it wouldn't be so obscure."
"What great clan? I've heard of it. This Xi Mountain Serpent Clan seems to be a small clan in the Eastern Desolation, and it seems to have only had a Saint Son in recent years!"
"This..." a middle-aged man exclaimed in shock, "Then he's too bold, daring to challenge the Violent Cold Clan! That's the second great clan!"
Beside him, Elder Yuan of Shanku's eyes widened in astonishment. Upon confirming it was indeed Qing Ling, he turned and asked, "Clan Leader Hua Geng, did you instruct him?"
Grandma Hua Geng was also greatly shocked. "This, I didn't tell him to dare challenge the Violent Cold Clan's Saint Son, who is ranked ninth!"
Venerable Du and Venerable Chi were already somewhat anxious in their hearts. Being defeated was a small matter; what if the opponent became enraged and crippled him?
On the Dragon Void Arena, everyone paused for a moment, then seemed unsure of what to do.
Not everyone was pessimistic about Qing Ling. Some thought that if he truly lacked strength, could he have reached the top hundred arenas? And if he dared to challenge the top ten Saint Sons, what if his strength was incredibly formidable? Wouldn't challenging him lead to defeat?
On the arena, feeling the gazes from all directions, the Saint Son of the Violent Cold Clan, a robust young man, his eyes instantly turned cold, and he said in a low voice, "Very good. I didn't expect to be the first to be challenged. I will make you pay the price for your recklessness, the sacred name of my Violent Cold Clan!"
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