Elder Hua Geng also smiled, saying, "Matters of luck are ephemeral, something to be encountered rather than sought, and this is but a single instance. No matter how good one's luck, it ultimately depends on strength."
Shankun the old ape felt a little more balanced then. The opponent his clan's saintess had drawn this time was someone with the potential to enter the top hundred.
Last time, the Mountain River Giant Ape clan had the misfortune of encountering the Saint Son of the Giant Whale Sea Clan, one of the Seven Great Upper Clans, in the third round and was crushed.
As for how their luck would be this time, it was yet unknown.
Qing Ling, who had drawn a bye, was naturally admired and praised by many of the various races. This was truly heaven-defying luck!
Among the Seven Great Sea King Clans, which were situated very close to the front, a woman in purple gauze from the Deep Sea Snake Clan looked at Qing Ling, her thoughts stirring. Others might not know, but as one of the seven transcendent Sea King Clans, she knew that the Golden Dragon Clan, despite appearing fair, had indeed selected the person with a bye under the instruction of a powerful figure within the Dragon Clan.
The Xishan Snake Clan lineage was also a branch of the snake species. The relationship between the two clans was very similar to that of the fifty-two Toad Clans in the past. As for the branch in Fengqi Mountain, it was too far away and had little connection.
She also hoped that the Snake Clan could produce another Upper Clan. As long as one of the three lineages continued to exist, the Snake Clan would not be extinct. And as long as the race did not perish, the clan's fortune could be distributed to those great ancestors whose true spirits were scattered into the River of Fate, increasing the possibility of their return.
This was one of the reasons why even the Great Luo ancestors attached great importance to their clans.
The second round of the Saint Selection Battle began again. This round was clearly much more intense than the previous one. Many Heavenly Rank Saint Sons and Saintesses were eliminated in this round. Even the dozens of Heavenly Rank cultivators who remained displayed astonishing divine abilities.
After this round, there were no weaklings left. Of course, in the eyes of many, Qing Ling was an exception, being merely a Saint Son of a minor clan at the late Heavenly Rank, not yet at the peak of the Heavenly Rank.
The vast dantian spiritual power within Qing Ling was difficult to discern even for a Great Luo Golden Immortal without close inspection. Innate deities naturally possessed extraordinary physiques.
In this round, Qing Ling also encountered other innate deities. One was a Saintess from the Eight-Tentacled Octopus Clan, one of the Seven Great Sea King Clans. She was the God of the Western Sea Tides and held the authority over the ebb and flow of the tides in the western sea.
Of course, many deities only possessed authority but did not wield it much. This was because it was the era of the Three Clans and the era of the ancient ancestors and powerful beings. Even great innate deities had to yield somewhat.
For example, Zhenyuanzi, the God of Earth who possessed the earth veins, Patriarch Minghe of the Sea of Blood, and Patriarch Kunpeng, the God of the Northern Depths...
They were not only great beings among innate deities but also great divine powers who transformed from innate gods and demons into beings within the Primordial World.
This Sea Tide Goddess was only at the early Golden Immortal stage and had only recently been born. Her opponent was a Saint Son from an Upper Clan residing in the stone forest of the northwestern coast, who was at the late Golden Immortal stage, yet he was still defeated by this innate deity.
Upon seeing this octopus-bodied deity, Qing Ling couldn't help but ponder. As an innate deity himself, and believing he was certainly superior to this auxiliary deity who only controlled a sea, it was difficult to justify his current Earth Rank cultivation.
He remembered that his birth had been recounted to him by Elder Hua Geng. Qing Ling had long harbored doubts about his own origins, and now his heart was even more stirred. If there were no hidden circumstances, he should have been a Golden Immortal Venerable upon birth, not still stuck at the Heavenly Rank.
Qing Ling was naturally patient. He sat in meditation for two full months. Others fought, and he watched. He watched from beginning to end, roughly memorizing the methods of each formidable Saint Son and Saintess.
After all, there were only a few thousand of them. With his soul, which was comparable to a Golden Immortal's, his divine sense could sweep across a million li, seeing the height of the mountains at a glance and counting the leaves on a tree.
This round had only two thousand matches, and it took nearly two months to complete the competitions. After the second round, excluding Qing Ling, there should have been two thousand four hundred and seven participants. However, due to severe injuries sustained by three Saint Sons and Saintesses during the battles, they were forced to withdraw from the third round.
Therefore, the number of participants who would have drawn byes became an even number, forming one thousand two hundred and two pairs.
This time, Qing Ling's opponent was from the Thousand Floating Spirit Clan of the Eastern Transverse Mountains, a rare branch of the wood element, a race formed by water-dwelling spiritual wood cultivating in rivers and lakes.
Qing Ling's luck was still quite good. His opponent this time was a woman in a green robe who had just entered the early Golden Immortal stage. Their match was scheduled for the eight-hundredth something, a later match.
After more than a month, it was finally time for Qing Ling to compete again.
Shankun the old ape laughed, "Little snake, what confidence do you have this time?"
Qing Ling smiled back, "Thank you for your concern, senior. I don't know either, I can only try my best."
"Well, yes, just try your best. After all, you are young and cannot compare to those who have cultivated for tens of eons. You must protect yourself and not harm your foundation," Shankun the old ape earnestly cautioned.
After thanking him, Qing Ling flew away. Although the old ape's words sounded somewhat unoptimistic, he was indeed advising him to be careful, out of kindness.
Stepping onto the arena, the woman in the green robe was already there.
She was a gentle woman, who smiled and said, "From the Transverse Mountains, the Thousand Floating Spirit Clan."
Qing Ling, clad in fiery red, with a handsome face like the sunset clouds in the sky, smiled leisurely, truly touching the heart. Those with less willpower would find it difficult to control themselves.
"From the Eastern Sea's Eastern Wasteland, the Xishan Snake Clan."
As he spoke, his voice was as gentle as a warm spring breeze. If not for standing on the arena, it would give people the feeling of a talented scholar meeting a beautiful woman. In reality, Qing Ling had inadvertently released the aura of the God of Spring, a scent that promoted fertility and catalysis, a hormonal scent.
A detached Great Luo divine sense, seated to the side, twitched slightly, and then said, "It's already the third round. The rules need not be reiterated. Begin!"
As soon as he spoke, the twin swords in the green-robed woman's hands appeared. She danced them in the air, her green robes fluttering, and the sword light flowed, extremely captivating, but without much sharpness.
Seeing this, Qing Ling waved his sleeve, and a misty green fog enveloped the vast arena. Within the dense fog, he saw that the swords danced by the woman in the green robe were not without sword energy, but rather dispersed beyond ten thousand zhang around him. Hundreds of sword energies were gradually arranged around him in all directions, subtly forming a grand formation.
His thoughts raced. He placed his hands on the ground, and instantly two giant green vines emerged from under the woman in the green robe's feet. However, they were instantly split into ten thousand pieces by the numerous hidden sword intents around her. But from the fragments of the giant vines, wisps of fine dust fell, scattering onto the woman in the green robe through the gaps revealed by the vine corpses.
Qing Ling then pointed his finger and said, "Manifest!"
Immediately, within ten thousand zhang of the woman in the green robe, thousands of figures appeared. Each was a tall and mighty green giant, fearlessly charging towards the sword-dancing woman.
Surprise flashed in the eyes of the woman in the green robe. She directly leaped into the high sky, sweeping her twin swords downwards. Myriad green duckweed carrying sharp sword intents, like countless flying knives, swept down overwhelmingly, instantly shredding the bodies of thousands of green giants.
But with a flick of Qing Ling's hand, he conjured a magical art. Water, earth, and wood spiritual energy converged, and the puppet bodies re-formed. At the same time, more and more puppets destroyed the sword qi and sword formations laid out by the woman in the green robe.
The woman in the green robe let out a cold laugh. She drew her twin swords together, transforming into a colossal sword that locked directly onto Qing Ling's aura. Then, it descended from the sky. The immense sword energy made even the void tremble.
Qing Ling couldn't help but praise, truly, there were no weaklings on the battlefield. But Qing Ling was not flustered. He directly picked up his yellow gourd and released tens of thousands of puppets. He shouted, "Explode!"
Instantly, ten thousand puppets exploded. The dense spiritual energy of the three elements was guided by Qing Ling. He extended his right index finger, and the powerful force contained within the ten thousand puppets, amplified by the power of the God of Spring, transformed into a towering ancient tree, which he held in front of him.
"Boom!"
The colossal sword energy pierced straight through, fiercely breaking open the trunk of the green giant tree. It was about to strike Qing Ling directly, but the broken body of the giant tree re-formed. The intact tree trunk actually clamped the giant sword tightly.
Seeing this, a sharp glint flashed in the woman in the green robe's eyes. The colossal sword body shattered with a roar, and two three-foot-long swords instantly flashed to Qing Ling's side.
From Qing Ling's wide red sleeve, a thick vine also spontaneously emerged. Its body flowed with profound wood qi, the Great Dao of Wood permeating its entire being. It was precisely the Xuan Tian Vine from his dantian.
Despite the immense power of the twin swords, they were unable to harm the vine, which was born alongside the Dao, compared to the Xuan Tian Vine nurtured within Qing Ling's vast sea of qi.
And at this very moment, Qing Ling suddenly darted forward, approaching the woman in the green robe.
Surprise flashed in her eyes, and she was about to evade, but in this brief instant, a sharp pain suddenly surged through her body. The pain was not only unbearable physically but also caused her soul to suffer ten thousand times the agony.
The woman in the green robe's body reacted a second slower. And in this one second, Qing Ling struck her back with a palm containing eighty percent of his strength. The immense force immediately sent her flying out of the arena.
The woman in the green robe had no strength to resist. Even her protective Qing Ping treasure robe was instantly shattered, reaching her heart. After all, with eighty percent of his strength, the immense power of his magic, measured by his vast dantian, was truly unbearable for an ordinary Golden Immortal.
Qing Ling had still held back two parts of his strength, otherwise, simply killing the opponent would have been too excessive.
The detached Great Luo divine sense, seated to the side, rushed to the unconscious woman in the green robe. Seeing that the protective garment on her back was shattered, her spine directly fractured, and there was a terrifying bloody palm print, he said to Qing Ling, "Boy, you're truly ruthless!"