Above the soft, white clouds, Liang Chen, the prodigy of the Liang clan, slowly fainted.
"Chen'er!"
From the Liang clan, a white-haired elder with a youthful face cried out. He rose from his seat, exuding powerful aura, and suddenly darted to Liang Chen's side.
He produced a pill and administered it to Liang Chen. The latter's complexion immediately improved somewhat, but the powerful clan elder was still uneasy. He personally examined Liang Chen's internal injuries once more before heaved a long sigh of relief.
"Fortunately, there's no major harm done. Just a slight disturbance in the sea of consciousness. A good sleep will fix it."
The old ancestor of the Liang clan said with a sigh, then carried Liang Chen back to the cloud where the Liang family resided. A crowd of people immediately surrounded them, all clan elders concerned about Liang Chen.
"This Zhou Jie, his moves are too vicious!"
A clan elder of the Liang clan said with resentment. Zhou Jie had shown no mercy and had nearly killed the strongest prodigy of their Liang family for this generation.
"Yes, he held nothing back. He unleashed his strongest killing move from the start, clearly intending to take Chen'er's life!" a noblewoman with a voluptuous figure also gritted her teeth and said. She was Liang Chen's mother, and she had nearly fainted when her son was injured.
Fortunately, he was unharmed.
"This matter will absolutely not be let go. I will make that Zhou Jie pay the price!" the beautiful woman said, stroking Liang Chen's face, her eyes reddened.
"Enough! You are inferior in skill, what more do you want!" the white-haired elder reprimanded sternly. He sat down in his chair, his eyes extremely sharp as he looked at everyone. "Revenge can only be accomplished by Chen'er himself. None of you are allowed to help him, or you will face family law!"
The beautiful woman's face showed anxiety upon hearing this. "But..."
"There is no 'but'!" the elder interrupted her, his expression serious. "That Zhou Jie is from the Jialan clan. Do I need to remind you what the Jialan clan represents?"
"From now on, no one is to mention this matter again. If Chen'er wishes to seek revenge, then let him achieve it through his own efforts and kill that Zhou Jie!"
...
At this time, within the Yaochi Immortal Realm.
Zhou Jie deactivated the barrier and calmly walked off the arena, his breathing undisturbed.
Eliminating Liang Chen had been very simple for him.
At the center of the combat platform, the old monk's phantom reappeared. His smile remained benevolent as he addressed the people in the arena. "In this round of combat, Zhou Jie wins."
"From the next round of battles onwards, I will activate the other nine combat platforms for your ten groups of cultivators to battle simultaneously."
As the old monk spoke, a faint Buddhist light appeared at the tip of his Zen staff. The light shone upon Yaochi, and amidst the picturesque mountains, clear waters, and misty clouds, nine more combat platforms of suitable size emerged.
"Ten platforms. We must indeed speed up the pace," Li Guang, the array-path prodigy of the Li family, said lightly. He took a step forward and landed directly on a combat platform.
"Who is my opponent in the next match? Come forth yourself."
Li Guang spoke calmly. The number above his head was six, indicating he was ranked sixth in the previous round.
"Tianqing Immortal Sect, Chang Liu, requests a lesson from Fellow Daoist Li!" Soon, a tall, well-featured, and handsome cultivator flew out from the crowd. He was enveloped in noble purple energy, and the number above his head was four hundred and ninety-four.
"You attack first."
Li Guang looked at the person opposite him and indifferently extended his right hand, beckoning.
"Then I shall not be polite!" Chang Liu's eyes suddenly sharpened. The purple energy around him transformed into vines, becoming countless thick tentacles that writhed eerily in the air, resembling the tails of a nine-tailed fox.
Li Guang's gaze was calm. A formation disk flashed in his hand, and with a wave, he set up an array. The phantom of a dragon-elephant circled within, tearing apart those purple, towering vines, emitting rumbling sounds...
Meanwhile, on another combat platform, Nangong Huaitian was also engaged in a fierce battle with his opponent. The latter was an obscure rogue cultivator, but his strength was considerable. He cultivated the path of true words, which subtly countered Nangong's inscription techniques, making the battle extremely intense.
However, as time went by, Nangong's trump cards were gradually revealed. Different special abilities stacked upon each other, overwhelming the rogue cultivator, who was forced to concede defeat.
As expected, Nangong Huaitian emerged victorious and advanced to the winners' bracket. The higher-ranked geniuses, the scholar Ji Xuansu, the Yin-harvesting cultivator Dongfang Yuchu, and Zheng Fangxing, who possessed royal blood, also secured victories.
It is worth mentioning that three direct descendants of the Jiang family failed to pass this round and were defeated and eliminated by others. The best among them was Jiang Zheye, whose rank was fixed at forty.
Also present was Xu Mu's acquaintance, Yan Yu. The latter wore a Daoist sword, remained silent, and was very low-key, possessing the least presence among everyone present. However, his strength remained as formidable as ever. Both his Daoist magic and sword techniques were not to be underestimated, and his opponents were basically instantly killed!
...
Time ticked by.
The battles were fierce, and more and more people were eliminated. Xu Mu found it difficult to keep up. As the number of participants dwindled, the final spots for the top thirty-two were gradually decided.
Soon, Yan Yu eliminated the last opponent with his sword and secured the thirty-second position from the winners' bracket. Thus, this chaotic and intense free-for-all finally came to a temporary halt.
The phantom of the judge monk reappeared.
He looked at the remaining thirty-two people in the arena and congratulated them with a smile:
"Congratulations to all of you for becoming one of the strongest thirty-two in this session of the Myriad Races Alliance. Your families and sects will be honored by this."
"Next, you will engage in the final decisive battles within this Yaochi Immortal Realm. You may freely choose your opponents. The defeated will be directly eliminated, while the victors will advance to the top sixteen. The top sixteen will then determine the top eight, and so on, until the ultimate supreme position is determined."
"The right to choose the first battle will be given to the top-ranked participant of the previous round," the old monk said, looking benevolently at Xu Mu. "Mu Xu, please choose your opponent."
Xu Mu stood up with a somewhat surprised expression. "It's my turn so soon?"
The old monk chuckled. "You had an exemption right. Compared to them, you have rested for a long time, so it is naturally your turn."
Xu Mu scratched his head and asked, "Can I choose anyone?"
The old monk nodded. "You can choose anyone."
"Alright." Xu Mu clicked his tongue, his gaze sweeping across the geniuses before him. Most of them were familiar faces, such as Chen Changkong, Zuo Mingqiu, Xuanyuan Shennian, and so on.
Of course, he would not choose these people.
He wanted to choose those who had grudges against him.
"Who has a grudge against me..." Xu Mu mused, his gaze lingering on Zhou Jie for a good while, his expression gradually turning cold.
The Jialan clan had once tried to kill him. Zhou Jie had also provoked him several times because of this, and had even attempted to harm Nangong. Logically speaking, he should perhaps choose him.
But for some reason, Xu Mu did not want to eliminate Zhou Jie in this round. He wanted to keep the latter around for a while longer.
Giving someone hope, then crushing it, was the best punishment for him.
Thinking this, Xu Mu shifted his gaze away from Zhou Jie and looked at a young man emanating a dark cyan aura of special energy.
"Yue Hengtian."
Xu Mu softly uttered a name in his heart.
Then, his gaze turned sharp.
If he remembered correctly, it was this Yue Hengtian who had first attacked Nangong, proclaiming that Nangong Huaitian should marry him, and then had initiated a group attack.
"It's you." Xu Mu nodded, his eyes firm. He had already decided that he would choose Yue Hengtian this round!
"Mu Xu, choose me."
But just as Xu Mu made up his mind and was about to speak to make his choice, a hoarse and sinister voice echoed in his ear.
Xu Mu followed the direction of the voice transmission and saw Zhou Jie.
The latter was now staring at him with a ferocious expression.
"If you don't choose me, I will go and choose Nangong Huaitian," Zhou Jie sneered, looking at Xu Mu. "Her fate will surely be very miserable then!"
Xu Mu heard this, and without transmitting his voice, directly asked, "I don't understand."
"Zhou Jie, are you in such a hurry to die?"
...