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In the Peach Blossom Domain, deep within Great Green Mountain.
The spaceships of the four great families had all descended from the mountain peak, landing on the flat ground.
Like many of the other family and sect arrivals, the people from the four great families were intently watching the sky, observing the battles unfolding within the Pure Void Secret Realm.
Upon discovering the outcome of a fight in a corner, an elder from the Qi family’s direction immediately turned grim.
“Who was Qi Ye’s opponent?”
“That person… seems to be an outsider residing with the Jiang family,” another middle-aged man from the Qi family replied humbly, standing to the side.
“Hmph, an outsider actually defeating my Qi family’s genius. And he even voluntarily signed up to compete. This is truly a disgrace to our Qi family!” the elder’s voice was furious, his wooden cane incessantly striking the ground, terrifying the other Qi family members into silence.
This was their Qi family’s Old Ancestor, a powerful Domain Lord!
“Please calm your anger. In terms of true strength, that outsider from the Jiang family was no match for Qi Ye. His concession was likely a consideration for the bigger picture, after all, that Jiang Taixu is indeed quite troublesome.”
The current head of the Qi family handed a bowl of tea to the Old Ancestor and continued, “Losing this one match is nothing. As long as we can defeat Jiang Taixu afterward, preferably to the point where he cannot attend the Myriad Races Assembly, causing the Jiang family’s performance at the assembly to be dismal, the benefits our Qi family will gain will far outweigh the losses from this single match.”
“You don’t need to tell me this,” the Qi family Old Ancestor replied with a faint hum, casting his gaze back toward the secret realm in the sky.
At this moment, their Qi family’s Qi Ye was effortlessly crushing his new opponent with a single finger, then immediately switching to another. The result was the same.
Soon, Qi Ye’s score reached two wins and one loss, the two victories achieved in mere seconds.
In contrast, the outsider from the Jiang family, despite winning his match, was still meditating and healing in place. Judging by his trembling state, it was uncertain if he would even be able to fight a second match before the first round concluded.
This was the difference.
“Hmph, as long as the subsequent plan doesn’t encounter any more unforeseen circumstances,” the Qi family Old Ancestor’s expression slightly improved upon seeing this. He then mounted a noble, coiled-horn green ox demon and slowly departed.
The preliminary selection for the Myriad Races Assembly was originally a matter for the younger generation. He shouldn't have come, but due to certain special reasons, he had.
“He left so soon? Then what was the point of his coming here?”
“Who knows. But it seems quite a few strong individuals from the Jiang and Ye families have also arrived. Could it be that this preliminary selection holds some unspeakable secrets?”
As the Qi family Old Ancestor departed, people from other families immediately began to speculate, their curiosity piqued as to why the ancestors of the Wang, Qi, Ye, and Jiang families would personally attend a preliminary selection.
Logically, such high-level individuals only appeared when the most exceptional talents emerged.
Since this was a preliminary selection, there shouldn't be any geniuses of that caliber from the four great families, as they would have certainly secured their qualification for the Myriad Races Assembly early on.
As for rogue cultivators from other factions, while there might be heaven-defying individuals like Ji Chang in the past, no matter how powerful they were, it was unrelated to these noble families. The Hundred Races had regulations strictly prohibiting geniuses from changing allegiances at the last minute.
Without any top-tier geniuses, why would these powerful Domain Lords, after the secret realm had concluded, still come to join the fun?
“They probably don’t know that the other three families have top-tier geniuses participating in the preliminary selection,” a veiled woman with a graceful figure spoke from below the Wang family’s spaceship.
“Indeed. Jiang Taixu of the Jiang family, Ye Gong of the Ye family, and Qi Ye of the Qi family are all top-tier geniuses of this generation, with the potential to rank within the top five thousand at the Myriad Races Assembly, yet they are participating in the preliminaries.” A young man from the Wang family, who appeared to be in his late twenties, responded.
“So, why would they forgo their readily available qualification to exert such effort in a fight? Aren't they afraid of capsizing in a ditch?” the woman asked, staring at the phantom image of the secret realm with some bewilderment.
She was merely an outsider married into the Wang family, with ordinary talent and little standing within the clan. She could only envy those geniuses who could directly participate in the Myriad Races Assembly.
“Sister Yu, you are not aware of this. All of this, you see, is because of the Ye family.”
“Do you recall, before the Myriad Races Assembly began, Ye Que of the Ye family, along with his Dragon Seeking Ruler and sixth-stage treasure saber, was robbed by someone named Xu Mu?” the man asked.
“Everyone knows about that. The Ye family went mad searching for Xu Mu afterward, but they never found him. But what does this have to do with the preliminary selection?” Yu Xin asked, confused.
“Of course, it’s related. The genius participating in the preliminary selection for the Ye family is named Ye Gong. He is one of the three core direct descendants of the Ye family of this generation, and most importantly, he is Ye Que’s biological brother.”
“This Ye Gong has always treated Ye Que exceptionally well since childhood, and his own talent is not insignificant. He is one of the strong contenders for the next Ye family patriarch. Upon hearing of Ye Que’s incident and that Xu Mu could control fourth-stage demonic beasts and was himself quite formidable, he resolutely chose to enter seclusion within the secret realm, aiming to break through to the third stage.” the man explained.
“Third stage? How old is he? If I recall correctly, only twenty-two years old,” the woman’s beautiful eyes widened with surprise. If he truly reached the third stage at twenty-two, then such talent would be considered top-tier throughout the entire Hundred Races Alliance.
Even Ji Chang in his prime was only at this level at that age!
“Yes. Although his cultivation level doesn't entirely equate to combat power, the very fact that he could attempt a breakthrough is terrifying. And because he was in seclusion, he missed the internal qualification for the Myriad Races Assembly, hence he could only participate in the preliminaries.”
After the man finished speaking, Yu Xin understood to a degree. However, she immediately had another question:
“So, did Ye Gong succeed in his breakthrough?”
“Of course not. Due to the preliminary selection, he was forcibly brought out of seclusion. However, according to internal sources, he was only a little bit away from breaking through; it was just a matter of insufficient time,” the man said with a slightly solemn expression. He was nearing thirty, and his current strength was only mid-stage third level. A junior eight years his junior was already catching up. Such talent was truly enviable.
“And it is precisely because he was only a step away from breaking through that the Jiang family dispatched their equally top-tier genius, Jiang Taixu, to intercept him, attempting to eliminate him before his breakthrough and prevent him from participating in the Myriad Races Assembly.”
At this point, the man had spoken, and Yu Xin finally understood. Given the very poor, almost antagonistic relationship between the Jiang and Ye families, such a countermeasure was understandable.
“The Qi family’s involvement is even simpler. Firstly, the Qi family has some business dealings with the Ye family and maintains a good relationship. Secondly, this Qi Ye has some past grievances with Jiang Taixu, who was sent by the Jiang family to intercept Ye Gong, thus the Qi family also got involved.”
Some collateral members of the Wang family finally understood what was happening upon hearing this.
“When gods fight, mortals suffer,” someone sighed softly, gazing at the Pure Void Secret Realm. For at this very moment, the names just mentioned had appeared in the top ten of the rankings, and Jiang Taixu, in particular, had directly claimed the top spot!
Such frequent, even frantic, combat frequency undoubtedly meant they were trying to find the people they wanted to fight through random matchmaking.
And even if they didn’t encounter them in this round, they would eventually meet in the next, or the one after that.
“For heavenly prodigies like them, who are guaranteed to enter the Myriad Races Assembly, participating in the preliminary selection is indeed unfair to other contestants. For instance, that young man who faced Qi Ye in the first match, even if he won, he lost his ability to fight, but Qi Ye was completely unaffected.”
At this point, people from other families had also roughly understood the situation and began to discuss it, subtly expressing dissatisfaction.
Because the geniuses from these great families could often afford to lose. Like Qi Ye, when he didn’t want to pay a price for victory, he could concede at will and then win back his score in a matter of seconds. But others couldn't.
The outcome of every single one of their matches determined their fate. However, overall, it could still be considered a matter of inferior skill, with no recourse for complaint.
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“The Qi family has actually gotten involved. I wonder if Taixu will be alright if he doesn’t know about this?” someone from the Jiang family’s direction anxiously watched the Pure Void Secret Realm. Although Jiang Taixu had already secured the top position, that was before encountering Qi Ye.
Qi Ye of the Qi family, having come to intercept Jiang Taixu, must have had absolute confidence in his victory. However, they didn’t know the opponent’s true strength, only having a general idea.
“Originally, the match between Taixu and Ye Gong was already fifty-fifty. Now Qi Ye has joined. If they meet them in the third round of the wild battles, Taixu facing them both would be truly dangerous.”
“Heh heh, facing them both? I don’t think so,” Jiang Liyun chuckled. Unlike others’ panic, he remained remarkably calm.
“Big brother, you mean…” a person from the Jiang family leaned in, his expression confused. They couldn’t understand why Jiang Liyun could remain so composed in the face of such a crisis.
“Don’t you think about why our Old Ancestor came here?” Jiang Liyun smiled mysteriously and then looked at the ranking board. “Look who is ranked one hundred and tenth.”
“With a record of six wins and zero losses, the name is… Jiang Zheyue?!” That person read out the name, and his body trembled in immense shock.
Jiang Zheyue. Just by hearing the name, one could tell the high expectations the Jiang family had for him. And he himself was one of the strongest prodigies among the Jiang family’s direct descendants, even stronger than Jiang Taixu!
“No wonder even the Old Ancestor personally came to observe. It turns out it’s because of him.”
The people from the Jiang family finally understood after seeing this name, as, given Jiang Zheyue’s status and position, it was not at all excessive for the Jiang family to show any level of support.
After all, he was one of the strongest prodigies the Jiang family placed their hopes on for the Myriad Races Assembly. If anything happened to him, the entire Jiang family would tremble!
“With Zheyue and Taixu, two of our Jiang family’s three great prodigies are present. This time, the Ye family and the Qi family will surely fall to our Jiang family!” Jiang Liyun said with a sinister grin, gazing at the secret realm in the sky.
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