Preliminary Round Begins

The location of the Heavenly God Palace does not belong to any city, but is situated in a mountain range teeming with demonic beasts. The name of this mountain range has long been forgotten; it is now simply known as the Heavenly God Mountain Range.

The Main Hall of the Heavenly God Palace is located atop the highest mountain in the Heavenly God Mountain Range, a mountain called Mount Silas Teal.

Gu Ding and the other contestants who qualified for the preliminary rounds traveled on the city lord's floating ship to the foot of Mount Silas Teal.

Looking at the towering, steep cliffs, many people marvel at the magnificence of this mountain.

"Lord City Lord, why don't we go directly to the Heavenly God Palace instead of stopping here?" one of them couldn't help but ask.

"There are many restrictions around this Mount Silas Teal, including restrictions on flight. To reach the Heavenly God Palace, you must start from the foot of the mountain and climb up," Lord Capson patiently explained. "This climb is actually the Heavenly God Palace's preliminary round, but the rules change every year, so I won't go into details. Someone will explain it to you tomorrow morning."

Gu Ding and his team had no choice but to patiently wait for the preliminary round to begin the next day.

Throughout the day, Gu Ding and his group witnessed numerous spaceships arriving, varying in size and carrying varying numbers of people. The frequency of arrivals only decreased towards evening. Meanwhile, a large crowd had already gathered at the foot of the mountain.

Early the next morning, three Purple-Robed Man appeared in the area where the crowd had gathered. The one in the lead looked a little older, around thirty years old. He glanced around before speaking.

"I am Bartley, the examiner for the first round of the preliminary round. Now, let me briefly explain the assessment content and rules."

"The first round of the preliminary competition will test your ability to climb a mountain. Those who reach the square in front of the main hall of the Heavenly God Palace within the specified time will pass the preliminary competition."

"Advanced players must complete the task within three hours. Intermediate players must complete the task within twenty hours. Low-level players must complete the task within one hundred hours. Anyone who exceeds this time limit, even if they are only one second late in failing to step onto the plaza, will be eliminated."

"It doesn't sound too difficult..." Upon hearing the game rules, many people looked up at the mountain, secretly relieved that the assessment was too easy.

"I know what you're thinking. Many of you probably think it's just climbing a mountain, a simple thing. Well then, let me tell you a few more things." Bartley clearly noticed the expressions on many people's faces, and he continued with a slight smile.

"The gravity on this mountain is different from the ground we are standing on. Moreover, it varies with the strength of each person's physical body. The stronger the physical body, the stronger the gravity felt. Furthermore, as each person climbs higher, the gravity gradually increases."

"Besides the influence of gravity, this mountain is also a habitat for many demonic beasts. These beasts have a strong sense of territory and will actively attack any 'intruders.' Moreover, some of them are extremely powerful. Therefore, we conduct the assessments in batches for the three different levels. During the intermediate and beginner level assessments, we will seal away the powerful demonic beasts."

"Then, the first round of assessments will begin with the advanced level." Bartley's clear voice resonated, reaching everyone's ears. "All advanced level contestants, please prepare. Countdown: three, two, one... Begin!"

As soon as he finished speaking, countless True God-level powerhouses rushed out and quickly disappeared into the lush mountains.

Gu Ding and the others couldn't see anything. They could only wait patiently.

Three hours felt incredibly long, but Sea Emperor witnessed the entire match.

Lilian, dressed in a black robe, appeared before a Ninth Sequence True God powerhouse.

"Woman, get out of the way!" The man looked at Lilian with an unfriendly expression.

"Answer me one question, and if the answer satisfies me, I will naturally step aside." Lilian clearly had no intention of making way.

"You're asking for death!" The man sprang up and lunged at Lilian.

Lilian's figure suddenly vanished, and in the next instant, she had already stepped on the man's head, slamming the back of his head into the ground, her high-heeled shoe sole pressing down on his forehead.

"I'll ask you a question, you answer it, or you'll die!" Lilian's voice remained cold and indifferent.

Realizing the difference in strength, the man simply stopped struggling and only responded vaguely.

"What were you doing in Shattas Main City four months ago?" Lilian asked coldly.

"To attend an Auction House and, incidentally, to sell some of my inventory," the man quickly replied.

"Inventory? Does your inventory include an Eighth Sequence Crimson Flame Demon Tree?!" Lilian continued to press.

"Crimson Flame Demon Tree? No. That thing is completely useless when it doesn't bear fruit, and when it does, there are definitely Ninth Sequence demon beasts guarding it. I wouldn't dare to provoke it," the man said, waving his hand.

"Did you detect a powerful fluctuation of combat energy around four months ago?" Lilian frowned slightly; what the other party said was not the result she wanted.

"There was indeed one day, and it was a terrifying surge of battle energy. I even suspected that Tenth Sequence powerhouse had intervened. When I arrived, the battle was long over. There were many traces of the battle at the scene, but not a single beast corpse was left, and there were no other clues." The man carefully recalled the scene at that time.

That's all?

"That's all, I really don't know anything else." The man quickly waved his hand, and in that instant, the dark shadow flashed and disappeared.

A few minutes later, Lilian appeared before the second Ninth Sequence True God, a long-haired man.

"Beautiful lady, are you looking for someone to travel with?" The long-haired man teased Lilian the moment he saw her, clearly very confident in his abilities.

"I have a few questions I'd like to ask you." Lilian cut straight to the point; since the other party wasn't resisting, there was no need for her to take action.

"I'm single now, I don't have a girlfriend. If you ask me out, my answer will be yes. So..." The long-haired man was interrupted before he could finish speaking.

"What was your purpose in appearing in Shattas Main City four months ago?"

"My home is in Shattas Main City, so it's not surprising that I'm there. Besides, there are only seven main cities in this world, and the vast majority of true gods live in these seven cities. On average, each main city has a considerable number of true gods." The long-haired man found the other person's question somewhat inexplicable.

"Have you ever hunted down a Crimson Flame Demon Tree at the level of Eighth Sequence True God?" Lilian then asked.

"Hunting? No. The Crimson Flame Demon Tree is only useful for its fruit. If we encounter it, we can just steal a few fruits at most. Why bother hunting it?" The long-haired man still found this question strange. "Besides, I've never seen Eighth Sequence Crimson Flame Fruit Tree before."

"Did you detect any powerful fluctuations in combat energy around four months ago?"

"Are you talking about that incident where two powerful energy fluctuations suddenly erupted in succession? I felt it that day too. That aura was much stronger than mine, and many other people in the city rushed over. I was too lazy to get involved, so I didn't go." The long-haired man wanted to say something more, but when he looked up, he found that Lilian had disappeared.

Then, Lilian found a third person, a fourth person...

Sea Emperor also kept an eye on her movements, trying to find out what she was up to.

Three hours passed quickly. Lilian asked about twenty people along the way, all asking similar questions, but Sea Emperor still didn't know what their purpose was.

"Time's up!" Examiner Bartley promptly called a halt to the competition. "We've already tallied the results: out of over 80,000 advanced-level participants, 36,861 have passed the assessment."

Upon hearing the result, the crowd began to discuss it animatedly.

"The pass rate is less than 50%!"

"The elimination rate for True God-level powerhouses is so high!"

"It seems that this preliminary round is not as simple as we thought."

The crowd finally realized that the so-called "mountain climbing" was not as simple as they had imagined. Even the powerful true gods had a success rate of less than 50%, and many people suddenly felt uneasy.

"The advanced-level matches are over. Now it's our turn for the intermediate-level matches. The time limit for the intermediate-level matches is twenty hours. If you fail to reach the plaza within twenty hours, you fail. Keep an eye on your time," Bartley said again. "All intermediate-level players, get ready. The countdown begins now: three, two, one... Go!"

Countless Half-Step True God, just like the previous true gods, rushed out rapidly, afraid of falling behind.

Gu Ding strolled leisurely towards the mountain several hundred meters away, appearing completely unperturbed. His demeanor attracted the attention of many.

"This kid is interesting," Bartley couldn't help but chuckle, but he immediately noticed that Gu Ding's cultivation was only at the seventh-star Half-Step True God. He then cast a questioning glance at City Lord Capson, "But this kid's cultivation..."

"Don't be fooled by his cultivation level. His Combat Strength ranks first among the Half-Step True God in our Wu La City," Capson said with a shake of his head and a smile.

"Capson, stop trying to make yourself look good. You should just admit that Wu La City can't gather three thousand Nine-and-a-Half Star Half-Step True God. If you're going to bring in a seven-star one to make up the numbers, you might as well just send one less person." Someone nearby mocked.

"Lancier, since you don't believe me, how about we make a bet? I bet this kid can definitely get into the top three in the intermediate rank. Do you dare?" Capson seemed very confident in Gu Ding.

"Let's gamble! What's there to be afraid of!" the city lord Lancier Lansil shouted loudly, his belly protruding.

"Count me in..." Once the two started betting, many other city lords eagerly joined in. (To be continued~^~)