At the very front of Moonwatch Mountain's summit lay the seats reserved for the highest authorities.
The Six Sovereigns who governed the entire martial landscape of Jintai Prefecture sat there, chatting quietly among themselves.
As they watched the young Heavenly Prodigies take the arena in successive rounds, their eyes held both scrutiny and appreciation.
For Jintai Prefecture, the finest talents to emerge from each Jintai Grand Tournament were fresh blood for the region's martial legacy. They were the core strength that would sustain its martial landscape for the next hundred years and carry on the foundations of its sects and aristocratic families.
These young martial artists who had fought their way through the competition to reach the Top Thirty-Two of the Main Competition were already outstanding figures among their peers-one in a thousand, one in ten thousand.
Once their realms rose and their cultivation reached maturity, they would become the future face of Jintai Prefecture, pillars defending its territories. The future rise or decline of the region's Martial Path rested on their shoulders.
Thus, although the Six Sovereigns appeared to be chatting casually as they watched, every match and every Heavenly Prodigy's techniques, temperament, composure, and strength fell within their scrutiny. They silently weighed and judged them, assigning each a place according to his potential.
While these figures at the pinnacle chatted and watched, two figures had already taken the arena together.
Yang Jing of the Profound Truth Sect and Ma Shihao of the Western Mountain Sect stood ready, facing each other from opposite ends of the arena.
In an instant, tens of thousands of gazes throughout the square turned away from their scattered conversations and converged on the center of the arena, locking onto the newly arrived pair.
Every eye focused on them. The crowd held its breath.
Yang