Martial Arts Tournament of the Realm Begins, Great Jianghu Forces Gather

On the fifteenth day of the twelfth month of the fifth year of Chengping, Jiang Liu followed Old Man Luo to the venue designated by the three sects for the Martial Arts Tournament of the Realm.

It was a large arena built near the Ten Thousand Mountains, with ten smaller arenas set up next to it.

There are two hundred people participating in this Martial Arts Tournament. Those who died in the secret realm have been replaced by people from various states. It's just unknown how many were captured by the five great families.

The arena was surrounded by a dense array of seats, which were reserved for the leaders of various factions and martial artists participating in the Martial Arts Tournament. As for their followers and juniors, they were not allowed to approach the arena at all.

Moreover, the arena battle is not open to the general public. They start blocking people from getting close even when they are hundreds of meters away from the arena.

Upon seeing this situation, Jiang Liu knew that his previous guess was almost certainly true.

Jiang Liu followed Old Man Luo to his seat in the Ascension Tower. Along the way, many people greeted Old Man Luo.

Upon arriving at their seats, Jiang Liu sat down with Old Man Luo. After sitting down, Jiang Liu carefully surveyed the entire area and noticed that, apart from the absence of seats for Corpse Valley, Soul Valley, Insect Valley, and Longevity Valley, all other factions had signs erected.

It's likely that those four forces aren't involved, or they can't find anyone to represent them. Even the White Saint Society, Ghost School, Exotic Poison Valley, and Five Poisons Sect have positions available.

This can be described as a major gathering of all the forces in the Jianghu Dynasty. From this, it can be seen that, putting aside everything else, the three sects have already achieved their goal.

Jiang Liu merely glanced at them casually, not daring to unleash his Divine Sense to examine them, because apart from the Rank 9 Martial Practitioner who were going to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament, everyone present was Grandmaster.

If you dare to use your Divine Sense to investigate, you might get killed without even knowing why.

Before long, Jiang Liu saw that Mo Han had also arrived. Jiang Liu quickly went up to greet him, and Mo Han smiled and greeted Jiang Liu back before heading towards the location of the Exotic Beast Valley.

Jiang Liu didn't say much, and returned to his seat on the Ascension Tower to continue waiting for the Martial Arts Tournament to begin.

Soon, the sect leaders, guild masters, sect leaders, valley masters, manor masters, and pavilion masters of all the major forces arrived. The Luo Family represented the Ascension Tower, as it did not have a publicly recognized headmaster like the other forces.

At this moment, nine Grandmaster appeared on the stands next to them. These were the Grandmaster elders sent by the three sects to preside over this Martial Arts Tournament.

Jiang Liu looked at the nine Grandmaster and Elders of the Three Sects on the platform. He recognized three of them: Elder Nangong Yun of the Star Moon Sect, whom he had met in Azure Dragon City, and two others whom he had met in front of the secret realm.

This time, Elder Nangong presided over the event. Elder Nangong stepped onto the large arena in the middle and said loudly, "Please all the martial artists participating in this Martial Arts Tournament come up to the stage."

Before long, numerous figures flew out from various places below the arena and shot towards the large arena in the center.

Jiang Liu also leaped directly onto the arena. Once on the arena, he found that the familiar faces he had seen in the secret realm were there. It seemed that the five great families had come up empty-handed this time!

That makes sense. These people all came with Grandmaster. Who could they possibly capture? However, the five great families probably won't let this go easily, just from the fact that they dared to take action to capture people.

Once everyone had arrived, Elder Nangong continued, "Now, each of you step forward to draw lots, and then you will face off. You will only have one chance, and the winner will be among the top one hundred."

"Those who are knocked off the stage or voluntarily concede are considered to have lost. Please note that you are responsible for your own life and death on the stage. Also, if no winner is determined within two quarters of an hour, both are considered to be out."

After speaking, Elder Nangong opened his right palm, and soon a box condensed on it. Then, with a wave of Elder Nangong left hand, a large tree in the distance shattered into four large pieces.

Then Elder Nangong waved his left hand repeatedly, and the four large wooden boards were split into two hundred neat strips, which were then thrown into the box.

Jiang Liu was filled with admiration upon seeing Elder Nangong's skill. He didn't know how long it would take him to achieve such precision in using Yuan Qi.

"Alright, everyone come up and draw lots!" Elder Nangong said calmly.

Everyone lined up to draw lots. When it was Jiang Liu's turn, Jiang Liu reached into the box and picked up a piece at random. He saw that the wooden strip was divided into two rows, with five indentations on the top row and five indentations on the bottom row.

Jiang Liu thought for a moment and understood; this must mean he was ranked fifth in the fifth small arena. Jiang Liu then stepped down from the arena and headed towards the fifth small arena.

Before long, the draw on the main arena was over, while Elder Nangong remained on the main arena to oversee the competitions on the smaller arenas.

After Jiang Liu stepped off the grand arena, he discovered that the leaders of all the various factions who had been present were gone, including Old Man Luo. Now, only the young martial artists who were going to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament and the nine Grandmaster who were hosting the competition remained on the field.

Before long, Jiang Liu stood in front of the number five small arena, where two martial artists were already fighting.

Jiang Liu looked around and saw Li Qiaoyun standing in front of the first small arena. When she saw Jiang Liu looking at her, Jiang Liu him a sweet smile.

Jiang Liu nodded to her without saying anything, and continued to look around at the small arena.

The Buddha stood before the third small arena. Upon seeing Jiang Liu, the Buddha offered a single-handed salute, to which Jiang Liu returned the salute with both hands clasped together.

Chen Yuke stood in front of the number four small arena next to Jiang Liu. When she saw Jiang Liu, she glanced at Jiang Liu expressionlessly, then turned her head and looked around. Jiang Liu didn't seem to care at all.

Of the other nine from Yunzhou, two, Xiahou Yi and Wang Yisheng, were standing on arena number five. The other seven were standing in front of the smaller arenas.

Jiang Liu watched the two fighting on the fifth arena. Both were giving it their all and were panting heavily. It was a test of endurance. But before they could make any further moves, a gentle breeze carried them off the arena.

The two people standing below the stage looked at Nangong Yun with blank expressions. Elder Nangong Yun said calmly, "The two quarters of an hour have passed, and both of you are out of the game."

The audience then remembered that Elder Nangong Yun had mentioned earlier that the arena battles had a time limit. If the time limit was exceeded and no winner was determined, both sides would be eliminated, meaning there would be no draws.

Immediately, everyone below the arena tensed up, while those fighting on the arena fought even harder, fearing that if the time was up and no winner was decided, it would be too unfair to be judged as a loser.

You should know that those who can come here to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament are all the elite geniuses of the younger generation from various states. As long as you can get into the top 100, you can immediately become famous throughout the entire Great Qian Dynasty.

Martial artists cultivate for two reasons: first, to prolong their lifespan; and second, to gain fame and fortune.

Now that they have the opportunity to become famous, everyone is definitely going all out.