A Gathering of Geniuses

Once every ten years, the First Martial Arts Tournament gathers geniuses from all over; it is truly an era of great contention.

Beyond those two hundred seeded contestants, the entire Human Realm is surging with activity. Many people, though previously unknown, are determined to reach the pinnacle and claim victory at this First Martial Arts Tournament.

Xiji Prefecture, Five-Finger Mountain.

Thunder rumbles and divine light flashes. If one were to look down from outside the Human Realm, they would see violent thunder and lightning intertwining and roaring, the divine light flickering and condensing into a heaven-shaking giant hand, suppressing the world.

"BOOM!"

With a thunderous sound, a figure standing tall enough to touch the sky suddenly appeared outside Five-Finger Mountain. He resisted the heavens with one hand, reached out, and pinched, annihilating countless bolts of lightning.

Long fists swept across, collapsing the heavens. The lightning in the sky roared, transforming into long sabers, giant swords, and all manner of divine weapons that slashed down, intending to bombard and suppress the figure who had broken free.

"Come! Come! Come!" The figure who had broken free let out a long roar, suddenly throwing a punch. The force of the blow shattered the sky and annihilated the void, divine light surging to shake the vast handprint made of thunder. As for the various lightning weapons raining down, he ignored them entirely, resisting them with his own body.

The lightning weapons, strong enough to shatter mountains, struck his body with a metallic clang, yet they could only leave a white mark on his skin, which was truly shocking.

The man grew even more wild and unbridled. With a stomp of his foot, he charged directly into the depths of the lightning, hacking at the heavens with his bare hands, tearing through the thunder, and annihilating the divine light. He did not retreat a single step, fighting his way into the heart of the lightning.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Three consecutive sounds like the tolling of a great bell rang out. The lightning extinguished, the suppressing handprint turned into specks of crystal and vanished completely, and Five-Finger Mountain collapsed entirely, revealing the figure within.

With golden hair draped over his shoulders and a rebellious, uninhibited air, divine light flickered in his eyes as he looked coldly at the firmament. "You cannot trap me."

"Indeed." A middle-aged man, also with golden hair draped over his shoulders, stepped out from above the firmament. He was imposing without anger, standing high above, his gaze carrying the majesty of one who dominates the world.

"I have suppressed you for twenty years, and today you have finally condensed the Battle-Victorious Physique and broken free. Good, then go and fight! Battle! Win!"

The golden-haired middle-aged man stood with his hands behind his back, yet he gave the impression of one facing the heavens themselves—invincible. "After a thousand years of absence from the Human Realm, I fear everyone has forgotten me, Yuan Zhan. Yuan Tiangang, go! Fight! Battle! Win! Let everyone know that among all realms, only our Battle-Victorious Physique is the strongest!"

Yuan Tiangang let out a cold snort, glaring at the golden-haired man. "Yuan Zhan! One day, I will kill you and avenge my mother!"

The golden-haired man laughed heartily. "Good, that is the son of Yuan Zhan. Thirty years ago, I killed my wife to attain the Dao, but I spared you, preventing me from becoming a god. You are my son; I give you sixty years. Either you kill your father to attain the Dao, or I kill you to become a god. Otherwise, how can you hope to claim the top spot in the world after sixty years?"

"So now, get lost. The First Martial Arts Tournament has already begun. Go, take first place; only then will you be qualified to stand before me."

Yuan Tiangang clenched his fists, glared fiercely at Yuan Zhan, and moved, transforming into a long rainbow that vanished into the horizon.

Rumble. On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, the entire Human Realm was suddenly filled with ceaseless thunder and endless rain. A sword light rose abruptly, agile as a startled dragon, its cold gleam chilling nineteen prefectures. That day, the Dragon-Subduing Prince of Dachan Prefecture was assassinated and fell, shocking the world.

"With the cultivation of a late-stage Marquis, you assassinated the mid-stage King, the Dragon-Subduing Prince, killing him with a single strike. Qiu Xue, you have completed your training. Return immediately. The First Martial Arts Tournament begins tomorrow; you must win the championship and let the world know that in this life, only the path of slaughter is the king of all paths."

Qiu Xue coldly closed the Celestial Pivot. A single battle had shaken the heavens; assassinating a mid-stage King with the cultivation of a late-stage Marquis—even though Qiu Xue himself was severely injured, such a terrifying record was enough to shock all Kings.

Numbly treating his wounds, Qiu Xue opened the Celestial Pivot and clicked on the list of seeded contestants for the First Martial Arts Tournament. "So many so-called geniuses. Who should I hunt first?"

"Haha." Qiu Xue laughed wildly, his gaze fixed on the profile of the Heavenly Sword Marquis. A sword light flashed. "It's you. Heavenly Sword Marquis, you are my next hunting target. Killing you will prove my sword path."

"It's chaotic. It's all chaotic."

At the Law Enforcement Department of the White Jade Capital, the Spring-Autumn King, who had returned to the department, felt a headache coming on.

Tomorrow is the day the First Martial Arts Tournament begins. This final day, however, has been anything but peaceful. Data from all over has been pouring in, and many previously obscure geniuses have begun to reveal their talents.

"Sansu Prefecture, a Sun God Physique has appeared."

"Beihai Prefecture, the Sea God Physique has emerged, stirring up storms and tsunamis that swept through seventeen cities."

"Dongwu Prefecture, ten suns crossed the sky, the Prince Jin Zhao was severely injured by someone, suspected to be a successor of the half-god Wu Yang..."

Almost every region had similar news. The earliest reports were from ten days ago, and the latest were from today. The only thing the Spring-Autumn King could be thankful for was that by this afternoon, no more such reports had arrived.

The Spring-Autumn King knew clearly that these suddenly emerging geniuses were all aiming for the First Martial Arts Tournament. Since the tournament starts tomorrow, these people had naturally quieted down.

But the calmer it was now, the more the Spring-Autumn King knew that once the First Martial Arts Tournament officially began, it would be a bloodbath beyond anyone's expectations, and the results might surprise many people.

"Especially the restless movements of these geniuses from outside the realm."

The Spring-Autumn King's expression was grave. Compared to the geniuses of the Human Realm announcing their existence through their own methods, what alarmed the Spring-Autumn King even more was the news coming from outside the realm.

After compiling all the reports and specifically marking those regarding the movements of the geniuses from outside the realm, the Spring-Autumn King waited for a long time, but the order from the Arbitration Bureau made him gasp.

Observe and wait.

That was the order from the Arbitration Bureau. The Spring-Autumn King was surprised, but since the order had come from above, he couldn't be bothered to care and simply followed the protocol.

"As long as they don't make me go arrest Lin Huang again." The Spring-Autumn King tossed the order aside, felt relieved, and clicked on the coverage of the First Martial Arts Tournament, reading it with great interest.

"Indeed, they are all peerless geniuses. Looking at this data is truly shocking. But if Lin Huang's data were to be leaked, hehe."

The Spring-Autumn King laughed heartily, suddenly feeling that if Lin Huang were to participate in this First Martial Arts Tournament, it would be truly interesting.

Lin Huang was naturally unaware of the Spring-Autumn King's expectations. At this moment, Lin Huang had closed his Celestial Pivot, stopped looking at the news about the First Martial Arts Tournament, and set the Celestial Pivot to automatic alerts.

Closing his eyes, Lin Huang began to quietly contemplate his gains from the Zhongnan Dojo.

The supreme artistic conception of the Finger of the Deity.

The individual Dao realms of the Sages of Zhongnan.

Soon, he gained massive insights. The deeper his understanding of the six paths, the more he felt his own deficiencies.

Divine light permeated the air, and Dao and Law intertwined. Lin Huang sat with a solemn expression, contemplating carefully, wanting to melt these into one furnace, transform them into his own understanding, and lay the foundation for his own Dao.

The night passed without incident. The next day, the First Martial Arts Tournament officially began.