The Curtain Rises

If not for the Dream God Realm, even with the wisdom of a Saint like Lin Huang, he would not have been able to conceive of how to host a martial arts tournament for over three billion participants.

But with the Dream God Realm, everything became simple.

There was no opening ceremony, no performances; at ten o'clock on the morning of the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the first preliminary round of the First Martial Arts Tournament began right on time.

Without a sound, the venue beneath Lin Huang's feet shifted. As he stood firm, a majestic volcano appeared before his eyes. Thick smoke billowed, flames soared to the heavens, and the ground trembled from time to time. Each tremor was followed by a pillar of fire shooting into the sky, carrying molten lava, raging flames, and massive boulders that rolled down, shaking the earth and tearing open terrifying fissures.

"First preliminary round. Map: Volcano Valley. Thousand-man battle, ends when one hundred survive."

Simple and straightforward, the First Martial Arts Tournament, which lacked even basic rules, began just like that.

Lin Huang's mind stirred, and he subconsciously moved to unleash his soul power to cover the entire arena, but he quickly abandoned the thought. If he were to use the soul power of a Saint, there would be no point in Lin Huang participating in the First Martial Arts Tournament at all.

"The soul of a Saint, the state of mind of a General, the techniques of a Marquis. Three Holy Mothers, you underestimate me too much." Recalling the evaluation the Three Holy Mothers had given him, Lin Huang shook his head, clasped his hands behind his back, and began his first preliminary round.

Qianshan Huo hid himself beneath a fissure, burying his entire body under the scorching, soul-searing volcanic ash, remaining perfectly still.

The volcanic ash, hot enough to burn a person to cinders, was not too terrifying for Qianshan Huo.

He cultivated the path of fire and had achieved a minor success in his divine body. Although he only possessed the cultivation of a mid-stage Marquis, he believed he could put up a fight even against those seeded players.

"It is a pity I started too late. If I had met my master three years earlier, I would be far beyond the mid-stage of a Marquis by now." Qianshan Huo felt a sense of resentment in his heart. He considered himself a genius and had encountered many fortuitous events, but his late start left his cultivation a level lower than those seeded players; otherwise, he believed that with his own methods, he would certainly have secured a spot among the two hundred seeds.

"But this is fine too. My cultivation is about to break through. I will fight my way out of the preliminaries step by step and become the greatest dark horse. That is when I will become famous throughout the world in one fell swoop."

As these thoughts turned in Qianshan Huo's mind, his expression suddenly tightened. He sensed movement above his head. Still as a mountain, yet aggressive as fire when he moved, he rose, drew his blade, and a dazzling light flashed. Before his opponent could even see his face, they were cleanly sliced in two by Qianshan Huo's blade. Their body erupted into flames and instantly turned to ash.

Looking at his strike with satisfaction, Qianshan Huo's body flickered as he changed locations, hiding once again beneath the thick volcanic ash.

"This style, Burn the Eight Wildernesses. Master said I have already captured eighty percent of its essence. I wonder how it compares to that Feng Dao." Qianshan Huo whispered to himself, then backhanded a mark onto the hilt of his blade, forming a complete character.

One mark represented one enemy killed. In just ten minutes since the start of the tournament, Qianshan Huo had already killed fifteen people.

"Who will be next?" Qianshan Huo sneered, holding his blade to his chest as he waited quietly.

Lin Huang walked casually. The Volcano Valley did not look large, but it was crisscrossed with gullies and dotted with many scorching, terrifying lava lakes. Seeing that the time for the quarter-hourly volcanic eruption was approaching, Lin Huang had yet to encounter a single person.

Suppressing his formidable Saint-level soul power, Lin Huang's perception was greatly diminished, and for a moment, he did not know which direction to head.

"My methods are still too lacking." Lin Huang began to notice his own shortcomings; the drawbacks of his rapid ascent were exposed once he intentionally suppressed his soul power.

"To think that I, a dignified existence who has attained the Saint realm, have no other means to perceive or scout besides using soul perception—if word got out, it would truly be shameful."

Lin Huang whispered, stopping in his tracks as he began to face the flaws in his existence for the first time.

"Eight o'clock direction. Ten zhang away." Qianshan Huo suddenly opened his eyes, sensing the appearance of an enemy, and waited for the right moment to strike.

"BOOM!"

With a sudden, thunderous roar, the majestic volcano began to erupt. Flames soared into the sky, and lava and boulders tumbled down, shaking the heavens and the earth.

Lin Huang stopped his contemplation and saw a massive boulder wreathed in monstrous flames hurtling toward him like a meteor. Not daring to be careless, he moved his feet, intending to dodge the impact zone of the boulder.

"Opportunity!"

Qianshan Huo moved instantly, unleashing his ultimate technique the moment he struck.

"Burn the Eight Wildernesses, die!"

A stunning blade strike, neither too early nor too late, came just as Lin Huang dodged the boulder. Qianshan Huo moved suddenly, his awareness of seizing the moment reaching its peak. The blade swept out, carrying the fire of the eight wildernesses, sealing off every angle of Lin Huang's evasion.

He would not draw his blade unless he intended to kill; once drawn, it would burn the eight wildernesses to ash.

"What?!"

The sudden strike carried the momentum of burning the eight wildernesses, scorching heaven and earth. The terrifying heat reached Lin Huang's brow in an instant.

Subconsciously, Lin Huang's mind stirred, and he was about to use his soul power to suppress the attack, but he held back. Barely dodging the center of his brow, he reached out a palm, meeting the blade head-on.

"Overestimating yourself! Die!" Qianshan Huo sneered, exhaling sharply. His divine power surged, igniting a hundred-foot blade aura. The blade contained his spirit—like a great sun, like a volcano—erupting suddenly to burn the eight wildernesses.

CLANG!

With a soft sound, Lin Huang and Qianshan Huo stood back-to-back.

Lin Huang frowned, looking at the shocking blade mark on his palm. The scorching blade energy was still wreaking havoc, tearing through flesh and biting deep into the bone. This strike had nearly severed Lin Huang's entire right hand.

"You're still not dead? It seems your divine body is quite strong." Qianshan Huo was surprised, but he quickly dismissed it with disdain. "You will die on the next strike!"

As the words fell, Qianshan Huo turned, drew his blade, and struck backhanded.

"Wildfire Raging Across the Plains!"

Qianshan Huo was very satisfied with this strike.

"To die under this blade, you can rest in peace. Die!"

With a flick of his wrist, Qianshan Huo's blade transformed into a thousand blades, a thousand mountains, and a thousand fires, crisscrossing back and forth. Under this single strike, the wildfire raged across the plains.

Lin Huang slowly raised his head, his eyes flickering as he looked at Qianshan Huo. He raised his wounded right hand, feeling a rare surge of anger. "How could I be this weak?"

After speaking, Lin Huang remained silent and suddenly threw a punch. This punch mimicked the intent of mastering the earth from the Sages of Zhongnan.

With one punch, he mastered the earth. Even if a wildfire raged across the plains, it could burn the grass, but how could it burn the earth itself?

"Good. Good. Good. You are a worthy opponent." Qianshan Huo laughed aloud, delighted to find such a rival. Seeing that one blade could not finish Lin Huang, he struck again with a backhand. "No Ghost or God Left Behind!"

This was an ultimate killing move that even Qianshan Huo had not yet mastered. Under this blade, neither ghost nor god would be left behind; it was incomparably tyrannical, obliterating everything in its path.

Lin Huang said nothing; he opened his fist, formed a seal, and struck downward with his palm, a move he had learned from the Heaven-Turning realm of the Sages of Zhongnan.

With a thunderous boom.

Lin Huang remained motionless, while Qianshan Huo stumbled back three steps, his blood surging as his face grew even more excited.

"Take another blade from me!"

After their brief exchange, Qianshan Huo immediately realized that Lin Huang was a formidable opponent and grew cautious, abandoning the blade techniques he had yet to master and unleashing a strike that was simple, yet one he had honed thousands of times within the Lava Lake.

This blade was Fire-Slaying.

Lin Huang remained expressionless, but the flicker in his eyes betrayed the shock and shame within his heart; watching Qianshan Huo charge at him with another blade strike, Lin Huang sighed, "So, I really am this weak."

Although the Three Holy Mothers had long ago told Lin Huang that he possessed the cultivation of a Saint, the mindset of a General, and the methods of a Marquis, Lin Huang had never truly taken it to heart.

Until now, until this very moment.

Lin Huang suddenly realized that if he suppressed his Saint-level soul, he was only on par with Qianshan Huo, and a profound sense of shame and anger instantly welled up within his heart.