A storm was brewing. An age of great strife had begun.
As Ice-Sealed Sword Saint and the others spread the news, information about Lin Huang traveled farther and farther among the geniuses of the Myriad Worlds. Many outsiders who had never paid attention to the First Martial Arts Tournament in the Human Realm began rubbing their hands in anticipation. With the Human Realm's Arbitration Bureau taking an ambiguous stance, they crossed into the realm and stirred up a storm.
"Damn it! Damn it! Have those people at the Arbitration Bureau had their heads kicked by donkeys? They actually approved so many entry applications."
As head of the Law Enforcement Department, Spring-Autumn King had a terrible headache. In just two days, geniuses from the Myriad Worlds had arrived in the Human Realm. They weren't here to sightsee. They all had one purpose: challenge, challenge, challenge.
Those guys seemed to have been injected with chicken blood. They pored over the information on the two hundred seeded competitors and challenged them like mad. If they'd been ordinary people, it might have been manageable. The seeded competitors wouldn't even have needed to step in; their sects could have beaten those arrogant fools into whimpering dogs.
But these geniuses who dared to cross between realms were all genuine prodigies with powerful backing. They also knew exactly where to draw the line, careful not to cross the Arbitration Bureau's or the Ten Great Sacred Lands' bottom lines. They challenged only seeded competitors without particularly powerful backgrounds.
Even so, the battles between geniuses had inflicted enormous losses on the Human Realm.
"The higher-ups just flap their lips, and I'm the one running my legs off." Spring-Autumn King irritably tossed aside the report before him, then laughed in fury. "Fine. Let them fight. The more who die, the fewer we have to deal with."
After venting for a while, Spring-Autumn King forced himself to suppress his headache, picked up the report, and began examining it closely.
He hadn't realized how bad things were until he looked. In just two days, the two hundred seeded competitors had undergone a massive reshuffle. Nearly half had lost their challenges, and geniuses from the Myriad Worlds had taken their spots.
"Are they turning the First Martial Arts Tournament into the Myriad Worlds' First Martial Arts Tournament?" Spring-Autumn King slammed his hand on the desk, smashing the report to pieces.
"This is absolutely ridiculous. Driving away wolves only to invite in tigers! If all these geniuses from the Myriad Worlds join the competition, does that guarantee our Human Realm's geniuses will take first place if they defeat Lin Huang?"
"If an outsider takes the crown at the Human Realm's First Martial Arts Tournament, the Myriad Worlds will laugh themselves sick."
Spring-Autumn King roared through clenched teeth. With a flick of his finger, he prepared to send someone to notify Lin Huang.
"Lin Huang, Lin Huang. Couldn't you keep a lower profile? You've stirred up such a storm. Having fun now, with all these hungry wolves staring at you? Even if you're a Sage, they'll take a chunk out of you. And you're not even a damn Six Paths in One yet—you're just a damn Pseudo-Saint."
Spring-Autumn King grew angrier the more he thought about it. But he knew there had to be a hidden hand behind events spiraling out of control like this. It wasn't something he could interfere with. After grumbling a little, he couldn't help worrying about Lin Huang.
"Why should I be worried about that kid? If I weren't getting on in years, to be honest, I'd want to join in myself. Beating down a Saint Rank expert—that's something I'd never have dared even dream of before."
Spring-Autumn King knew why the geniuses of the Myriad Worlds had risen up together. It wasn't to humiliate Lin Huang. They wanted experience fighting a Saint Rank expert to the death.
After all, a great sage like Lin Huang—someone who had already attained Saint Rank but had yet to achieve Six Paths in One—was unprecedented and would never be seen again.
To these geniuses of the Myriad Worlds who set their sights higher than the heavens, Lin Huang in this state was the perfect whetstone, the perfect stepping-stone.
That was why so many outsiders had been drawn to him, rubbing their hands in anticipation as they swarmed from billions of miles away.
At his residence in Daqian Prefecture, Lin Huang stood still, carefully contemplating.
With his Divine Body fully developed and the Six Paths method established, Lin Huang could now truly be said to stand at the level of a great sage. Each day, he gained new insights into Saint Rank.
Anything in the world connected to Lin Huang could stir a response in him. His mind resonated with the heavens and the human realm; a sudden intuition could tell him good fortune from ill. If he were skilled in the art of divination, he could even calculate the whole course of events with a few finger movements.
That was nothing, though. If he could attain divine status and become a True God, the moment anyone recited Lin Huang's name, he would know at once—and a clone could descend. That would be true divine power, omnipotent and boundless.
The outside world was in turmoil, with countless outsiders coming for Lin Huang. Through his resonance with the heavens and the human realm, a sudden intuition prompted him to cast a divination. Unfortunately, he hadn't yet begun studying the art of divination and understood little of it. Still, the signs showed no ominous portent, so he paid them no mind.
He hadn't encountered any formidable opponents in the preliminary rounds over the past two days, but they had still given him plenty to contemplate. His Six Paths Divine Fist had grown more and more wondrous. However, he remained uncertain about the other method. After all, this was his Dao Path: he couldn't change it or take it back, so he had to choose carefully.
"Too bad I haven't run into any disciples from the Samsara Dojo these past two days. I should be able to gain more insight from the Samsara Divine Eye." Lin Huang rubbed his knuckles. After several preliminary matches, he had seen countless arts and paths, and realized that Reincarnation might be the art best suited to the Six Paths.
If he still hadn't found another, more compatible method by the time the First Martial Arts Tournament ended, Lin Huang planned to visit the Samsara Dojo in person and properly experience the mysteries of the Samsara Divine Eye.
After calmly laying out his plans, Lin Huang suddenly felt a stir in his heart. He took a step, left his room, and arrived in another city in Daqian Prefecture.
Rong City. The Qingcheng Dojo, the most renowned dojo in Daqian Prefecture, was located here.
The people of Rong City were in an uproar. Crowds of impassioned young people had gathered at the Qingcheng Dojo, where a challenge match was underway.
"The Sanggui Clan's number-one genius is challenging Yu Qingfeng, the Qingcheng Dojo's chief disciple, for a seeded competitor's spot."
"What?! Those bastards from the Sanggui Clan actually dared come to the Human Realm—and they're calling him their number-one genius? Come on, everyone, let's go cheer Yu Qingfeng on!"
"The Sanggui Clan's number-one genius is here to challenge him?" Lin Huang mused. Though he was thousands of miles away, he'd felt something stir. He hadn't expected the challenger to be from the Sanggui Clan.
The Hundred Sages Reform Heaven had begun in the Human Realm.
At the time, the Human Realm had been battered by storms and upheaval, surrounded by enemies from the Myriad Worlds. The Sang World, especially, was the closest to the Human Realm and had served as the vanguard, carrying out countless massacres there. The Human Realm despised it.
The Sanggui Clan of the Sang World had gradually risen to power by seizing many secret arts from the Human Realm. What had once been a small world had become one of the hundred greatest worlds in the Myriad Worlds.
So, even though a hundred thousand years had passed, the Human Realm and the Sang World still regarded one another with contempt over their ancient feud. Neither could stand the other.
"Mr. Yu, I'm Dahe Yidao. It is my great honor to cross blades with you. Please, show me what you can do."
Dahe Yidao was widely recognized as the greatest genius of his generation among the Sanggui Clan. He was immensely powerful and had defeated King Rank opponents while fighting above his level. He was not to be underestimated.
Yu Qingfeng, meanwhile, was known as Qingfeng One Sword and was the most outstanding disciple of this generation at the Qingcheng Dojo. He ranked one hundred and thirty-fifth among the two hundred seeded competitors.
"Enough talk. If you want to fight, then fight." Yu Qingfeng gave a cold laugh, sword in hand, steady as a mountain.
"Very well." Dahe Yidao slowly drew his Sang blade. "I trained my swordsmanship every day facing the Sang River. So, when I left my master, I gave myself the name Dahe. I ranged across the Sang World, and among my peers, I need only one stroke. That's why I'm called Dahe Yidao. Mr. Yu, be careful."
Before he'd even finished speaking, Dahe Yidao struck—fast, fast, fast!
He was as swift as thunder and lightning, without any flashy technique. There was only speed. In an instant, he was right in front of Yu Qingfeng.
Yu Qingfeng's pupils contracted. He drew his sword, but it had only come halfway out of its sheath when Dahe Yidao respectfully retreated three steps and sheathed his blade. "You were kind to let me win."
Most people hadn't understood what happened and immediately began shouting. The Qingcheng Dojo's disciples laughed mockingly, while Yu Qingfeng's expression shifted between dark and pale.
"Shut up!"
At his shout, Yu Qingfeng gave a bitter smile. "I lost."
As soon as he spoke, the long sword in his hand snapped with a sharp crack. The blade, drawn halfway from its sheath, had broken cleanly in two.
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