The Main Tournament Begins

After six days of preliminary rounds, only three thousand contestants remained out of the three billion who had entered. These three thousand who had stood out would join two hundred seeded players to participate in the main tournament.

Undoubtedly, those who could enter the main tournament were the absolute cream of the crop among the younger generation of the Human Realm, geniuses among geniuses; otherwise, it would have been impossible to fight their way in.

Moreover, this year's tournament featured over a hundred incredibly powerful geniuses from other realms, which made many people worry that the championship might be snatched away by outsiders.

After all, the performance of these geniuses from other realms over the past two days had been far too dominant; those who managed to enter the main tournament had done so by seizing spots from the seeded players, drawing the attention of the entire world.

"I wonder how the main tournament will be held?"

"According to tradition, it should still be held in the Dream God Realm, divided into thirty-two zones with one hundred people per zone. You are eliminated after three losses until only one person remains from each zone to participate in the final thirty-two-player bracket."

"We'll have big battles to watch every single day for the next month. Awesome, awesome, awesome."

"I wonder who will be the one to have the last laugh."

Many people flooded into the Dream God Realm, discussing the event fervently.

"I think it would be best if all hundred-plus geniuses from other realms were put into the same zone. Haha, let them kill each other off."

"That shouldn't be possible. By tradition, the two hundred seeded players are distributed evenly across the thirty-two zones."

"Forget all that, it's starting. Quiet down."

Under the gaze of the masses, the main tournament of this year's First Martial Arts Tournament officially began.

Lin Huang stood with a calm expression, blending into the crowd of three thousand who had passed the preliminaries, while the two hundred seeded players entered through a separate passage.

Lin Huang swept his gaze over them and nodded; those who could become seeded players were indeed vibrant and impressive, each possessing their own distinct style and remarkable presence.

"Waited so long. It's finally starting."

The speaker was a young man wearing a purple-gold Taoist crown and a nine-dragon purple robe. His divine light was flamboyant, and every gesture carried the arrogance of someone looking down upon the world. Walking among the two hundred seeded players, he was extremely eye-catching—a genius from the outside world.

His gaze was like lightning, locking onto Xu Qingcheng, who walked at the very front with her picturesque features, short hair, and heroic, spirited demeanor. A wicked smile curled his lips, "I didn't expect such a stunning beauty. Once I kill that so-called pseudo-saint, I'll snatch you back to be my concubine."

"Arrogant! How insolent!" Someone immediately shouted, their gaze hostile.

"What are you? When I'm speaking, is it your turn to interrupt?" The youth in the purple-gold crown turned hostile instantly, his palm moving as if ready to strike.

"Just a little snake, yet you dare to be so arrogant. This is the territory of the Human Realm; if you want to show off, crawl back to your Snake Realm!"

"Exactly, exactly. Go back home and drink your mother's milk."

"Haha!"

Many people couldn't help but chuckle, especially the seeded players from the Human Realm, who secretly gave a thumbs-up. This provocation was perfectly executed.

"Ah! You lowly humans, you are courting death." The youth in the purple-gold crown was completely enraged, and tiny golden scales began to emerge on his cheeks, carrying an ancient, sacred, and profound aura.

"Who said that just now? Step out!"

"Damn it, whose pants weren't zipped up properly? How did this thing get out?" A similarly mocking voice, carrying a lazy, infuriating tone, stepped forward.

He was not old, only eighteen or nineteen, his divine light restrained, and his black-and-white eyes moved with a cunning, agile glint.

"Shi Hao of the Supreme Dojo."

"It's him. Who else could be so invincible with just their mouth?"

"This little snake is going to be pissed to death. Heh."

Clearly, the eighteen or nineteen-year-old youth was quite famous, and as soon as he stepped out, he was recognized immediately.

"You're looking for death!" The youth in the purple-gold crown stopped talking, divine light surging as rows of golden scales began to cover his entire body.

"Are you trying to fight me?" Shi Hao of the Supreme Dojo shook his finger and gestured with his chin, "In that case, you all come at me together."

His gaze swept across the many geniuses from other realms, arrogant beyond compare.

"I knew it."

Someone whispered, clearly very familiar with Shi Hao.

"Golden scales open, the flood dragon turns into a dragon. You must be Ao Ying, the number one genius of the Flood Dragon Clan of this generation. I accept your challenge. We shall settle this at the tournament."

It was Xu Qingcheng who spoke, her tone confident. She identified the origin of the youth in the purple-gold crown, and without another word, she took a step and stood in the center of the arena.

A figure like Xu Qingcheng, even standing among millions, remained the most striking presence, drawing everyone's attention immediately. Even Lin Huang was no exception.

Lin Huang was no stranger to Xu Qingcheng. As a peerless genius cultivated jointly by the Taiyi Sect and the Celestial Academy, every step of Xu Qingcheng's growth was a headline-grabbing event in the Human Realm.

Especially after she turned sixteen, Xu Qingcheng was hailed as the national goddess, the object of many people's adoration.

For a time, Lin Huang had also paid close attention to Xu Qingcheng. After all, compared to his own dull and almost gray life, Xu Qingcheng's brilliant, high-and-mighty existence was completely different, making him yearn for it back then.

But now, Lin Huang only glanced at Xu Qingcheng calmly before withdrawing his gaze, lowering his head to look at his own palm.

Xu Qingcheng's beautiful eyes darted around, scanning the three thousand preliminary contestants one by one. She was looking for Lin Huang.

She had read Lin Huang's file and studied him, earlier than any of the other geniuses present.

The arrest operation conducted by the Law Enforcement Department could be considered their first confrontation. Unfortunately, she had lost, failing to anticipate Lin Huang's intentions in advance. It was from that day on that she remembered Lin Huang.

And now, this would be their second confrontation; Xu Qingcheng would not allow herself to fail.

"Is it you?"

Xu Qingcheng's gaze locked onto a person. He was looking down, his face obscured, but her intuition told her that it was Lin Huang.

Glancing once, Xu Qingcheng withdrew her gaze, no longer paying attention.

Besides Xu Qingcheng, the other two hundred seeded contestants were also searching for Lin Huang's whereabouts, especially those geniuses from outside the realm who had come specifically for him.

Unrestrained gazes swept across the area, causing the three thousand contestants who had entered the main tournament through the qualifiers to feel somewhat indignant. Finally, someone could not help but step forward, his divine light dazzling like a sun falling to earth, his eyes like lightning, overbearing and tyrannical: "You so-called seeded contestants, are you provoking me?!"

"Step out. I will grant you death."

The arrogance and tyranny of these words immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"It's the Sun God Physique. It must be the Sun God Physique."

Someone exclaimed, recognizing this person.

"Good. We are all geniuses; why should we care about those restrictive rules? I, Shihuo Aoren, have been wanting to witness the Sun God Physique. Devouring your Sun God Fire will allow me to complete my Ten Fire Divine Art."

A person with flames of various colors flowing over his entire body stepped out; he was the peerless genius of the Fire Realm, Shihuo Aoren.

"Not bad. Not bad. Let the slaughter begin! Those bound by rules are not geniuses. Kill all these people; I don't believe we won't be able to find that pseudo-saint!" A few more cold-blooded geniuses from outside the realm stepped forward, sneering, not putting anyone in their eyes.

"Bastards, there are only a hundred of them, yet they dare to claim they will kill us all. They truly don't know what death is!"

Someone could not help but roar in anger.

"Stupid human race. For a fool like you, let alone three thousand, even if there were thirty thousand, I would swallow them in one gulp!" A person with strange patterns tattooed on his forehead stepped out, his eyes greedy; he was a peerless genius of the Taotie Clan.

"Why so much nonsense? Kill!" The speaker was a genius from the Blood Clan. With a movement of his body, blood-colored light scattered, turning into several streaks of crimson as he lunged toward a few humans.

"Enough!"

The Saint-rank descended. As a bigwig of the Arbitration Bureau, the Zhongnan Sword Saint stepped forward to preside over the opening of the main tournament. With a single shout, he suppressed the entire field: "This main tournament, according to the rules..."

Before the Zhongnan Sword Saint could even finish his sentence, countless beams of divine light shot into the sky, treasure-light soaring. More than three thousand geniuses, carrying their own unruly, wild, and conceited momentum, used the divine artifacts on their persons to break through the Zhongnan Sword Saint's realm suppression and contend with him.

The Zhongnan Sword Saint's pupils constricted, and he cursed inwardly. The Ice-Sealed Sword Saint had spread the news too widely; most of the geniuses entering the main tournament had been bestowed with heavy treasures by their sects in hopes of contending with Lin Huang's realm suppression.

But now, before they had even contended with Lin Huang, they had forcefully resisted the Zhongnan Sword Saint's pressure, leaving him somewhat embarrassed.

"The Saint-rank is nothing more than this. Lin Huang, come out and fight me!"

Someone laughed wildly, a profound ancient ruler hovering above his head, ignoring the Zhongnan Sword Saint to challenge Lin Huang.

Lin Huang slowly raised his head, watching this scene before him, his heart filled with contemplation.

The Zhongnan Sword Saint was furious; his dignity as a Saint had been provoked. He let out a cold shout, intending to strike and suppress this genius to make an example of him.

Rumble!

The Dream God Realm shook violently, light obscuring the sky and covering the sun, earth-shattering in its intensity.