The Earth Cave,
Feng, King Gen, King Ming, and the others wore expressions as grim as lead!
"The Sky Screen could upend all our plans!"
Feng's gaze was sharp, his expression icy!
If the Sky Screen exposed the Future Human King, the Future Human King's greatest desire would be to reach the Peak—or even become powerful enough to suppress the Three Realms!
At the same time, the Sky Screen would grant the Future Human King a realm powerful enough to suppress the Three Realms. What would that mean for them, the "schemers"?
They would be doomed. The Future Human King would inevitably settle accounts with them and crush them!
They had thought that the Sky Screen exposing the Human Realm's Heavenly Pride Ranking first would be more beneficial than harmful to them. It would let them target the most promising martial artists of the Human Realm and eliminate them in advance.
But it turned out to be more harmful than beneficial!
A century of martial arts experience, insights into the future Martial Dao...
Now, once the first-rank martial artists on the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking fully absorbed the Sky Screen's rewards, their strength would no longer be inferior to the deliberately demoted martial artists under their command!
A century of martial arts experience might seem like little to ancient powerhouses like them, but it was no small thing for the Human Realm!
Especially since the Sky Screen might continue to pour cultivation into certain heavenly prides, accelerating their growth!
"We can't wait any longer. We must convene the Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament at once and kill the Human Realm's heavenly prides!"
"Otherwise, once the Sky Screen grants them cultivation, the Three Realms will be in grave danger!"
King Gan frowned. "Will the Human Realm agree to take part in the Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament early?"
King Ming sneered. "Heavenly King, you're worrying too much."
"Martial King and the Heaven Suppressing King are bound to be even more worried than we are about the Future Human King being exposed!"
"Sacrificing pawns to save the chariot has always been the Human Realm's way."
"The Human Realm's powerhouses will surely want their heavenly prides to take part in the Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament before the Sky Screen reveals the identities of the Future Human King and the other heavenly prides. They can muddy the waters!
"With these Human Realm martial artists already on the Heavenly Pride Ranking acting as cover and drawing fire, the chances of the rest of the Human Realm's martial artists suffering a devastating blow will decrease.
"Sacrifice the heavenly prides who have already been exposed to protect those who haven't!
"That must be what the Human Realm's powerhouses are thinking, too!"
"The martial artists who've made the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking haven't fully absorbed the martial arts experience granted by the Sky Screen yet."
"But the martial artists under our command are the real elites, invincible among those of the same rank!
"If we fight now, the Human Realm's martial artists won't make it back alive!"
"If we wait until the Human Realm's heavenly prides have fully absorbed the Sky Screen's rewards, our fighters probably won't fare so well!"
King Xun's voice was cold. "Then we'll pressure and tempt the Human Realm's powerhouses again and force the Human Realm to take part in the Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament early!"
"If the Human Realm decides not to compete early, we'll have to revise our plans.
"Even if our fighters have to self-destruct, we must make sure we kill the Human Realm's competitors!"
"Good!"
Feng's gaze turned icy. "We absolutely can't give the Human Realm too much time to grow!"
"Otherwise, we'll be the ones destroyed!"
The Human Realm,
Capital Base,
Fang Ping, Wang Jinyang, Qin Fengqing, Li Hansong, Fu Changding, Zhao Lei, Chen Jiasheng, Han Xu, Ling Yiyi, and the others were all staring in shock and amazement!
"Zhao Xuemei's already fourth rank!?"
"A mid-rank martial artist... She could take on at least ten of me by herself now!"
"Not that few."
"Zhao Xuemei's really taken off now!"
Fang Ping sighed with feeling.
His junior sister was about to become Magic Martial University's number one!
Fourth rank in her first year, seventh rank in her second, and Peak by graduation!
She really had undergone a complete transformation and soared on the wind!
"Zhao Xuemei's greatest obsession right now is becoming a mid-rank martial artist. What about mine?"
Fang Ping fell into thought.
What was his obsession?
Becoming a martial artist!
Becoming strong!
But how strong did he have to be to count as strong?
The Peak?
A Peak powerhouse was humanity's guardian, an existence of supreme power!
But even after Zhang Tao and Li Zhen reached the Peak, they could only watch helplessly as their friends and family died in the Earth Cave.
Was the Heaven Suppressing King strong?
Very strong!
Yet even after guarding the Human Realm for a thousand years, the Heaven Suppressing King hadn't dared to act recklessly and wipe out the Earth Cave.
Fang Ping remembered that at first, he'd only wanted to become a martial artist, start a company, and make a fortune!
He'd thought that even if the sky fell, Grandmasters would hold it up.
Before, Fang Ping had only wanted to steadily reach second and third rank, then work his way up to Grandmaster.
But the situation now made that completely impossible.
He was the Future Human King. It seemed he was supposed to shoulder the heavy responsibility that came with that title?
Fang Ping suddenly felt as if he couldn't catch his breath.
All he wanted was to protect his little family.
But the Sky Screen had exposed everything. Fu Changding, Zhao Lei, Zhao Xuemei, and even Wang Jinyang—people he knew well—might die in the Earth Cave because of their connection to him... Could he really do nothing?
The pressure crashed down on him!
"Damn, she's already surpassed me?"
Qin Fengqing winced. They'd both undergone one bone tempering, yet Zhao Xuemei, a first-year student, had already surpassed him, a third-year!
Was there any justice?!
Ling Yiyi gritted her teeth, green with envy!
A first-rank martial artist had instantly become a fourth-rank martial artist. That was just unfair!
Wang Jinyang sighed ruefully. He'd gone through plenty of hardship before he broke through to fourth rank.
The Sky Screen was truly bizarre!
Still, becoming a mid-rank martial artist was more harmful than beneficial for Zhao Xuemei.
After reaching third rank, martial artists had to enter the Earth Cave. If Zhao Xuemei went down there now, she would surely face a life-or-death crisis!
Though she had the secret realm granted by the Sky Screen, how could a mid-rank heavenly pride like her avoid fighting once the war in the Magic City Earth Cave began?
"If only she were a student at Southern Martial University!"
Wang Jinyang sighed softly.
He envied Zhao Xuemei, but more than that, he felt a kinship with someone like her—and deep concern.
Zhao Xuemei's rank had suddenly shot up because of the Sky Screen's reward. Would the Earth Cave assume that the other Human Realm heavenly prides who hadn't made the list might also receive rewards that raised their ranks?
If so, the Earth Cave would probably become even more deranged and intensify its attacks on martial artists like them who were taking part in the Three Realms Martial Arts Exchange Tournament.
They would face a brutally vicious battle!
Wang Jinyang's heart tightened!
"Martial artists must fight for what they want. This is both a crisis and an opportunity!"
If they survived this battle, the resources and benefits they gained would be immensely valuable!
The martial artists from the Earth Cave, Heaven Beyond Heaven, and other forces were bound to have good things on them.
Killing them and searching their bodies would be enough to make him rich!
Li Hansong, Yao Chengjun, and the others had the same thought as Wang Jinyang.
This Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament was fraught with danger, but if they killed their enemies and survived, they could still obtain plenty of precious resources!
With those resources, they could grow rapidly.
They weren't afraid of a fight!
In the conference room,
Zhang Tao, Li Zhen, and Nan Yunyue were quite surprised that the Sky Screen had directly raised Zhao Xuemei's rank as a reward!
The Sky Screen had granted rewards that raised ranks before, but more often it had improved things like the vitality, physical strength, and other qualities that came with a rank.
This time, though, it had directly raised Zhao Xuemei's rank!
That meant if a heavenly pride on the list was obsessed with improving their rank, the Sky Screen might raise it directly!
Someone might even reach the Peak on the spot!
That was a good thing, but the Earth Cave, Heaven Beyond Heaven, the scheming powerhouses of the Three Realms, the Human Emperor, and the Seed would surely be even more eager to eliminate the Human Realm's heavenly prides!
The Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament would be drenched in even more blood!
The Human Emperor, King Ming, and the others might even pressure and tempt them to take part in the fighting before the Sky Screen finished revealing the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking!
Li Zhen's expression darkened. "King Ming must be afraid the Human Realm's heavenly prides will fully absorb the martial arts experience granted by the Sky Screen—or even have their cultivation raised instantly."
"The Earth Cave and the forces behind them will definitely move up the Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament!"
"Moving it up isn't necessarily all bad," Nan Yunyue said gravely. "If we wait until the Sky Screen reveals the Future Human King's identity before competing, the pressure on us will be even greater."
"The Earth Cave will also become more frenzied!"
Zhang Tao's gaze turned cold. He thought for a moment before speaking. "Whether it's moved up or not, we still have time. We need to change the list of competitors."
"Besides, we need to further strengthen them!"
"The Earth Cave, Heaven Beyond Heaven, and the other forces will have made thorough preparations to kill our Human Realm's martial artists.
"We mustn't let our guard down. We need to consider the worst outcomes and the most despicable tactics!"
Li Zhen and Nan Yunyue nodded.
Seven people had already made the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking, and two more were very likely to make it. They were both first-rank martial artists.
Zhang Xuan, Zhao Lei, Fu Changding, and Chen Jiasheng were on the list. They had already become thorns in the Earth Cave's side and eyesores in its flesh.
Han Xu and Fang Ping would probably make the list, too.
That meant six of the first-rank martial artists on the exchange team were heavenly prides on the list. Sending all six of them to compete would be far too dangerous!
At that moment, Zhang Tao was already leaning toward not letting Fang Ping compete.
After all, Fang Ping was only first rank!
In past years, most first-rank students from the Martial Arts Universities hadn't fought bloody battles. It was only at third rank that they began taking on missions and fighting in earnest.
But many Military Department martial artists had fought in the Earth Cave at first rank—or even before they became martial artists.
Zhang Tao thought for a while, then said, "Have battle-hardened Military Department martial artists fight them. Whoever loses will stay behind!"
If they really weren't good enough, going would only mean certain death. They might as well stay behind, grow stronger, and fight the enemy later.
Fang Ping, Fu Changding, and the others hadn't fought that many battles. Their combat experience still couldn't match that of the battle-hardened Military Department martial artists.
Zhang Tao wasn't worried about Wang Jinyang.
Wang Jinyang was a heavenly pride who had fought his way to the top, nearly invincible among those of the same rank.
If Wang Jinyang competed, he wouldn't be the one to die.
Li Zhen and Nan Yunyue agreed with Zhang Tao's idea.
When they'd made the original selections, they had taken certain proportions into account. Otherwise, the Military Department martial artists would probably have made up most of the low-rank contestants.
Of course, Zhao Lei, Fu Changding, Fang Ping, and the others had earned their places on the exchange team by defeating some Military Department martial artists.
But they hadn't defeated the very best of them. Luck had also played a part in their selection.
Now, for their own safety, Fang Ping and the others would have to fight the top Military Department martial artists again.
Whoever lost would withdraw.
Once they'd settled on a plan, Zhang Tao, Li Zhen, and Nan Yunyue immediately made arrangements.
The Capital Base buzzed with discussion.
But once the talk died down, no one resented Zhang Tao and the others' arrangements.
In the struggle of martial arts, the strongest had to go.
If they lost, at least they wouldn't die at the hands of their own people. Losing to martial artists from the Earth Cave or Heaven Beyond Heaven really would mean death!
Zhao Lei and Fu Changding exchanged a glance, both confident!
They'd received rewards from the Sky Screen. Though they hadn't fully absorbed them, their insights into combat techniques and fighting had improved. They weren't necessarily going to lose!
Fang Ping felt a sense of urgency. He wanted to keep competing, but he was also afraid of dying.
Though he'd killed a few people and seen blood over the past few days, who wasn't afraid of death?
But since he'd already come this far, how could he run away?
If he avoided the fight this time, could he keep avoiding it in the future?
Fear of battle could have a huge impact on a martial artist.
"I'm definitely not going to be the one who dies!"
Fang Ping's gaze sharpened. He had a system that could restore his vitality, and his ability wasn't weak. He could wear his opponent down if he had to!
He'd already accumulated plenty of Wealth Points over the past few days, enough to get through the Three Realms Martial Arts Exchange Tournament.
He was far too attached to his life.
But if someone wanted to take it, he had no choice but to fight back.
Once he killed the other person, they wouldn't be able to take his life anymore!
"If anyone wants me dead, I'll kill them first!"
The Capital Base was busily preparing for the selection challenge, while the gilded writing on the Sky Screen began to change.
[Three Realms Heavenly Pride Ranking · Human Realm Ranking, Thirteenth Place: Han Xu, Capital Martial University!]
"Hahahaha! It's finally Capital Martial University's turn!"
"Jingwu's Han Xu! He can suppress all the young talents from Magic Martial University by himself!"
"Jingwu is invincible! Jingwu is the number one university!"
"Han Xu, the top scorer in the national martial arts exam!"
"Whoa, Han Xu's ranking is actually higher than Demon Butcher Zhao Xuemei's. What kind of unofficial list is this?"
"..."
When the powerhouses from Capital Martial University saw one of their students make the Heavenly Pride Ranking and outrank all the young talents from Magic Martial University, placing thirteenth, they were overjoyed!
But their joy soon gave way to deep concern.
"Han Xu ranks thirteenth on the Human Realm Heavenly Pride Ranking. The Earth Cave and the other forces will definitely make him a target for assassination.
Should we recall Han Xu and have him withdraw from the competition? He wouldn't have to take part in the Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament."
"Capital Martial University isn't short on resources!"
"As long as the mountains remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood. If Han Xu survives, he'll surely become a pillar of Jingwu and reach the Peak Realm. We can't let him fall here!"
"We should still ask Han Xu what he thinks."
"No! Young people are hot-blooded. As Jingwu's leaders, we have the authority to decide for our students.
Tell Han Xu to withdraw at once and return to Jingwu!"
"Martial artists have to fight for what they want. Making him withdraw now would ruin him. I won't agree to it!"
"Magic Martial University hasn't made Zhao Lei and the others withdraw, and Donglin Martial University hasn't made its top talent, Chen Jiasheng, withdraw either.
If we make Han Xu withdraw, it'll make Jingwu look bad!"
"..."
At Capital Base,
Han Xu had no idea that Jingwu was locked in a heated debate over him.
He had just stepped down from the platform.
"Though I revealed Sword Hidden in Spear, at least I won!"
Han Xu smiled, gazing up at the Sky Screen with eager anticipation.
At this point, his combat experience really couldn't match that of the Military Department's martial artists. He hoped the Sky Screen would reward him with martial arts experience.
He knew full well how dangerous the Three Realms Martial Arts Tournament was.
But martial artists had to fight for what they wanted. Since he was strong enough to compete, there was no reason to give up!
Fang Ping, Fu Changding, and the others had also watched Han Xu's recent battle.
Fu Changding's expression was troubled. Sword Hidden in Spear!
Fang Ping, meanwhile, was somewhat surprised by Han Xu's strength.
Though Han Xu had caught his opponent off guard, he was still an exceptionally powerful martial artist at Rank One, nearly invincible among those of the same rank.
"Whoa, so this is what a genius with Triple Bone Honing is like? He really is incredible!" someone exclaimed.
"Fang Ping from Magic Martial University also has Triple Bone Honing. I wonder which of them is stronger, him or Han Xu!"
"Obviously Han Xu!"
"Fang Ping's up soon. I can't wait to see how he does!"
[Han Xu is currently at Rank One. He is proud and courageous, clever beneath the surface, and a little bit of a secret flirt. He comes from a good family and has exceptional talent. He is a martial artist with Triple Bone Honing.
In this era, when geniuses have emerged across the Human Realm, Han Xu first claimed the top score in the national martial arts exam through his Triple Bone Honing talent and unyielding perseverance.
At Rank Four, he became the president of Jingwu's Martial Arts Club. Though he couldn't match the young talents from Magic Martial University at the time, Han Xu never let up.
After being misled and admonished by the Future Human King, Han Xu was won over by him and accepted his status as the leader of the younger generation. From then on, Han Xu began to work even harder to catch up!
Despite having fewer resources than the young talents from Magic Martial University, he became the first new-generation genius who wasn't a Resurrected Martial Artist to break through to Rank Eight!
Afterward, he surpassed Chen Yunxi, Zhao Xuemei, Chen Jiasheng, and many other young talents, attaining the Dao of the Emperor Venerable before the great Three Realms war.
Soon after attaining the title of Emperor Venerable, Han Xu fought three opponents at once. Together with Ling Yiyi of Jingwu, he killed three Emperor Venerables!
In the end, he burned his Great Dao to fulfill Martial King Zhang Tao.]
[Evaluation: Clever beneath the surface and courageous, with exceptional talent and outstanding character. A well-deserving genius martial artist!]
[Basic rewards: Unimpeded Great Dao, Transcend the Three Realms.
Advanced rewards: Future martial arts experience, Rank Nine Realm resources, special divine spear-sword.]
"So Han Xu's a secret flirt!"
"Triple Bone Honing, top scorer in the national martial arts exam! Han Xu's incredible!"
"I can't believe Han Xu will surpass Demon Butcher and the others to attain the Dao of the Emperor Venerable. That's awesome!"
"Hahahaha, with Han Xu holding the fort, Jingwu will be able to suppress all the other martial arts universities!"
"Whoa, does this mean that violent girl Ling Yiyi will make the list too?!"
"Oh no, Jingwu's going to become that violent girl's domain!"
"..."
At Capital Base,
Han Xu's face darkened. How had he become a secret flirt?
That was slander!
Fu Changding couldn't help snickering.
He truly hadn't expected the seemingly cold Han Xu to be such a clever, secret flirt!
"This lady really did make the Heavenly Pride Ranking!"
Ling Yiyi lifted her chin and gave a proud little snort. "I'm Jingwu's number one genius!
And I'll be Jingwu's strongest martial artist in the future!"
As the Sky Screen revealed the rankings, the trials at Capital Base continued.
Before long, it was Fang Ping, Zhang Xuan, and the others' turn to challenge the Military Department's martial artists!
The victors would continue their campaign!
The defeated would return to their universities at once!
Please keep reading, and thank you for everything. Please vote with your monthly tickets. Thank you, everyone.
The first climax is coming soon!
Zhang Tao, Wang Jinyang, and Fang Ping are about to go on a rampage, one after another making their mark!
Before you continue