Unlike the ordinary arena matches in the martial arts section, the other areas teemed with contestants. There were contests in Immortal Techniques, combat, alchemy, and spellcraft... mixed-gender matches, team Array Formation offense-and-defense matches—every kind of competition imaginable, though the Joyful Union Sect was forbidden from holding exchanges.
It really did look like an All-World Academic Exchange Tournament.
But anyone aiming for the top prize would eventually have to rely on raw strength. No matter which division they entered, only that would carry them through the final rounds of selection.
Some token holders had even brought an entire clan or sect with them. So, during the preliminary stage, contestants were randomly divided into groups of fifty and sent into Grotto-Heaven Worlds for free-for-all battles.
Of course, it was not exactly a battle royale. The main purpose was to let the strongest contestants fight without holding back.
Once inside, participants only needed to defeat their randomly matched opponents to advance.
There was no need to worry about casualties in the Yinglong Tower anyway, and some saw it as a rare chance for practical combat training.
Perhaps their attention was fixed on the newcomers appearing at Qiongqi Tower. Or perhaps Shang Xiaoyue was using her administrator privileges to screen the list of unfamiliar guests who held tokens and had just registered.
"Lu Mingfei?"
"Lu Mingfei!"
"Which Lu Mingfei?!"
"That Lu Mingfei!"
It was not just Shang Yue. Even Bei Wu and South Trigram, who were watching this place, felt their eyelids twitch violently and their hearts skip a beat when they saw the name.
"Blessed be, blessed be..." Mahavairocana Buddha, now a fat monk, wiped the sweat from his face with his lottery ticket. Then he froze. "Miss, can I still claim the prize later?!"
Ruhua shook her head. Mahavairocana Buddha's face twitched,