Time trickled by amid Xiao Jingxue's nervous worry. In the blink of an eye, the rising sun slowly climbed overhead.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Accompanied by several piercing whistles of wind, ten elderly men abruptly appeared around the competition platform on Tian Zhan Peak.
Rumble!
Immediately afterward came a tremendous crash. A towering stone platform, dozens of meters high, rose from the ground out of thin air. A row of thrones stood atop it, and the ten elderly men took their seats.
"Look, all ten elders have come..."
"This is the strength of Golden Armored General experts—moving mountains and filling seas with a wave of the hand, conjuring mountain-like thrones from thin air. Incredible..."
"All ten elders are here. Why haven't the two competitors arrived yet? Wasn't noon the agreed time?"
"Who says they haven't? Senior Brother Shang Quan is already here. Look..."
Amid the discussions, another burst of air exploded overhead. Several figures swept over the crowd's heads and appeared at the very front of the competition platform.
Under normal circumstances, flying so brazenly over others' heads and rushing to the front would have been extremely rude. Yet no one present dared voice an objection.
Because the people who had arrived were precisely the top five among the Core 72 Peaks!
"As expected, Senior Brother Ji Xuan, ranked first, has come. What bearing..."
"I still like Senior Sister Hua Yao, ranked second. She's beautiful and powerful. If I could conquer her, it would be worth dying on the spot!"
"Conquer her? You'd need the ability first. Senior Sister Hua Yao once said that anyone who wanted to court her had to defeat her. With your three-legged-cat skills, you'd probably be beaten flat before you even got close..."
"Uh... Look, Senior Brother Qing Mu is here too. Though he looks older,