The sweep begins

"Perhaps the mark affected you?" Wu Ling said.

"You had better be more careful from now on. Don't let this Hate Mark eat away at your consciousness," Wen Qingxuan said, her eyes flickering.

Yun Mo frowned. It seemed he would have to go home and ask his old man to think of a solution. But dealing with this mark required tremendously powerful strength. Would he have to seek out Xiao Yan and Lin Dong?

But with his antlike strength, how the hell was he supposed to find them?

"Phew... don't worry. I'm fine. This can temper my will, too. Let's get through the selection here first."

He let out a long breath, looked at their worried faces, and smiled faintly. Holding his Battle Halberd point-down, he headed toward the center.

Seeing that Yun Mo seemed to have his own plans, Wen Qingxuan and the other two could only bury their unease for the moment and follow him.

Another team encountered Yun Mo's group of four. This team was smarter, however, and tried to retreat the moment they spotted them, avoiding a head-on clash.

To the spectators outside, this was unquestionably the right decision.

"Damn, those guys are smart. I thought another bunch was about to suffer."

"Hahaha, they're lucky those four didn't chase them. If they'd fought, they probably wouldn't have survived even a single blow."

"They seem to be heading straight for the center. Aren't there already twenty or so people there?"

"This selection really is brutal. Dozens of people have already been wiped out for good."

The sight had begun to leave them numb. Once again, they felt fortunate to have known their own limits.

Some even felt grateful to the opponents who had injured them earlier. Otherwise, if they had entered with their strength, their endings would probably have been ugly.

Even among heaven's favored children, the gulf could be as vast as that between clouds and mud.

"What's their problem? Who runs away without even fighting? Isn't the red light from our Level Seven Tokens dazzling enough?"

Wu Yingying was a little stunned. She had just lifted her Crescent Blade to charge when she realized they had already taken to their heels.

"It's actually pretty normal. Some people do this deliberately. Perhaps things will be easier for them if they keep running until the end?" Wu Ling caught on quickly. When facing opponents they weren't confident of defeating, this was indeed a viable approach.

"But there's nowhere to hide in this Martial Combat Arena. Everyone is looking for someone to fight to the death. They can't keep running forever. They'll most likely end up surrounded and killed."

"Everyone has their own strategy. But this Martial Combat Arena has mechanisms built into it, and it will change toward the end. The final thirty-odd survivors will emerge only at the center," Wen Qingxuan said calmly.

Wu Ling and Wu Yingying exchanged a glance. They had always believed that Wen Qingxuan, with everything she knew, must belong to one of the Five Great Academies.

"Let's go. Keep heading toward the center." Yun Mo paid it little mind and led the three onward.

A long while later, after disposing of another team they encountered along the way, they finally reached the central area.

The number of people here had increased. More than thirty were already locked in fierce combat.

At a glance, battles raged everywhere. Spear force and sword energy flew wildly, blasting the entire ground into ruins and leaving weapon scars everywhere.

Several people there also possessed physical strength at the Spirit Wheel Realm. The might they radiated chilled the others to the bone.

"Three of them have Level Seven Tokens. Those three should all be a little stronger than that Shi Yi from earlier." Wu Ling licked his lips, itching to fight.

"Shall we jump straight in?" The corners of Wen Qingxuan's lips lifted slightly, and she unleashed her aura outright.

At this, Wu Yingying smiled radiantly and stopped concealing her own aura.

Yun Mo rolled his eyes a little. Everyone fighting over there had already sensed their auras. What was the point of asking now?

Taking the initiative, he raised his Battle Halberd and leaped into one of the battles, forcibly breaking it up. The pressure he brought made those fighters' hearts pound with terror.

"Heh, heh."

Wen Qingxuan and the other two followed, heading straight for the three people with Level Seven Tokens.

Their arrival drew everyone's gaze. After all, their auras were terrifying, surpassing those of everyone present.

Seeing Wen Qingxuan and the others charging straight at them, the three fighters' expressions changed. Each swung his weapon to drive back his opponent, attempting to fend off the sudden attack.

But there was a substantial gulf between their strengths.

Wen Qingxuan's battle was one such example.

She wore a vivid red dress adorned with golden armor. Her lovely face and the gaze with which she looked down upon everything made her seem so noble and dazzling.

Her graceful figure flashed forward, and her delicate hand swept out. Her golden spear moved as naturally as an extension of her arm, seeming to become a golden dragon as it slashed toward the enemy before her, trailing endless astral gales.

Feeling the threat of death at such close range, the man's expression changed drastically.

He wanted to retreat, only to discover that the space around him seemed to have turned into a mire. This was what happened when someone was locked onto by battle intent.

Left with no choice, he raised his weapon and met the attack with all his strength.

Clang!

The ringing clash of metal rippled outward, stirring up a wave of air that swept through the surroundings, splitting the ground in great cracks and sending dust flying.

The man gritted his teeth, his arms trembling. He realized that his strength was nowhere near this young woman's level.

Wen Qingxuan raised her brows and chuckled, then delivered another slashing strike.

Then came a second blow, a third. Clang after clang rang out without pause, driving everyone nearby farther away.

Boom!

Unable to withstand any more, the man was blasted away. The tendons and bones in his arms ruptured, spraying beads of blood.

"Cough, cough."

He slammed into the ground. He had just tried to lift his weapon and resist again when he discovered that, at some point, his arms had lost all their strength.

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, Wen Qingxuan sent a steel needle shooting from her hand, piercing straight through his skull.

"A Level Seven Token. Not bad." She smiled faintly and turned toward Wu Yingying.

Those around her could only flee at once, terrified that she might set her sights on them. Her overwhelming might left them unable even to contemplate joining forces to resist.

The sight once again drew gasps of amazement from everyone outside.

Some even watched the four sweep through everything with eyes full of admiration and awe.

"..."

"They're too strong. Those four are ridiculously strong. Those three with Spirit Wheel Realm strength probably can't even escape."

"What are their names?"

"No idea, but I feel certain they're in the first tier

of the Spirit Road, perhaps even at the very top. There might not even be a team capable of fighting them."

"Exactly. They still haven't shown their full strength. What would it look like if all four went all out?"

"And look at those three elders from the Five Great Academies. Those four have caught their attention, too."

"In the future, they'll unquestionably become the very foremost core disciples."