Dongbo Xueying regained his clarity and saw Xia Fayang from the Xia Clan and General Xuan from the Cang Clan, both of whom had also recovered.
“Who is first? Who is second?”
They all stood up, slightly puzzled.
During the trial, they had been wholly focused on resisting the soul techniques, unable to spare any attention to observe the outside world, so none of them knew the rankings.
“Brother Feixue, you are second,” Fan Sanyuan transmitted mentally. “What a pity—you were just a hair’s breadth away from first! The three of you held out for a very long time, collapsing almost simultaneously, with only the slightest differences between you.”
Dongbo Xueying was momentarily stunned.
Second?
As a peerless genius in the Illusory Realm of the Void, and having cultivated the Doppelgänger Art to break free from his shackles, his soul had absorbed mysterious energies from beyond the Source World, nourishing it. He had assumed he would take first place, yet he only ranked second! Moreover, the gap between the top three was minuscule, indicating their capabilities in this aspect were nearly identical.
“I barely took first?” Xia Fayang also received word from his clan and couldn’t help but glance at the other two, inwardly surprised. “My Heartphase Dao has long reached the Chaos Realm’s pinnacle, and I excel in formations! To master them, I spared no expense, absorbing ‘Hunyuan Essence’ worth twenty billion cosmos crystals. I believed no one in the Chaos Realm could surpass me in resisting soul techniques. Yet these two are almost on par with me.”
Xia Fayang was the most highly regarded in the Xia Clan.
Heartphase Dao, Formation Dao…
Both paths were incredibly difficult to advance to the Cosmic God level! Formations, in particular, demanded immense mental effort—only a powerful soul could study them efficiently. That was why Xia Fayang had gone to such lengths, even borrowing cosmos crystals from his clan to absorb an absurdly expensive amount of Hunyuan Essence.
“I’m third?” General Xuan frowned slightly. “I was granted a technique by ‘Master Yuan’ and only truly grasped it before becoming a Cosmic God, earning the right to be his disciple. My mind is flawless, yet I still fell slightly short of these two. Then again, in Master Yuan’s eyes, only those who grasp his teachings are barely worth nurturing.”
What he didn’t know was—
Dongbo Xueying and Xia Fayang, one a master of the Illusory Realm at the Chaos Realm’s peak, the other a pinnacle Heartphase Dao practitioner. One had absorbed mysterious energies from beyond the Source World, the other an ocean of Hunyuan Essence! General Xuan had never specialized in soul techniques, yet he had reached this level—truly astonishing.
—
The three peerless geniuses each harbored their own thoughts.
Meanwhile, Fengchen Dazun, presiding over the Three-Clan Competition, announced with a booming laugh, “The first round has concluded. First place goes to Xia Fayang of the Xia Clan, second to Ying Shan Xueying of the Fan Clan, and third to Cang Xuan of the Cang Clan. The Xia Clan temporarily holds three golden cauldrons, the Fan Clan two, and the Cang Clan one. Haha! Now, we proceed to the second round.”
“The second round tests the overall strength of the clans’ disciples. Fifteen Chaos Realm experts from the three clans will be divided into five groups. Each group consists of one representative from the Xia, Fan, and Cang Clans. The victor of each group earns one golden cauldron. Five groups mean five golden cauldrons in total.”
“Please wait a moment. The second round will begin shortly.”
After speaking, Fengchen Dazun immediately consulted with the two Dazuns from the Fan and Cang Clans.
Each would submit a prearranged list, unknown to the others. The first names from each list would form the first group, the second names the second group, and so on.
Dongbo Xueying had already taken his seat.
“Guest Elder Feixue, you performed admirably in the first round,” Kui Chen Junzhu said. “Though we trail the Xia Clan slightly, there are still the second and third rounds. We have a strong chance of victory this time. Everyone—give it your all.”
“Yes,” the assembled voices responded.
—
Soon, the lists were revealed.
“The second round begins now,” Fengchen Dazun declared, his voice resonating through the grand hall. “The first group: Xia Wuhua, Sa Long, and Cang Qinglei. The rules are simple—being thrown off the platform counts as a loss, as does being rescued by Emperor Xia.”
Dongbo Xueying sat quietly.
The Fan Clan’s order was: Sa Long Wang, Fan Sanyuan, Ying Shan Xueying, Fan Yiqian, Fan Mozhu.
“Xia Wuhua?”
“This might be troublesome.”
“Xia Wuhua has the upper hand in this match.” The spectators murmured among themselves. Xia Wuhua was renowned, while Sa Long Wang hailed from a distant icefield tribe, a foreign land. Cang Qinglei, meanwhile, was not particularly outstanding even within the Cang Clan.
At the center of the hall, a massive silver-white circular platform materialized. Xia Wuhua, Sa Long, and Cang Qinglei stood upon it, eyeing one another—only one would emerge victorious.
“Begin.”
At Fengchen Dazun’s command, the three Chaos Realm experts clashed instantly. They held nothing back, unafraid of fatal consequences—after all, three invincible beings were present! Under the watchful eyes of Emperor Xia, Patriarch Fan, and Emperor Cang, no one had ever died in the Three-Clan Competition. The gap between their power was so vast that the three sovereigns could intervene at the last moment.
**BOOM—**
Cang Qinglei transformed into a towering giant, his skin deep cyan, crackling with lightning. Wielding two massive hammers, he fought with overwhelming force.
Sa Long Wang, typically domineering, now unleashed countless rippling waves, engaging in close combat. He was a dual-path cultivator, immensely powerful. Even Fan Yiqian had only defeated him by using forbidden arts in a confined space where evasion was impossible. Though the platform seemed modest, it was actually thousands of times larger than a small courtyard, allowing ample room for maneuvering.
“That kid from the icefield tribe is strong.”
“Wave Dao and Slaughter Dao? Dual-path cultivation? Complementary paths? Xia Wuhua might be in trouble!”
“The outcome isn’t certain yet.”
Xia Wuhua wielded only a single sword.
His entire being was devoted to the blade, loyal to its path.
After a fierce battle, Cang Qinglei—clearly the weakest of the three—was eventually blasted off the platform by Xia Wuhua’s sword, though his robust physique and Sa Long Wang’s interference prolonged the fight.
The duel between Sa Long Wang and Xia Wuhua was far more brutal.
“Whoosh—”
Dazzling sword light, like a celestial river, poured relentlessly into Sa Long Wang’s body.
Xia Wuhua’s own body bore strange, ghastly wounds.
Finally, Emperor Xia intervened, teleporting Sa Long Wang off the platform—his vitality had dwindled to a mere tenth, while Xia Wuhua retained half of his.
“Lost again.” Sa Long Wang returned to his seat in silence.
When the Fan Clan had first chosen him, he had felt a surge of pride.
Selected from countless Chaos Realm experts across foreign nations, he had believed himself superior even to the Fan Clan’s core disciples—that they needed him more than he needed them. Yet in the first round, he had fallen far short of the top three. Now, in the second round, he had lost once more.
“The Xia Clan takes the first group. No matter—the second group begins now. Sanyuan, it’s your turn.” Kui Chen Junzhu looked at Fan Sanyuan.
Fan Sanyuan nodded and rose.
—
The group battles continued.
Second group: Fan Sanyuan, Xia Chengyuan, Cang Yiyong.
“What?”
The unfolding battle shocked many spectators, including Dongbo Xueying.
He knew that strong soul will didn’t necessarily equate to combat prowess. Cang Yiyong had been the Cang Clan’s brightest star before General Xuan’s rise, and he fought fiercely. Yet against Fan Sanyuan’s “Formless Mystic Art,” he struggled. But no one had expected the unassuming Xia Chengyuan—a cheerful young man—to reveal such terrifying strength.
He began chanting.
“Hum… Hua… Fu…”
Each syllable he uttered released intangible ripples that ensnared Cang Yiyong and Fan Sanyuan.
In the end, the two were so thoroughly bound they couldn’t resist, forcibly ejected from the platform.
“Emperor Xia’s ‘Song of the Great Dao’? He actually mastered it?”
“He learned the ‘Song of the Great Dao’?”
It was terrifying.
Xia Wuhua and Xia Fayang were hailed as the Xia Clan’s twin prodigies of this generation. Xia Chengyuan, though a core disciple, had always been low-key, seemingly inferior to those two.
Yet the “Song of the Great Dao” was as fearsome as the “Five-Phase Sealing Art”—exceedingly difficult to master, but devastating once learned. Clearly, Xia Chengyuan had concealed his strength until this moment.
“Among the Xia Clan’s five elites, Xia Chengyuan might be nearly on par with Xia Fayang,” many murmured in awe.
A single technique could dominate an entire tier.
Just as the Five-Phase Sealing Art could crush opponents head-on, leaving even Fan Clan’s core disciples trembling—only Fan Yiqian dared face it—the “Song of the Great Dao” was the same. If you couldn’t withstand it, defeat was inevitable.
“The legendary ‘Song of the Great Dao’?” Dongbo Xueying thought, inwardly shocked. “If I only had the Five-Phase Sealing Art, I might not stand a chance in this competition.”
With just that technique, the Fan Clan might have replaced him for demanding too much.
But with his ten-layer Illusory Realm techniques combined with the Five-Phase Sealing Art, Dongbo Xueying could defeat anyone present. Even Xia Chengyuan—who hadn’t ranked in the top three in the first round—might struggle to resist the “Demonheart Bell.” At best, he’d barely remain conscious, but against Dongbo Xueying’s full combat power, he’d lose without doubt.
“This is bad…”
“The Xia Clan won again.”
“Xia Wuhua, Xia Chengyuan—only five groups in total, and the Xia Clan took the first two. They led in the first round too… Are we Fan Clan destined to lose this Three-Clan Competition again?”
The Fan Clan’s higher-ups grew uneasy.
The Xia Clan’s advantage was snowballing. Two peerless prodigies were one thing, but now this previously unremarkable Xia Chengyuan had emerged!
“Third group,” Fengchen Dazun announced, smiling broadly. “Xia Fayang, Ying Shan Xueying, Cang Ying.”
“Xia Fayang!”
“The strongest of the Xia Clan’s younger generation. First in soul will last round, Heartphase Dao at the Chaos Realm’s peak, and a master of formations. The Xia Clan will likely win again, widening their lead. With so many outstanding fighters, they’ll dominate the third round too.”
“This Three-Clan Competition is already decided. The other two clans have no hope of turning it around.”
“Agreed. The gap is too wide.”
At this moment, Dongbo Xueying, Xia Fayang, and Cang Ying all stood.
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