Dongbo Xueying stepped into a vast pocket world, where only a single expanse of land existed.
“Interesting.”
He gazed outward.
His vision pierced through the membrane of the pocket world, allowing him to see other pocket worlds and the towering figures of the guests in the grand hall outside!
“They haven’t grown in size—it must be that I’ve been shrunk upon entering this pocket world?” Dongbo Xueying immediately realized.
“Rumble~~~~”
Suddenly, the power within the pocket world surged.
Dongbo Xueying stopped pondering and focused intently, as did the other fourteen Chaos Realm experts, all on high alert.
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” Three silver-armored soldiers materialized in succession, exuding auras comparable to that of a Cosmic God—likely at least at the Tenth Level of the Yuan Shen Palace.
“Kill!”
They immediately prepared to unleash their techniques, but at that moment—
“Ding-ding-ding-dang~~~” A melodious chime rang out. The golden bell at Dongbo Xueying’s waist swayed gently. Before the three silver-armored soldiers could execute their moves, their bodies went limp. All three collapsed to the ground, and as their consciousness faded, their forms crumbled like sand, dissipating into nothingness.
They weren’t true living beings, merely constructs formed by a thought of the Xia Emperor.
Though they possessed rudimentary consciousness, it was weak, and their combat methods were directly imprinted by the Xia Emperor. Their resistance to soul attacks was also a layer of protection bestowed by the Xia Emperor. For the first trial, this soul protection was relatively feeble.
“This first wave isn’t too difficult,” Dongbo Xueying mused. If the first wave could already withstand a Tenth-Level illusory world, that would be absurd.
Dongbo Xueying casually glanced outside, observing the other pocket worlds and the tactics of these ‘silver-armored soldiers.’
…
“Hmph.”
King Salong’s body erupted with ripples of energy that spread outward, affecting the three silver-armored soldiers around him. Simultaneously, he fiercely engaged one of them, whose body blazed with flames.
“Whoosh.” One of the silver-armored soldiers flickered like black mist, vanishing and reappearing—each time it solidified, it coiled around King Salong, binding him.
Another silver-armored soldier repeatedly conjured a long spear in its hand, hurling it like a bolt of thunder, each strike devastatingly powerful. Even King Salong found it a headache.
The greatest threat, however, was the silver-armored soldier he was currently battling. This one could transform its entire body into a two-colored ring of fire—the only one of the three capable of repeatedly inflicting severe damage to his flesh. King Salong’s physique was extraordinarily resilient; ordinary Tenth-Level attacks couldn’t harm him. The assaults from the other two soldiers, weakened by his domain, were merely superficial wounds at worst.
“Break!”
King Salong fought desperately against the flaming silver-armored soldier, dispersing its form, only for it to instantly reform, its energy slightly diminished.
“Thud.” A thunderous spear flashed, piercing King Salong’s body before dissipating.
Black mist rose, attempting to restrain his movements.
“Kill, kill, kill!” King Salong ignored everything else, focusing solely on depleting the flaming soldier’s energy.
“Sizzle—”
The two-colored ring of fire manifested—two flaming loops, one above and one below, ensnaring King Salong. The opposing flames seared his body, inflicting far greater pain than ten or twenty thunder-spear strikes.
“I must destroy it quickly.” King Salong dared not let this soldier, capable of wielding dual flames, persist for long.
A dozen breaths passed.
It seemed brief, but in the frenzy of battle, it felt like an eternity to King Salong!
His vitality had dwindled to thirty percent when he finally succeeded in exhausting the flaming soldier’s energy, causing it to dissipate completely.
“Now, just you two left.” King Salong brimmed with confidence.
Indeed.
By the time his vitality dropped to twenty percent, he emerged victorious, having defeated all three foes.
“Finally… I’ve survived the first wave and earned a golden cauldron.” King Salong exhaled in relief. Being invited here and failing to secure even a single golden cauldron would have been a disgrace!
“Still, overcoming the first wave was no easy feat.” King Salong felt utterly drained. Each soldier was formidable, with distinct strengths. His body-refining technique, the “Ice Nether Scroll,” was particularly vulnerable to fire.
King Salong surveyed his surroundings.
His gaze fell upon another outsider invited by the Fan Clan—Yingshan Xueying, a white-robed youth standing calmly, his aura unchanged. The pocket world around him bore no traces of battle.
“Instant annihilation?” King Salong muttered to himself. “There’s always someone greater. I still have a long way to go.”
“Whoosh.”
“No—”
The battles within the fifteen pocket worlds were indeed nearing their end. King Salong’s fight had been one of the longest. Mere moments after his victory, silence descended.
Four Chaos Realm experts were teleported out—the Xia Emperor wouldn’t stand idly by as they perished.
“Eleven survived the first wave?”
“This year’s Three-Clan Contest seems to have a stronger lineup overall.”
“Eleven? Last time, only six made it!”
Many guests murmured in awe.
Eleven surviving the first wave meant all eleven had reached an exceptionally high level of strength.
“Hahaha! The Fan Clan—everyone from the Fan Clan survived the first wave! The Xia Clan has four, and the Cang Clan has two!”
“The five sent by the Fan Clan this time are all quite capable.”
“Well, the Fan Clan can’t afford to lose again. They had to pull out all the stops!”
The guests chattered.
Indeed, every member of the Fan Clan had survived the first wave. After losing five consecutive Three-Clan Contests, the Fan Clan had internally selected ‘Fan Sanyuan, Fan Yiqian, and Fan Mozhu,’ deeming the other Fan disciples too weak to withstand even the first wave. Unwilling to lose again, they sought exceptional talents from outside.
In foreign nations, without proper mentors or techniques, finding individuals comparable to Fan Yiqian and the others was exceedingly difficult.
Still, they managed to recruit two—King Salong from the Ice Plains Tribe and Yingshan Xueying from the Southcloud Nation. Negotiations between the Southcloud Monarch and the Tearing Heaven Great Venerable revealed that Yingshan Xueying’s strength surpassed even their wildest expectations. Though they granted him the title of ‘Upper Guest,’ they were overjoyed.
After all, he was their trump card.
And he didn’t disappoint! In the first round, Yingshan Xueying placed second, earning two golden cauldrons. In the second round, he even defeated Xia Fayang, securing another.
“Rumble~~~~”
Under the watchful eyes of the guests, the eleven shrunken pocket worlds within the hall underwent another transformation. The Chaos Realm experts inside were further miniaturized, now facing just two silver-armored soldiers.
These two were far more ferocious. One transformed into a billowing cloud that filled the entire pocket world, ensnaring its target, while the other erupted with unrestrained fury.
“Boom!”
It became a storm of lightning, countless bolts raging violently. Xia Jingzhi of the Xia Clan, trapped by the cloud and battered by the thunder, lasted less than a breath before the Xia Emperor teleported her out.
Savage and overwhelming, unstoppable.
One by one, figures were whisked away—swish, swish, swish…
King Salong, Fan Mozhu, and Fan Sanyuan were among the many expelled. The second wave was simply too brutal! In past Three-Clan Contests, typically only two or three could survive the second wave.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage