The sacred glow concluded.
A gentle breeze stirred his black hair as Xu Mu opened his eyes, his turbulent robes gradually calming, as if he had gained an immeasurable, unfathomable mystery from nowhere.
Zuo Mingqiu opened his eyes and looked at Xu Mu with complex emotions. He knew that not only had he broken through, but this young man, who had surpassed him to reach the peak of the Sacred Ladder, had also become stronger. The restrained aura emanating from him was like a tiger before a hunt, making his heart tremble.
Dong!
As his emotions surged, a sonorous bell chime suddenly echoed from the Sky Sect. Then, a high monk in saffron robes stepped forward and said with a smile:
"The third round of the Ten Thousand Races Assembly has concluded. Next, I will announce the rankings for this round..."
As the elderly monk spoke, everyone listened with rapt attention. The rankings were announced from the last place of advancement to the next round, upwards. However, before the very end, everyone already knew who the first place was.
First place, of course, was Xu Mu.
Because he was still standing at the very top of the Sacred Ladder.
After announcing the rankings, the old monk continued with a smile, "Young cultivators whose names were not called will stop at the third round. If you wish to know your ranking, you may open your jade slips to check. However, before that, you must leave."
With that, the Buddhist monk, leaning on his staff, raised his right hand and performed a Buddhist salute to the esper users on the Sacred Ladder.
Om!
Instantly, several beams of light descended from the sky.
They transported the eliminated geniuses from the Sacred Ladder back to the outside world, leaving only the final five hundred people.
After completing this, the old monk spoke again, "Young people still remaining on the Sacred Ladder, congratulations. You have successfully advanced to the fourth round of the Ten Thousand Races Assembly, which is also the final round of this assembly."
"In this final round, the rules are also very simple. The five hundred promoted geniuses will simply engage in two-on-two battles in sequence. Winners will continue to fight winners, and losers will have the opportunity to fight their way out from the loser's bracket."
"The battles in this round will directly determine everyone's final ranking. Before the final thirty-two are decided, the first place finishers of the first three rounds will receive immunity from battle, directly entering the top thirty-two."
"There's such a good thing?" Xu Mu clicked his tongue, then couldn't help but smile. He was the first place in the previous round and naturally received the so-called immunity.
Immunity from battle until the top thirty-two would provide a huge advantage to anyone, as it would save a lot of physical strength.
After all, the cultivators who had reached this point were the strongest from various domains, even the strongest of a clan. Behind them, hundreds of millions of talented cultivators had been eliminated, and they were among those hundreds of millions, the top five hundred.
Under such circumstances, no one should be underestimated. Even between the first and the five hundredth place, there was no guarantee of victory. Therefore, immunity could maximally preserve physical strength.
The advantage of immunity had already affected the balance of this final battle, but no one among the remaining participants voiced any objection, for they knew in their hearts that Xu Mu and Zuo Mingqiu deserved it.
The former had swept first place in the first two rounds, his strength beyond doubt. The latter had even ascended to the pinnacle of the Sacred Ladder, becoming the third genius to stand there.
They were convinced, hence no objections.
"May I ask, Lord Judge, where will this final round be held? Will it still be on this Sacred Ladder?" a young man in plain cloth, carrying a millstone on his back, asked from the Sacred Ladder.
The old monk heard this and shook his head, "This final round will of course not be on the Sacred Ladder, but in a place that all of you in the world know."
Everyone's faces showed confusion, unable to guess where.
"Please, high monk, enlighten us!"
Hearing everyone's request, the old monk stopped playing coy. He smiled slightly and said, "The final round, where you will battle, will not be here, but in the Jade Pond Wonderland, one of the eight polluted lands in the world."
"What!"
Upon hearing this, everyone, both on and off the Sacred Ladder, was thrown into shock. Even the Daoist nun from Tian Shi Mountain, who had just regained her composure and overcome her inner demons, couldn't help but be astonished, doubting her own ears.
"The Jade Pond Wonderland is one of the eight polluted forbidden zones. Is the final battle of the Ten Thousand Races Assembly to be held there?"
"If you hadn't mentioned the Jade Pond Wonderland, I would have almost forgotten. That forbidden zone, isn't it right here on this divine continent? It's just that it hasn't caused any harm, so we've all forgotten about it!"
"But still, it's a forbidden zone. Holding the final round there for battle, isn't that too hasty?"
Listening to the common discussions, Zhou Yuan, the prince of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who had met Xu Mu once, couldn't help but smile faintly from the spectator stands.
He turned and looked at the middle-aged man beside him, who was wearing a nine-clawed python robe, and asked, "Uncle-uncle, what do you think those people from the Hundred Races lands are thinking?"
"Holding the competition venue in the Jade Pond Wonderland, could it be that they want to borrow the luck of these geniuses to find the legendary sacred relics?"
The tall, imposing middle-aged man in the python robe replied with a stern expression, "Yes."
"Genius is born with destiny, answering the call of heaven, and is more likely to seize opportunities and encounter fortuitous encounters. And this Jade Pond Wonderland, although it is one of the eight polluted lands born from heavenly revelation, currently poses no harm itself. Besides being difficult to open, it can be entered freely, thus it is more suitable for these geniuses to try their luck."
Zhou Yuan nodded slightly, a smile appearing on his jade-like chin. He said, "I also want to go in and try. Haven't you always said that my luck is the most abundant in the world? Perhaps I can find that sacred relic."
The middle-aged man named Yuan Pu immediately turned his head and looked at Zhou Yuan with a very serious expression.
Seeing this, Zhou Yuan smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't go. You said that my life is more important than anything else."
Yuan Pu nodded and said,
"Yes, that's right."
"And there's another reason, which is that although the Jade Pond Wonderland appears to be without danger on the surface, once one enters, no one can say for sure what might happen."
"For the sake of a mere sacred relic, you don't need to take such a risk!"
"A mere sacred relic..." Zhou Yuan smiled faintly upon hearing this. Yes, how could a mere sacred relic be more precious than his life?
He was destined to rule the world, create an egalitarian world, and be the emperor who opened a new era for all time!
"By the way, that Mu Xu who reached the top of the Sacred Ladder last round, do you still remember him?" Zhou Yuan asked with a faint smile.
Yuan Pu nodded. "When we were at the Star-Picking Holy Court, you told me you had seen a very interesting young man. It should be him."
Zhou Yuan nodded, his gaze fixed on the summit of the Sacred Ladder, on that small yet incredibly majestic figure. His eyes slowly became as calm as water.
"If I'm not mistaken, he is Xu Mu."
Yuan Pu was silent for a moment, then said, "The human who liberated the slave people from the Dwarf World and was then taken away by the Elf race?"
"It's not just that," Zhou Yuan said, taking out a booklet from his embrace. He said expressionlessly, "He is also a member of the Demon Slaying Division of the Great Xia Dynasty."
Upon hearing this, Yuan Pu's eyes narrowed slightly. "Since he is a genius of the Demon Slaying Division, why would he come here under a false name? Could it be..."
The man in the python robe thought carefully, then suddenly recalled something extraordinary.
Just a few months ago, an anomaly occurred in the Domain of Twisted Night, one of the eight polluted lands. A dark palace appeared in the core of the Western Mountains, containing the opportunity for a sacred relic, and the possessor of half a Heavenly Book, Vetarian, appeared there.
At that time, countless powerful figures from all over the world entered the Great Xia territory, wanting to contend for those two sacred relics. However, they all failed in the end, because of a young man.
That young man killed Vetarian, and everyone assumed that the Heavenly Book had fallen into that young man's hands. Thus, rounds of pursuit and encirclement began again.
In those epic encirclements, the four great esper organizations of the world participated. People from the Demon Slaying Division even dispatched a top-ranked expert, Fiery Bite, vowing to obtain the Heavenly Book.
But in the end, the young man rode a demonic beast and died in spatial turbulence, disappearing from the human world. The rubbings of the Heavenly Book also ceased to exist.
That young man's name was Xu Mu.
Was this Xu Mu the same as the Xu Mu who appeared in Alfheim and saved the slaves?
Yuan Pu's eyes became solemn. He asked the young man in front of him, "Your Highness, this matter is of great importance. How did you know?"
Zhou Yuan stared at Xu Mu's figure and smiled faintly, "My luck is quite good."
"Of course, it's a guess."
...