Above the white clouds, Xu Mu opened his eyes.
He was dazed for a moment, then quickly came to his senses and stood up, looking down at the countless esper practitioners still meditating and undergoing illusory trials around him.
Was he the first one out?
Just as Xu Mu was wondering, another ray of divine light shone upon him, then lifted him to a higher level of white clouds. Above his head, a line of numbers slowly appeared.
"Seven hundred and forty-three. So, there were already so many people who passed the trial before me."
Xu Mu looked at the number above his head and the hundreds of people standing quietly in the new space, a complex emotion swirling within him.
Although it was his first time cultivating on his own and attempting to advance, it was already quite good to have reached the strength of the second stage in the illusory realm in such a short time. In the final decisive battle, he had even broken through to the upper stage of the second stage.
But this was still not enough. The people before him had clearly arrived long ago, and some were even sleeping. This proved that in terms of cultivation, he was far behind the other espers.
Xu Mu casually found a corner to sit down, then began to quietly adjust his breathing and cultivate, refining the newly comprehended esper abilities and combat techniques, striving to adjust his state to the best.
The thought he had now was simple: his strength was still not enough. He needed to work harder, and work twice as hard.
However, if someone knew that this was Xu Mu's first time cultivating, and that he had managed to rank in the top thousand in such a high-level trial, their jaws would likely drop to the ground. This was because espers with cultivation experience had an overwhelming advantage in the illusory realm.
If it were anyone else, it would be unlikely, even impossible, to achieve what Xu Mu had.
But unfortunately, they didn't know. Xu Mu himself didn't know what this meant. He only knew that he still had deficiencies and needed to cultivate diligently.
Time slowly flowed, day turned into night and then back into day, repeating in a cycle.
After an unknown period of time, another beam of sunlight shone through, piercing the darkness and worldly dust.
The first round of the Ten Thousand Races Alliance ended.
Above the white clouds, after days of adjustment and rest, Xu Mu's divine soul had recovered to its optimal state, and his control over the intent of the blade, as well as the control of the esper abilities within his body, had greatly improved.
"The first round of the Ten Thousand Races Alliance, the illusory realm trial has ended. All contestants who have not advanced to the second round, please leave the venue."
From the judge's seat, the thin Daoist priest from the White Cloud Monastery announced the results with authority. Immediately, a wave of wails swept through the venue. Countless dispirited esper geniuses stood up from the white clouds and stumbled outwards, occasionally glancing up at the sky.
That was where the participants who had advanced in the first round were. Their numbers were less than ten thousand, while the number of those eliminated was incalculable. If one had to compare, it was probably like the ants on the land of Shenzhou.
"A total of nine thousand and seventy-three people have advanced to the second round. You have all now arrived at the second round's trial grounds. I will now transmit the rules into the jade slip. Please read them carefully."
As the elder spoke, Xu Mu used his divine soul to connect with the jade slip, and the rules for the second round instantly appeared in his mind.
It turned out that the second round of the Ten Thousand Races Alliance was very simple and brutal: the espers who had advanced were required to fight one-on-one.
Those with higher rankings could arbitrarily choose someone with a lower ranking, but they could not be chosen consecutively within five hundred rounds.
The chosen person would have three opportunities to avoid battle. After exhausting these opportunities, they could no longer choose to avoid battle. If they lost, they would be directly eliminated. If they won, they would inherit the ranking of the other person.
Xu Mu's expression did not change after reading the rules. He slowly raised his head and used his divine soul to examine the ranking list from the first round.
Undoubtedly, the rules of this round favored cultivators who were ranked high, and the higher the rank, the better. This was because they could freely choose their opponents, and the latter could not refuse.
For example, Zuo Mingqiu, who was the first to exit the illusory realm, or the young sword saint Chen Changkong, Zhou Jie, and others, if they chose to fight someone with a lower ranking, then the latter could basically be considered prematurely eliminated. They had no chance of winning against those individuals.
"Since everyone knows the rules, let us begin with Zuo Mingqiu, who ranked first in the first round."
The Daoist priest finished speaking, and Zuo Mingqiu silently stood up. He turned to look around at everyone, his calm eyes containing powerful confidence.
Currently, he was first, so he had absolute confidence that he could win any match against any opponent, including the young sword saint.
"It's you."
Zuo Mingqiu said, casually pointing at someone in the crowd of lower-ranked individuals. Under the illumination of the colorful rainbow screen, a burly man was teleported along with Zuo Mingqiu to a dedicated combat space.
This space was still supported by clouds and was transparent all around, allowing everyone to clearly see what happened between the two.
"The match begins!"
With the judge's command, the second round of the competition officially commenced. Zuo Mingqiu and the man stood on the white clouds, facing each other, neither making a move first.
However, the reasons for their inaction were vastly different. Zuo Mingqiu believed he was invincible and that he should give the other party a chance to showcase their abilities, so as not to let the man lose without even launching an attack and suffer too much humiliation upon returning.
The young man who looked like a burly man, on the other hand, kept staring at Zuo Mingqiu, intimidated by the latter's imposing, mountain-like aura and the large number above his head, and dared not initiate an attack.
Thus, several tens of seconds passed.
Zuo Mingqiu raised his eyebrows in surprise and asked the man, "Aren't you going to attack?"
He meant well, but the man clearly misunderstood Zuo Mingqiu, thinking he was making fun of him. Thus, he gritted his teeth and roared angrily, "Don't think you can scare me just because you're first! I'm also the number one genius of the Tianshui Sect!"
The man roared loudly, instantly releasing an immense amount of water element esper abilities that filled the entire space. Countless giant-toothed sharks emerged from the raging water elements, numbering in the thousands.
The man himself rode on the head of the largest shark, summoned a hundred-zhang-high tidal wave, and ferociously charged towards Zuo Mingqiu along with the wave.
"It's finally starting!"
Seeing this, everyone felt a flicker of anticipation. Although no one believed the man would win, anyone who could rank in the top ten thousand in the Ten Thousand Races Alliance would surely not be a mediocre talent. It would not be so easy for Zuo Mingqiu to win, and at least some of his ultimate techniques learned from Tianshi Mountain would be revealed.
But the reality proved them all wrong.
Facing the monstrous tidal wave and the surging sharks, Zuo Mingqiu merely calmly pointed a finger. Instantly, heaven and earth changed color, and an extreme esper ability converged from the tip of Zuo Mingqiu's finger, forming an arc-shaped shockwave of terrifying power. The moment it was fired, it purified all the water elements.
The figure of the man was also engulfed in the blinding light, disappearing along with the countless torn sharks.
"He's dead?"
After retracting his attack, Zuo Mingqiu stood with his hands behind his back, his expression placid, making no further moves.
A cloud of mist rose from the arena, and the onlookers leaned forward to peer, their expressions filled with disbelief. No one had expected Zuo Mingqiu's strength to be so formidable. With just a casual point of his finger, he unleashed such a terrifying beam of light.
"Zuo Mingqiu cultivates the art of Shun Yi Dao, and he is also the direct disciple of the Mountain Master of Tianshi Mountain. There is nothing surprising about him instantly killing such an ant."
From another direction, Zhou Jie, the Earth Fiend of the Jialan clan, said with a calm expression. He looked at the arena with disdain, believing that with his own strength, if he were to face that man, he would also kill him in one blow. Zuo Mingqiu was a genius of equal renown to him, and achieving this was only natural.
Not only him, but many other espers with high rankings in the arena also thought the same way. They had seen the strength of the young man before them. Although they were all at the peak of the second stage, their control over elements, awakening of esper abilities, and destructive power were far too different. Furthermore, he had not comprehended the Will of the Great Dao, making him a rather weak individual.
The white clouds slowly dispersed, revealing the original appearance of the space. A blurry figure gradually appeared before everyone's eyes.
The figure was burly and tall; it was that young man.
Upon seeing this, the expressions in everyone's eyes were replaced by shock. Some even exclaimed aloud, claiming it was impossible.
After all, Zuo Mingqiu's single finger strike was enough to instantly kill the vast majority of people present. With the man's ranking, he absolutely could not withstand it.
And even if he had some means and miraculously survived the strike, how could he stand there completely unharmed?
No one could figure out what was happening, and the judge had not announced the result, so they could only wait here, waiting for Zuo Mingqiu to attack again, or for the man to counterattack.
However, what surprised everyone even more was that the man, standing unharmed among the white clouds, after a moment of silence, clasped his hands and bowed deeply to Zuo Mingqiu, respectfully saying:
"Your strength is immense, and your first place is well-deserved. Thank you, fellow Daoist Zuo, for sparing my life!"
After speaking, the man voluntarily left the combat space under the astonished gaze of the entire crowd, and Zuo Mingqiu was naturally declared the winner.
Seeing this, the judge announced:
"First round, Zuo Mingqiu wins!"
The crowd looked at each other, wanting to know what had happened, but no one could explain it. So they shouted, "What happened? Does anyone know!"
"It's an esper ability, but... it's another kind of esper ability."
As the crowd discussed noisily, Xu Mu, standing in the corner, had already discovered the key to the problem.
"The moment Zuo Mingqiu made his move, he also extended another finger to protect that man, allowing him to feel the power but remain unharmed."
"This level of control over esper abilities is truly terrifying."
Xu Mu pondered these thoughts and turned to look at Zuo Mingqiu.
And the latter, whether intentionally or unintentionally, slowly turned his head and looked back at Xu Mu.
At this moment, space froze.
...