Cultivation Kill

The reception plaza of the Dayuan Sect.

Today, the square wasn't as crowded as it used to be. There were only a few staff members busy setting up the arena, and only Shen Zige was the only contestant who came to the square.

"The arena competition starts in one hour," Shen Zige said, judging the time by looking at the sun in the sky.

A man dressed in a purple servant's robe walked towards Shen Zige.

"Why aren't you changing your clothes?" the man said sternly.

“I’m not here to work,” Shen Zige replied.

"So you're a contestant." The man in purple didn't seem embarrassed and simply walked away.

Two servant disciples carried a huge new notice board to the square. They placed the wooden notice board in the middle of the square, erected it, and unveiled the red cloth covering it.

Shen Zige went over to check.

The notice board reads:

The list of the top 100 who advanced from the preliminary selection.

First place: Shi Yuange.

Second place: Bing Wuji.

Third place: Wind Shadow Mist.

……

10th place: Di Zheng.

Eleventh place: Wu Xin.

12th place: Cheng Dazhuang.

……

100th place: Paolong Peach.

"I'm number one?"

It's not a good thing to stand out in the preliminary rounds; I should have thrown away some of my votes.

Standing in the square watching others busy themselves, Shen Zige felt a sense of detachment from the world.

Countless brilliant civilizations and nations were established through their hard work.

The competition started at Shenshi (3-5 PM), and the closer it got to Shenshi, the more people came to the square.

With an incense stick's time remaining before the start of the competition, Shi Yuan arrived at the plaza.

"Shen Zige, you're not going to come here early and waste time waiting, are you?" Shi Yuan teased.

“You’re wasting time on the road, and you’re wasting time waiting here,” Shen Zige said. “Since it’s all a waste of time, is being on the road any more noble than being in the square?”

Shi Yuan was unable to refute it for a moment.

Truth becomes clearer through debate.

Of course, the two of them talked, but neither of them took the other's words to heart; talking was just a waste of time.

I feel that doing anything other than cultivation and learning in this world is a waste of time.

It's already late afternoon.

A Core Formation cultivator flew into the air.

"The top eight ranked players, please go to arenas number one through eight. The others will choose their arenas in order of their ranking."

The first eight have no choice, and the later rankings seem to be better. However, the top eight in the preliminary rounds receive more spirit stones. It depends on the individual's choice.

Shi Yuan looked at Shen Zige's position and chose arena number five.

In less than fifteen minutes, all one hundred people had made their selections.

There were twelve or thirteen people standing on each of the eight arenas. Once the referee started, they would start a free-for-all to determine the winner.

"The arena battle begins now." After saying this, the Core Formation Realm senior who was flying in the air landed on the ground.

As soon as the words fell, several attack spells simultaneously struck Shen Zige's side.

Boom——Boom——

A series of explosions rang out, and Shen Zige was enveloped in magical dust, with flames swirling wildly.

Everyone else in the arena thought that Shen Zige, who ranked first in the preliminary rounds, posed the greatest threat, so they all made their moves.

When the dust settled, Shen Zige was nowhere to be seen.

"He was blown to bits, not even ashes were left?" someone asked.

"No, he's up there!" another person exclaimed, immediately conjuring a spell to attack from above.

"Shadow Clone!" Several Spirit Condensation contestants on the arena exclaimed. This was a very famous spell in the Kingdom of Wu, but very few people knew it.

The fireball that Shen Zige released exploded in the air like fireworks, and then fell like a meteor shower.

Before a contestant who had just condensed his spell could even cast it, he was struck by the rain of fire. His protective spiritual energy trembled, like a stone falling into a lake.

After being hit by the fire rain, the man was struck several more times, each time being knocked back a step. After six or seven times, he was knocked off the stage.

Hundreds of flames transformed into a rain of fire, none of them missing their mark, tracing beautiful arcs as they bombarded their opponent.

"These flames have eyes!" someone exclaimed as he chased after the fire rain.

"Incredible!" The spectators outside the arena were all incredulous.

The trajectory of each person's movement is calculated in advance in the air, and the landing point of the fire rain is predicted. That is an extremely difficult chaotic calculation. The movement direction of the dozen or so people below is controlled by their thoughts, which can be considered as chaotic random numbers.

Of course, no one in this backward place could perform chaotic calculations. They only knew that Shen Zige was very capable, but they couldn't understand it.

After the meteor shower ended, apart from Shen Zige, only one contestant remained in the arena. That person had been bombarded by the flames and had retreated to the edge of the arena.

Shen Zige casually swung his sword, guiding the sword's light like a crescent moon, directly crushing the opponent's golden shield. The remaining sword light struck the contestant, colliding with his protective spiritual energy and knocking him off the stage.

Since he reached seventy-two acupoints, any attack he makes can have a crushing effect on those of the same realm.

"Did this guy use a secret technique? The attack is so powerful." The spectators in the audience were discussing among themselves.

Those who can use secret techniques are the best among cultivators, either from established families or disciples of famous cultivators.

"However, most secret techniques can only be used once a day. He can't possibly use them all the time during the semi-finals and finals tomorrow, can he?"

Shen Zige stepped down from the arena to watch the matches in the other seven arenas.

His match ended the fastest.

The focus shifts to arena number five, where Shi Yuan is located: Shi Yuan is standing to the side with his arms crossed, watching others fight, with everyone attacking the fifth-ranked contestant.

Elsewhere, facing the siege of five people, Bing Wuji grabbed a magical shield and smashed it to break through, like a fierce lion entering a flock of sheep.

The man named Di Zheng was directing several competitors to attack together.

Yuan Yingwu, the former master of Shi Dazhu, was on the third arena. Shen Zige saw him pretend to be hit by a spell during the melee and fall off the arena.

"Why would this guy deliberately lose?" Shen Zige asked, puzzled. "Doesn't he want the Foundation Establishment Pill and the spiritual weapon?"

Shen Zige remembered that the top two winners received Foundation Establishment Pills and spiritual artifacts as rewards.

Out of boredom, Shi Yuan took out a bottle of wine and drank it while waiting for the others to finish their battles, intending to reap the benefits.

When there were only three people left in arena number five, the two fighting felt something was wrong. They were fighting desperately, but Shi Yuan was drinking and watching from the side!

"Attack Wu Xin together!" someone shouted, and the ice arrow spell changed direction, flying towards Shi Yuan.

His opponent reacted slowly and was unable to redirect the spell, continuing to attack him and knocking him off the stage.

Then Shi Yuan threw down the bottle, rushed to the last person left in the ring, and kicked the exhausted guy off the stage, easily becoming the winner of ring number five.

Soon, eight winners were determined.

Shen Zige's opponent in the quarterfinals is Bing Wuji, and her opponent in the semifinals is the winner between Di Zheng and Cheng Dazhuang.

"Let's set up a tent in the square tonight," Shi Yuan said. "That will save us twenty spirit stones."

The teleportation fee of the Great Yuan Sect is too expensive; ordinary disciples simply cannot afford it.

Shen Zige saw that some of the defeated players had already set up their tents in the distance.

"They don't have to compete tomorrow, so why are they still staying in the square?" Shen Zige said.

“I guess you didn’t go around to the back of the notice board. It says that after the awards ceremony, the top 100 contestants will receive entry to an ancient secret realm. The entrance to the secret realm will only be open for one day, and only disciples in the Spirit Condensation stage can enter,” Shi Yuan explained.