Chapter 449 - 431: Breakthrough and Preliminaries

Chapter 449: Chapter 431: Breakthrough and Preliminaries

After Dean Liu briefly explained the rules for the preliminaries, he dismissed the meeting and left.

A group of people left the classroom one after another, starting to chat idly as they walked.

The upcoming Global Martial Arts Tournament would also be a test of their recent cultivation results.

Wan Ming spoke slowly:

"As sophomores, we’re the youngest group this time. The preliminaries won’t be that hard for us."

"The main tournament is the hard part!"

"Based on the number of Awakened geniuses from the Global Freshman Tournament each year, there are about 200."

"Across three grade levels, that’s nearly 600 people."

"On top of that, there are some Unawakened S-class geniuses among the seniors, and their strength shouldn’t be underestimated."

"It won’t be easy to make it into the top 600!"

"Of course, that doesn’t include you two, Brother Yu and Brother Qi!"

Everyone smiled at Wan Ming’s words.

However, they could clearly feel the pressure. It was basically impossible for them to get a good ranking this time; they were just there to fill the numbers.

By the time they were seniors, they would all be at the Sixth Realm and could compete for better rankings.

They looked at Chu Yu and Lin Qi. They were all the same age, yet those two could already challenge for the top 64, maybe even the top 32.

There’s a saying: the gap between people can be greater than the gap between a person and a dog.

...

Meanwhile, all the major Martial Arts Universities across the country were holding online meetings for their sophomores, juniors, and seniors.

Many Martial Artists who were interning on battlefields also had to attend.

They had to participate as well, and because they had been on the battlefield, their Combat Power had increased.

"The first round of the preliminaries starts tomorrow. You don’t need to think about anything else."

"Your only goal is to pass the first round of the preliminaries and be one of the 200,000 who advance."

"Because even in the preliminaries, you’ll get a reward just for advancing."

"And starting this year, the rewards have been increased significantly."

"The prize money for these rewards is provided by the 80 participating countries, and it’s richer than you can possibly imagine."

Words like these were heard in all the major universities.

It instantly fired up the students from every university, especially the seniors.

They were the oldest and the strongest; they had the best chance of advancing.

...

「Martial Arts Calendar Year 2048, May 1st」

Day one of the Global Martial Arts Tournament, first round of the preliminaries.

「Star Residence, Villa 36」

Inside the Martial Arts Room, Lin Qi, dressed in a black Martial Arts Uniform, sat cross-legged with his eyes tightly shut, his body enveloped in a golden light.

Vast amounts of Source Energy Particles from the air entered his body.

The moment the Source Energy Particles entered his body, they were instantly devoured.

Within Lin Qi’s Perception, his Spiritual Power delved deep into his body, swiftly piercing through the forged Slaughter Tiger Bone and entering his marrow.

The red and yellow marrow flowed rapidly, already appearing clear.

Most of the large chunks of impurities and sediment had already been metabolized and expelled from his body.

Only tiny specks of impurities remained, which were much harder to flush out. They were like years of stubborn grime, a festering sore attached to the bone.

They were difficult to wash away through Qi Blood Refinement.

Lin Qi could understand why some Martial Artists only ever achieved Clear Marrow in the end.

’The rest is just too difficult to remove.’

The impurity content in his marrow was now only 5%.

But to reach Purified Marrow, the realm of Refining Marrow Like Frost, he had to get it down to at least 1%.

As for the higher realm, that would mean completely removing all impurities, or rather, suppressing them to a level of 0.001%.

This would allow the marrow to function without any obstruction, activating its potential to the maximum.

It would let the body’s Qi Blood drive its transformation, drastically improving his physical constitution and allowing him to break through to the Seventh Realm Blood Exchange!

「Half an hour later」

"BOOM!!"

Lin Qi’s eyes snapped open. A golden light erupted from his body, and his aura spread out, creating a strong wind that rippled through the air like water.

He slowly rose to his feet, feeling the "weight" of his marrow.

But it felt solid, substantial, and power surged forth from within it.

He could feel that he had broken through.

[You have completed a session of Source Energy Cultivation. Your body has undergone a transformation, and you have successfully broken through to the late-stage of the Sixth Realm. Qi and Blood Value +12]

[Template Fusion Degree +0.1%, Special Ability awakening 99%]

[Qi and Blood Value: 2990→3002]

[Template: True Monarch Erlang Yang Jian]

[Fusion Degree: 29.8%→29.9%]

...

Lin Qi let out a breath and clenched his fist. Power gathered within it, as if it could punch through anything.

In just a few months, he had successfully broken through to the late-stage of the Sixth Realm.

The gap between him and a Peak of the Sixth Realm Martial Artist like Shen Heng was now very small.

This also gave him more confidence that he could take the championship.

Before, there were four people ranked above him: Shen Heng, Zhang Tianyang, Meng Yuxuan, and Lei Frost.

At their level, there were probably ten or twenty such people in the entire world.

’They are my main rivals.’

’Of course, they aren’t the main problem. The scariest possibility is the appearance of a Seventh Realm SSS-level genius.’

If they have great Talent and are also seniors, they’re eligible to participate in the Global Martial Arts Tournament.

A Seventh Realm Martial Artist is a qualitative leap in power.

It’s extremely difficult for a Sixth Realm Martial Artist to defeat a Seventh Realm genius by Crossing Realms, let alone an SSS-level one.

His gaze fell upon his Template Fusion Degree.

’My hope is the new Special Ability. Once it awakens and my power skyrockets, the championship will be in the bag!’

After a moment of thought, he turned and entered the white Virtual Cabin.

The helmet’s metal plates pressed snugly against his head.

"BUZZZ!!"

In the next instant, his consciousness shuttled through Space-Time. When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived in a personal space of complete void.

[Student Lin Qi, welcome to the Red Realm!]

[Enter the Global Martial Arts Tournament venue? Yes/No]

Lin Qi looked at the message that popped up in front of him and clicked confirm.

"BUZZ!"

The next moment, his personal space twisted into a multicolored blur.

Time seemed to pause as an invisible hand transported him to another space.

"WHOOSH!!"

In an instant, his surroundings opened up. Space resumed its normal flow, and he found himself in an extremely vast area.

A chaotic din filled his ears.

In his Perception, he could sense dense crowds all around him.

He glanced around and found himself standing on a wide plaza. Behind him was a building he knew very well.

It was the Imperial Capital’s Tian’an Gate, the most representative building of their Xia Country. Behind it was the Forbidden City.

The magnificent architecture exuded an overwhelming sense of solemnity.

Beyond that was an endless sea of people, all gathered before the grand structure.

"Brother Qi!"

Jiangtao had also logged on. He was surrounded by familiar faces: Wan Ming, Pei Jiu, Yu Zhuoran, and Chu Yu.

Also present were the others from the original Azure Sky Sixth Institute.

"Everyone’s here!"

They were wearing the red and white uniforms of Azure Sky Martial Arts Academy, surrounded by students from their own school.

In the distance were the blue uniforms of Nether Sea Martial Academy and the black uniforms of Shanyu Martial Arts University.

There were also students from other Martial Arts Universities. It was no exaggeration to say it was a sea of people.

He could see clearly now. Everyone who could log on was a sophomore, junior, or senior participating in the Global Martial Arts Tournament.

...