Chapter 454 - 436: Taking the Top Spot

Chapter 454: Chapter 436: Taking the Top Spot

An automated voice rang out for the two thousand contestants.

In an instant, the numerous Insect Race Modified Martial Artists all attacked at once.

It was impossible to see just how many there were.

"Kill!"

The contestants roared, brandishing their Weapons as powerful auras erupted from their bodies.

One of them charged toward the nearest black-skinned Insect Race Modified Martial Artist.

This was a lean, powerful contestant from Tianzhu Country.

He brandished a Battle Saber and grinned.

"Let’s see what you Modified Martial Artists are made of!"

WHOOSH!!

The sharp Battle Saber in his hand suddenly chopped down, Tearing through the air and kicking up gusts of wind.

ROAR~

The Modified Martial Artist roared. It had a burly frame and fiercely swung the Giant Axe in its hands.

BANG!!

Their Weapons clashed in mid-air with an explosive sound.

CRACK!!

The Tianzhu Country contestant’s expression changed drastically. He felt his bones shatter as his entire body was sent flying like a kite with a broken string.

’How can they be this strong?!’

He was terrified. It felt as if he had crashed into an armored vehicle; the intense impact made parts of his body go numb, and he instantly fell apart.

He was a Martial Artist who had just broken through to the Fifth Realm; his strength was by no means weak.

And yet he couldn’t even defeat an Ordinary Insect Race Modified Martial Artist.

’Just how powerful are they?’

His body dissipated in mid-air, and he was teleported back to the spectator stands, officially eliminated.

Dozens of contestants were killed by the Insect Race Modified Martial Artists the moment the competition began.

"How are they so strong?"

"What is this speed? It’s too fast! I couldn’t even see how he attacked."

"Their power is overwhelming. I was killed in a single blow."

"Why is their defense so high? It felt like striking solid armor."

The formidable strength of the Modified Martial Artists shocked not only the contestants but the audience as well.

Those who had advanced to the main competition were the absolute Top Level among twenty million contestants.

They were all geniuses of the Fifth Realm; all the Fourth Realm Martial Artists had already been eliminated.

This included the sophomore geniuses from Xia Country, most of whom were Fourth Realm Martial Artists.

Having not yet broken through to the Fifth Realm, they were all eliminated during the siege of the Calamity Beasts.

Perhaps they would only have a chance to enter the main competition in next year’s Global Martial Arts Tournament.

CLANG! CLANG!!

Jiangtao, with a grim expression, swung his Battle Saber, clashing with a black-skinned Modified Martial Artist and sending sparks flying.

THUD! THUD!!

He forced his opponent back, but he also retreated several steps himself.

’So strong!’

Jiangtao’s arms were numb, and he felt a sense of dread.

’This guy’s defense is insane! He absorbed all of my Power.’

Although he was only a Mid-stage of the Fifth Realm Martial Artist, nourished by the Mysterious Gemstone, he now possessed what could be called Innate Divine Strength.

Even Huo Wanyang’s current strength couldn’t compare to his.

But he could feel that his opponent possessed a terrifyingly high defense.

It was at least at the level of the Peak of the Fifth Realm.

It would be incredibly difficult for an Ordinary genius to defeat it.

’With my strength, killing him wouldn’t be a problem, but it would take too much time.’

At this thought, brown patterns bloomed across his body. Countless specks of golden sand materialized out of thin air, covering him and forming a suit of armor.

He felt Power surging endlessly from within him.

SWOOSH~

He brandished his Battle Saber and charged forward like a Ninth-Level Calamity Beast, a Mountain-moving Ape, moving with the speed of a Meteor.

A terrifying power erupted from him. The black-skinned Modified Martial Artist likewise swung its War Axe to meet him.

The two of them collided violently.

BOOM!!

In that instant, Jiangtao felt a heavy, dense power reinforcing his own.

It made his strength skyrocket, and the veins on his arms bulged.

As the air exploded and vibrated, a terrifyingly immense force was unleashed from his body.

Special Ability [Heavy Earth] activated!

BANG!!

Amidst the violent collision, the air trembled, and the Modified Martial Artist was sent flying like a kite with a broken string.

It turned into Void and dissipated in mid-air.

Jiangtao stood his ground, gripping his Battle Saber, his expression excited.

’This is the power of [Heavy Earth]!’

He felt his strength had increased tremendously; raw power alone had been enough to shatter the Modified Martial Artist’s bones.

A direct one-hit kill.

Thinking this, he charged toward another Modified Martial Artist, his Battle Saber swinging out fiercely.

BAM!

With one swing of his saber, he sent it flying. He rampaged through the field; not a single Modified Martial Artist could withstand his attacks.

At the same time, his Points were rising.

"It’s an Awakened genius!"

The surrounding contestants looked on with envy.

With the help of their Special Abilities, their Combat Power soared, and they had no fear of the Insect Race Modified Martial Artists.

Meanwhile, some other geniuses were also displaying Top Level strength.

While some couldn’t defeat the Modified Martial Artists, there were naturally geniuses who could.

This was especially true for the Awakened geniuses, whose Combat Power was even greater.

For geniuses who Awakened in the Fifth Realm, killing Modified Martial Artists was as easy as slaughtering chickens.

On the large screen projected over the arena, the top one thousand names were displayed.

However, there were only a hundred or so names on it, as they were the only ones who had successfully killed a Modified Martial Artist.

In particular, for a few dozen of them, the Points next to their names were increasing at a visible rate.

Among them were a few people Lin Qi knew.

[15th Place: Miyamoto Genichiro, Points: 10]

...

This SS-level genius from Japan had already reached the Late Stage of the Fifth Realm, and with his Special Ability, [Gale], the Modified Martial Artists were no match for him. He had killed 10 in a row.

The Modified Martial Artists in the arena would respawn after being killed.

There was no need to worry about running out of Points to earn.

minutes later, the first round ended, because out of the two thousand Martial Artists, only 500 remained.

According to the rules, the match would end when only 500 people were left.

Jiangtao was teleported back to the spectator stands, a wide, excited grin on his face.

He also saw his ranking.

[13th Place: Jiangtao (Xia Country), Points: 40]

And ahead of him was another familiar name.

[12th Place: Miyamoto Genichiro, Points: 42]

...

"Brother Qi, those Modified Martial Artists are really something else!"

Jiangtao said with a wry smile, "Even with my Special Ability, I only managed to kill 40 in 25 minutes."

"And even that completely drained my stamina. If their Martial Arts were any better, I’d have killed even fewer."

Wan Ming spoke up. "Jiangtao, you’re already incredible, you know."

"The ones ranked ahead of you are all Top Level geniuses from various countries, third and fourth years."

"Plus, you’ve surpassed many of the geniuses from our sophomore year."

The others looked at Jiangtao with amazement.

In just over two months, Jiangtao had improved by leaps and bounds. Among the sophomores, he was now second only to the few SS-level geniuses like Pei Jiu and Yu Zhuoran.

Give him a few more months, and he might even be able to surpass the two SS-level geniuses, Li Hanjiang and Yu Zhuoran.

[Now calling the contestants for the second round!]

At the same time, the automated voice sounded in Lin Qi’s ears.

His entire body was enveloped in a crimson light and descended into the arena.

Along with him were 1,999 other contestants.

[Countdown: ...3, 2, 1]

[The second round of the main competition now begins!]

...

After the 30-second Countdown ended, Lin Qi set foot on the concrete pavement, holding his greatspear in one hand.

The air was thick with the smell of gunpowder and blood.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!!

One by one, Modified Martial Artists materialized out of thin air, their skin appearing in different colors.

Green meant super speed, Gold represented super strength, and black indicated super defense.

Dozens of Modified Martial Artists appeared in a dense crowd before him.

ROAR~

Just three meters away from him was a green-skinned Modified Martial Artist.

The moment the match began, its eyes locked onto Lin Qi.

It transformed into a streak of green light, brandishing the Longsword in its hand as it lunged at Lin Qi.

Its speed was like Lightning, even surpassing the minimum speed of the Sixth Realm.

This was super speed—a power that far exceeded its Realm.

"Too slow!"

Lin Qi let out a disdainful smile. As the Longsword, carrying a gust of wind, stabbed toward his neck, he moved in an instant, swinging the Black Great Spear in his hand.

PFFT~

The tip of the spear trembled, tracing a perfect silver arc through the air and instantly piercing the Modified Martial Artist’s neck.

A second later, the Modified Martial Artist turned to Void in mid-air.

Points +1

On the Points Chart, Lin Qi’s name appeared in 800th place.

ROAR~

At that very moment, another muscular, Golden Skin Modified Martial Artist pounced.

PFFT~

But in Lin Qi’s eyes, the Modified Martial Artist’s movements slowed to a crawl.

Even the Modified Martial Artists with super speed were no different.

He was now in the Late-stage of the Sixth Realm. Given his Top Level Talent, his speed had already surpassed the minimum speed of a Seventh Realm Martial Artist.

Dealing with a Modified Martial Artist at the Peak of the Fifth Realm was a piece of cake.

This time, the Golden Skin Modified Martial Artist brandished a Battle Saber, cleaving through the air as it chopped down toward his head.

SWOOSH~

Lin Qi stomped his right foot hard on the ground. The concrete shattered, and spiderweb cracks spread out.

He shot out like a black bolt of Lightning. The Black Great Spear in his hand trembled as Power flowed out like a Spiritual Snake, pouring into its sharp tip.

WHOOSH!

The Flow of Power at the spear’s tip pierced the air and ran through the Modified Martial Artist’s throat.

Points +1

PFFT~ PFFT~

As the match continued, he began his slaughter.

One by one, the Modified Martial Artists fell to his spear. His strikes were as fast as Lightning, and he needed neither the Power of Realm nor any Special Ability.

He could kill the Modified Martial Artists with ease.

While others were still struggling against the Modified Martial Artists, Lin Qi had already killed dozens of them in a frenzy.

His Points skyrocketed: Points +1, Points +1, Points +1, Points +1...

On the Points Chart, his rank was also climbing crazily.

He shot up from 800th place, to 700th, 600th, 500th, 400th, 300th...

In just ten minutes, he had already broken into the top ten, quickly surpassing Jiangtao and Miyamoto Genichiro.

At the 12-minute mark, Lin Qi officially took the top spot.

[First Place: Lin Qi (Xia Country), Points: 100]

Lin Qi’s meteoric rise quickly captured the attention of a large portion of the audience.

"Who is this Lin Qi?"

...