Chapter 373: The Spirit Cave Key Battle

The winners of each cultivation realm would receive generous rewards, while the rewards for the top three were especially extraordinary.

However, this time, a new rule had been added on top of the original rules. The first round, which had originally been a free battle, would now become a Spirit Cave Key Competition.

Before the first round began, every qualified participant would receive a Spirit Cave Key corresponding to their cultivation realm. These keys could be used to open the Spirit Cave Gates leading to Spirit Caves suitable for cultivation in the Sunfall Domain.

Once the free battle began, the participants would fight over these Spirit Cave Keys. Anyone who lost their Spirit Cave Key would immediately lose their qualification to continue participating.

The battle would continue until only one hundred participants remained in each cultivation realm. However, that was not the end. During the three days before the second round began, each of these one hundred remaining participants would have to defend their position ten times.

In other words, the one hundred survivors would have to accept ten challenges from participants who had been eliminated during the first round.

If they won, they could keep both their competition qualification and their Spirit Cave Key.

If they lost, both their Spirit Cave Key and competition qualification would belong to the victorious challenger.

Of course, the victorious challenger would then have to accept ten challenges of their own.

The second round followed the same rule. Losing a battle meant losing one’s Spirit Cave Key.

After the second round ended, the remaining participants would once again have to accept challenges from those who had lost during the second round.

The same conditions applied and this process would continue until only ten winners remained in each cultivation realm.

At that point, the competition would proceed to another round of battles. For the first randomly assigned matches hosted by the organizers, losing would no longer automatically result in the loss of one’s Spirit Cave Key.

However, after the ranking battles ended, the ten remaining winners from each of the four cultivation realms would still have to accept challenges from participants who had lost in the previous round.

In addition, they could challenge anyone ranked within the top ten of their own cultivation realm, and they could also be challenged by those ranked within the top ten.

Any participant who deliberately killed their opponent would be disqualified. Aside from that restriction, injuries of any severity were permitted.

In other words, this entire Grand Competition had essentially become an outright competition for Spirit Cave Keys. Whoever won a battle would obtain the opponent’s Spirit Cave Key. Whoever lost would surrender their Spirit Cave Key. This competition disregarded status entirely.

Whether someone was a disciple of a major sect or a rogue cultivator who had earned their qualification through the arena battles, every Spirit Cave Key they seized would belong to them.

Of course, the disciples of the sect did not have complete freedom over their spoils. The Spirit Cave Keys they obtained had to be divided according to a predetermined proportion, with part of the keys being handed over to their sect and the remainder kept for themselves.

With the rules announced, Sect Master Lu Wuchen ordered all qualified participants, including sect disciples, clan descendants, disciples of the League of Independent Cultivators, disciples from the Three Immortal Islands, and independent cultivators who had earned their places through the arena battles, to collect one Spirit Cave Key corresponding to their cultivation realm from the distribution area.

As a Spirit Transformation stage participant, Fu Young naturally had to make the trip as well.

About fifteen minutes later, all the Spirit Cave Keys had been distributed. Under Lu Wuchen’s arrangements, the participants were divided into four groups: Foundation Building, Golden Core, Nascent Soul, and Spirit Transformation.

They followed the various Holy City elders serving as chief judges toward their respective competition platforms. Perhaps the Nine Dragons Platform had been designed with such circumstances in mind from the beginning. From its position, all four competition platforms could be seen clearly.

With divine sense released, even the smallest details could be sensed.

Xiao Shou looked toward the four competition platforms. All four were currently identical in size, each covering an area of ten thousand square meters. The defensive barriers that was surrounded the platforms, making them appear extremely secure.

However, Xiao Shou remembered from the original novel that each competition platform was actually a spatial spirit treasure capable of changing its size at will.

At its smallest, it could shrink to ten square meters and at its largest, it could expand to one hundred thousand square meters.

The defensive formation was also rather special.

Once activated, participants inside could freely leave the platform, but outsiders who did not possess a judge’s token could not enter. Spells and other attacks from outside were also completely ineffective. This prevented outsiders from interfering with the fairness of the competition.

Just as Xiao Shou was curiously examining the four competition platforms, the four groups of participants and their supervising elders arrived at their respective platforms.

The supervising elders then activated the defensive barriers and once all the participants had taken their positions, the barriers closed completely.

Lu Wuchen immediately announced, "The first round officially begins!"

Young’er, do your best!

Xiao Shou’s heart tightened as he watched.

This first round, the massive free-for-all, was the most brutal.

The disciples from the major sects and clans who had experience participating in competitions would almost certainly form groups and work together to eliminate their competitors.

The disciples of the Eternal Prosperity Sect, on the other hand, were all newcomers. Could they really adapt to this kind of chaotic battle, where they might have to fight several opponents at once and where everyone was their enemy?

Although all the participants belonged to the Eternal Prosperity Sect, Xiao Shou naturally had different levels of concern for them.

In his heart, Fu Young was the most important. Therefore, when he began worrying about the disciples, the first person he focused on was his beloved disciple.