The Zhen Mo Continent Genius Selection was presided by the Great Evolution Sect Head Jiang Xiushan and the Heaven Seeking Palace Second Dean Feng Zhenqiu. On the other hand, Bei Suting remained in Yan City. Even if she got selected, she wasn't really interested.
Even though the Yan City Square was wide and spacious, with the ten new competition stages, a main judging altar and the crowds of people, the entire square was filled to the brim.
Xia Mu and Xu Chihuang were at the center of the main judging altar. They were here to see the talents of the Lost Continent, and at the same time, be the judges of the competition. Jiang Xiushan, Feng Zhenqiu and the other Lost Continent judges set on the left and right of the two.
"Begin!" Xia Mu nodded towards Jiang Xiushan and said simply. Jiang Xiushan stood up, clasped his fists towards Xia Mu and Xu Chihuang and talked to the center of the main altar. Even though Xia Mu viewed the Heaven Seeking Palace more highly, Jiang Xiushan did not seem to care much about it. But in actual fact, he was truly dissatisfied that the Heaven Seeking Palace was above the Great Evolution Sect, and he also harboured the same discontentment towards Xia Mu.
"Greetings dao friends and the cultivators of my Lost Continent. Today, we must truly thank the seniors from the Zhen Mo Continent. If not for their timely appearance, the Lost Continent might have already fallen to those alien cultivators. I believe that all dao friends are like me, we all know that our cultivation heritage in the Lost Continent is lacking. Fortunately, the Zhen Mo Continent has given us an opportunity; this time, they will accept 100 disciples to the Zhen Mo Continent. I believe that this is not a cause of great anticipation for our Lost Continent, but also of every cultivator here."
Jiang Xiushan’s words induced a round of hearty applause. Ostensibly, his final sentence was true.
"I really hope for everyone to have a chance to head towards the Zhen Mo Continent to pursue the greater dao. But unfortunately, we have limited placings and limited time. We will only select 100 fated cultivators. Our targets must at least be in the Transcending Mortality Stage and below the age of 50…"
As expected, the moment Jiang Xiushan announced the selection criteria, the Yan City Square buzzed with noise. Clearly, many people were unhappy with the criteria.
Jiang Xiushan raised his hand and gestured to the crowd, after everyone settled down, he continued, "Even though many might not have the qualifications to participate in the selection, it does not mean that there won't be an opportunity in the future. In the future, this selection will take place once every three years, together with our Five Elements Desolate Domain Pill Competition. Also, the future criteria will be more broad, and more would have the chance to cultivate in the Zhen Mo Continent. Now, Dean Feng will explain the rules."
After hearing Jiang Xiushan's words, that previous chaos gradually calmed down.
When he noticed the person walking on the stage was not Bei Suting but Feng Zhenqiu, Xia Mu furrowed his brows. However, he saw that Xu Chihuang didn't make any sort of indication, so he could only remain silent. It was true that he was a special envoy, but every Worldly Immortal King was a unique existence. Even though he was a special envoy, he still had to respect Defender Xu.
Feng Zhenqiu clasped his fists towards the cultivators in the square, and he immediately went to the point, "Because of the limitations in time, there will not be any registration for the selection. Anyone who fulfils the conditions can come up on the stage. We have selected ten arena champions; these ten are the top ten on the Hundred Sect Alliance Contribution Point Board…"
Feng Zhenqiu's words immediately incited applause from the crowd. No one had any disagreements with the Hundred Sect Alliance’s top 10 being the arena champions. These were people who earned that spot through their own abilities.
There were also many people who looked forward expectantly for Rogue Cultivator 2705. They wanted to know who was this rogue cultivator who occupied the first place on the rankings board.
Feng Zhenqiu pointed towards the ten stages and said, "May the ten heroes come up on stage. Anyone can challenge the stages. All who won three consecutive rounds will advance to the next round. These will be elimination rounds, losing any round will get you out of the selection. If no one challenges a stage in an incense's time, the champion will automatically make it to the next round."
Everyone silently expressed shock in their hearts; even though this competition method was fast, it was also very cruel. The moment they went up on stage, they couldn't lose. Losing a single battle would mean that they would lose the entire competition
By the time Feng Zhenqiu's voice descended, six cultivators had already gone up on stage. Feng Zhenqiu stared blankly towards the empty stages and asked, "Where are the other four?"
One of the judges stood up and said towards Feng Zhenqiu, "Rank 4: Gao Chi, Rank 7: Sha Moao, Rank 9: Sun Qianlie have died in the Yin Tomb Beach. There's still no news on Rank 1: Rogue Cultivator 2705…"
The judge's voice was not soft and almost everyone on the scene heard it. The originally heated Yan City Square toned down a little.
Feng Zhenqiu saw that Xia Mu also had an ugly expression on his face and he immediately said loudly, "Countless heroes of our Lost Continent have perished during our battle on Yin Tomb Beach. But we must not let their blood and deaths go to waste; we must continue to strive for greater heights. That's how we can continue to take their place and protect our homeland."
"Yes, protect our homeland." A heated cheer reverberated throughout the square. In addition to the anticipation towards the competition, there now an additional emotion of patriotism.
Feng Zhenqiu nodded and continued, "May the 11th to 14th ranked cultivators come and be our arena champions…"
Only two people went up this time. It was only until Feng Zhenqiu called out the 18th place that the ten arena champions were finally gathered.
This not only caused Feng Zhenqiu's expression to turn heavy, but the entire mood of all the Lost Continent cultivators went down. During this war, how many geniuses and heroes perished?
"Let the challenges begin!" After the ten arena champions gathered on stage, Feng Zhenqiu announced the start of the competition and retreated.
Xia Mu, who was looking forward to the start of the competition, could not help but shake his head. Besides Rank 2 and Rank 3 who were rather capable, none of the other champions really caught his eye.
Because of the war with the alien cultivators, any cultivator with a bit of power in the Heaven Seeking Palace had left the sect. Even in broad daylight, few people could be seen.
When it came to night, the sight of another person became rarer.
At this moment, besides the faint moonlight on the Heaven Seeking Staircase, only Mo Wuji was standing there. Beside the Heaven Seeking Staircase, was a huge erected Heaven Seeking Board. On the board, the number one was still Gou Zihan.
Mo Wuji smiled; he was not in the Transcending Mortality Stage, it could be considered the best stage to challenge the Heaven Seeking Staircase. If he got to the next realm, the pressure on the Heaven Seeking Staircase would increase by several fold.
Mo Wuji looked upwards at the Heaven Seeking Staircase; it's top was unfathomably high and it couldn't even be seen. After organising his emotions, Mo Wuji climbed up towards the Heaven Seeking Staircase's first step.
A mild pressure could be felt. Without feeling even a slight influence, Mo Wuji climbed up the second step. When he was back in the Channel Opening Stage, he already didn't meet with any problems climbing up the second step. Much less now, when he was in the Extreme Mortal Stage [1] with 101 open meridians.
In a few breaths, Mo Wuji had already charged past the 20th step and arrived on the 21th step. At this moment, the pressure and expulsion had risen exponentially, but still did not mean much to Mo Wuji.
In half an incense's time, Mo Wuji had gotten past the 53rd step and climbed onto the 54th step.
Mo Wuji looked at the pure white stone board by the side of the staircase; he was clear that if he wrote his name on this step, his name would soon appear on the Heaven Seeking Board's 50th place. Because previously when he saw Cen Shuyin's name on the board, she was at 50th place and she had also climbed to the 54th step. Mo Wuji was sure that Cen Shuyin did not achieve that result in half an incense's time.
Even though the pressure wasn't small, it still wasn't much for Mo Wuji. 55th, 56th…
As he went up, the pressure and the pulling force became increasingly stronger. When he reached the 67th step, it wasn't merely a pressure anymore; there seemed to be revolutionary force which wanted to sweep Mo Wuji up and throw him down.
68th step, 69th step...
In two hours, Mo Wuji stopped at the 82nd step. The crazy pressure and revolutionary force came surging over, causing Mo Wuji's legs to tremble slightly. He could not help but feel a little disappointed. He originally wanted to reach the 108th step, but his legs had already started shaking at the 82nd step. He might be able to climb another 10 steps, but that would only put him at number 1 on the Heaven Seeking Board; it was almost impossible for him to reach the 108th step.
Whether it was impossible or not, he would have to give it a try. Number 1 on the Heaven Seeking Board was not what he wanted; this name was completely useless to him.
83rd step, 84th step…
At this moment, Mo Wuji ignited his elemental energy, causing the surrounding space to tremble strongly. The elemental energy in his 101 meridians began to flow, seemingly forming an elemental energy circulation ring.
93rd step, 94th step…
"Pui!" As Mo Wuji climbed the 95th step, he coughed out a mouthful of fresh blood. That strong force of expulsion almost hurled him out of the Heaven Seeking Staircase.
Still more than 10 steps, Mo Wuji wiped the traces of blood off the side of his lips, lifting his head to see the indiscernible Heaven Seeking Staircase peak.
The pressure and the revolutionary force surged strongly; Mo Wuji's bones started to crack with "kacha" sounds. The tenacity in Mo Wuji’s heart also slowly got squeezed out.
From the start till now, Mo Wuji had never taken the initiative to retreat, unless he truly could not stand the pressure. Now, even though his legs were trembling, and his bones and joints were cracking, he still pushed on.
96th step, 97th step…
Mo Wuji threw himself up to the 98th step. He knew, if he was willing, he could write his name down and leave. From then on, the number one wouldn't be Gou Zihan but him - Mo Wuji.
Inhaling a deep breath of air, Mo Wuji did not choose to give up; he felt that he was different from everybody else. When he was on the 98th step and was about to be swept out of the staircase, the 101 meridians in his body formed into a loop by themselves; an additional storage of elemental energy began supporting him.
Ever since he opened his 100th and 101th meridians, these two elemental storage channels, this was Mo Wuji's first time experiencing their effects. Normally, these two meridians would only help increase his pace of absorbing spiritual energy. But when his elemental energy was close to fully depleted, these two meridians finally showed their true abilities.
Looking up again towards the indiscernible peak, Mo Wuji clenched his fists tightly. Perhaps, with these two open meridians, he might receive a pleasant surprise.
[1] The Extreme Mortal Stage and Extreme XXX Stages are supplementary to the three stages of a realm. If a person reaches Level 10 in all three stages in a realm, he would become enter the Extreme [Realm] Stage. But as long as he was still in that realm, he would also be Level 10 of that realm's last stage (except Mo Wuji who's special and is at Level 12).