Chapter 247 - 246: End of the Preliminary Round
MERIT RANKINGS (FINAL PRELIMINARY ROUND)
1. Xuan Mingzhe (Xuan Province) - 10100 Merits
2. Lin Yuan (Zhao Province) - 9610 Merits
3. Chu Kuang (Chu Province) - 7000 Merits
4. Jiang Wan (Jiang Province) - 6830 Merits
5. Ye Ao (Ye Province) - 6800 Merits
6. Feng Yao (Feng Province) - 6700 Merits
7. Ling Chuan (Ling Province) - 5660 Merits
8. Ye Chen (Ye Province) - 1125 Merits
9. Jiang Li (Jiang Province) - 1070 Merits
10. Chu Ming (Chu Province) - 1000 Merits
The colossal jade monolith bathed the Central Continent’s Grand Court in a deep light. The numbers were permanently locked into the stone, an absolute testament to the devastation that had just occurred within the Nine-Tiered Sky.
The sheer disparity was terrifying. The top seven slots were occupied by monsters who had shattered the limits of the mortal dust. But the eighth, ninth, and tenth slots were occupied by elite Upper Division cultivators who had only managed to secure exactly one thousand merits, having barely scraped past the first floor before being violently expelled by the artifact. The chasm between the true experts and the rest of the world had never been more glaringly obvious.
Yet, the tens of thousands of cultivators staring at the monolith were not focused on the bottom of the list. Every single eye, every sweeping sweep of divine sense, was locked entirely onto the man standing calmly upon the star-iron teleportation plates.
Lin Yuan.
He stood with his hands clasped loosely behind his back. His robes were slightly frayed at the edges, a faint testament to the violence he had just unleashed on the ninth floor, but his physical posture remained flawlessly serene.
The amphitheater was completely devoid of the mocking laughter that had greeted him days prior. There were no jeers from the Chu Province. There were no arrogant dismissals from the Ye Province. There was only a suffocating terror.
High above the arena, seated upon their primordial thrones, the Five Emperors projected their unfathomable Void Refinement auras downward, their gazes practically burning holes into the young expert from the Zhao Province.
"The Three Rebirths," Emperor Beiming rumbled, his Black Tortoise aura swirling with freezing, abyssal contemplation. The Northern Emperor leaned forward, his heavy hands resting on his knees. "We felt the ripple of the Origin Dao. We felt the cycle of reincarnation physically bleed through the spatial walls of the artifact. He possesses the absolute path towards comprehending life and death."
Emperor Nanheng, the Vermilion Bird, slowly lowered her shimmering silk fan. Her fiery beauty was marred by a look of profound awe. "He is at the Early Stage of Spirit Severing. To touch an Origin Dao spell at that realm... his comprehension defys the Heavens."
Emperor Xiyan, the brash Warlord of the West, let out a booming laugh that rattled the very bedrock of Sky Jade City. He pointed a massive, armored finger down at Lin Yuan. "Look at him! Look at the arrogance in his stance! He knows exactly what he just did! He walked into the Central Continent’s most sacred crucible, slapped their Peerless Geniuses across the face, and walked out without even panting! Oh, Tianxu, your meticulously manicured garden has finally sprouted a weed you cannot pull!"
Emperor Tianxu did not react to the Western Emperor’s mocking tone. The Qilin Emperor sat perfectly still, his eyes locked onto Lin Yuan. The serene indifference he usually projected was gone, replaced by a sharp smile.
The fated one, Emperor Tianxu mused internally. I sensed his unyielding spine months ago when he was tempering his mortal flesh. But to possess the Dao of Three Rebirths? The Great Dao gives rise to one, two, three, and three gives rise to all myriad things. He does not just possess a weapon; he possesses the seed of a new universe within his spiritual sea.
Emperor Tianxu slowly raised his hand, his Qilin aura flaring to establish absolute order over the murmuring masses below.
"The preliminary round has officially concluded!" Emperor Tianxu’s voice resonated through the spiritual seas of every living entity present.
From the hovering central dais, Chief Adjudicator Xuanji stepped forward. The Peak Soul Transformation elder looked visibly shaken, the lingering resonance of the Three Rebirths aura still pressing against his own ancient foundation. He looked down at Lin Yuan, his previous disdain entirely eradicated, replaced by a cautious, heavy respect.
"The Dao Court acknowledges the results of the Nine-Tiered Sky," Elder Xuanji boomed, his voice magically amplified. "The Merit Rankings are absolute. And as per the stipulations, the nominee Lin Yuan of the Zhao Province has secured the second position overall."
Elder Xuanji paused, his gaze sweeping over the furious faces of the Chu and Ye delegations.
"Therefore," the Adjudicator declared, "Lin Yuan has successfully fulfilled the conditions of his gamble. He has maintained a position within the Top Five of the Upper Division participants. The Zhao Province keeps its Ascension Clause! Lin Yuan shall formally participate as a General among the Upper Division cultivators in the main tournament!"
𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚
A massive, deafening cheer erupted from the eastern terraces. The Lower Division provinces, emboldened by the sheer impossibility of what they had just witnessed, roared in vindicated triumph.
Elder Xuanji raised his hand, silencing the arena once more to outline the coming tournament.
"The structure of the main tournament shall follow the round-robin combat doctrine," Elder Xuanji explained, his voice turning lethally cold. "The Participating General from each province shall face the Participating Generals of the other provinces within their respective divisions. Furthermore, the Provincial Lords shall face the other Provincial Lords in their own dedicated bracket. The final standing of a province is determined by the combined merit accumulated by both the Lord and the General."
The Adjudicator unrolled a massive scroll of golden silk, the runes upon it glowing brightly.
"The merit distribution for the main tournament is absolute," Elder Xuanji announced. "Any fight won within the Upper Division bracket shall be awarded exactly three hundred and fifty merits (350). Any fight won within the Lower Division bracket shall be awarded one hundred and eighty merits (180). There are six provinces in the Upper Division, and nine in the Lower Division. Each cultivator will face every other cultivator within their bracket exactly once."
A ripple of frantic calculation swept through the crowds. The math was brutally clear. Because the Upper Division victories yielded nearly double the merit points of the Lower Division, the Upper Division provinces inherently controlled the top of the overall tournament leaderboard.
"However," Elder Xuanji continued, his eyes locking back onto Lin Yuan. "Because the Zhao Province invoked and successfully maintained the Ascension Clause, their General competes in the Upper Division bracket. This grants the Zhao Province the unprecedented opportunity to harvest the higher, three-hundred-and-fifty merit. For the first time in the history of the Peerless God Tournament, a Lower Division province possesses a true chance to win the entire gathering!"
The implications were staggering. If Lin Yuan and Lord Zhao swept their respective brackets, the Zhao Province may actually win the tournament.
"The main tournament shall commence exactly two days from now," Elder Xuanji concluded, rolling the golden silk scroll. "Rest your foundations. Mend your meridians. The true bloodletting is upon us. The Dao Court shall now announce the opening brackets for the General’s division!"
The massive jade monolith shifted. The Merit Rankings dissolved into golden mist, replaced by a sprawling, interconnected web of combat matchups.
Lin Yuan’s deep purple eyes scanned the board, effortlessly locating his own name in the first round of the Upper Division bracket.
Match 1: Lin Yuan (Zhao Province) vs. Jiang Wan (Jiang Province)
Across the sprawling expanse of the Grand Court, a profound, chilling silence fell over the Wan Jian Sword Sect pavilion of the Jiang Province.
Jiang Wan, the peerless sword genius who had kept his eyes firmly closed since the moment he arrived in Sky Jade City, stood perfectly still. He slowly turned his head, facing the exact coordinates where Lin Yuan stood upon the teleportation plates.
Before the crowd could even begin to process the magnitude of the matchup, the physical space immediately surrounding Lin Yuan was breached by two frantic, familiar auras.
"Brother Lin! Brother Lin!"
Fu Lang, the fatty cultivator, squeezed his way to the front of the spectator barrier. He was sweating profusely, his tight emerald robes clinging to his generous frame, but his face was split into an ecstatic grin. He completely ignored the deadly glares of the Central Continent elites around him.
"You actually did it!" Fu Lang yelled, waving his arms wildly. "You broke the Heavens! Nine thousand six hundred merits! I told my sect elders I was sworn brothers with an expert, and they called me a liar! They are practically weeping in the pavilion right now! You are going to shatter the main bracket!"
Lin Yuan looked at the overly enthusiastic fatty, a smile forming on his face. "Maintain your focus, Fu Lang. The Lower Division bracket will be a desperate scramble. Do not let your guard down simply because the preliminary rounds are over."
"I have my defensive arrays polished and ready to run!" Fu Lang laughed shamelessly. "May your sword be sharp, Brother Lin!"
As Fu Lang scurried back to his delegation, a second figure approached the barrier.
Jin Rou of the Golden Diting Province stood tall, his traditional golden-yellow robes immaculate. The horrific wounds he had suffered from the corpse beetles were entirely healed, but the profound, life-altering gratitude in his eyes remained permanently etched into his soul.