Chapter 254: Peaceful Compassion

"Got it, thank you Daoist Friend Fu Guang for informing me."

Lin Chuan took half of Floating Light Daoist's words to heart and ignored the other half.

Some matters, Floating Light Daoist considered too complicated, and he thought they were unnecessary.

"Then shall this humble Daoist discuss the competition format with Daoist Friend Lin again?"

"Please speak." Lin Chuan clasped his fists.

"Each edition of the Genius Battle has a different competition format; this edition's preliminaries use the Cage Mixed Battle."

Saying so, Floating Light Daoist pointed to the highest point of Yun Tai, "Do you see that sphere?"

Lin Chuan blinked, "What is that?"

"An Immortal Weapon of space, the Sphere of All Beings."

Floating Light Daoist sighed, "It was left by a great immortal from the ancient era, and now it is jointly overseen by the eleven great Super Powers."

"Including Yun Tai Kong Jian, all are constructed from the Sphere of All Beings."

"The so‑called Cage Mixed Battle means the Sphere of All Beings creates individual cage spaces, randomly drawing some contestants into them."

"Only the final victor of the cage can advance to the second round."

"Some unlucky ones have decent talent and might reach the top hundred, but if they encounter a Super Heavenly Pride in the cage battle, elimination is the only outcome."

"However, the Sphere of All Beings is highly sentient and will not place Super Power seeds together in a single cage space."

Listening to Floating Light Daoist's introduction, Lin Chuan, thoughtful, asked:

"According to Daoist Friend Fu Guang's description, if I eliminate a seed contestant of a Super Power or a top‑tier power in the first round,"

"Wouldn't that make some old guys hold a grudge?"

"Hahaha." Floating Light Daoist laughed heartily, "The chance of that is still very small; even if Daoist Friend Lin actually does it, the elders of most powers won't bear a grudge, they'll just see you as a promising talent."

Lin Chuan, unfazed, continued, "What about the second round?"

"The second round is called the Absolute Ground Battle Royale."

"It will take place within a micro‑world; every thousand people occupy one micro‑world, and ultimately only the top ten geniuses can advance to the third round, the Heavenly Realm Contention Battle."

"As for the specific rules of the battle royale, I am not clear either."

"Usually it's nothing more than flag‑capture hunting, point‑seizing, hunting puppets or Shadow Creatures, and so on."

Floating Light Daoist gave an explanation.

Lin Chuan wasn't particularly concerned with the format; rather, the term 'Shadow Creature' caught his attention,

"Daoist Friend Fu Guang, what are Shadow Creatures?"

Lin Chuan recalled that Lü Ya had said during the final battle of the Ancient God Absolute Realm, Black Mist invaded the ancient Nine-phase World.

That Black Mist had once manifested countless shadow lives to assault the Star Ring Realm, aiming to destroy the purification Grand Array within the realm.

Are the two the same thing?

Floating Light Daoist, slightly embarrassed, said, "Daoist Friend Lin, I must admit I also do not know what Shadow Creatures are."

"Shadow Creatures seem to exist only in spaces forged by the Sphere of All Beings; perhaps they are deliberately created by the great powers to temper geniuses, much like mechanical puppets?"

"Daoist Friend Lin, you need not worry; if you encounter a Shadow Creature, just kill it."

"Fine." Lin Chuan thought to himself, and did not pursue further.

Shadow Creatures are largely likely related to the shadows manifested by Black Mist.

"There isn't much to say about the third‑round Heavenly Realm Contention Battle."

"The fixed mode is a one‑on‑one arena duel."

"Based on the genius ranking intervals, opponents are drawn by lottery; this is the oldest and the most revealing way to gauge strength."

"Understood," Lin Chuan said, still calm and unruffled.

Floating Light Daoist gazed at the unperturbed Lin Chuan, his mind swirling with countless thoughts.

On paper, seed geniuses of the top‑tier powers ranked near the top can reach Lin Chuan's level, that is, the legendary First Realm–Dao Extreme Realm tier.

Not to mention the seed geniuses of Super Powers, as well as dark‑horse talents from minor factions or top‑tier solitary cultivators.

Why can Lin Chuan be so confident?

Fight across tiers?

Even for a Super Genius, fighting across tiers is too difficult, almost impossible.

Even an old monster reincarnated has a high chance of being suppressed by contemporary Heavenly Pride.

Each cultivation era produces talents; among the illustrious, we still watch today.

Those who can achieve it become names that endure through the ages.

Floating Light Daoist found it hard to believe, yet upon sensing the aura of several stunningly beautiful women nearby, he felt a surge of anticipation.

Perhaps Lin Chuan truly can accomplish it?

How far can this mysterious Daoist Friend Lin go? When the Genius Battle begins, it will become clear.

……

Zi Wei Xing Domain.

Zi Wei Xing Emperor Sect.

Zixuan Mountain.

The high mountain, sealed for many years, has seen countless ages without a footstep.

This place is Yang Zu's Dao‑proofing site.

Whether in Yang Zu's first incarnation or second, both proved their Dao here, becoming the brightest figures of their eras.

Yang Zu is the eternal Zi Wei Xing of the Zi Wei Xing Emperor Sect; its starlight shields countless disciples within the sect.

At the foot of Zixuan Mountain, an elderly woman with speckled hair sat.

The old crone was listless, her form like a dead tree, about to reach the end of her life.

"Master, you said you would return; can the disciple still wait for you?"

Ten thousand years ago, after the great war of the ancient era ended, Yang Zu emerged from seclusion, took her under his tutelage as a closed‑door disciple, and bestowed upon her the title—An Ci.

After teaching her cultivation for a period, Yang Zu closed his seclusion again.

Five thousand years ago, Yang Zu emerged, disregarding the Dao injury sustained in the ancient war, and with a dominant bearing stormed into Fo Men Shengdi Golden Spirit Mountain.

And with a staggering force, he cast one of the Three Thousand Buddha Lands onto the world, integrating it into the Mortal Earth's Three Thousand Prefectures.

After that, Yang Zu closed seclusion again.

Ultimately unable to suppress the Dao injury, constrained by Heaven and Earth, he fell onto Zixuan Mountain.

With An Ci's strength, she could have become a generation's founding master, but she refused, only wishing to stay by the Master's side, eternally supporting the Zi Wei Xing Emperor Sect.

An Ci's vision grew increasingly blurry.

She shakily rose, leaning on a cane, and walked toward Zixuan Mountain.

"Master, the disciple is going up the mountain."

An Ci will, on Zixuan Mountain, using the Heavenly Principle Fate Number Dao, perform the final prophecy.

Whether Yang Zu can return concerns the future rise and fall of the Zi Wei Xing Emperor Sect!

This is, at the final moments of her life, one of the few things she can do for the sect's disciples.

When the Master is present, whether An Ci ascends or descends the mountain, she does so on foot, step by step, with her feet firmly on the ground.

Yang Zu said: "Ascending and descending the mountain are both a form of cultivation."

Yet even now, An Ci dares not forget the Master's teachings, placing one footprint after another toward the mountain, but her body, like a candle in the wind, trembles terribly.

After a long, long time, she reached the summit.

She saw the Master's dwelling.

There stood a person there, clad in a violet robe, how familiar.

An Ci was startled, rubbed her eyes, and the figure in her sight grew clearer.

"Master... Master?"

In an instant, the white‑haired old crone shed tears like rain.