Chapter 461: 460. Chapter 455: Easy First Round

460. Chapter 455: Easy First Round

Ding Huan glanced at the competition number token in his hand.

It was merely a jade token, engraved with array patterns, the number and text displayed through the array lines.

The number displayed on his token now was 3211, followed by a line of characters: Arena Two, Opponent 3212.

Yan Sha walked over and said seriously:

"Sixth, I'm on Arena Seventeen, Lu Qiansi is on Arena Thirty-One, we're heading over now. You must remember: don't leave your arena, and don't miss any information on your token."

"If you miss your match, you'll be disqualified."

"I know. Good luck to you both," Ding Huan waved his hand.

After Yan Sha and Lu Qiansi left, Ding Huan's gaze finally settled on Arena Two—the match hadn't started yet, and the arena was still sealed by barriers.

His spiritual sense swept over two disciples of the Chiyunu Sect; he didn't recognize either.

He hesitated, but still didn't go over to ask.

To find out why Wen Zhixi hadn't come here, he still needed to wait for the right moment.

After nearly half an hour, Ding Huan saw a man step through the air and halt above the arena.

Indeed, a Dao Lord.

Ding Huan recognized this fellow: Southern Dao Lord Ju Fei.

When he served as a law official for Lu Chong Dao, this man had scanned him with his spiritual sense more than once—extremely impolite.

The moment Southern Dao Lord arrived, the vast square fell silent.

Southern Dao Lord swept his gaze across the crowd, then spoke slowly:

"Today marks the opening of the Great Immortal Realm Sect Ranking Competition. I, this Dao Lord, personally oversee this event—no unfairness will be tolerated. Whoever disrupts the fairness of the matches will be executed without mercy."

"I also have good news to announce: the top one hundred sects in this ranking competition will earn the right to attend the Immortal Court's Dao lectures for one year, and qualify to join the Nine-Star Immortal Sect or serve as officials in the Immortal Court…"

Hearing they could attend the Immortal Court and become officials, the competing disciples erupted in excited murmurs.

Southern Dao Lord raised a hand—the murmurs ceased instantly: "Friends, the Immortal-Devil Battlefield currently does not favor our Immortal Court. After this Sect Ranking Competition, the Immortal Court encourages all of you to head to the Immortal-Devil Battlefield."

All cultivators who go to the Immortal-Devil Battlefield will receive free teleportation, and can teleport directly from Ban Ting Xiancheng.

Everyone knows the Immortal Court's top ranking list is the Immortal Contribution Points List. Killing Immortal-Devil Beasts in the battlefield earns Contribution Points.

I'll announce another piece of good news: cultivators who reach ten thousand Contribution Points may freely enter and exit the Immortal Court, and may use Contribution Points to buy anything they wish."

"These include all advancement Immortal Pills, Immortal Spirit Rice, Dao Court lectures and official appointments, all types of top-tier Immortal Artifacts, Immortal Crystals, Immortal Spirit Veins…"

Upon hearing this, most people could barely contain their impulses—they longed to rush to the Immortal-Devil Battlefield immediately.

The Immortal Court was the place they all dreamed of; now, all it took was ten thousand Contribution Points to enter.

What were they waiting for? Finish the competition, then head straight to the Immortal-Devil Battlefield.

A few, however, felt no excitement.

The Immortal Court had offered such generous—even unprecedented—conditions.

This meant the situation in the Immortal-Devil Battlefield was likely far worse than Southern Dao Lord's words of "not very favorable"—it was extremely dangerous.

Previously, Immortal Court cultivators held themselves above all others; anyone wishing to enter the Immortal Court had to undergo layer upon layer of scrutiny and provide sufficient justification.

Now, all it took was Contribution Points—it was suspicious.

Besides, were Contribution Points easy to earn? Going to the Immortal-Devil Battlefield meant risking your life.

Ding Huan also realized the Immortal-Devil Battlefield must be in serious trouble; he remained utterly unmoved.

He didn't need Immortal Pills or Immortal Crystals; he had more than enough Immortal Spirit Rice. As for Dao lectures—ha, he was the strongest Law Dao Master.

The Immortal Court's people would beg him to give lectures; why should he go listen to others' Dao teachings?

The only thing remotely appealing was the Immortal Spirit Vein—but even that appeal was negligible, because he'd soon have one himself.

For him now, having enough was enough; extra would just gather dust in his ring.

For example, he already had many Spirit Veins in his ring—what use were they now?

Ding Huan comforted himself, firmly deciding not to go to the Immortal-Devil Battlefield.

"I now declare the Sect Ranking Competition officially begun. May all competitors achieve excellent results," Southern Dao Lord said a meaningless phrase, then vanished into the void.

Ding Huan was speechless—this guy had just claimed he'd supervise here, yet vanished immediately.

Some low-level cultivators assumed Southern Dao Lord had merely hidden himself in the void to monitor the matches. Ding Huan, extremely sensitive to spatial Dao patterns, knew clearly the fellow had left.

Soon, the barriers surrounding the arenas began to flicker, and one after another, cultivators surged onto the competition platforms.

There were fifty arenas for the elimination rounds; though all competitors were elite cultivators selected by their sects,

there were still disparities between sects, and the competitors' strengths varied widely.

Some arenas decided victory instantly upon contact; others required hours of fighting to determine a winner.

Some arenas erupted into life-or-death battles from the first move.

Such matches naturally produced casualties quickly.

The Sect Ranking Competition imposed no restrictions on techniques or life-or-death; killing or being killed were both tacitly accepted rules of the arena.

Some even believed killing one more opponent would reduce their rival sect's score—they struck with ruthless brutality, each move aimed at annihilation.

Ding Huan waited roughly two hours before his token began to flash.

A new line of text appeared: Dafanxian Sect Sixth, ascend Arena Two within ten breaths.

Less than a single breath later, a disciple of Zhenji Immortal Sect appeared on Arena Two.

Ding Huan walked to the arena's edge and stepped onto the platform.

Before he could even steady himself, the Zhenji disciple unleashed a torrent of sword light, slamming toward Ding Huan.

The fellow sought to seize the advantage by arriving early and overwhelming him with momentum.

Ding Huan was speechless—he casually raised a fist and punched. The sword light shattered instantly; before the fellow could react, Ding Huan kicked him square in the chest.

The disciple of Zhenji Xian Sect simply flew off the dueling platform, eliminated in the first round.

A voice came from Dueling Platform Two: "Contestant 3211 wins."

The spectators didn't find it remarkable—it merely showed Ding Huan's strength.

After all, there were many who fought even faster than Ding Huan; some were knocked off the platform the moment their feet touched it.

Ding Huan, at least, threw a punch and then kicked.

After the match ended, Ding Huan walked off the platform calmly and left; he knew he wouldn't have another duel today.

The numbers on his contestant tag had changed.

"Contestant 3211: won first round, second round: not yet begun."

Ji Busi, who had been watching Ding Huan from afar, clenched his fist and excitedly said to Elder Ming Mu beside him: "Master Ming, thank you—this sixth brother is truly strong."

Elder Ming Mu laughed heartily; Ding Huan's performance didn't surprise him. With Ding Huan's Tribulation Crossing aura, defeating a disciple from a four-star Xian Sect was a given.

He forgot that Dafanxian Sect was now only a five-star Xian Sect.

Ding Huan left the arena; he wanted to change his appearance and go to Chiyunu Sect.

But he knew every corner of this place was under surveillance arrays; if he changed his appearance, he'd almost certainly be detected.

Back at his lodging, Ding Huan still couldn't devise a perfect solution; the only option was to probe with his spiritual sense.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense was formidable; he quickly located Chiyunu Sect's encampment.

All Xian Sect encampments in Ban Ting Xiancheng had protective barriers.

Most Xian Sects didn't reinforce the barriers; Chiyunu Sect hadn't added any either.

This self-contained fourth-level Xian barrier at the encampment was as nothing to Ding Huan's spiritual sense.

Ding Huan easily breached Chiyunu Sect's barrier and found no one in any of the rooms.

He saw neither Wen Zhixi nor her master, Hua Xiaoqian.

That couldn't be right—Wen Zhixi's array art was so powerful, she couldn't possibly have skipped the array competition.

Ding Huan refused to believe any Chiyunu Sect disciple at the Xuan Immortal realm had better array art than Wen Zhixi.

Could Wen Zhixi have advanced to Da Yi Immortal these past years?

Da Yi Immortals were not permitted to enter the Xian Sect Ranking Tournament.

Ding Huan immediately dismissed his guess; Hua Xiaoqian had taken Wen Zhixi as a disciple solely to have her compete in the Xian Sect Tournament.

If so, even if Wen Zhixi were to advance to Da Yi Immortal, Hua Xiaoqian would stop her.

Ding Huan's spiritual sense continued scanning the other rooms as he frowned, wondering where the problem lay.

Huh!

Ding Huan's spiritual sense halted at a room in the far corner—this room had been reinforced with a fifth-level Xian barrier.

The encampment's original barriers were already secure; under normal circumstances, no one would reinforce them further.

Even Ding Huan, a sixth-level Xian Array Master, hadn't reinforced any barriers.

Could Chiyunu Sect really have a room reinforced with a fifth-level Xian barrier?

Ding Huan had no qualms—he poured his spiritual sense into near-solid form and shattered the fifth-level barrier in moments.

When he saw what was happening inside the room, he could hardly believe his eyes.

Wasn't Chiyunu Sect renowned for its virtue, the Xian Sect in the Great Immortal Realm most devoted to female chastity?

How could he see two naked figures rolling on the bed?

The woman was indeed beautiful, fitting Chiyunu Sect's reputation for producing stunning women.

But the man was unimpressive—thinning hair, clearly the result of cultivating some specific art; thick lips, skin tinted brown.

He couldn't fathom why such a beautiful woman with Bai Xi skin would risk so much by fooling around with this man inside Chiyunu Sect's encampment—it made no sense at all.

Ding Huan didn't care—he immediately recorded this scandalous sight with a crystal ball, just in case it might be useful.