Teams of martial arts examinees were orderly heading towards the Central State Martial Arts Examination Secret Realm.
The Central State Martial Arts Examination Secret Realm was a pocket dimension jointly created by the Central State officials and the Heavenly Summer Martial Arts Examination Association, into which ferocious beasts were periodically released.
The entire pocket dimension could accommodate one million people simultaneously for assessment, ranking it among the top five secret realms in all of Heavenly Summer.
It was built at immense cost by ten Great Martial Artists who had mastered spatial power, collaborating with hundreds of formation masters.
The sole purpose was to create a pocket dimension as close to reality as possible, laying a solid foundation for the martial arts examinees' future.
The martial arts examination rules in Heavenly Summer were: The first round involved killing ten Tier 1 ferocious beasts within the secret realm; those who failed were eliminated. Examinees had to survive for a day and a night in the secret realm; anyone who withdrew mid-way was eliminated.
The remaining individuals were ranked according to the number of ferocious beasts they killed. The bottom fifty percent were directly eliminated. The rest would enter the promotion matches.
Based on the competition format, the top one thousand scorers would directly enter the finals. For the rest, their combat power would be assessed by system analysis, matching them with opponents of similar strength for battles until they could no longer fight.
As long as the injuries were not fatal, such as a severed head, as long as one still had a breath left, the officials could revive them. Thus, every generation of martial arts examinees fought in these brutal examinations, initially forging the fighting spirit a martial artist ought to possess.
Life unceasing, battle unending!
Gu Yuan followed the large group back to the martial artist plaza. At the front of the plaza was a massive teleportation array, connecting to the vast secret realm.
"Life unceasing, battle unending! Welcome to the Heavenly Summer Central State Martial Arts Examination. You will now enter the secret realm. I will not elaborate on the specific rules here. The examination begins!"
A middle-aged man in uniform's resonant voice echoed across the entire plaza from mid-air, seemingly carrying an infectious quality that made the blood boil within.
Accompanied by a tremendous hum, the teleportation gate opened. Squadrons of martial arts examinees entered in an orderly fashion. Gu Yuan clenched his palm around Qiushui, took a deep breath, and followed the footsteps of the large group into the massive teleportation gate.
With a sensation of the world spinning, Gu Yuan's vision began to clear. Qiushui was instinctively drawn from its scabbard, and he vigilantly scanned his surroundings. He found himself on the edge of a forest, sensing no immediate danger. Qiushui was slowly sheathed, but his eyes remained watchful.
Directly ahead lay a vast forest. From the outside, tall trees stood densely packed, emitting the scent of decaying leaves, with occasional roars of beasts, presenting a scene of primeval wilderness.
Gu Yuan calmly retrieved items he had prepared from his storage space: a gas-filtering mask, standard antidotes, and a special powder to mask his human aura.
He sprinkled the powder evenly on his clothes and put some in his pockets. He sheathed Qiushui, retrieved the Chongxuan Chilian, and a bag of arrows that made an extremely faint sound upon firing.
At this time, the Chongxuan Chilian had been painted an inky green. Once equipped, Gu Yuan entered the forest.
Due to the monotony of Gu Yuan's hunting process, and his extreme caution, he avoided conflicts with others. After hunting for a day and a night in the secret realm, he achieved a commendable ranking of three hundred and sixty-sixth in the Central State region, directly advancing to the third stage elimination rounds.
Chu Ling, owing to her formidable innate talent, also secured a respectable ranking of eight hundred and thirty-ninth.
From Class 3-5, half of the students, excluding Gu Yuan and Chu Ling, were eliminated, with the remaining proceeding to the promotion matches.
Five days later, the promotion matches concluded. During this period, Gu Yuan's activities, apart from eating and resting, consisted of cultivation and deepening his connection with Chu Ling.
Central State City Arena.
A colossal roar pierced the sky. The massive arena, capable of holding two hundred thousand spectators, was now filled to capacity. From above, it appeared as a dense sea of heads.
In the center of the arena, one hundred colossal stages were laid out. Ten thousand participants would compete here to determine the top one hundred in the entire prefecture, who would then represent Central State Prefecture in the national competition.
Gu Yuan, as one of the top five hundred participants, was not yet required to compete. He sat in the contestant's area, quietly observing the matches.
The matches employed a distributed viewing system. Each spectator was given a device similar to a tablet, and every match was broadcast in real-time, allowing viewers to freely choose which of the hundred stages to watch.
The Central State officials also utilized overhead projections in the stadium, selecting the most intense matches for everyone to observe.
Gu Yuan watched for a while, finding it uninteresting, and turned to leave. After all, the strength of the contestants currently competing was very weak in his opinion.
Recently, he had imprinted a decent white destiny from a sword-wielding martial arts examinee, exhausting his remaining essence. He then purchased a sword technique from the Martial Artist Association and cultivated it to minor completion in his free time.
[Dao Master]: [Gu Yuan]
[Destiny]: [Incomplete]
[Realm]: [Body Tempering Ninth Level (Perfection)]
[Destinies]: [Ribs of Steel (Green)], [Spiritual Energy Affinity (Green)], [Natural Death (White)], [Cautious and Brave (White)], [Full of Vigor (White)], [Sudden Inspiration (White)], [Archery (White)], [Long Saber Affinity (White)]
[Martial Skills]: 《Eight Elephants Body Calamity》 (First Level), 《Blazing Sun Fist》 (Minor Completion), 《Primordial Chaos Stance》 (Minor Completion), 《Explosive Fist》 (Great Completion), 《Giant Whale Technique》 (Great Completion), 《Flowing Wind Movement Technique》 (Great Completion), 《Tiger Fiend Saber Technique》 (Minor Completion), 《Lightning Slash》 (Minor Completion).
[Long Saber Affinity]: [Increases talent for saber cultivation; seems to possess a unique cultivation method for cold weapons like long sabers.]
《Lightning Slash》: An extreme burst of speed. Upon reaching Great Completion, it can unleash a blade-drawing speed three times that of one's normal pace.
"Gu Yuan, wait for me."
A voice called out from behind. Gu Yuan turned curiously and saw an extremely tall figure rushing out of the arena.
Gu Yuan waited in place. The tall figure ran up to Gu Yuan and asked, "Gu Yuan, aren't you watching the matches anymore?"
Gu Yuan shook his head, "There's nothing interesting to watch now."
"Indeed," Shi Ta agreed, nodding.
This individual was someone Gu Yuan had encountered in the secret realm. At that time, he was wrestling with the strongest Tier 1 ferocious beast, the Great Strength Black Ape. It was a truly eye-opening experience for Gu Yuan to witness Shi Ta pinning and wrestling the Great Strength Black Ape to death.
Then Shi Ta discovered him and eagerly challenged him to a test of strength. After a brief exchange, Shi Ta became immensely interested in Gu Yuan, who, despite being much smaller, possessed comparable strength. Thus, through repeated encounters, they became friends.
During their conversations, Gu Yuan learned that Shi Ta was from Central State City. His greatest pleasure was competing in strength with others. He had ranked over six hundred in the elimination rounds.
His current goal was to spar with geniuses from all walks of life in terms of strength. He had a straightforward personality and quickly became friends with Gu Yuan.
"So, what are you doing now?" Shi Ta asked curiously.
"Going back to cultivate," Gu Yuan replied, turning towards the dormitory area.
"You're something else. Always cultivating. Why not have a man-to-man showdown with me!" Shi Ta's eyes gleamed as he said this to Gu Yuan.
"No thanks, I'm not interested in your man-to-man showdowns." Gu Yuan quickly refused, knowing what Shi Ta meant by such a challenge: a vigorous wrestling match, a philosophical exchange of♂♂♂.
"Oh, don't refuse so quickly, take a look at this wrestling video I just got." Shi Ta said, pulling out his phone.
"Get lost!" Gu Yuan was somewhat exasperated.
Finally, upon returning to the dormitory, Gu Yuan did not even glance at Shi Ta's video.
Gu Yuan returned to his dormitory and began circulating his blood and qi.
Time flew by rapidly. Gu Yuan participated in a few matches on the arena during this period, but his opponents could not withstand a single punch from him.
Due to his exceptionally handsome features and his clean, decisive fighting style, he had quietly gained some fans.
Through the prolonged duels, the once clean arena was now dotted with bloodstains, a testament to the many brutal battles that had occurred there.
"Audience, after ten days of intense competition, we have finally arrived at the final ranking matches!" the host announced from a floating commentary platform, their passionate voice echoing throughout the arena.
The crowd below erupted in thunderous cheers.
Concurrently, the online broadcast also commenced, a tradition of the martial arts examination where the ranking matches would be streamed online.
As only one thousand contestants remained, the officials adopted a one-on-one combat broadcast system, with only one match occurring at a time, accompanied by professional commentary.
Consequently, this period is known by the citizens of Heavenly Summer as "Competition Month." Each prefecture would host its own broadcasts. The prefecture with stronger contestants and more geniuses would attract more popularity, leading to considerable benefits for the local government and an increase in fiscal revenue.
At this time, households across Heavenly Summer would essentially have their televisions on, with the entire family watching their favorite broadcasts.
Gu Yuan, clad in a black combat uniform, sat quietly in the contestant's area, flanked by Chu Ling and Shi Ta, along with several other geniuses from Tianyuan City.
Among them was Shen Qiuyi, a girl who consistently held the top spot in Class 3 at Qingli High School.
The other three were Yun Yan, the top student from Tianyuan City Experimental Middle School.
Jiang Yi and Xing Chuan from Tianyuan City First Middle School.
These individuals, along with Gu Yuan and Chu Ling, were the students from Tianyuan City who had entered the top one thousand in the prefecture this year.
Huu!
Gu Yuan exhaled a breath of stale air, his gaze calmly fixed on the arena below. In the center of the arena, a circular stage with a diameter of five hundred meters slowly rose. The stage was covered with traces of battles and some blackened bloodstains. Every year, the prefecture champion was decided on this very stage.
Amidst the host's excited voice and the cheers of the crowd, the Central State Prefecture Martial Arts Examination ranking matches began!