Chapter 1 The Preliminary Round Begins

Xu Jingming looked up at the high altitude, vaguely seeing the massive arena through the hazy clouds.

"Most of the preliminary contestants are above level 50. The air feels like water to them. They can run on the air." Xu Jingming frowned. "But stepping on air… is never as fast as true flight!"

Aliens with wings flashed, soaring into the sky.

Relying on feet to step on the air was much slower.

"The first round of the preliminary selection prohibits all preliminary contestants from touching each other," said the golden intelligent machine in the sky. "Once a preliminary contestant touches another contestant, he will be immediately moved out of the World Center City and stripped of his qualification for this Ten Thousand Races Competition."

The powerhouses from the myriad races present were all shocked.

"Of course, the movements of your flight are all very large, and the airflow interferes with each other, which is allowed," the golden intelligent machine said.

"Airflow interference is allowed?" Xu Jingming's heart stirred. Ying, Yu Yangwei, and Feng Ke also became serious.

"The airflow from a powerhouse's explosion is still terrifying," Ying thought to himself.

Just like how Xu Jingming's breath could shatter a small mountain miles away, the powerhouses who were stronger than Xu Jingming, when rushing at full speed, created even more terrifying shockwaves.

"More than 5 million powerhouses rushing to the high altitude at the same time, deliberately creating shockwaves to interfere with each other. A large number of shockwaves will form terrifying turbulence," Yu Yangwei said worriedly. "Those with weak strength will be torn into pieces by these turbulences."

The fat Feng Ke said, "If we can make good use of the air turbulence, we can greatly increase our speed."

"It's not that easy to use," Ying said with a solemn expression.

The more than 5 million preliminary contestants present each had their own thoughts. For them, this was not just a competition, but survival! Being number one in the Ten Thousand Races Arena was the only way for them to leave alive.

The golden intelligent machine in the high altitude smiled and said, "Now that you know the rules, please get ready, everyone. Now counting down, 5… 4… 3…"

In the vast arena, everyone waited solemnly, with invisible electromagnetic forces suppressing all the preliminary contestants.

"2… 1! Start!" As soon as the golden intelligent machine finished speaking, the suppressed electromagnetic force was instantly withdrawn.

"Charge!"

Xu Jingming, Ying, Yu Yangwei, and Feng Ke all stomped on the ground at the same time, each bursting forth like a cannonball! Those with wings flapped their wings, their speed even faster.

In the blink of an eye, more than five million bursts of energy erupted, and all the preliminary contestants soared into the sky.

"What! I…"

The champion of the previous Ten Thousand Races Arena, 'Giant Race' Kabomaiha, was tall and burly. He was also the first to stomp on the ground and soar into the sky! However, his level 47 strength was too far behind among the preliminary contestants, and his large size created too much resistance, making his speed of rising into the sky too slow.

After just one stomp to rise, Kabomaiha slightly sensed his surroundings and sadly discovered: "I'm actually in the bottom 10,000?"

With more than 5.03 million preliminary contestants, the first round of the preliminary round only selected 10,000. But he was in the bottom 10,000. Kabomaiha's past pride was completely shattered, and he had a clear understanding of his strength.

The Ten Thousand Races Arena used to be his proudest place. Now, he had no hope in the first round of the preliminary round.

"Forget it, the gap is too big. Trying to compete again will only be humiliating," Kabomaiha no longer struggled. The upward momentum naturally weakened under the resistance, and he began to freefall after rising only a thousand meters.

One upward rush, and a natural fall! Kabomaiha looked up calmly at the millions of figures soaring into the sky.

There were quite a few others falling naturally like Kabomaiha.

"The gap is too big." Many of these preliminary contestants who gave up were natives, and some were high-dimensional lifeforms who knew their limitations. Those high-dimensional lifeforms descended on weak races. After just one start, they were in the bottom tens of thousands, and they gave up the idea of struggling.

"Give up on the previous few competitions, and focus on cultivating for a few thousand years. Only when the strength difference is not that big will you have the qualifications to compete." These high-dimensional lifeforms were not stupid. If the gap was too big, competing would be suicide.

…

Boom!

The air currents rolled beside his ears, and Xu Jingming was soaring into the sky at super speed.

With his current strength, just one stomp on the ground could make him rise to a height of ten thousand meters before falling! Of course, this time he wanted to reach the main competition arena as quickly as possible, so Xu Jingming naturally had to step on the air to exert force.

"Thousand Shadows Flying Crane Style!"

Xu Jingming spread his arms.

"Boom." "Boom." "Boom." During the ascent, Xu Jingming stepped on the air again and again. With his terrifying speed, the air felt like a solid, and each step gave him a boost upward. His arms also flapped like the wings of a bird, using force to propel himself, pushing his speed to the limit.

Xu Jingming saw more than a thousand figures in the sky, most of whom had wings.

"I'm currently ranked between 1200th and 1300th. Most of those in front of me are various avian races," Xu Jingming thought to himself. "In the first round of selection, the avian races have too great an advantage."

"However, there are quite a few without wings who are faster than me." Xu Jingming's expression was solemn. "These powerful races are indeed much stronger than me."

Currently, the one ranked first was a huge golden bird. With a flap of its wings, it stirred up terrifying air currents, and the golden bird soared into the sky, while the air currents impacted all the preliminary contestants below.

In the top twenty, seventeen had wings, and three did not.

Ninth place, a Fire Dragon descendant powerhouse more than eight meters tall.

Fifteenth place, a one-armed giant ape king twelve meters tall.

Twentieth place, a mountain demon clan powerhouse 63 meters tall.

These three powerhouses without wings made Xu Jingming extremely wary: "These three are like me, without wings. They are larger and have greater resistance! But their speed is still faster than mine, obviously their strength surpasses mine significantly."

When these three stepped on the air, each step seemed to shatter space and time, and the terrifying shockwaves they created affected the area below, with extremely terrifying power.

"What, this Fire Dragon descendant is faster than me?" The one-armed giant ape king was secretly shocked. Although there was a slight difference in height between them, the Fire Dragon descendant's faster flight made him feel threatened.

"And the mountain demon clan powerhouse behind him, with a height of 63 meters, has extremely high resistance when flying, but he is only slightly slower than me, also a formidable enemy," the one-armed giant ape king thought to himself.

The mountain demon clan powerhouse was expressionless. His feet were huge, and each time he stepped on the air, he caused terrifying roars in the air, allowing his huge body to continuously accelerate upward.

"One-armed giant ape and Fire Dragon descendant?" The mountain demon clan powerhouse's eyes were cold. "My clan is at a critical juncture of life and death, and I am the greatest pillar of the clan! The Ten Thousand Races World… I must win first place. No one can stop me!"

There were many branches of the Dragon race in the Ten Thousand Races World, such as the Five-Colored Dragon race, the Fire Dragon race, and the Demon Dragon race, which were relatively powerful. The Dragon race also interbred with other races, forming some mixed-blood Dragon descendants.

Dragon descendants were generally servants of the Dragon race!

A Fire Dragon descendant powerhouse without wings, currently ranked ninth, did indeed attract the attention of many high-dimensional lifeforms.

"The Fire Dragon descendant powerhouse, who is he?"

"So strong."

"In this Ten Thousand Races Competition, this Fire Dragon descendant powerhouse will at least be in the top three," many high-dimensional lifeforms commented.

The Fire Dragon descendant powerhouse was very calm at the moment. He looked at the top, seemingly at the avian powerhouses at a higher altitude, and as if at the deepest part of the ethereal sky: "Even if it's an invincible myth, what can I do? In front of the Third Realm, I have no power to fight back and was dragged into his world, and must follow his rules."

"The Third Realm, when will I reach the Third Realm?" the Fire Dragon descendant powerhouse thought.

He was a traveler.

Wandering and traveling in the endless territories, he had experienced too much. Now his only pursuit was… the Third Realm!

"Leave this world in the first Ten Thousand Races Arena," the Fire Dragon descendant powerhouse thought.

To him, this was a matter of course.

He hadn't encountered an opponent for a long, long time.

"I hope that among these more than 5 million high-dimensional lifeform opponents, there will be someone who can surprise me," the Fire Dragon descendant powerhouse thought.

…

"We have fallen to around 9,000th place. With just a slight mistake, we will be eliminated in the first round." The two giant race powerhouses were both very anxious. They had no wings, and their bodies were huge, creating too much resistance.

"Let's do it."

The two giant race members were very decisive. They waved their big palms, and terrifying air currents impacted all directions.

At the height of the 9,000th level, their strength still had a great advantage. Under the wave of their palms, the avian races were impacted, and many were injured and tumbling, greatly reducing their speed.

"Boom boom boom." The Fire Dragon descendant powerhouse, the one-armed giant ape king, and the mountain demon clan powerhouse, at the very front, used all their strength to step on the air, forming shockwaves. Some powerhouses actively bombarded other contestants with shockwaves.

Under the influence of a large number of shockwaves, this space became terrifying.

"Puff."

"Boom."

Some avians who were weak were directly torn apart by the many shockwaves. If they were lucky, they could slowly recover by relying on limb regeneration. If they were unlucky and injured a fatal spot, they would lose their lives on the spot.

For a time, blood flew everywhere, and feathers splashed.

"Everyone's gone crazy."

Yu Yangwei, Feng Ke, and Ying were all shocked as they looked at the massive air currents bombarding them from above. Because there were too many attackers, the massive air currents influenced each other, and this space became chaotic and terrifying.

"Puff." Yu Yangwei was impacted by the air currents, and blood involuntarily spilled from the corner of her mouth. Feng Ke and Ying also struggled to support themselves.

"Fortunately, our area is not that dangerous," Yu Yangwei thought. After obtaining the body refining method taught by Xu Jingming and cultivating it for many years, their strength was now between level 53 and level 55. As small humans, their bodies were also extremely resilient. Therefore, under the chaotic shockwaves, they were only slightly injured.

Yu Yangwei, Feng Ke, and Ying looked up at the sky. The chaotic air currents above were even more terrifying. A lot of blood flew around, and the weaker contestants were either dead or injured.

"We are around 500,000th place. It's too late." Yu Yangwei, Feng Ke, and Ying judged the situation and realized that they had no hope at all.

"There are even some high-dimensional lifeforms who died in the first round of the preliminary round." Yu Yangwei, Feng Ke, and Ying slowed down and deliberately avoided the most intense shockwave turbulence above.

"If they're weak, they rely on having wings to fly fast. If they don't die, who will?" Feng Ke shook his head and said, "This first round of the preliminary round seems to be beneficial to the flying races, but it is also dangerous. Blessings and misfortunes depend on each other."

"The ones at the front have already arrived at the arena." Ying had already seen it.

…

The golden bird was the first to arrive at the high-altitude arena.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh, one powerful bird after another arrived.

"Boom." With terrifying movements, the Fire Dragon descendant powerhouse also arrived at the arena. His movements were much larger than those of the birds. He was the 6th to arrive.

"Boom." The one-armed giant ape king arrived in tenth place.

The mountain demon clan powerhouse arrived in seventeenth place.

One powerhouse after another arrived, and the first hundred powerhouses were all powerful races and avian races. Obviously, the weaker races… still had a certain gap in terms of physical strength.

Boom!

Between approximately 860th and 880th place, Xu Jingming and a dozen or so powerhouses arrived at the arena almost simultaneously.

"I'm here." Xu Jingming relaxed as he passed through the invisible barrier and saw the arena for the main competition. He began to carefully observe each of his opponents.