After returning, just like every day previously, the two sat in cross-legged mediation and cultivated on their own. In this way, they peacefully welcomed the second day.
It was also the day that the Hundred Countries Tournament officially began.
Early in the morning, the Prince Beside the Emperor Cang He already arrived just outside the entrance and gave a long holler using ample amounts of Xiantian true qi.
All of the Cangyun Empire martial artists heard this, and promptly rushed out from their rooms. Within the time of a couple of short breaths, they all stood uniformly in the courtyard outside.
There were a total of six partic.i.p.ants. All of them looked like a single unit that was in high spirits and they appeared very heroic. The Xiantian powerhouses who were protecting the martial artists and the pharmacists who aided the martial artists were all present.
Today, on this important day, there wasn't a single person whose heart carried any negligence. Instead, it didn't matter if they were partic.i.p.ating or not, everyone was especially curious and prudent about this Hundred Countries Tournament, which they've never heard of before.
Gu Zuo glanced at Gongyi Tianheng, and his heart was somewhat restless.
He didn't know much about the mysteries that would unfold during the fights, so would Tianheng be able to take care of any tricks? Or, would it be just like the Clan War where everyone fought in groups, one match at a time?
The Prince Beside the Emperor didn't say anything. Once he whistled, the Cirrus-Cloud Eagle suddenly descended from high in the sky and brought everyone to a valley surrounded by mountains. This was the official location of the Hundred Countries Tournament.
Gu Zuo sensed gale-force winds that would dishevel people's hair coming from both sides, and rea.s.sessed this “battlefield.”
— There weren't any stages in this valley. Could it be that there was something special about this place?
Gu Zuo quickly figured out what was going to happen.
The people on the Cirrus-Cloud Eagle's back were delivered into the valley. Everyone found their own empty s.p.a.ces to stand on. Many of the personnel for the countries' martial artists also arrived.
Faster than everyone's reaction speeds, the three Immortal realm martial artists appeared on a huge boulder ahead. The power of suppression was very serious, and the surrounding s.p.a.ce practically suffocated everyone.
The faces of many martial artists revealed their fanaticism.
The Immortal realm!
If they could also reach this realm, how awesome would that be?!
— Even after this, the martial artists already knew that the Immortal realm definitely wasn't this world's highest realm. However, because a great majority of their own continents worshiped Immortal realms like G.o.ds, becoming exceptional Immortal realm powerhouses was a desire they couldn't constrain in their hearts.
Gu Zuo stealthily watched the faces of those three Immortal realm martial artists.
Perhaps it was because he was paying attention this time that his sight was very clear. He found that the appearances of those three martial artists, with two men and one woman, were very young — One needed to know that Houtian martial artists appeared only slightly younger than an ordinary person of the same age. Even if they broke through to the Xiantian realm, their appearances definitely wouldn't stop aging. From the youthfulness of these three people, it was obvious that their apt.i.tudes were certainly exceptional. Their ages were also very young when they entered the Immortal realm… This truly made people sigh in lament.
Among them, the female martial artist quickly spoke. Her appearance was somewhat charming, but her expression was very cold: “Today is the Hundred Countries Tournament. Ladies and gentlemen, please accept this trial. The victors will enter the first cla.s.s bracket, and the losers will enter the second cla.s.s bracket.”
What was a first cla.s.s bracket and what was a second cla.s.s bracket? What were the rules between them? Just then, the two additional male martial artists quickly gave their own supplementary explanations one after another.
Gu Zuo realized that these three people were only here to complete a mission. Their words were concise, and their personalities were all very arrogant. It looked like the Immortal realms didn't want to have too much contact with them. When they didn't have any choice but to give some explanations, they occasionally revealed impatient looks. Beneath the surface, they should've been looking down on everyone in this Hundred Countries Tournament.
What he also thought about was that if a person previously faced someone from a higher level and then suddenly met someone from a lower level, how couldn't their hearts have a sense of superiority? Even if their dispositions were good, that is, they restrained their emotions and didn't reveal anything, in this world that respected martial arts, a low level person simply dared not provoke a person of a higher level. Naturally, the latter wouldn't have to be too meticulous in concealing their moods. Human inferiority was just like this.
However, all these weren't important. What was important was that the the first round's filtering — Or bracket distribution, was about to begin.
After Gu Zuo heard the female Immortal realm martial artist's declaration, his first reaction was to stare blankly.
The trial was actually to…climb a mountain?
He felt a little embarra.s.sed. Could it be that this was the reason the valley was selected?
But what could climbing a mountain test? Ignoring those carefully chosen partic.i.p.ants, even if a weak chicken like Gu Zuo was told to mountain climb, he wouldn't find it impossible to do so. In the end, what good was this trial?
However, Gu Zuo quickly realized just what the mountain climbing would be testing.
As it turned out, the Immortal realm martial artists had drawn up many restrictions along that mountain from base to peak. Different alt.i.tudes had different incremental changes.
If a martial artist climbed up about three hundred meters, the restriction's power would change. The higher a martial artist could climb, the greater the limitations the martial artist would undergo. Thus, it would be possible to measure the strength of the martial artist.
After listening to the rules, under the Immortal realm martial artist's command, all the martial artists present quickly leaped forward to the base of that trial mountain. It was like a flock of birds extending their wings as they threw themselves forward.
In one moment, their figures immediately disappeared, and in the next, they all simultaneously appeared at the foot of the mountain — Meanwhile, one of the male Immortal realm martial artists just so happened to be withdrawing his arm. It looked like the action of sending someone off, but actually he was already controlling everything in the palm of his hand.
Gu Zuo's eyes widened.
An Immortal realm's power…was actually this scary!
At first, he just thought that this world's martial artists were unscientific. He never expected there to be ones who were even more unscientific.
Being capable of achieving that kind of level… Could he still be considered a human being?
Gu Zuo soon calmed himself down, and his attention was set on Tianheng.
No matter what happened, right now the most important thing was his big brother.
Gongyi Tianheng didn't leave Gu Zuo disappointed. After he reached the foot of the mountain, his arms twitched slightly and his whole body had already climbed on top of a mountain boulder. Then, his four limbs moved in concert, while his figure was strong and healthy. Within a couple of seconds, he dashed up over thirty meters as if this steep mountain wall was like a flat plain. It was simply unable to block his movements.
This string of actions was very smooth. Unexpectedly, just as the event started, he already became a candidate for the front-runners [1] among numerous martial artists. As for those in the lead, there were only a little more than ten people.
For those among the front-runners, apart from Cang Yu who was already expected, the other martial artists were completely surprised. From what they could see, it should've been impossible for this martial artist from a third cla.s.s country to keep up with them. However, they never expected that not only did Cang Yu show up, whom they heard a little about beforehand, but there was still another person? Moreover, this person seemed to be handling himself quite well as if he wasn't affected by the restrictions at all.
…That's right. These so-called restrictions were actually gravity restrictions.
In the first three hundred meters, gravity was three times stronger.
If a martial artist's physical body had enough strength, it was basically impossible for them to be incapable of bearing the continuous weight of a mere two hundred fifty kilograms. The first three hundred meters only had this to verify one's capabilities. It allowed many martial artists to smoothly reach the checkpoint. Unless their levels were below average, they wouldn't face any danger.
Gu Zuo just thought of this when he realized right away that his own thinking was wrong.
Many people reached three hundred meters in quick succession, and just as they were about to pa.s.s through the area that was reportedly supposed to intensify to stage two, the sky was abruptly filled with the cacophony of birdsong.
It was as if something had provoked them. That birdsong brought about dozens of extremely scary Imprisoned Song Birds whose sharp talons were like steel. Facing those martial artists who were still climbing, the birds started clawing at their backs!
Everyone clearly saw how a perfect Houtian stage nine martial artist had his back torn open by that attack, and his fiery heart was ruthlessly dug out!
Gu Zuo turned sluggish.
This, this was too savage!
After that Imprisoned Song Bird devoured the person it seized, the redness of its plumage became full and its body's surroundings seemed to be enveloped in a layer of delicate and soft light. Sure enough, the qi and blood of that person seemed to be very abundant. In a moment, it almost let the bird eat its fill. For today at least, the mountain climbing martial artists only needed to respond to some unexpected things as well as similar small mishaps in the trial. After that, it was guaranteed that the higher they climbed, the better!
Once Gu Zuo watched the might of the Imprisoned Song Birds, his heart was a little nervous.
This method of sneak attacks along with the restrictions pressing down on one's body was difficult to handle…
Then, Gongyi Tianheng showed off for him. He showed how to handle this “difficult to handle” situation.
He only saw Tianheng methodically climbing up. Even among the people in the lead, Tianheng gradually generated a small twist of jealousy in their hearts.
Suddenly, a Meridian Condensing stage three Imprisoned Song Bird abruptly attacked! Its outstretched talons were pointed at the calm and unruffled Tianheng!
Gongyi Tianheng's response couldn't have been said to be slow. He only grabbed a root of an old pine tree and then his whole body flipped to the left. After that, his foot went flying directly into the Imprisoned Song Bird's neck. At this moment, not only was his heart originally not resigned to take that attack, he also wanted to make a big scene. From this point on, he would establish his prestige to facilitate his operations.
The head of that Imprisoned Song Bird was immediately separated from its body by his kick.
It was merely that the b.l.o.o.d.y smell of one's own species dispersed all of a sudden. Those Imprisoned Song Birds with experience were all attracted to the b.l.o.o.d.y smell at once. They swiftly flew over one after another as they flapped their wings and targeted Gongyi Tianheng with fierce attacks!
While Tianheng's body bore the gravity restriction, his punches and kicks were still agile. It was just as if he wasn't affected by the gravity at all and he could rapidly counter with any response.
The number of Imprisoned Song Birds increased again. The attacks were evaded by Tianheng's dextrous body movements. Even if they wanted to stake their lives on these attacks, in the presence of Tianheng, they'd never be able to reach him. Through Tianheng's gaze and deterring presence, it was hard to approach him and even harder to attack him. And once they got close, Tianheng erupted with all kinds of methods that killed all of the birds!
During this period of time, Tianheng was unexpectedly still climbing up. Also, that speed was actually not slow at all!
Other places weren't like this. Among those who were similarly climbing the mountain, the ones who were genuinely capable of persevering were truly few.
How wasn't this precisely a kind of filter?
After quickly pa.s.sing the three hundred meter mark, he arrived at the next three hundred meter checkpoint.
When Gongyi Tianheng continued to go up, his foot suddenly stepped on empty air.
As Gu Zuo couldn't attend to the other, his heart became very anxious.
You absolutely can't fall down!
You absolutely can't —
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[1] 梯队- Ti dui, echelon (military). Thanks to user Charysa for the clarifications.
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