Chapter 597: Rules, Storm
Gazing at the projected image of the Dao Repository Catalog — a repository said to contain all the Immortal Dao Technology in the world — every student present couldn’t help but feel a surge of longing.
As Divine Monarch Celestial Evolution concluded his address, screens materialized before each student’s Bionic Eye, displaying the rules for the upcoming first round of competition.
The projection first showed the floating continent beneath their feet. As lines of light flowed across the screen, 100 beams, each representing a student, dispersed across the continent.
Dao Qiankun’s gaze sharpened. “So, the 100 participants will be randomly distributed across the floating continent?”
“A team-based competition like this?” Wen Wuya’s eyes gleamed with interest. “Free use of the Spirit Realm, all communication technologies allowed, Sky-Patrolling Flying Swords still permitted, but no communication with the outside world… This is perfect for me to shine.”
As more rules materialized, the floating continent on the projection seemed to erupt into fierce battle, the ground trembling violently.
Ye Xingli’s eyes flickered as she swiftly photographed and saved the rules. “This team competition will last three days, and the final outcome will be determined by the number of captives each school takes?”, she thought to herself.
Yan Qianji chuckled softly. “Heh, merely defeating opponents isn’t enough; we must capture them too? At the end of the match, the more captives we hold, the higher our score. We can also rescue captives, so the key to this competition lies in the word ‘captive,’ doesn’t it?”
Beside him, Jiutian Liu calmly considered, “The final score ranking of this team match will determine which teams advance and how many representatives each school sends to the second round.”
“The top-ranked school team will secure ten advancement slots. The bottom-ranked team, however, will only get one — meaning only one person out of their ten-member squad will proceed.”
Jiutian Liu concluded, “The outcome of this match will profoundly impact the rest of the competition. The higher we rank, the more students we can advance. To win, we must quickly regroup with our teammates and ally with other schools.”
Zhang Yu took a deep breath, inwardly musing, “As both sides continue to gather and consolidate their forces, this team match will likely evolve into… a grand showdown between two major alliances, one led by Myriad Laws and the other by Heavenly Demon.”
Looking at one of the rules, Zhang Yu thought to himself, “Especially the part about being allowed to kill opponents during the competition without facing elimination or having to pay Spirit Coins for compensation.”
“Moreover, many participants likely have the resources to revive themselves, and some schools might even cover the revival costs.”
“That means even if someone dies in battle, they can be revived as long as they have sufficient value and still be selected for the qualifying spots… allowing them to participate in the next round.”
By this point, Zhang Yu could already imagine how utterly brutal the final battle would become.
Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Demon University team’s camp, Kuang Tianqing scoffed at the last rule. “Tch, only one captive can be moved at a time?”
“So even if I defeat them all, I can only capture one prisoner at a time… Hmph, trying to restrict me?”
At the same moment, on the floating continent projected into the Spirit Realm Projection, countless resources — plants, materials, minerals, Demon Beasts, and even Spirit Veins — descended from the sky, scattering across the continent and forming a complete natural ecosystem.
True Monarch Tranquility mused inwardly, “With such abundant resources and three days of competition time, each discipline can fully leverage its strengths. That means it’s crucial to maximize one’s combat capabilities within those three days by exploiting the resources scattered across the floating continent.”
Gazing at the vast resources scattered across the floating continent, he couldn’t help but think, “The company that secured the contract to build this competition venue must be raking in the profits.”
After announcing the rules and objectives for the first round, a five-minute countdown immediately appeared before the participants.
When the timer reached zero, the 100 students from the Ten Great Universities would be randomly teleported across the entire continent.
These five minutes were the participants’ last opportunity for final preparations.
True Monarch Tranquility’s eyes flashed, and he immediately messaged the school team group chat: “After the competition begins, communication with the outside world is strictly prohibited. However, communication among competitors within the arena, or internal communication within the school team or Four-School Alliance groups, is permitted.”
True Monarch Tranquility: “Upon entering the arena, immediately determine your locations and quickly communicate to establish a rendezvous point.”
True Monarch Tranquility: “Avoid unnecessary combat along the way. Do not engage in solo fights. Gather at the rendezvous point as quickly as possible. This is the key to the early stages of the competition…”
Ye Xingli asked, “What if we encounter members of Heavenly Sword, Vajra, or Immortal Soldiers along the way?”
True Monarch Tranquility replied, “They can still be trusted. If they’re headed in the same direction, you can travel together.”
As True Monarch Tranquility continued to instruct his students, the five-minute countdown quickly elapsed.
In an instant, strands of radiant light seemed to envelop each student in the Spirit Realm.
From this moment forward, they were prohibited from communicating with anyone outside the competition arena.
The next moment, an invisible force propelled Zhang Yu skyward. In the blink of an eye, he transformed into a streak of light, hurtling toward one corner of the floating continent.
Simultaneously, nearly a hundred streaks of light tore through the sky like shooting stars, blanketing the entire continent.
“Senior sister is over there…”
Zhang Yu’s eyes darted rapidly across the trajectories of the streaks of light.
Though he couldn’t discern the individuals within the streaks of light, as fellow students from Myriad Laws University who had been standing together just moments before being enveloped in light, Zhang Yu could still recognize which streak of light represented each of his comrades.
“Dao Qiankun, Jiutian Liu, Yan Qianji… they’re all quite far from me.”
As he pondered, the ground rushed closer. With a deafening crash, Zhang Yu slammed into a dense jungle.
Amidst the flying leaves and shattered branches, the immense force of his impact created a hurricane that uprooted towering trees, carving a vast clearing into the dense forest.
In the meteor-like crater, Zhang Yu slowly floated upward, his sword casket — a towering three-meter-tall structure — hovering behind him.
The sword casket contained not only the twenty-four Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords but also other magical artifacts, such as the Golden Jade Wall, the Earth-Suppressing Seal, and spare Great Unity Golden Liquid Pills.
Simultaneously, messages began to appear in the school team’s communication channel.
Dao Qiankun: “Everyone report your locations. I’ll head to the center point; you all come find me.”
Jiutian Liu frowned at the chaotic data flickering across his Bionic Eye’s display and replied: “Unable to confirm geographical coordinates.”
Beside Yan Qianji, the Heavenly Sun Radiance God unleashed waves of fiery energy, scanning in all directions. His gaze sharpened as he declared: “This floating continent is experiencing severe geomagnetic interference.”
Yan Qianji: “The entire continent might be enveloped by a formation. Conventional positioning methods won’t work.”
Dao Qiankun: “Zhang Yu, any ideas?”
Zhang Yu struck the sword casket, and twenty-four Great Sky Sacred Law Flying Swords soared into the sky. Centered around his figure, they swept rapidly outward in all directions.
Zhang Yu: “I still remember the map of the floating continent. It will take about one to two hours to recalibrate the base points and rebuild the geographical model.”
Dao Qiankun frowned. You should all remember where you landed, right? Mark your locations on the map.
The school team members each shared a map of the floating continent, marking their respective landing spots.
Dao Qiankun finally marked the central point between the nine scattered members and declared, Everyone, converge here.
Dao Qiankun: “I’ll wait for you here.”
Dao Qiankun: “Remember to stay low-key. Conceal your Spirit Realm Projections and Foundation Establishment Domains.”
Dao Qiankun: “Don’t get sniped along the way.”
He then sent a message to the Four-School Alliance group chat: “Anyone who sees this and needs protection, follow me.”
After sending the message, Dao Qiankun gazed toward their destination and pointed a finger at the sky.
“Wind, come!”
In the next instant, a dark cloud abruptly materialized in the sky, expanding at an unimaginable speed.
Gale-force winds, torrential rain, thunderous roars, and blinding lightning… In the blink of an eye, a massive storm had formed.
Ten meters, a hundred meters, a thousand meters… a hundred kilometers!
The storm’s influence rapidly spread to cover a hundred kilometers.
At the storm’s epicenter, Dao Qiankun stood like a deity commanding the elements. Countless bolts of lightning and surging torrents, like subjects prostrating at his feet, transformed into dragon-shaped currents, swirling around him as he surged toward his target.
A student from White Bone University watched this scene from afar, glimpsing the figure at the heart of the meteorological cataclysm. He could almost hear the man’s voice erupting from the thunderous roars:
“Leave me alone!”
The White Bone University student stared at the colossal characters projected into the Spirit Realm, hovering above the storm’s eye, and the smaller, calligraphic inscription below: “Dao Qiankun.”
He swallowed hard, then quietly and hastily retreated, as if afraid to make any sound that might draw the man’s attention.
Zhang Yu’s figure flashed rapidly through the jungle, creating gusts of wind as he raced toward the agreed-upon location.
Suddenly, a piercing shriek tore through the sky, and a bone-chilling aura engulfed Zhang Yu.
With a crackling explosion, Zhang Yu whirled around and unleashed a palm strike, colliding with the attacking figure.
A massive shockwave erupted from the point of impact, sweeping outward in all directions and violently shaking the surrounding trees.
As the figure emerged from the shockwave, Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened. “Celestial Monsters University?”
The man made no attempt to conceal the Spirit Realm Projection hovering above his head.
Ying Yufan, the 7th-ranked student at Celestial Monsters University in the Monster Studies Department, was now revealed to Zhang Yu.
Though Ying Yufan’s appearance closely resembled that of a human student, the clusters of feathers hidden within his hair betrayed his monsterfolk heritage.
Zhang Yu knew that among the monsterfolk, some possessed higher bloodlines. It was said that the purer one’s blood, the more human-like their appearance, with fewer demonic features. Ying Yufan, standing before him, clearly belonged to such a lineage.
A faint smile played on Ying Yufan’s lips. “Zhang Yu of Myriad Laws University?”
Zhang Yu’s gaze sharpened, detecting a palpable, undisguised malice in Ying Yufan’s eyes.
Ying Yufan glanced at the glaring crimson-purple Spirit Realm Projection hovering above Zhang Yu’s head and sneered coldly. “Trash. You’re the weakest among the ten students from Myriad Laws University, aren’t you?”
“Then don’t blame me for starting the hunt with you.”
“After all, the strong devour the weak — it’s the law of nature.”
In the next instant, Ying Yufan erupted into maniacal laughter as his flesh and blood abruptly swelled. In the blink of an eye, his human form transformed into a colossal dragon. Spreading his five clawed fingers, he lunged at Zhang Yu with a massive dragon claw.
Zhang Yu’s heart sank as he recognized the cultivation art being used.
The Celestial Monsters University’s Demon Studies Department’s military-grade daoist art — the Celestial Monster Myriad Transformations Technique.