In the three days leading up to the Martial Gathering, participants frequently tested their capabilities against one another at the military base. It was a very lively environnt, and everyone there was confident in their own strength.
But per the rules, no fights were allowed, so they could only use other thods, like asurent of energy manipulation, raw strength against targets, and such things.
Rean wondered if they should use their chance to also start making a na for themselves in these small localized competitions, but Roan refused the idea. In the end, only the other participants would pay attention to those things. Besides, the powerful ones wouldn’t show their hand, so it was aningless.
Finally, the waiting was over, and the gathering started.
---
At the military base’s main building, on the roof, the various powers’ leaders were together, watching the crowd below. Then, as the hosts, the Verjansy Country would do the opening. Their president, Bugel Hianlaa, a Elental Space Realm Cultivator, stepped forward.
Screens all over the place, as well as everyone’s CDs, imdiately began to receive the video live.
"Welco to this decade’s Martial Gathering. My Verjansy Country citizens are honored to be the hosts this ti around, and we expect great things from all of you."
His speech continued for a while, nothing but good politics and such. It wasn’t before a few tens of minutes later that Bugel began to speak of the Gathering Itself.
"Due to the number of participants, we obviously can’t have simple brackets. We would stay here for months until we finally got our finalists."
Bugel continued. "That said, we will first reduce the numbers drastically. To start, we have a massive teleport formation set under the military base, and it will send you all to the Infernal Plains on the north side of the country."
"That’s a highly volatile land filled with storms of all major elents, like fire, water, lightning, etc. Your test is pretty simple: survive ten hours! How will you do that? That’s up to you. There are a few rules, though."
"First, the participants will be split into different groups based on their cultivations. Those in the Core and Soul Fusion will be sent to an area that matches their cultivation. The sa will happen for those in the Nascent Soul and Soul Transformation Realm, as well as Stage Five and Six Demon Beasts. That way, there will be no risk of high-level participants attacking low-level ones. That wouldn’t be a competition, just wantonly killing."
"Of course, as per the rules, you can apply to take part in the gathering of experts that are a realm above yours. So, for example, those in the Nascent Soul might find a few Core and Soul Fusion Realm participants in their area. The sa for Soul Transformation and Nascent Soul."
"The exception here will be the Saint Realm participants. Since there are fewer than a thousand of them, there is no need to reduce their numbers, so they will sit this one out."
"The second rule is that you can not hide," Bugel smiled. "The storms happen on the surface, so, for example, if everyone simply decides to bury themselves, this first challenge would lose all aning. We will have many Transition, Void Tempering, and even a few Space-Bending Realm experts from all countries watching over this challenge. Also, your CDs will be connected live to our servers, so forget about trying to cheat. If you try anything idiotic, we will know."
"As you can imagine, that is a hazardous area, and if you insist on not coming out, I don’t expect even a hundredth of the entering numbers to survive. But that doesn’t an we want so many of you to die. Many of you are the future of your sects, clans, organizations, and such. Thus, a formation has been prepared all over the Infernal Plains for that very purpose."
"That formation will be connected to your CDs, and all you have to do is select the ’give up’ option in your CD interface to send you back. The formation will imdiately catch you and teleport you back to the capital. Naturally, the gathering will be over for you at that point."
"Here’s a piece of advice: Don’t be Stubborn! A montary lapse of concentration can and potentially will cost you your life before you can even think about giving up. If you see you can’t hold on for much longer, prioritize your own life."
"Finally, there are no restrictions regarding fighting between participants. Since everyone will be in the sa cultivation realm, you are free to do as you wish. No one will stop you. According to the rule that allows individuals to apply to participate in a higher realm, if you encounter soone with lower cultivation, it’s because they chose to be in there themselves. Therefore, they cannot bla anyone if they are defeated or killed by a stronger opponent."
"Moving solo, forging alliances, hiding from others, it is all up to you. Just don’t do anything that could hide you from the storms. What matters is that you need to survive ten hours under the full force of the environnt. That’s all."
Finally, Bugel raised his hand and passed his orders. "Activate the formation!"
No one had a chance to ask any questions. The entire field shone with an intense silver light, and a second later, over four hundred thousand participants disappeared!
---
Infenal Plains, Inner Region...
*Zush, zush, zush, zush, zush...*
Countless cultivators, demon beasts, spirits, and so on began to appear one after another. Still, several kiloters were separating each of them, depicting just how big the Infernal Plains were. Another point was that there was no pattern in the teleportation, indicating that everyone was teleported randomly.
*Zush!*
Sowhere closer to the core region of the Infernal Plains, a black haired young man appeared, seemingly to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. He looked at his shoulder, noticing that a green blob that was supposed to be there had disappeared. Naturally, that young man was none other than Roan.
"Hum... That ans Zangeshu, Tanxan, and Foliana are on their own," Roan murmured. Of course, with their strength, it didn’t really matter at the mont.
*Kabrum!*
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning ca from the heavens, aiming straight at Roan. The power it carried could definitely kill a Nascent Soul Realm expert if they weren’t careful.
Yet, Roan simply took a step backwards. His Divine Energy created a kind of conductor and led the Lightning Bolt straight to the ground, missing Roan completely. Roan, unphased, looked up and faintly smiled. "They are truly not holding back in this gathering, are they?"
Above, the storm of elents raged, and Roan could see fireballs, lightning bolts, water jets, icicles, and all sorts of elental projectiles flying down. He only had to see it once to understand. The sa formation that could be used to give up was also being used to control the Infernal Plains. The many elental storms would be purposely targeting the participants from start to finish.
*Bang!*
A fire snake suddenly exploded a few ters away from Roan, being blasted away by a thin wave of Divine Energy and Dark Elent. Roan got rid of another one of those elental attacks without even looking at it. "Since I don’t have anything better to do, I might as well walk around a bit."
And so, as if taking a stroll through the park, Roan leisurely moved away. The ten hours have just started.
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