Age of Evolution

Chapter 746: Chapter 749: The Competition Begins!

Finally, the day of the martial arts competition has arrived.

As expected by the Holy Land, an even larger crowd poured in on the second day.

If they hadn’t prepared in advance, the competition might have been aborted even before it began, as the crowd would have crushed the venue.

By the shores of Falling Star Lake, tens of thousands of stages have already been set up.

However, the rest of the stages are wide and sparsely populated, with few spectators. Only well-known expert martial artists would attract a certain level of popularity.

But no matter which stage, none can compare to Lin Zhen’s.

In the areas closer to the stage, the price had even been inflated to quite a high level. Many people who came early to occupy seats even made a profit.

The competition was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., and it is already 8:30 a.m. now.

All the participating contestants have already arrived, ready to make their mark in this highly anticipated event.

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“Look! The people from Falling Star Lake are coming, it’s about to start!”

They saw the water churning in the distance, white waves soaring into the sky, as if something huge was emerging from the water.

“Wow! It’s the Sacred Whale of Falling Star Lake!”

People looked over and saw that under the splashing water, a small island seemed to be rising from the water, stirring the waves, and the exposed surface area was getting larger and larger.

It was a thousand-meter-long giant whale, its blue skin gleaming like a huge blue gemstone.

After the whale surfaced, several carriages filled the sky above, with dragon and phoenix carriages arriving on the whale’s back.

A group of white-robed Holy Land disciples had set up tables and chairs on the whale’s back, and even laid out a large screen so that the VIP guests could watch.

All these carriages were invited by the Holy Land, and the people who came were all prominent figures.

“Emperor of the Da Qin Empire, Emperor Zhu Ziheng and the Queen, have arrived!”

With the long singing, nine dragons pulled a carriage, landing on the back of the whale.

Emperor Zhu Ziheng, with his queen, alighted from the dragon carriage and waved continuously to the camera.

Zhu Ziheng as emperor was far less prestigious than Qin Wushang in his time. Although he was the emperor, most Da Qin people didn’t regard Zhu Ziheng as the most respected person in Da Qin.

This person could be National Master Qian Tong, the master of Falling Star Lake, the CEO of the Dimensional Universe, the CEO of the premier bank of the universe, but definitely not Zhu Ziheng.

No matter what, Zhu Ziheng was the emperor of Da Qin, and at today’s event, he must still sit in the first place.

The people of Da Qin also gave Zhu Ziheng a round of applause.

“The living legend of Da Qin, the only Saint-Level Alchemist, National Master Qian Tong has arrived!”

There was another round of drums and music, a giant crane flew from the sky, with an old man in an alchemist’s robe sitting on it.

The person who came was National Master Qian Tong. Although his influence was extensive, he didn’t make a show. He was still very cautious, not wanting others to gossip about him, so he only flew over on a crane by himself.

Qian Tong landed on the blue whale’s back, laughing and bowing to Zhu Ziheng. Zhu Ziheng also hurriedly went to support him, and the two of them sat down, chatting and laughing, in a harmonious scene.

The applause for Qian Tong from the people of Qin was even more enthusiastic than for Zhu Ziheng. To a large extent, Qian Tong represents the prestige of the Qin Kingdom. Since the succession of the Qin royal family, there are not many things that the Qin Kingdom can boast about, and Qian Tong is definitely one of them.

His identity as a Saint-Level Alchemist alone was enough to make other countries on the continent worship him.

After Qian Tong sat down, more and more important people arrived one after another.

For example, the vice president of Dimensional Universe, the vice president of the Dimensional Arena, the vice president of the Universe’s First Bank, the well-known civil and military ministers of the Qin Kingdom, princes, members of the Star River Giant Beast Alliance, Alchemist Association, Artifact Refiners Association, prominent families, and business celebrities…

The number of people grew, and soon several hundred people were seated on the back of the blue whale.

Lin Zhen even saw Long Ge’er and Saga among them.

Long Ge’er was representing the Alchemist Association, and Saga was a member of the Star River Giant Beast Alliance team.

When all these people had arrived, a golden-robed martial artist appeared from the Holy Land.

In the Holy Land, menial workers wore blue robes, formal disciples wore white, and those with different statuses wore gold.

When the golden-robed martial artist appeared, Qian Tong, Zhu Ziheng, and others stood up one after another to show respect.

This honor was given to the master of Falling Star Lake. Even if Zhu Ziheng was the Emperor of Da Qin, he was no match for the master of Falling Star Lake. The masters of the Four Great Sacred Lands have absolutely unattainable status and identity, and the golden-robed martial artist is the disciple of Falling Star Lake Master, so, of course, they had to give him full respect.

Other martial artists, even if they were Heaven Class students, could only be considered Holy Land Warriors, not disciples of the Falling Star Lake Master. To become a disciple of this great figure is definitely no easy task.

The golden-robed martial artist appeared gentle and refined, exuding a strong scholarly air. n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

After he appeared, Zhu Ziheng and others said, “Greetings, Fifth Young Master!” “Greetings, Young Master Jin Nuo!”

This man was the fifth disciple of the Falling Star Lake Master, named Jin Nuo. He was usually in charge of any Holy Land activities, so everyone was familiar with him.

“Greetings to Your Majesty and everyone!” Jin Nuo greeted Zhu Ziheng individually, and didn’t deliberately greet the National Master, in order to further highlight the Emperor.

“Today the Holy Land selection begins. We appreciate Your Majesty and everyone’s presence to witness this event, helping Holy Land select talents. Thank you all!”

“Hahaha! It’s not hard at all! What counts as hard work? Please give my regards to your master. If the Da Qin Empire is still flourishing 100 years into my reign, I will personally lead the civil and military officials to Star-Picking Island to pay homage!”

Jin Nuo nodded slightly, then called for the Holy Land servants in blue to take care of the honored guests, before coming to the head of the whale.

As Jin Nuo stood in mid-air, the head of the whale began to spout a huge column of water!

This water column shot directly up to a kilometer high in the sky, with Jin Luo standing atop it, overlooking the people below like a godly palace in the clouds.

His voice didn’t seem loud, but it could clearly be heard by everyone present.

“Every ten years, the Holy Land recruits talents to enter Falling Star Lake. The purpose is to improve the overall strength of martial artists, confront enemies in the Endless Star Sea, and ensure the safety of our Original World.”

“As long as the Holy Land flourishes, the Original World will be safe and secure. Therefore, the Holy Land recruitment must select only the best talents.”

“The rules have been sent out long ago, and everyone should be clear. The Holy Land selection will adopt an elimination format, where everyone will be automatically teleported to the arena for their match, to save as much time as possible. The Holy Land selection is estimated to take three days.”

“All participating contestants, please get ready. The staff have already sent you your amulets and number plates. Wear your number plates and be prepared to begin.”

All the contestants took their amulets and put on their number plates.

Number plates are used for teleportation. When it’s time for a match, contestants are teleported to the arena using their number plates.

The amulet can be held in the hand or stuffed in the tooth gap. When crushed or bitten at a critical moment, it would generate a shield capable of withstanding the attack of a Three Flowers Peak Stage martial artist, or even a Mental Shock attack from a Diamond Peak level martial artist.

When all these preparations were completed, Jin Nuo turned to Zhu Ziheng and said, “Your Majesty, you may announce the start of the competition.”

Zhu Ziheng nodded, stood up from the crowd, and shouted to the camera, “I hope everyone will compete fairly and add their strength to the flourishing Da Qin era. Provide fresh blood to the Holy Land. I now declare the competition begins!”

There was the booming sound of salutes, shaking the heavens, while the scene was filled with people and excitement. The Holy Land selection was about to begin!

People’s blood started boiling, as they shouted the names of those they supported.

Soon, shadows appeared at every arena, and the fierce battles officially began!

The first round of elimination would take a bit longer because there were a total of 10,000 stages, and the first round would eliminate more than 500,000 people.

This means that each stage must host at least fifty matches to eliminate the contestants in the first round.

However, after the first round, things will become easier. The second round will eliminate more than 250,000 people, and the third round will only have more than 120,000 left, while the fourth round will only have more than 60,000 left.

The further it goes, the simpler it becomes, and toward the end, even the 10,000 stages won’t be needed.

All stages have a huge energy shield to protect the martial artists inside, and no attack can break the shield and harm people outside.

Even people outside cannot attack the martial artists within, so the fights are mostly fair.

There are no specific restrictions on the arena. As long as you can win in the arena, you pass. The losing contestants either die in battle or crush their amulet to quit the match.

If both rivals die in a match, their next opponents will get a bye.

The rules were simple, and the battles were intense!

Lin Zhen’s stage wasn’t only designated for him; in the early phase, it could also be temporarily used by other contestants. However, all of Lin Zhen’s matches would take place on this stage.

Even now, the fighters on the stage were having fierce battles, causing sky-shaking clashes, as they were Longevity Warriors. In such a narrow arena to unleash their firepower, it was difficult not to have intense battles.

However, what people were looking forward to even more was the confrontation between Lin Zhen and Jiao Xi.

“Look! I see Jiao Xi!”

“Where? Where?”

“Over there! The one in white holding a sword, flying towards us!”

In the distance, a figure was stepping on a flying sword, dressed in white, slowly flying over at a leisurely pace!

Jiao Xi had planned this entrance for a long time. He was currently very popular in the Qin Kingdom, and many people hoped he would defeat Lin Zhen in the first round to vent their anger.

Jiao Xi, of course, also wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to make a name for himself and gain more notoriety.

He designed this entrance, as the white-clothed youth comes flying with a sword, defeats the enemy of the Qin Kingdom, Lin Zhen, and then leaves gracefully. This would win the hearts of countless young girls!

He had originally intended to appear after Lin Zhen’s arrival, but since Lin Zhen’s shadow had yet to appear, Jiao Xi decided to make his entrance first.

With fluttering clothes and a sword in hand, he arrived! Underneath, countless people cheered for him, making this moment the peak of Jiao Xi’s life!