Chapter 41: Barging into the Illusionary Battlefield in the Martial Arts Competition!

Chapter 41

Barging into the Illusionary Battlefield in the Martial Arts Competition!

With all twelve competitors now gathered, Ouyang Cheng shouted loudly.

"My fellow countrymen, the moment has finally arrived. May we now invite our two officials to set up the battle arena." As Ouyang Cheng spoke, he turned towards the two officials, Song and Wu, who were behind him.

“Pardon for troubling you, officials.”

Everyone was stunned. What’s happening? Wasn’t the arena there already? Why is another battle arena being set up?

The spectators in the stands were all befuddled. Even the competitors on the platform could not comprehend what was being said.

While everyone was deeply confused, the officials from the Capital, Song and Wu, leapt from the judging platform to the arena.

“Please step back.” Ouyang Cheng made the twelve competitors stand at the sides of the platform, while Song and Wu stood in the centre of the arena.

The two faced each other, with a distance of over thirty meters between them.

“Start.”

Suddenly, one of them spoke and both took out a rather primitive and quaint round brass mirror.

Official Song held a black mirror while Official Wu held a white mirror.

The mirrors attracted the attention of many on the platform and the spectator stands.

They were moved by the strong spiritual power emitted by the mirrors. There was no need for further inspection—these were definitely spiritual tools.

Official Song shouted as he pointed the surface of the black mirror to the sky. With his palm, he struck the back of the mirror.

The mirror buzzed loudly as a huge black beam of light shot out at a forty-five degree angle from the mirror surface and tore through the sky.

“Shoot.” At the same moment, Official Wu replicated the movement and smashed the back of his mirror. A white beam of light shot out.

Boom! With a loud bang, the two beams of light collided with each other in the air. The clash resembled the roar of thunder in a stormy sky.

Ripples were formed at the point of collision, as if a huge stone was thrown into a peaceful lake.

“Release!” Official Wu and Official Song shouted and released the mirrors at the same time. The mirrors flew out of their grasp into the air. They rose, parallel to each other, and the beams they emitted were constantly converging at a single point in the air. Finally, when the beams of light formed a straight, horizontal line, the mirrors stopped rising and hovered in position. The beams then merged together into a larger beam of light.

“Buzzzz...”

The two beams of light continued to buzz and the ripples between them grew larger. This caused the distance between the mirrors to increase.

The people below looked aghast as they lifted their heads to observe everything happening in the air. The ripples continued to enlarge, and the fabric of space began to twist and turn, becoming increasingly illusory. Within this illusion, a huge mountain range broke through the earth and grew in height as it buzzed loudly.

In a matter of seconds, an enormous mountain range was formed. It was hidden beneath a layer of mist, and towered over everything present.

However, things had yet to come to an end. The ground shook, and great towering halls emerged from the ground, threatening to rip through the clouds.

This was too amazing and spectacular!

The crowd was stunned into silence, their mouths hanging open with shock.

Yet, Qin Yu was not amazed by the scene in the air. Rather, his gaze was fixated on the mountain as he recognized it as an Illusionary Battlefield. He had not expected that the two mirrors would be capable of forming such a grand and realistic spatial Illusionary Battlefield.

People finally realised—this Martial Arts Competition was different from those in the past years.

The twelve competitors were the most confounded as they looked at the Illusionary Battlefield with slight anxiety. It was normal for humans to be anxious about the unknown. Some of the competitors guessed that the final battle would be held in the Illusionary Battlefield.

As the Illusionary Battlefield took its shape, Official Song looked at the twelve youths and spoke loudly.

“Listen up, everyone. This year’s Martial Arts Competition would be different from those in the past years. Our emperor has to select a batch of true elite warriors, and thus he had spent innumerable wealth and resources to form this battle arena.”

“Once you enter the arena, life or death would be decided by fate. Do be mentally prepared, as what you would encounter inside is unknown, even to us. The only thing which I can tell you is that it’s dangerous inside - but there will be many lucky chances too. You may die, or you may receive godly treasures and lucky chances and grow at an incredible speed.”

The audience on the stands and the competitors on the platform felt uneasy at Official Song's solemn speech. This was doubly so for Lu Wushuang, who had the weakest ability among the twelve competitors. She had only made it so far by relying on her Golden Silk Armour and her luck. Would her luck persist if she entered the new battleground?

“Official, if we were to be faced with danger, could we choose to give up on this Pre-Selection Test?” Lu Wushuang asked, becoming the first competitor to speak.

Official Song’s cold gaze fell upon Lu Wushuang and his facial expressions remained cold and gloomy. Those who practice Martial Arts value the will to press forward despite obstruction, perseverance and determination. Martial Artists must have the courage to challenge difficult situations, yet Lu Wushuang had asked about giving up when she had yet to enter. This had greatly disappointed him.

However, he still answered her due to his responsibilities as an official.

“Yes you can. When you enter, of you would be given a renunciation token. When you want to give up, look for any Great Hall within the mountain ranges. Every Hall would have a Transmission Formation. The token would open the Transmission Formation, which would send you out. Of course, I do not wish for any of you to leave via such a way, as a person who flees in the face of challenges would surely not venture far in his path for Martial Arts.

“I shall not delay you any further with my speech. The trial will last for three months. After three months, the Illusionary Battlefield will vanish and you will be sent out automatically. Those who made it out alive without using their renunciation token will be qualified to be sent to the Capital to fight for their honour. They would be groomed by the Emperor and achieve an unimaginable future of glory!”

The last statement was very alluring to the young talents, and they felt their blood boil with excitement. They felt that a glorious and bright future was there for their taking!

After Official Song made his speech, he nodded at Official Wu.

Both of them understood each other and nodded simultaneously. They shouted at the same time and stomped the ground with their foot. Two strong auras burst forth from them and radiated towards the Illusionary Battlefield above.

Judging from their aura, both of them must be incredibly strong individuals.

“Buzzz...”

The two auras shot into the Illusionary Battlefield and the light ring beneath the battlefield buzzed twice as the ripples expanded. Suddenly, with a loud boom, the centre of the ripples ripped apart and a light beam which was half black and half white shot down from above and illuminated the central area of the battle arena.

Looking at the beam of light which shot down, Qin Yu who was standing amongst the crowd, knew that the light was the passageway to the Illusionary Battlefield. He could enter it as long as he stepped into the circle of light and he had to grab the chance by rushing into it at lightning speed.

In regards to meeting any danger, or having a renunciation token, he really did not care. The path of Martial Arts required a will to advance courageously and he would let no danger slow down the pace at which he progressed. He had never thought of giving up either.

While everyone was still in awe, Qin Yu had silently made his way from the back to the front.

“This beam of light is the passage for you to enter the battlefield. Now, you will walk over one by one and enter. Who will be the first?” Official Song bellowed at the twelve competitors.

“I will.”

No one within the twelve competitors responded, yet a voice emerged from the back.

Official Song was dumbfounded and could not turn in time when a typhoon blew from his back. In the twinkling of an eye, a grey shadow gently rubbed against him as it rushed into the beam of light.

“Get off!” Official Song was in rage. This person had not earned the qualifications to enter the battlefield, yet he is trying to forcefully barge into the Illusionary Battlefield. Not only had he broken the rules, he was about to enter the Illusionary Battlefield right under his watch. How could he tolerate that?

A terrifying strike with a turbulent aura followed that shadow. Official Song gave a deadly strike as he would never be merciful to one who had went against the rules.

“Wind, rise!” Qin Yu shouted.

Qin Yu relied on his comprehension of the spiritual nature of wind to aid his ascent. By fusing his comprehension with the steps of the Cloudtrack Phantom skill, he quickly advanced into the beam of light.

At the same time, Official Song shouted.

“Kill!”

A blood-colored saber cut through the light beam and flew towards Official Song's palm swiftly and forcefully.

With a buzz, the light beam trembled slightly and the ripples wavered. Qin Yu’s shadow disappeared from the light beam and he was transmitted to the Illusionary Battlefield.

Official Song’s violent strike had missed, yet a scary blood-red saber swerved in his direction.

“Break!”

Official Song did not avoid it. He tilted his palm slightly to avoid the sharp edge of the saber. Then, he slapped the flat side of the saber and deflected the saber. While his actions seemed simple, to deflect the saber away in such a brief and short moment required incredible reflexes and skill. His ability left the audience in awe.

Although he had shown his abilities, he had failed to stop Qin Yu and had been shamed in front of so many. He looked extremely upset but he was also secretly shocked. Who was that shadow? He was too fast, so fast that he felt that he was impossible to stop.

There was also a fair number of Transformation Realm cultivators in the audience and on the platform. They too felt shock and fear at the speed of the person.

"Who was that? How dare he attack an Official from the Capital? He is really bold!" The people in the crowd expressed their doubts on the identity of the shadow.

“Qin Yu, he is Qin Yu!”

With one glance, Qin Chong, Qin Biao and the others, who were sitting at the Qin family seats in the spectator stands, instantly recognised the shadow and identified him as Qin Yu. Even the head of the Qin family, Qin Zhong, who was sitting at the judges platform, rose to his feet. He stared at the shadow which had vanished as his facial expressions changed.

With his abilities, no matter how fast Qin Yu was, he could still recognise him.

As the Qin family members called out Qin Yu’s name, some of the people recognised him as well. Furthermore, the audience could also clearly see Qin Yu in the Illusionary Battlefield. He was clothed in coarse grey clothing and wore a low and short bamboo hat. Stepping out of a Great Hall, he advanced into the mountain ranges shrouded in fog.

Qin Zhao and Lu Wushuang stared at that silhouette as their emotions fluctuated wildly, whirling as if they were caught in a tempestuous storm. Lu Wushuang felt especially anxious, and terror grew in her heart.

She had initially relied on the Golden Silk Armour to survive his attack. She thought that she could be relieved since he died. Who would have thought he would survive and had outsmart everyone and enter the Illusionary Battlefield? If she were to encounter Qin Yu again, would she still survive?

“Shuang-er, fear not. I can kill him this time round when we’re inside.” Qin Zhao sensed Lu Wushuang’s fear as he attempted to comfort her. His eyes followed that silhouette and a murderous, icy gaze shot out from them.

When Qin Yu broke past Official Song and entered the Illusionary Battlefield, Qin Yu had released an aura which indicated that he was only at the peak of the Origin Realm. Qin Zhao was currently in the Beginning Stage of the Immersion Realm - an entire Realm above Qin Yu. For a Immersion Realm cultivator to kill a cultivator of the Origin Realm would be as easy as slaughtering a dog.

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