Chapter 0776: The Grand Competition Begins

Chapter 0776 The Tournament Begins

As soon as Qin Yun emerged, he saw only Xiao Yuemei waiting for him.

"Where are the others?" Qin Yun asked.

"They went to the arena long ago! They went to cheer for Sister Yang!" Xiao Yuemei replied, noticing that Qin Yun seemed different.

Still puzzled, she lowered her voice and asked, "Brother, have you stepped into the Xuanwu Realm?"

Qin Yun smiled. "Yes! My training took an unexpected turn, but overall, it went smoothly!"

"Great! Let's move!" Xiao Yuemei didn’t press further and dragged Qin Yun with her as they left.

...

Today was the final day for the Martial Lord tournament registration.

Most who intended to sign up had already done so.

Qin Yun’s appearance here today caused quite a commotion.

Long Shengkuang and his group were not present.

The registration site was just outside the Sword Immortal Villa’s main gate.

After registering, Qin Yun received a jade badge and entered the Sword Immortal Villa.

"There’s been no news of Qin Yun these past few days. I thought he was cowering in fear, but it seems he couldn’t take the insult lying down—he actually signed up for the Martial Lord tournament!"

"Sigh, Long Shengkuang was baiting him on purpose to make him participate, just to show him up in the ring!"

"Long Shengkuang has been trash-talking Qin Yun nonstop these past few days!"

"It seems Qin Yun still couldn’t keep his cool!"

As the crowd watched Qin Yun enter the Sword Immortal Villa, they felt a strange excitement and followed him inside.

Today, the registered Martial Lords could check out the arena.

Qin Yun learned that barely a hundred Martial Lords had signed up—surprisingly few.

It wasn’t that there were too few Martial Lords, but everyone knew this tournament was a showdown between the best young talents.

Those without absolute confidence wouldn’t register, as it would only make them look bad.

If they’re unlucky, they might even get seriously injured.

In the eastern district of the Sword Immortal Villa, there was a massive open-air combat arena.

This arena had numerous spectator stands, capable of seating a hundred thousand people!

The arena itself stretched several hundred yards—spacious by ordinary standards, but still a bit cramped for Martial Lords.

As Qin Yun entered the arena, several sharp gazes instantly locked onto him.

Elders from major factions and the young elites who had registered for the tournament all zeroed in on Qin Yun.

Him showing up meant he had signed up for the Martial Lord tournament!

Everyone knew that Qin Yun only had peak-level Spirit Martial Realm strength. Yet, he still came to sign up for a tournament filled with formidable opponents—clearly provoked by Long Shengkuang.

Long Shengkuang and the Long family members smirked triumphantly upon seeing Qin Yun.

They had been eagerly anticipating Qin Yun’s participation, even worrying he might not show up!

Especially the Long family, who had suffered heavy losses at Qin Yun’s hands—they were determined to settle the score.

And the best way to do so was to publicly kill Qin Yun during the tournament!

Qin Yun glanced at Yang Shiyue.

Yang Shiyue wore a plain white outfit with a scarf wrapped around her neck, covering half her face.

When she saw Qin Yun arrive, she seemed to sense the odd energy inside him, her eyes widening in surprise.

Bao Changshou and Chu Binyu quickly approached Qin Yun.

"Qin Yun, you signed up?" Jian Nanhu immediately asked.

"Yeah!" Qin Yun took out his jade token and grinned. "Jian Nanhu, if you lose to me again, kiss that sword goodbye!"

Jian Nanhu’s Dao Sword was still in Xiao Xuanqin’s possession.

"Qin Yun, I won’t lose to you again!" Jian Nanhu laughed, then glanced at Long Shengkuang.

Jian Nanhu’s real target was Long Shengkuang!

A prodigy Martial Lord from the Sacred Domain—enigmatic and formidable.

Not just Long Shengkuang, but the group of elite disciples following him were also incredibly strong.

Jian Shitian said, "The tournament officially begins tomorrow! Over a hundred Martial Lords have signed up, so there must be a process—multiple elimination rounds—to determine the strongest contenders for the finals!"

The Long family and the powerful experts from the Profound Domain radiated oppressive energy, like a blatant show of force. Despite being in Jian territory, they had the gall to be this cocky—proof of their formidable power.

Bao Changshou asked, "Can you explain how tomorrow’s matches will work?"

"Certainly!" Jian Shitian replied. "Tomorrow’s challenge will be fighting puppet opponents!"

This surprised many of the participating Martial Lords.

Qin Yun was also surprised, as this format wasn’t much of a challenge for him.

An elder from the Long family sneered, "Your Jian family’s puppets? That’s pretty shady if you ask me!"

Jian Shitian said, "Tell you what—the Jian and Long families each supply half the puppets. Our Jian family’s puppets will battle your Long family’s Martial Lords, and your Long family’s puppets will battle our Jian family’s Martial Lords!"

A middle-aged man from the Long family glanced at Qin Yun and scoffed, "What about people like Qin Yun and Yang Shiyue? Whose puppets will they face?"

"Your puppets, of course. Sound good?" Jian Shitian chuckled.

The Jian family didn’t want to supply too many puppets, as they get wrecked fast.

"The puppets used will be peak-level Xuanwu Puppets!" Jian Shitian added. "You have those on hand, right?"

"Of course!" The Long family member grinned smugly, then shot Qin Yun a glance.

Qin Yun walked toward the spacious tournament arena, walking casually across it.

With so many people like Jian Shitian around, he didn't have to worry about the Long family making a move.

Yang Shiyue also walked over to Qin Yun, and they moved to a spot far from the crowd.

"Sister Yang, I’ve made you worry!" Qin Yun sent a voice transmission to Yang Shiyue.

"It’s not just me! Little Yun, Yue You often asks about you too. She’s currently in the Celestial Wasteland, and every full moon, she reaches out to check on you!" Seeing Qin Yun safe and sound, Yang Shiyue's lingering worry finally eased.

"Xiao Yun, about Yue You... you’re not holding a grudge, are you?" Yang Shiyue and Yue You were twin sisters, and the huge conflict between Qin Yun and Yue You weighed heavily on her.

"Of course not!" Qin Yun felt that if Yue You hadn’t sent him into the Darkmoon Abyss, he wouldn’t have obtained the Moon Princess’s Mystic Sigil Soul.

"That’s good. I was afraid you’d end up hating her forever!" Yang Shiyue smiled in relief.

Qin Yun glanced at the distant crowd and transmitted to Yang Shiyue, "Sister Yang, inside the Darkmoon Abyss, I obtained the Dark Moon and the Moon Princess’s Mystic Sigil Soul..."

He recounted the whole story to her.

"Yue You is really... so foolish! She couldn’t get the Dark Moon after all this time, yet you obtained it as soon as you entered!" Yang Shiyue shook her head with a laugh after hearing it.

"Sister Yang, the Dark Sun has now fused with my spirit. I can’t return it to you..." Qin Yun felt somewhat guilty about this.

"It’s fine! You obtaining the Dark Moon is your fate. Didn’t you say you’d find a way to create another one later? Once you’re strong enough, you can return it to me then!" Yang Shiyue chuckled softly and patted Qin Yun’s head.

"And my cultivation…?" Qin Yun wasn’t entirely sure about his current state.

"It’s… complicated. After you return, ask Bingxing—she’s the expert on this!" Yang Shiyue said.

If he asked Xie Qirou, he’d probably get an answer quickly.

But right now, he couldn’t get through to her.

Qin Yun and Yang Shiyue strolled around the martial arena, secretly conversing via voice transmission for a long time, discussing many things.

When the time was almost up, Qin Yun left the colossal battle arena with Bao Changshou and the others.

...

The next day, the martial arena was packed!

The crowd was packed with disciples from top factions across the Spirit Wasteland Mortal Domain, and they had all purchased tickets to enter.

Qin Yun entered the martial arena and lined up with a group of Martial Lords, waiting for Jian Shitian to arrive.

He didn’t think today’s competition would be particularly interesting.

After all, it was just a qualifiers—fighters taking on puppets to determine who would advance.

To qualify, one had to defeat a Xuanwu Puppet before an incense stick burned out.

This kind of qualifiers would undoubtedly weed out most contenders fast.

What Qin Yun cared about most was whether he could go up against Long Shengkuang!

Only by defeating Long Shengkuang could he settle the score from last time!

"Qin Yun, you’re even more impulsive than I imagined! Just a little provocation, and you actually bit—hahaha!" Long Shengkuang laughed, then turned to Yang Shiyue and said in a teasing tone, "Goddess Yang, if you fight me, I promise I’ll be very gentle with you—hahaha..."

Qin Yun’s gaze was murderous as he stared at Long Shengkuang.

Jian Shitian arrived and said, "For this tournament, as long as you rank in the top ten, you will receive a special reward. If you secure first place, the reward will allow your cultivation to advance by one stage!"

"For example, if you were originally at the mid-stage of the Xuanwu Realm, obtaining first place will enable our Sword Immortal Pavilion to help you steadily progress to the late-stage of the Xuanwu Realm!"

Such rewards drew gasps of envy from the crowd!

Qin Yun had just barely entered the Xuanwu Realm, as an early-stage Martial Lord, so this reward was quite significant for him as well.

"Good, there are a total of one hundred and ten of you! Next, you will face off against puppets. Through these fights, you will demonstrate your strength—defeat the puppet before an incense stick burns out!" Jian Shitian announced before starting to call out names.

He read out ten names and then matched them with puppets based on the backgrounds of these ten individuals.

It had been agreed earlier that the Jian and Long families would supply puppets together specifically to test disciples from rival factions.

This meant that ten matches would run at once on the grand martial competition stage!

The arena was big enough to handle them, though it would inevitably become quite chaotic.

Long Shengkuang was among the first batch of names called, all of whom were disciples from the Long family's sphere of influence, with several even from the Profound Domain.

The puppets for the first batch were provided by the Jian family!

Qin Yun and the others, who hadn’t yet taken the stage, watched from the sidelines.

Jian Ruyan remarked, "Brother Yun, we can use this chance to scope out the strength of those guys!"

Yang Shiyue shook her head and said, "Those from the Profound Domain won’t show their full strength so easily. They may act cocky, but they’re no fools."

At that moment, the battles between the Xuanwu Realm Martial Lords and the Xuanwu Puppets began!

During the fights, the use of weapons was prohibited.

Long Shengkuang and the others looked relaxed, barely even trying.