"Uncle..." Li Lin didn't finish his sentence when he was instantly interrupted by Lv Xiaoling. She then looked at Li Lin with a smile tinged with pride, took out Li Lin's space beast pouch in her hand, and said, "Can I add something extra to this competition? It's worth seven or eight million gold coins. I'll award it to today's first place."
"Of course, Ling'er has this elegant interest, naturally, there's no problem." Dai Daozi looked somewhat surprised, then smiled and said to everyone in the hall, "Miss Xiaoling said that today's first place will receive a treasure worth a hundred and eighty million gold coins."
"My God, eight hundred million gold coins, I'm going all out."
"I must give it my all today."
Below in the hall, after everyone was surprised, they all became excited and agitated. Even the elders and sect leaders of several sects couldn't sit still. Eight hundred million gold coins was a huge fortune for them.
"Miss Xiaoling, I must win first place today," Dai Changyun immediately said to Lv Xiaoling.
"Young brother, what did you just say?" Dai Daozi asked Li Lin again, as his words had been interrupted by Lv Xiaoling and he hadn't heard them clearly.
"Of course I'm participating. All sects are participating, and Flying Spirit Gate naturally cannot fall behind," Li Lin said with a smile, but his eyes were fiercely looking at Lv Xiaoling. This woman actually used his space beast pouch as a prize. Little dragon and Tian Chi Snow Lion were both in the space beast pouch now. It seemed that he must win first place, otherwise, if the space beast pouch ended up in someone else's hands and they forcibly opened it, then it would be troublesome.
"Then good, I also want to see the young brother's strength," Dai Daozi said with a smile.
"Li Lin, you must win," Lv Xiaoling said with a proud smile, gently shaking the space beast pouch in her hand, as if telling Li Lin that if he doesn't fight with all his might, his space pouch will belong to someone else.
Li Lin glared at Lv Xiaoling hatefully. This woman was too cunning and eccentric, forcing him to fight desperately. He didn't know what she wanted to do.
"Hmph..."
Hearing that Li Lin was going to compete, Dai Chang'an and Dai Changyun both snorted coldly through their nostrils, staring fiercely at Li Lin.
"In that case, let's all go to the square and see how many young heroes there are in each sect and school this year," Dai Daozi said with a hearty smile, then stood up and said to the Liu surname elder and Wang surname elder, "How about you two elders also join in the fun?"
"The annual grand event of Ghost Martial Sect, I've been wanting to see it," the two elders originally didn't seem very interested, but after Li Lin agreed to participate, they became somewhat interested. They knew that the space pouch Miss offered was not her item, but Li Lin's, and they also wanted to see Li Lin's current strength.
Everyone in the hall then headed outside to the square. Li Lin still followed by Lv Xiaoling's side, but he invisibly felt a coldness spreading over him. Glancing sideways, it was all people from Jiu Hua Sect.
"It looks like there's trouble," Li Lin sighed secretly. Now, both Jiu Hua Sect and Dai Chang'an, Dai Changyun had quite a bit of hostility towards him. The people from Jiu Hua Sect naturally because of the Jubaomen matter, and Dai Chang'an, Dai Changyun, were because of Lv Xiaoling, this cause of disaster.
Outside the hall, in the square, the most central position towards the back was already set with a row of chairs, with Dai Daozi, Dai Gangzi, Lv Xiaoling, the Liu surname elder, the Wang surname elder, and several elders from Ghost Martial Sect seated, and the sect leaders of Qian Shan Sect and the other three sects also sat on the side, but the elders in the sect only had to stand.
Around the square, there were already thousands of Ghost Martial Sect disciples, all of them excited, as this kind of excitement was not often seen.
"Sect Leader Li, please come on stage. The previous Luosha Sect never achieved any results every year. I hope Flying Spirit Gate can achieve a good result this year," Du Yunshan said to Li Lin, then led Li Lin to the central square.
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"Elder Du, what are the specific rules of this competition?" Li Lin frowned. The competition at the sect conference was not explained to him, probably because Zhou Yuhou and others hadn't been to Ghost Martial Sect, so they were unaware.
"Regardless of life or death, there are no restrictions except for bringing demonic beasts into the arena," Du Yunshan said. "As for other rules, Sect Leader Li, it's your first time here, so naturally, you wouldn't know. Qian Shan Sect, Tian Yi Sect, Yun Shan Sect, Jiu Hua Sect, and Flying Spirit Gate, according to the rules, can each send five young disciples. Ghost Martial Sect will send ten young disciples. After the first round of competition, ten people will remain. In the second round, these ten people will draw lots to compete directly, leaving the final five. Then, our Ghost Martial Sect will set up a small formation for these last five. The first one to break out will be the top three."
"There's also a formation challenge," Li Lin frowned, then smiled slightly and said, "Thank you, Elder Du, for the explanation."
"All the young competitors from each sect, please come forward," Du Yunshan then loudly announced, following Dai Daozi's gesture. As his words fell, young disciples from each sect quickly stepped forward, all eager to show their prowess.
Li Lin glanced around and saw that from each sect, five young disciples stepped forward, among which, in the cheering of thousands of disciples from Ghost Martial Sect, eight young people came forward.
These competing youths were all talented among the young generation, with the lowest level of cultivation being a first-tier martial artist, and the strongest, judging by their aura, was a sixth-tier martial artist, one of the eight young people from Ghost Martial Sect.
"Cousin, I'm going up too, I must win first place," Dai Chang'an said beside Lv Xiaoling, then glanced at Dai Changyun beside him with a somewhat provocative intent.
"Miss Xiaoling, I will also win first place," Dai Changyun also declared emphatically, glancing at Dai Chang'an and walked to the center of the square, passing by Li Lin with a snort of disdain.
Li Lin swept his gaze across the field, now totaling thirty-one people, with Ghost Martial Sect's eight, and now with Dai Chang'an and Dai Changyun, making it ten people, while the other sects, Qian Shan Sect, Tian Yi Sect, Yun Shan Sect, Jiu Hua Sect, each had five disciples.
Li Lin could now recognize the people from Qian Shan Sect, Tian Yi Sect, Yun Shan Sect, Jiu Hua Sect, having paid attention to the conversations in the hall. The people from Jiu Hua Sect were exuding coldness towards him, while the other three sects didn't pay much attention to him.
In terms of overall strength, Ghost Martial Sect's participants were obviously much stronger, with cultivation levels between fourth-tier and fifth-tier martial artists, including Dai Changyun, making up two sixth-tier martial artists. The other four sects had cultivation levels from first-tier to fourth-tier martial artists, which was already good among the young generation, but their overall strength was much less compared to Ghost Martial Sect's.
"Everyone listen well, once you enter the arena, it's a matter of life and death, with no restrictions except for bringing demonic beasts. If you regret now, it's still not too late to withdraw. After entering the arena, your fate is in the hands of heaven. If you admit defeat, leave the square on your own; otherwise, it's a matter of life and death in the square. Do you understand?" Du Yunshan scanned the crowd and then said.
"We understand," everyone responded in unison, all eager and ready, with no one choosing to withdraw.
Li Lin's heart sank slightly. The people in this ancient realm were indeed ruthless; a mere competition was a matter of life and death, a fight to the death. He feared that after the first round, many of these thirty people would become corpses. In this ancient realm, where killings were commonplace, everyone was accustomed to this; only the strong could survive, everything depended on strength, on killing.
Assessing everyone's level of strength, Li Lin estimated that although his cultivation was at the fourth-tier martial artist level, his true strength was sufficient to protect himself. He feared that if people, especially from Jiu Hua Sect, targeted him for a joint attack, it would be extremely troublesome, especially since he couldn't reveal his identity as a spiritual practitioner and a five-element martial artist too soon.
He must win this time; the space beast pouch was in Lv Xiaoling's hands, and he had to win it back. Thinking this, he then heard Du Yunshan say again, "The boundary is the square, the first round is a melee, and it will automatically end when ten people remain. Good luck, everyone. Begin now."
As Du Yunshan's words fell, his figure instantly disappeared from the square.
"Hu hu..."
A wave of killing intent immediately filled the air, and vital energy vibrated rapidly.
In the midst of Li Lin's thoughts, figures moved across the square, and amid the fiery noise, there were sudden clashes of strength, fierce vital energies colliding, creating bursts of low sonic booms.
The competition started without any warm-up, directly entering into a real battle, a fight to the death. Once on the square, everyone understood it was a fight with no retreat.
"Die," almost simultaneously, a figure flashed, a white figure instantly appeared in front of Li Lin, in a flash of lightning, the sound of cutting wind pierced through the space, sparks flying continuously, a sword light cleaved towards him.
"A disciple from Jiu Hua Sect." Li Lin's body rapidly retreated, wind attribute combined with earth attribute, speed surged, but outsiders couldn't see it, the young man in front of him in a green short shirt was indeed a third-tier martial artist disciple from Jiu Hua Sect.