More and more of the young cultivators were kicked out of the Constellation Shell Mirror. The view screens up above even changed what they were showing. Instead of one larger screen and four smaller ones, it suddenly split into a giant grid. Each of the four screens split into quarters and the screen above did the same. Suddenly there was thirty two individual screens now and the action seemed to have multiplied. The cultivator’s inside weren’t slacking either.
Dozens of powerful individuals started to stand out, doing the same thing that Song Lu Tian was doing, directly kicking out the weaklings from the competition. Others seemed to catch on quickly and used various methods to hide themselves. They knew they didn’t have to defeat the other cultivator’s here, they just had to keep from being defeated. Some took an even more unusual approach, using their charisma and personal relations with other Sects or Clans to recruit allies. Instead of hiding they rapidly formed large groups to protect them from the lone powerful cultivators. Such a tactic wouldn’t let them triumph over others in the later rounds of the tournament, but they used this to their advantage.
“Come, let us work together! We’ll team up and join forces to eliminate those arrogant guys like Song Lu Tian!”
One of the groups was successful, knocking out one of those exceedingly strong cultivators that was working individually. Elsewhere a similar group was destroyed by Song Lu Tian. Using his name as a motivation to get more to join had come back to bite them and the whole team of twenty was kicked out one by one. Time continued to pass and despite there being so many different strategies it became apparent there was no ‘perfect solution’ to this test. The ones that were talented or powerful found a way to stand out, and they excelled using whatever tactic fit them best.
Song Lu Tian still moved alone, his tyrannical strength, sword skills, and sword formations were unstoppable. Fu Zedong showed his skill at clandestine operations. Seeming to materialize from out of the shadows and taking other cultivator’s down instantly. Chong Xiezi had a beautiful smile, but a heart rending laugh. Her opponents could only curse, standing there on the stage with no idea how they were defeated. Qin Bao used his golden tongue to draw nearly two dozen cultivator’s over to his side, his energy somehow able to bolster their abilities and improve their teamwork. Jia Ling had an ice cold personality, except when she started fighting, raving like a lunatic and throwing fire everywhere. Kang Min. A strange lady, she looked petite and delicate yet she was a master with a giant sabre. The blade she wielded looked was larger than she was, easily six feet long, its back edge covered with clanking rings. Usually women chose lighter weapons to account for their small physique, but Kang Min broke that rule.
There were many others that showed off their might, but the experts in the crowd knew there were just as many who choose not to involve themselves in the scuffle. Choosing to refrain from forming any enmities. The other geniuses and the many Demonic Beasts would finish this survival round without any assistance from them. The view screens even caught a few of them in action. Carving out caves from rock walls, slipping into the hollow of a huge tree, or merely hiding themselves within a large bush and using a special technique to hide their presence. They chose to use this time to train rather than fighting to make it go by faster.
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The first round lasted a total of three days, nine hundred geniuses were finally kicked out of the Constellation Shell Mirror, leaving only the top one hundred. The hundred of them were brought back out of that secluded valley and lined up on the stage. The crowd cheered for them, despite the many days already spent, the crowd had only slightly thinned. The rich and powerful had servants to attend to them, strong cultivators could go for weeks without any sustenance, and the commoners constantly cycled through, eager to see the mystical view screens and watch a show for the first time.
“You are the top one hundred of the Thunder Mountain Bridge selection tournament! Rest well, round two starts tomorrow at noon!”
The Trial Master didn’t waste any words, immediately dismissing them all and disappearing from the stage. The next day, the tournament got off to a rapid start. The view screens reappeared, upon them was a giant tournament bracket list. There brackets showed there would be two rounds of elimination. Anyone that won their two battles would make it into the top twenty five. Without wasting any time, the Trial Master called up eight different people and sent them into his Constellation Shell Mirror. The view screens split into fourths to display the four different battles that would be conducted simultaneously. Just as before, the participants would be instantly deposited onto the stage as soon as they were in grave danger. They were also given a bit more leeway this time. Attacks that would cripple them had their effects distorted so they were only heavily wounded. Damage that would heavily penalize them, without leading to permanent disfigurement.
The participants that stood out in the first round were just as prominent in the individual battles. Even that Qin Bao who seemed to adept at leading and managing a group showed an uncommon strength, defeating two people that were part of the group he’d led in the first round. The second round of the tournament was completed in the span of a single day, each participant having to fight once in the afternoon and once in the evening. Quite rapidly, seventy five of the geniuses were defeated. Many of them cursing their bad luck at having run into the most tyrannical young people instead of the common geniuses like themselves. Just as before, the Trial Master had a very concise announcement, it was nearly identical.
“You are the top twenty five of the Thunder Mountain Bridge selection tournament! Rest well, round three starts tomorrow at noon!”
“What a lazy method of announcing.”
“The Trial Master does dozens of these tournaments every year. He doesn’t waste his words!”
Round three was the most comprehensive, seeking to judge the abilities of the participants more closely and create a more accurate ranking between them. Surprising to many, there were five more geniuses on the stage then there was supposed to be. The Trial Master quickly explained that it would be disappointing if, for instance, the second strongest person were to be knocked out by the first ranked person in the first round. That second strongest would never get a chance to prove their might. As such, the Trial Master nominated five people that were knocked out in the first and second round that he judged were similar in strength to those in the top twenty five. These now top thirty were then sent into the Constellation Shell Mirror and split into five groups of six. Each participant would battle the five others in their group and the top two in each group would be named the top ten in the tournament.
It was a feast for the eyes, five different battles were going on at the same time and the crowd cheered their heads off. The view screens had the same configuration as at the beginning of the first round. One large screen and four smaller ones, the large screen showing off what the Trial Master guessed would be the most exciting of the current battles going on. Many geniuses from around the kingdom surged in popularity as they made a powerful showing in the tournament. So many clans and sects had gathered for the Thunder Mountain Bridge tournament that the news of these geniuses prowess would spread far and wide.