Chapter Twenty-Five: The Curtain Opens

  If there was no Dream God Realm, even with Lin Feng's wisdom as a Saint, he wouldn't have thought of how to hold a martial arts competition that exceeded three billion participants.

  But with the Dream God Realm, everything became very simple.

  No opening ceremony, no performances. At 10:00 on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, the first pre-qualifying match of the First Martial Arts Tournament began right on schedule.

  Silent and soundless, the scene under Lin's feet changed. With his feet firmly on the ground, a magnificent volcano appeared before him. Thick smoke billowed, flames shot up to the sky, and the ground shook from time to time. Then, a fiery glow would burst into the air, carrying molten lava, fierce fire, and massive boulders rolling down, shaking the earth, and terrifying cracks emerged one after another.

  "Pre-match 1. Map Volcano Valley. Thousand-man battle, survival of the hundred."

  Simply and simply, even without rules, the first martial arts competition began like this.

  Lin Huang's mind stirred, and he subconsciously used his soul power to cover the entire arena, but soon abandoned this idea. If he were to use the power of the Holy Seat, then Lin Huang's participation in the First Martial Arts Competition would be meaningless.

  "The soul of the sacred position, the state of mind of the imperial position, the means of conferring a marquis title. Three Holy Mothers, you also underestimated me too much." Lin Huang thought of the evaluation of the three Holy Mothers towards him, shook his head, put his hands behind his back and started his first preliminary match.

  Qian Shan Huo hid himself in a fissure, burying his entire body under the scorching hot lava ash, not moving a single thread.

  The scorching hot lava ash that can burn people into ashes is not too terrible for the Thousand Mountain Fire.

  He cultivated the Fire Path, and his divine body had reached a small completion. Although he only had the cultivation of a mid-ranking Marquis, he thought to himself that even those top-notch seed disciples would be able to put up a good fight against him.

  "It's a pity that I started too late. If I had met Master three years earlier, my cultivation would not be limited to the middle of the Marquis rank." Qian Shan Huo felt some resentment in his heart. He considered himself a genius and had many extraordinary encounters, but he started too late, so his cultivation was one level lower than those top seed disciples. Otherwise, with his own abilities, Qian Shan Huo thought that he could definitely occupy a place among the top 200 seed disciples.

  "But it's also good this way. My cultivation is about to break through, step by step I'll fight my way out of the preliminary rounds and become the strongest dark horse, only then will I be famous throughout the world."

  Qian Shan Huo's mind was racing with thoughts, when suddenly his face froze, sensing a slight movement above his head. Motionless as a mountain, but once moved, it would be like an invasion of fire. He stood up, drew his sword, and in the flash of its brilliance, his opponent didn't even have time to see his face clearly before being cleanly sliced into two by Qian Shan Huo's single knife strike. His body suddenly burst into flames, turning to ashes in an instant.

  Satisfied with his own knife, Qian Shan Huo's body flickered and changed locations, re-hiding under the thick lava ash.

  "This formula will burn the eight wastes to ashes. The Master said that he already has 80% of his divine charm, I don't know how it compares to that knife." Qian Shan Huo whispered softly and carved a horizontal line on the hilt of the knife with his backhand, forming a perfect positive character.

  One horizontal line represents killing an enemy, and in just ten months since the start of the game, Qian Shan Huo has already killed fifteen people.

  "Who will be next." Qian Shan Huo sneered and held his sword in front of his chest, quietly waiting.

  Lin Huang was walking randomly, this volcanic valley seemed not to be big, but there were many gullies and numerous hot and terrifying lava lakes scattered all over. Just as the volcano was about to erupt in a moment, Lin Huang still hadn't met anyone.

  Suppressing his saint-level powerful soul force, Lin Huang's perception greatly decreased, and for a moment he didn't know which direction to go.

  "Or maybe I'm just too lacking in methods." Lin Huang had somewhat realized his own shortcomings, and the drawbacks of One Step to Heaven were exposed after deliberately suppressing his soul force.

  "I thought that with my dignified and sacred existence, apart from perceiving through the soul, there was no other way to perceive or investigate, but saying it out loud is truly embarrassing."

  Lin Huang spoke in a low voice, stopped in his tracks, and for the first time began to face up to the deficiencies of his own existence.

  "Eight o'clock direction. Ten zhang distance." Qian Shan Hu suddenly opened his eyes, sensing the enemy's presence, and waited for an opportunity to move.

  "Rumble!"

  Suddenly a loud roar, the majestic volcano began to erupt, flames shooting into the sky, molten lava and massive boulders tumbling down, shaking heaven and earth.

  Lin Huang stopped in his tracks, seeing a massive boulder with raging flames, like a shooting star, hurtling towards him. Not daring to be slow, he moved quickly to avoid the range of the boulder's impact.

  "Opportunity!"

  Qian Shan Huo suddenly moved, and as soon as he made his move, it was his own ultimate technique.

  "Burn all eight desolations, and give me death!"

  Astonishing one slash, not early nor late, just as Lin Huang dodged the giant boulder, Qian Shan's fire suddenly moved, grasping the opportunity to strike had reached its peak. One slash was made, stirring up the Eight Wastes' flames, sealing off all angles of Lin Huang's dodge.

  If you don't draw your sword, then so be it; but once you do, you must destroy everything under the sky.

  "What?!"

  A sudden slash, with a momentum that could burn the eight wildernesses to ashes, burning heaven and earth, the terrible heat arrived at Lin Huang's brow in an instant.

  Subconsciously, Lin Huang's mind stirred, and he was about to use his soul to suppress it violently, but with a stir in his heart, he endured it, barely avoiding the brow of his heart, and with one palm, he grasped out, forcing this knife.

  "You overestimate your abilities! Die!" Qian Shan Huo sneered, exhaling loudly, his divine power surging forth, stirring up a hundred feet of knife aura. The knife concealed the divine, like the great sun, like a volcanic eruption, suddenly bursting forth, incinerating all eight wildernesses.

  Clang!

  A soft sound, Lin Huang and Qian Shan Huo stood side by side.

  Lin Huang's eyebrows furrowed, gazing at the palm of his hand where a shocking knife scar had appeared. The scorching blade energy was still wreaking havoc, overturning flesh and blood, deeply engraving into the bone. This one slash was just short of cutting off Lin Huang's entire right hand.

  "You're still not dead? It seems your divine body is quite strong." Qian Shan Huo was slightly surprised, but quickly became disdainful. "Next knife, you will definitely die!"

  As soon as the words fell, Qian Shan Huo turned around, drew his sword and struck back with a single knife.

  "Wildfires sweep across the prairie!"

  This knife was made, and Qian Shan Huo Xin was extremely satisfied.

  "You can die by this sword, and you will be worthy of closing your eyes! Die for me!"

  With a flick of his wrist, Qian Shan Huo's one knife transformed into a thousand knives, crisscrossing in all directions. In an instant, the flames engulfed everything, burning wildly like a prairie fire.

  Lin Ar slowly raised his head, his eyes flashing as he stared at Qian Shan Huo. He lifted up his own injured right hand, rarely showing anger, "I... how could I be so weak."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Arrogant fell silent and suddenly punched out a fist. This punch was learned from the Zhongnan Saints' grasp of the earth's intention.

  One punch out, grasping the earth, even if the wildfire burns the prairie, it can burn the grass, but how can it burn the earth.

  "Good. Good. Good. A worthy opponent." Qian Shan Huo burst out laughing, his eyes gleaming with excitement, one knife couldn't take down Lin Huang, he turned his hand and struck again, "No quarter asked or given!"

  This sword is the ultimate killing move that Qian Shan Huo has yet to master. With one slash, ghosts and gods are annihilated, dominance is unmatched, and everything is slaughtered.

  Lin Huang didn't say a word, his fist suddenly opened, and he formed a seal. He flipped his palm over and slapped downwards. This slap was one of the ultimate moves from Zhongnan's Saints, "Reversing Heaven".

  A loud crash.

  Lin Huang's eyes did not move, but his body retreated three steps, his blood surging upwards, and his face looked even more excited.

  "Finish me off with one more blow!"

  Briefly crossing hands, Qian Shan Huo immediately knew that Lin Huang was a formidable opponent, becoming cautious and no longer using the knife technique he hadn't yet mastered. One simple slash, yet it made Qian Shan Huo recall the thousands of times he had practiced in the Lava Lake.

  This knife cuts fire.

  Lin Huang's face was expressionless, but his flickering eyes betrayed the shock and humiliation in his heart. As he watched Qian Shan Huo come at him with another killing blow, Lin Huang sighed, "I never thought I was actually this weak."

  Although San Sheng Mu had long said that Lin Huang was the cultivation of a holy position, the state of mind for the position, and the means to seal the marquis, but Lin Huang did not listen at all.

  Until now, until this moment.

  Lin Huang suddenly discovered that he was so weak that if he suppressed a Saint-level soul, he could only be on par with Qian Shan Huo, and the great shame and anger instantly rose in Lin Huang's heart.