What is unorthodox, and what is orthodox?
In the Myriad Worlds, this boundary is very simple and direct.
If a Transcendent system has a Dao Lord who has attained the Dao, then it is an orthodox path.
If a Transcendent system has no Dao Lord who has attained the Dao, then it is an unorthodox path.
An orthodox path with a Dao Lord indicates that the Transcendent system has matured over many years, with the various details of each stage already ironed out, forming a well-developed road.
The existence of a Dao Lord, in particular, provides ample protection for the system.
This allows the system to focus more on long-term development and less on immediate concerns during its growth.
To put it simply, it allows the Transcendents of that system to focus more on future growth during their low-rank stages, even if the price is sacrificing some of their early combat strength.
In contrast are the unorthodox paths that lack the protection of a Dao Lord.
Those of unorthodox paths must rely on powerful combat strength in their low-rank stages to fight and compete just to catch a sliver of a chance to attain the Dao.
Take the Daoist of Clan Corpses, for instance. For generations, countless clansmen have willingly transformed themselves into trump cards for their descendants—turning their own bodies into zombies and using their close blood ties as a Transcendent connection—all for a mere sliver of a chance for their system to attain the Dao.
Consequently, there is a consensus in the Myriad Worlds: during the early stage of the Transcendent Rank, those of unorthodox paths are generally stronger than Transcendents of orthodox paths.
What? You say that little girl from the Dragon-Tiger Martial Arts Hall is stronger?
This is why context is highly important. Within the Transcendent Rank, the unorthodox paths hold sway; but above the Transcendent Rank, it is the domain of absolute geniuses from orthodox paths.
For true geniuses never linger at the Transcendent Rank. This stage might not even leave much of an impression in their memories.
Yet, among this batch of Transcendent Rank contestants, there was indeed one from an orthodox path who caught Chen Xu's attention.
Dio, a mage currently ranked sixteenth, excelled in cold magic, water magic, and curse magic.
Moreover, his curse magic was no simple curse magic; it was inherited from the legendary terminator of the War of the End, the ruler of the Land of the Undead, and the current number one expert of the Myriad Worlds—the curse magic of the Lord of the Undead.
Indeed, it was the very Life-Essence branch curse that Chen Xu had developed on a whim.
Although these curses had not played a key role against the Mother of Hell, they had still spread.
Especially at the Necrotic Archmage Tower, many mages had discovered the advantages of this unique curse.
It consumed little energy, took effect quickly, had a massive impact, and grew stronger against stronger foes. As for weaker foes... against weaker foes, they could just blast them to pieces with a barrage of magic like a spell machine gun, without needing curses at all.
For this reason, those mages had even established a research and study group specifically to exchange ideas on Life-Essence curses.
And Dio was a prominent figure in this research group.
Although his cultivation level was not high, being only at the Transcendent Rank, his accomplishments in spells and curses were indeed remarkable.
He was a thorough academic with incredibly solid theoretical knowledge.
With a natural bias, Chen Xu was very optimistic about this young fellow.
Thus, he looked at the Crafts Sect and Li Taiji in front of him and said with a smile,
“How about the two of you make a bet with me? I think this Dio from the mage system might win the championship of this Transcendent Rank.
As for the wager, how about a heart of a bone forest tree of the Eternal Rank?”
“Oh?”
Although the Crafts Sect and Li Taiji were curious, they did not overthink it. After all, it was just for fun.
Besides, the wager was not large—just one Eternal Rank material—so they readily agreed.
“Fine, I will wager a piece of ninety-nine thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine-refined reforged profound gold, and I bet on that Daoist of Clan Corpses.”
“Hahaha, since Friend Chen and Friend Tie have such elegant interest, how can I not participate? Well, I will wager a handful of celestial gourd fallen leaves, shed when my worthless disciple advanced to the Eternal Rank. They possess quite a bit of the spiritual charm of a Heaven-Earth Spiritual Root.
As for my choice, I will pick that cyber martial artist. Made entirely of steel, using a chip to replace the brain and algorithms to replace cultivation techniques—it is quite interesting.”
“Excellent.”
With their interest piqued, the three Dao Lords each chose their champion.
In the livestream room, there was joy on one side and wailing on all others.
Compared to the massive audience, the number of prizes from the lucky draw was far too insignificant.
The joy of ten people meant the grief and regret of tens of trillions of others.
On the battlefield, with the deployment of the seven Hell Demon Kings, the pace of elimination became incredibly fast.
In just a few days, the original one hundred million contestants dwindled to only a few thousand.
Moreover, when only one hundred thousand people remained, Chen Xu intervened once more, unlocking new abilities for the Hell Demon Kings.
Wherever the Hell Demon Kings passed, they left behind an undispersible aura of corruption, which was no different from a lethal poison to these Transcendent Rank contestants.
It was precisely these spreading auras of corruption that accelerated the elimination of the contestants.
The pressure of the shrinking boundary, the pressure from star contestants, and the pressure from the Hell Demon Kings stacked on top of one another, causing the mental states of many Transcendents to waver.
Once their mental states shifted, their performance fell apart as well.
After another seven days, the qualifiers officially concluded, and the ten finalists were decided.
“After many days of competition, the Transcendent Rank qualifiers have finally come to an end! Next, let us welcome our ten finalists with warm applause!
They are, the Daoist of Clan Corpses!”
The Daoist of Clan Corpses soared into the air, flying on his coffin before landing on the arena, standing with his hands behind his back.
“Mage, Dio!”
Dio tapped his staff gently, creating a staircase of ice crystals as he slowly walked up to the arena.
“Cyber Martial Artist, Kristine.”
Kristine's feet spewed fire, and with a rocket jump, she landed easily on the arena.
“Gu Master, Yuanfang!”
The Gu Master was highly agile. Without relying on any external objects or displaying any Transcendent abilities, he vaulted onto the edge of the arena using only his physical fitness and a pair of broad hands, landing steadily.
“Stone Spirit... uh, Stone Spirit!”
A stone giant resembling a small mountain took a light step and crashed onto the arena.
Fortunately, this arena was crafted by Chen Xu and was not made of ordinary earth and stone.
“Wild Beast, Boris!”
A fused monster with a lion's body and a human's head leaped onto the arena. His crazed expression clearly showed his mental state.
“Beast Tamer, Dazhi.”
“Warrior Monk, Jueming.”
“Druid, Huanfeng.”
“Blood Demon, Zhang Anping.”
“The first round of the finals will be one-on-one matches, and the second round will be a five-person free-for-all to directly decide the ultimate winner!
After all, only a chaotic situation can truly reveal the real strength of the contestants in moments of crisis!”
Tie Gelei reached into his robe and pulled out a very strange machine.
“Contestants, please step forward to draw your lots.”
Everyone followed Tie Gelei's instructions and came forward to draw their lots.
But when it was the Stone Spirit's turn, its exaggeratedly massive body made it impossible to squat down and draw a lot.
“Uh, if you don't mind, should I draw one for you?”
The Stone Spirit nodded, shedding some sand and dust.
Tiegelie blew a breath to clear the dust in the air, then drew a lot for the Stone Spirit, making a mental note to himself.
“I need to give those junior brothers and sisters who made this machine a lesson when I get back. How could they not consider the physical size of the users?”
To this, the Myriad Crucible smiths, who had only received the order yesterday and rushed to complete the fabrication overnight, could only say they were completely blameless.
“Please face the camera... uh, I mean, look up, and show your lots.”
“Alright, the results are out! Stone Spirit versus the Daoist of Clan Corpses; Druid Huanfeng versus Beast Tamer Dazhi; Blood Demon Zhang Anping versus Mage Dio; Gu Master Yuanfang versus Cyber Martial Artist Kristine; and Warrior Monk Jueming versus Wild Beast Boris.
The finals are about to begin! Will the first pair please prepare themselves? The other contestants, please leave the arena for now and watch from the sidelines!”
Before the contestants could react, Tie Gelei directly teleported them off the arena, leaving only the Daoist of Clan Corpses and the mountain-like Stone Spirit.
The Stone Spirit lowered its head to look at the tiny figure below, a contemptuous smile appearing on its face.
“Monkey, feel the weight of the mountain!”
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