Once the entire venue quieted down, the master of ceremonies from the City Lord's estate stepped forward. Utilizing the formation, his voice reverberated across the entire training grounds as he announced the rules for the three-day martial tournament of this sect selection.
The selection was divided into a three-day schedule of progressive rounds, which would ultimately decide the ten preliminary spots for Baiyun City.
The first day was the open trials. The City Lord would personally assess the contestants' strength and designate ten seeded contestants.
These ten individuals were universally recognized as having top-tier talent and combat strength. They did not need to fight on the first day and would advance directly.
The remaining two hundred or so contestants would be randomly paired up for duels. After multiple elimination rounds, the final ten challengers would emerge to advance to the second day.
The second day would be the challenge matches. The ten challengers who fought their way through on the first day would have the priority of choice, and each could select any seeded contestant to duel on stage.
If a challenger successfully defeated a seeded contestant, they would replace them, securing the seeded spot for themselves.
The defeated original seeded contestant would not be eliminated immediately. They would also receive a reverse-challenge opportunity, allowing them to choose any remaining challenger for a rematch to reclaim their spot on the list.
The third day would be the ranking matches. After the screening, challenging, and roster updates of the first two days, the final ten strongest geniuses would enter a free-for-all battle to determine their ranks.
Everyone would fight in turn, determining their placement by sheer strength, which would finalize the top ten rankings of Baiyun City for this sect selection.
Once the rules were announced, the crowd erupted into a clamor. This tournament system not only provided a safety net for the top geniuses but also gave dark horses from the bottom a chance to turn the tables and issue challenges.
The contestants' nerves grew tense. Some feared the powerhouses in the seeded spots, while others stared with burning gazes at the ten challenger spots, eager to give it a try.
The seeded spots for this selection were comprehensively evaluated based on overall strength and cultivation.
The Ye family claimed four spots, while the Li, Wang, and Jiang families took two each. This encompassed the absolute peak combat power of the city's younger generation, granting them all an exemption from the first day's open trials to advance directly to the second day's challenge matches.
The ten seeded contestants were as follows: four from the Ye family: Ye Ling, Ye Chen, Ye Fei, and Ye Ling. Two from the Li family: Li Wanxi and Li Yanran. Two from the Wang family: Wang Lingyue and Wang Zifeng. Two from the Jiang family: Jiang Chenxiao and Jiang Chengyu.
As the City Lord clearly read out the name of the last seeded contestant, the noisy training grounds fell into a dead silence.
The spectators, martial artists from small and mid-sized families, and rogue cultivators all had their pupils contract as they stared at the ten geniuses on the list in sheer disbelief.
The ten seeded spots—all ten of them—were, without exception, entirely claimed by the four major families.
In the vast Baiyun City, there were dozens of small and mid-sized families and hundreds of rogue cultivator geniuses who trained in bitter solitude, with over two hundred participants in this selection.
Yet in the end, not a single one of them could enter the ranks of the seeded contestants. The four major families had completely monopolized the spots, leaving no room for anyone else.
After the dead silence, the venue erupted in an uproar.
“How can this be! All ten seeded spots are from the four major families?”
“I knew the four major families were powerful, but I didn't expect them to be this dominant, completely monopolizing the top seats!”
“Countless rogue cultivators and geniuses from small families train bitterly, yet in the end, they don't even have the qualification to compete for a seed. Is this the foundation of the major families?”
In the contestants' waiting area, the over two hundred participants who did not belong to the four major families all looked solemn, their morale plummeting.
Many had initially held onto a glimmer of hope, thinking they might emerge as a dark horse and squeeze into a seeded spot, but they now fully recognized the gap between them.
All they could do now was fight with everything they had to secure one of the ten challenger spots and then give it their all.
In the area reserved for the ten seeded contestants, Ye Ling, Ye Chen, Li Wanxi, Wang Lingyue, and the other noble family geniuses looked calm. Such a result was only natural to them.
On the high platform, the City Lord silently observed the various expressions of the crowd, his eyes completely tranquil.
After a brief commotion, the master of ceremonies raised his voice to quiet the noise and officially announced the start of the first day's open trials.
The threshold for this selection was extremely high; the minimum cultivation level for all participants was the Houtian Seventh Layer.
The two hundred or so contestants standing here were genuine elite geniuses within the various small and mid-sized factions of Baiyun City.
Matches began simultaneously on the ten arenas, with the clashing of weapons echoing endlessly. The spiritual light of the arena formations flowed continuously, firmly locking in the shockwaves of the battles.
Most contestants had cultivations concentrated between the Houtian Seventh and Eighth Layers. Their fights were intense, and the outcomes were often closely contested.
Everyone tacitly agreed that the Houtian Ninth Layer was the peak level of this selection, and the ten seeded contestants all possessed Ninth Layer combat strength.
However, as the matches progressed, two figures stunned the entire venue.
On Arena Three on the eastern side, a young girl in plain clothes slowly stepped onto the stage.
Her name was Su Qinghe, a rogue cultivator unaffiliated with any sect or clan. She had no noble family backing and no sect resources.
Dressed in simple martial arts attire, her long hair was tied back plainly. In her hand, she held only an ordinary iron sword that had accompanied her for years, its blade showing several signs of wear.
She had delicate features, with a hint of coldness in her eyes.
The moment her aura unfolded, many spectators below widened their eyes. Eighteen years old, Houtian Ninth Layer.
For a rogue cultivator to reach the Houtian Ninth Layer at this age was incredibly difficult.
Disciples of the four major families had pills, cultivation methods, and guidance from famous masters. Supported by piled-up resources, they could reach high realms at a young age.
Rogue cultivators, however, lacked pills and money, had no one to guide them, and faced obstacles at every turn. An eighteen-year-old Ninth Layer rogue cultivator was a rarity that could barely be found in the centuries-old records of Baiyun City's humble classes.
Her opponent was a Houtian Eighth Layer genius from a small family, who was already considered part of the top tier in the open trials.
But once the fight began, the difference was immediately clear. Su Qinghe's swordplay lacked the flashy moves of noble families; her style was entirely forged through life-and-death struggles in the wilderness.
Fast, precise, and ruthless. With a flash of sword light, all of her opponent's escape routes were sealed. Under the pressure of her Ninth Layer cultivation, her opponent's meridians tensed, their breathing grew highly erratic, and they struggled even to parry.
It took only two strikes. Her opponent's long sword was knocked away, and with a tight chest, they stumbled off the stage, cupping their hands in surrender.
It was clean and decisive.
The crowd below instantly erupted.
“A rogue cultivator? She's really a rogue cultivator! Eighteen years old and at the Houtian Ninth Layer!”
“Unbelievable! With the four major families monopolizing resources, how could such a monstrous rogue cultivator still appear?”
“No wonder she dared to compete in the selection. Her talent isn't inferior to those seeds at all.”
Before the crowd could even process this, another person stepped onto Arena Seven on the western side.
Liu Daoyao, hailing from the Liu family, a minor clan on the outskirts of Baiyun City.
Eighteen years old, she wore practical, short-sleeved martial arts attire and carried a heavy broadsword on her back. Her eyes were sharp and spirited, carrying a heroic air.
The Liu family's foundation was meager. Throughout their history, no one had ever passed the open trials in the sect selection, usually serving as mere background participants.
But the moment Liu Daoyao stepped onto the stage and released her aura, she was also eighteen years old and at the Houtian Ninth Layer.
The entire venue became thoroughly lively.
While Su Qinghe followed a fast-paced sword style, Liu Daoyao was fierce and domineering.
With a single slash of her blade, powerful winds swept out, causing the protective formation on the arena to tremble slightly.
Her opponent also had a Houtian Eighth Layer cultivation and tried their best to block, but the gap in realms was insurmountable.
With another slash from Liu Daoyao, the opponent was knocked backward, their palm numbed and their long blade nearly slipping from their grip, leaving them with no choice but to surrender.
In just a short while, two battles had produced two dark horses.
One was a helpless rogue cultivator, and the other was a saber cultivator from a minor family. Both were eighteen years old, and both were at the Houtian Ninth Layer.
They had carved out the sharp edge of the humble class right through the selection monopolized by the four major families.
In the contestants' area, the expressions of the four major families' geniuses turned somewhat unsightly.
Originally, everyone had thought the open trials were just a formality, but with the emergence of these two, everyone had to reassess the situation.
Standing in the corner, Ye Ling glanced in their direction, her face expressionless.
“It really isn't easy for a rogue cultivator to reach the Ninth Layer. With no resources and no master, relying entirely on one's own struggles, being able to reach this step is no longer just a matter of talent—it's sheer resilience.”
On the high platform, the City Lord nodded slightly, a trace of approval in his eyes.
The rise to fame of these two girls today proved that the younger generation of Baiyun City was not solely represented by the four major families.
With these two dark horses, the upcoming open trials would only become more and more exciting.
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