Leng Shuangrong instantly returned to her throne after announcing the start of the Gathering of Practitioners. The First Elder of her sect, Tong Yixing, walked up again and explained the rules of competition, elimination, the competition system, timings, lodging arrangements as well as other matters to take note of to the practitioners.

After listening to the brief, Wang Bugui felt that the Gathering of Practitioners was very similar to the Olympics. The arrangements were comprehensive and adequate, and the only thing it lacked was variety. There was only one prize in everyone’s mind, and it was to seize the title at the end of the competition. Either that, or be ranked top 16. Only the top 16 would be allocated resources for cultivation or be rewarded with magical artifacts.

The first contest was a huge battle royale between groups of 50 practitioners each. The last 16 who survived would progress to the next round of competition, where they would be allowed to pair up. There would be 10 battle zones, and those competitors that were struck out of their zone would be deemed to have lost. They could make use of various magical artifacts and forbidden items during the battle royale, but they could not kill and had to stop upon defeating their enemy. Otherwise, the life of the aggressor would also be forfeited.

The second competition would take place on the second day, and the 16 in their respective groups who survived would take part in tag team competitions. The winners would advance to the next stage, and similarly there was no restrictions on artifacts or forbidden items, and no killing was allowed.

The third contest was fixed on the third day, and the last eight practitioners would compete in teams of two again. They would carry on until the last two survivors emerged, and they could only use restricted items thrice only. Rule flouters would be eliminated.

The fourth competition would take place the day after that, and the last two survivors of their group would face off to determine the top 16 competitors. The final victor would receive a Essence Cleansing Pill that would help him or her cleanse his or her essence and body. Use of restricted items was limited to one time, and rule flouters would be eliminated.

After that, the fifth round of competition would begin. Every day, half of the remaining competitors would be eliminated until the final contest. They were forbidden to use restricted items, but they could use forbidden arts.

Likewise, they were forbidden from killing their opponents and could at most cause serious injuries on each other. Competitors who achieved different ranks would be rewarded separately. The top eight contestants would receive pills, while the top four would obtain different kinds of magical artifacts. The ultimate prize was not revealed.

The entire meet would last for eight days, and the various sects could reside in any of the eight smaller peaks, while recreational practitioners were allocated rooms on the holy peak which faced the main peak. Separate areas were allocated for each sect, and any sect that tried to snatch the territory of another sect would be eliminated. Practitioners belonging to sects could reside with the recreational practitioners, but they could not provoke them. They would also be held responsible for any incident directly resulting from such actions.

After Tong Yixing finished explaining the rules, he drew out a jade plate and spun it on his palm, causing it to float into the air. He then infused his divine aura into the object and quickly drew magical signs with his hands. Soon enough, the plate began to emanate bright divine lights of 10 colors.

The 10 rays of divine light shot out in eight directions, and they segregated 10 areas of different colors as they landed.

There were 50 practitioners in each zone, and they were the elite of the sects. They had undergone an internal selection process prior to the meet, and those that were eliminated had come just to witness the Gathering of Practitioners. After all, talent, fate and other factors determined how far one could go in cultivation, and geniuses were few and far between.

Most people were of mid-level talent or even mediocre practitioners. They had no way to compete with those slightly more talented than them without leveraging on hardworking, smarts and luck, what more the geniuses from the famous lineages.

The elders felt that it would be better for their own peers in their sects to teach them this cruel fact, rather than the prodigies of other sects. Allowing them to witness the competition at the sides would allow them to recognize the gulf between themselves and true prodigies, and perhaps even trigger some promising talents to make up their minds and be stimulated after taking in the various techniques of other sects.

Each meet was like this; the contestants were not destined to become famous people after taking part in them. Some practitioners who were among the audience would be greatly inspired and emerge; such happenings were common. It was a gathering filled with the unknown and chance encounters.

The audience standing outside of the battle zones were praying for their peers and ready to watch an intense battle. The contestants on the parade square were also ready to go.

A huge bell appeared above each battle zone, and everyone began to secretly channel their prana power or take out their magical artifacts as they prepared to strike. Every one’s heart was different, but most of the contestants were feeling nervous and clenched their fists tightly.

The atmosphere reached a fever pitch, and it was so quiet that even a falling pin could be heard at this point in time. The deafening silence was as terrifying as the calm before a storm.

“Clang!”

A clear and loud sound of a bell rang out and reverberated throughout the parade square, and it sounded as if it had come to them from ancient historical times itself. It broke the deathly silence pervading the parade square, and the first contest, the battle royale, was thus kick started.

“Rumble! Rumble!”

“Charge!”

“Hyah!”

“Watch your back!”

…

The bell stopped ringing, and after a short respite, the battle began. The sounds of magical artifacts clashing kept ringing out and they mixed in with the growls and shrieks of the contestants. When the fighting began, the contestants belonging to the same sect grouped together, turning the battle royale into a clash of sects.

The recreational practitioners were the first targets of the sect members. There were not many of them, and they formed groups of three at most. As such, the sects tried to eliminate them first.

Recreational practitioners seldom shined in previous meets, but if there was any of them who was an exceptional talent, he or she would definitely be able to ranked within the top four. There was even a few times when a recreational practitioner ended up winning the entire contest.

This was because they had to search for their own destinies and skills, and they might have chanced upon long lost but powerful lineages. Coupled with various other factors, this led to the sects treating them as their first target, so that they could get rid of such random possibilities.

“Ergh!”

Not long after the battle royale began, dozens of recreational practitioners were already struck out of their respective combat zones by the others. Only a few more powerful ones remained behind, and they unleashed their skills, keeping the sect members away. The bigger sects treated the situation casually. After all, they did not want to reveal their trump card in the first contest; it would lead to problems in the later stages.

There was one recreational practitioner, however, that no one could figure out. He did not seem to be very powerful, and his magic was also very ordinary. He was not forced out of his combat zone, however, as his footwork was far too tricky. The elite of the sects wanted to push him out dozens of times, but he managed to dodge all of their attacks and even led them to attack competitors from other sects by mistake each time.

It led to two sects fighting with each other, and he could even provoke many more sects at one go. It turned to the battle zone into a huge battle royale and he was still standing unharmed in the middle of his zone as the sect members around him clashed with one another. There were only 12 people left in his zone by this point of time.

“This…who is this fella?”

“Impossible, how could he advance by footwork alone?”

“Even Senior Zhang Lan failed to hit him!”

…

Discussions rang out among the audience instantly, as they looked in amazement at the handsome and wild person in the middle of the battle zone. His only unique skill was his exceptional footwork, and his other techniques were ordinary and not powerful. Unexpectedly, he became one of the 16 survivors of his zone.

“Haha…”

Wang Bugui laughed softly as he stood on the parade square. The person that everyone was talking about was him. He felt that a battle royale should be chaotic, and naturally he would try to stir things up after seeing the sect members banding together. The competition in his battle zone was the first to stop as the sects in the other zones faced off against each other carefully for fear of causing any misunderstanding.

“Humph!”

Jin Zhan, the genius of the Crazy Saber Sect, was extremely unconvinced upon noticing that the competition in Wang Bugui’s zone had concluded. He was the genius, so how could he take longer to emerge as the victor of his zone? He summoned his divine saber and slashed wildly. A fearsome ray of saber energy shot out into the parade square, and as the prodigies from the other sects saw this, they chose to take the initiative to attack as well.

A contest that should have continued in a stalemate for much longer was instantly broken up by Wang Bugui. Instantly, magic began to erupt in each battle zone and auras surged as various energies clashed with each other.

“Howl!”

Lyu Hao gave out a large roar, causing the other combatants in his zone to retreat. He cracked the ground of the parade square open with one fist and began to draw out a long molten rock from the earth. There was a resounding slap as he shattered the rock, revealing a double-bladed halberd that gave off a crimson glow. He held the weapon in his hands and took three steps forward, standing beside Zhao Changge.

He lifted the halberd and pointed it in front of him, saying, “Who dares to receive a blow of my halberd?”

Upon seeing this, Yu Wude summoned a small platform and placed it in front of him, before lying down in the pose of a resting arhat. He stretched lazily and said, “Come forward, those who aren’t afraid of dying.”

Amazing sights like this happened elsewhere as well. Leng Yueyan of the Sect of the Nine Heavens was covered in a grey Taoist robe that could not conceal her long and full figure. Her extremely beautiful face was expressionless, and there was no emotion in her eyes as she held onto her horse tail duster. She waved it once, creating a vortex of lightning and strong winds within her battle zone. It swept across the zone, leaving only 16 survivors behind.

There was a young and handsome Buddhist from Mount Fanjing, and he had long flowing locks of black hair, setting him apart from the other Buddhists. He was the secular monk Ning Zhe that everyone was talking about, and the top talent among his people. One word of the six words of truth of Buddhism was enough to cause the other combatants in his zone to collapse, and in this way he had eliminated those who were weaker.

Feng Tianming, the swordsman from Shushan, managed to slice the artifacts that surrounded him with the sword power of the unsheathed Scarlet Heaven itself. He increased the magnitude of the sword qi, forcing many of the practitioners that had been surrounding him backward.

The three fairies of the Palace of Hundred Flowers, Jiang Lianyue, Meiqing and Shangguan Yiyi, were as alluring as the flowers of the immortals, but also extremely dangerous. They cleared their battle zone with illusory magic in a short while, leaving only 16 combatants behind. They then stood elegantly at the parade square, their smiles captivating everyone.

…

With Wang Bugui’s help, the first battle was concluded within 15 minutes. The prodigies had displayed a little of their full power, shocking their peers while causing the elders of their sects to nod in satisfaction. No one paid any attention to Wang Bugui, an unknown who had survived using footwork alone, as all of their attention was on the eye-catching displays of the prodigies.