Immortal Martial Emperor

On this day, Shishui City was exceptionally lively.

This was because today was the day the Cyan Nether Sword Sect was recruiting disciples and holding the martial tournament for the various families.

All the major shops on the main street were closed for business, with notices posted that read: "The owner has gone to watch the martial tournament. Business is temporarily suspended." The Cyan Nether Sword Sect was the strongest Sect in the Fengyue Kingdom. Even the Imperial Family had to maintain a sense of reverence before this behemoth.

In the hearts of the common people, they were akin to Deities.

The main venue for the martial tournament was set up on Shishui City's execution grounds. There was no other place in the entire city that could accommodate five hundred thousand spectators and ten thousand combatants. The noisy venue was a boiling cauldron of human voices. As time passed, the young geniuses participating in the tournament appeared one by one, stirring waves of excitement among the hundreds of thousands of spectators!

"Look, that's Liu Jiahao, the Young Master of the Liu Family Martial Arts Hall. I heard he reached the Early Ninth Layer of the Essence Realm at just eighteen. He's the strongest genius the Liu Family has produced in a hundred years!"

"What's a Ninth Layer of the Essence Realm at eighteen? If you ask me, the most formidable ones this time are definitely the 'Three Prodigies and One Hegemon'! I heard that the two young masters of the Lin Family were already Late-stage Essence Realm experts half a year ago, and Young Master Wang Meng is said to be a genius with one foot already in the Earth Soul Realm. And that's not even mentioning that little hegemon from the Hong Family, Hong Hu!"

"Look, Wang Meng is here!"

The crowd's gaze focused on an exceptionally burly young man. He walked with a Dragon Walk and Tiger Stride, looking particularly fierce. This was one of the tournament's top contenders, the Wang Family's young master, Wang Meng!

"Hm?"

Wang Meng's eyes narrowed as he stared ahead.

Not far in front of him, two young men who bore a strong resemblance to each other walked side by side, one exuding a cold gloominess and the other a sunny disposition.

The three of them looked at each other, their gazes colliding in mid-air, creating sparks.

"The brothers Lin Tao and Lin Hai are here too! The three prodigies are all here. Now this is going to be a show!" The crowd was buzzing with excitement.

"Wang Meng, long time no see!" Lin Hai said with a smile.

Wang Meng narrowed his eyes and snorted. "Who wants to see pretty boys like you two?"

"Alas, it's not your fault you're ugly. Besides, you can't hate us brothers for being handsome just because you're ugly, can you?" said Lin Tao.

"You..."

Wang Meng flew into a rage. The word "ugly" was his forbidden Reversed Scale. A vicious light erupted in his eyes, and it looked as if he was about to charge forward and fight the two Lin brothers.

"Hahaha, are the three of you standing here to welcome me or something?"

Just then, a domineering voice suddenly boomed from outside the venue, instantly shattering the tense standoff between the three. It was replaced by grave expressions as they looked toward the source of the voice. A young man even more burly than Wang Meng, with the back of a tiger and the waist of a bear, approached them. He exuded the domineering aura of a mountain tiger, walking toward the trio with heavy steps. "Not bad, not bad. The three of you haven't wasted your time this past year. Don't disappoint me too much on the stage later!"

With that said, the burly youth strode away like a meteor, followed by a graceful figure wrapped in a black cloak.

Wang Meng and the two Lin brothers were left behind, their expressions dark. "Damned Hong Hu, still as arrogant as ever."

"Heh heh, I'm quite curious to see what progress he's made this year!"

The three exchanged a look. With Hong Hu's interruption, they no longer faced off against each other and went their separate ways.

「Not long after...」

The various well-known prodigies of Shishui City arrived one after another, and the atmosphere grew increasingly tense.

The higher-ups of the three great families also arrived one by one. The one responsible for hosting this time was the Hong Family's Seventh Elder, Hong Tiande. He looked down on the crowd with arrogance and said indifferently, "The Cyan Nether Sword Sect is recruiting disciples, and for this, we hold the martial tournament of the families. This tournament is divided into two parts. The first part is the qualifying round. All contestants will draw lots and be divided into ten rings. One winner will emerge from each ring, for a total of ten people who will advance to the finals."

Hong Tiande swept his gaze over the crowd and said flatly, "Now, all contestants, please draw your number plates!"

After an orderly drawing of lots, the contestants were assigned to their respective rings.

There were over three hundred Martial Artists participating this time, meaning each ring had an average of about thirty people.

In the crowd, the late-arriving Hong Yu drew number 222 and was assigned to the seventh ring.

He looked at the number plate in his hand, rubbed his nose, and was left speechless. 'Am I really that much of a joke?'

Hong Yu's eyes swept over the contestants in the ten rings. He noticed that the more famous young geniuses were all separated and not in the same group. 'This must have been deliberately arranged by the major families to prevent the strongest contestants from meeting too early,' he thought.

For example, the biggest favorite, the little hegemon Hong Hu, was assigned to the first group.

Lin Hai and Lin Taoze were assigned to the second and third groups.

Scanning the ten groups, Hong Yu discovered quite a few powerful Celestial Pride Sons among them; a few even seemed to have a Ninth Layer Cultivation in the Essence Realm or higher. Hong Yu was unfamiliar with these people and didn't feel much about it. However, he couldn't help but take a few extra glances at a figure completely wrapped in a black robe in the adjacent eighth group.

For some reason, his heart seemed to beat faster when he saw this figure.

The black-robed figure seemed to sense Hong Yu's gaze, turning their head slightly. From under the hood, a pair of eerie green eyes glanced at Hong Yu before looking away.

'This person has incredibly sharp Perception. If I meet her in the finals, I'll need to be careful,' Hong Yu thought, growing vigilant.

Next, Hong Yu began to pay attention to the contestants in his own group, the seventh group.

In the seventh group, there were indeed several contestants of considerable strength, but most were around the Eighth Layer of the Essence Realm. The strongest were merely two youths at the Early Ninth Layer of the Essence Realm. Hong Yu overheard from others that one of them was the Young Master of the Liu Family Martial Arts Hall, Liu Jiahao.

As for the other one, Hong Yu found him somewhat familiar. It was none other than the Lin Family's young master he had met at the Underground Alliance that day—Lin Yun!

'He was at the Initial Stage of the Eighth Layer of the Essence Realm half a month ago, and now he's already advanced to the Ninth Layer? His qi and blood seem a bit unstable. He probably consumed some kind of Spirit Medicine!' Hong Yu analyzed calmly.

Lin Yun, who had been resting with his eyes closed in the crowd, also noticed Hong Yu.

His gaze paused, then a cold smile appeared on his face, a frigid glint flashing in his eyes. He slowly walked toward Hong Yu and said coldly, "So you really did come to the martial tournament. Heh heh, last time you actually made me lose so much face in front of Sister Meng Ru. Don't you dare lose before you run into me. I'm waiting to teach you a proper lesson in front of everyone!"

Hong Yu shrugged, his expression nonchalant. "If you're planning on offering your face for another slap, I don't mind hitting it even harder this time."

"You..."

Lin Yun's expression darkened, and he was about to make a move.

But on second thought, he realized that teaching Hong Yu a lesson in private was far less satisfying than beating him until he cried for his mother on the stage, under the watchful eyes of the crowd. With a sinister smile, Lin Yun said coldly, "I'll let you be arrogant for a little while longer. Later, I'll make sure you die a very ugly death."

Hong Yu rubbed his nose, unfazed.

'If a dog bites you, are you supposed to bite it back?'

"Ring number seven, number 198 versus number 201!" a Silver Armored Soldier shouted from the stage.

The referees for this tournament were all experts from the Shishui City Guard Legion.

Number 198 was none other than Lin Yun. As for number 201, he was a youth at the Eighth Layer of the Essence Realm.

"I am—"

The Eighth Layer of the Essence Realm youth cupped his fists and was about to introduce himself when Lin Yun interrupted him.

Lin Yun crossed his arms, looking arrogant. "No need for introductions. You're destined to be eliminated. No one will remember your name!"

"You..."

The youth's face turned red. He was a fairly talented prodigy himself; when had he ever been insulted like this?

Enraged, he immediately launched an attack on Lin Yun.

However, Lin Yun already possessed a Ninth Layer Cultivation in the Essence Realm. Adding to that, the Lin Family was one of the three great families with a profound foundation. The moment he attacked, he unleashed the Advanced Martial Skill, Rolling Stone Fist. The blow was as heavy and powerful as a massive, rolling boulder. The sheer force of the punch's wind, before the fist even connected, caused the young opponent's expression to change drastically.

"I... I for—"

The youth hastily tried to forfeit.

But Lin Yun let out a ferocious laugh, seemingly venting the frustration he had experienced with Hong Yu. "You want to forfeit now? Too late!"

The fist fell.

CRACK!

The sound of shattering bones rang out abruptly as the Eighth Layer of the Essence Realm youth spat blood and was sent flying backward. The bones in both his hands had been utterly smashed, and they hung limply at his sides as he passed out.

"If you don't have the strength, don't come here and disgrace yourself."

Lin Yun shot a disdainful glance at the defeated youth, then slowly turned to face Hong Yu. He mouthed the words, "Kid, you're next!"

"..."

Hong Yu simply turned his head to watch another ring.

This left Lin Yun with the frustrating and powerless feeling of a heavy punch landing on soft cotton. He shot a vicious glare at Hong Yu and stepped down from the ring.

Below the stage, the other contestants from the seventh ring all backed away to clear a path, their gazes toward Lin Yun now tinged with awe and fear.

"That guy's methods are so vicious."

"His strength should be at the Ninth Layer of the Essence Realm, on par with Liu Jiahao. It looks like the strongest in our group will be one of those two!"

"Damn it, the guy cripples his opponents with one move. If I run into him, it's better to just forfeit early."

Hearing the awed comments from the crowd, a proud look appeared on Lin Yun's face. He cast an indifferent glance at Hong Yu, then finally looked toward the other favorite in group seven, Liu Jiahao, his expression turning cold. 'Liu Jiahao? Someone who just runs a martial arts hall thinks he can compete with me? What a delusional fantasy!'

The referee glanced indifferently at the severely injured and defeated youth and announced emotionlessly, "Number 198 is the winner. Next match: number 199 versus number 208!"

This time, it was Liu Jiahao's turn to enter the ring!

Compared to Lin Yun's domineering and ruthless style, Liu Jiahao appeared much more magnanimous. He walked onto the stage with a commanding stride and humbly greeted his opponent with a bow. However, his opponent only had a Peak Seventh Layer Cultivation of the Essence Realm. The gap in their strength was too great, and he also ended the fight in a single move.

Liu Jiahao cupped his fists toward the defeated youth. "I was fortunate to win."

"Thank you for your mercy, Brother Liu!" the youth said sincerely.

Liu Jiahao smiled faintly. "There is no grudge between us. This was just a martial arts spar!"

"Brother Liu's magnanimity, bearing, and strength are all a cut above the rest. I am thoroughly impressed!" the youth said, completely convinced.

The referee's gaze toward Liu Jiahao also held a trace of appreciation, and his stiff expression softened slightly. "Number 199 is the winner. Next, number 200 versus number 222!"

Below the stage, Hong Yu opened his eyes. The corners of his lips curled up, revealing a look of long-awaited anticipation...

'Finally, it's my turn!'