Chapter 145 - 144: Peerless God Tournament
The morning sun rose over the jagged peaks surrounding Sky Jade City, casting long golden beams through the windows of the royal quarters.
Lin Yuan lay quietly beneath the pearl-white blankets, and beside him, Bai Qingyue was still sleeping peacefully, her breathing slow and steady as her black hair spread across the dark silk pillow. After the long journey and the events of the previous day, she had fallen into a deep sleep and showed no sign of waking anytime soon.
Lin Yuan remained still, allowing his Spirit Severing Qi to circulate quietly through his body. A faint warmth spread from him, keeping the chill away from Bai Qingyue’s body. He enjoyed the rare moment of peace. Once he stepped outside, there would be politics, schemes, and the upcoming tournament waiting for him.
A soft, hesitant tapping at the heavy doors broke the silence.
Lin Yuan carefully slipped out of bed and dressed in a fresh set of Daoist robes. After securing his sash, he walked to the entrance and opened the door just enough to step outside. He closed it quietly behind him, making sure not to disturb his wife.
A high-ranking palace attendant was waiting in the corridor. The moment he saw Lin Yuan, he bowed respectfully.
"Young Master Lin, Lord Zhao requests your presence in the East Receiving Hall. Envoy Zhao Wuhen of the Cultivation Council has arrived and wishes to brief you both."
"I’ll be there," Lin Yuan replied calmly.
The East Receiving Hall was a large chamber reserved for official matters. At its center stood a massive circular table carved from black star-iron.
Lord Zhao Shenming was already seated when Lin Yuan entered. Across from him stood a man dressed in the silver-threaded robes of the Cultivation Council.
Zhao Wuhen.
Lin Yuan was already acquainted with him, so the sight of the envoy was nothing unexpected. But the moment Wuhen’s gaze landed on him, his expression changed.
He had known Lin Yuan as an Early stage Nascent Soul cultivator. But What he sensed now was completely different.
Spirit Severing!
Zhao Wuhen’s pupils contracted.
He had received reports about Lin Yuan’s rapid rise, but reading about it and seeing it with his own eyes were two completely different things. He had assumed the reports contained some exaggeration. Now, standing before Lin Yuan, he realized they had actually underestimated him.
How could this be?
His thoughts raced. The last time they had met, Lin Yuan had clearly been at the Early Nascent Soul Realm. How long had it been? And yet he had already crossed that enormous bottleneck?
A faint shock appeared in Wuhen’s eyes before he quickly suppressed it. He was an envoy of the Cultivation Council, and revealing too much emotion would be unbecoming.
Still, the weight in his heart remained.
This Lin Yuan was becoming increasingly difficult to understand.
Wuhen gave a formal bow.
"Daoist Lin, we meet again. I didn’t expect that the next time I saw you, you would already be standing at the Spirit Severing Realm."
There was a subtle change in his tone. It was still formal, but there was now considerably more respect in it.
Lin Yuan took the seat beside Lord Zhao and glanced at him.
"Envoy Zhao, it’s been a while. What brings you here?"
Wuhen smiled faintly.
"I have come to brief you and Lord Zhao on the upcoming tournament. Given your current cultivation, I’m afraid some of the information I originally intended to give you will need to be adjusted."
Lord Zhao Shenming raised an eyebrow.
"Then speak. We don’t have much time."
Wuhen nodded and unrolled a large scroll across the table.
"This century’s event has been formally designated as the Peerless God Tournament. It is held once every hundred years, hosted directly by Emperor Tianxu of the Central Continent, using Sky Jade City as the primary staging ground. Its stated purpose remains the same: to allow the fifteen provinces to settle a century’s worth of blood feuds, resource disputes, and grievances through sanctioned combat rather than continent-wide open war."
His finger moved across the projection.
"The fifteen provinces are divided into two divisions."
He pointed toward six provinces at the center of the map.
"The Upper Division consists of six provinces from the core region of the Central Continent. Their spiritual environment is far superior to that of the Lower Division. The Provincial Lords generally stand at the Soul Transformation Realm, while the strongest sect elders and cultivators are usually at the Spirit Severing Realm."
His finger then shifted toward the remaining nine provinces.
"The Lower Division consists of nine provinces, including Zhao Province. The Qi here is considerably thinner. Most Provincial Lords are at the Spirit Severing Realm, while the strongest cultivators and sect elders generally remain at the Nascent Soul Realm."
"I’m familiar with this," Lin Yuan said. "Tell me about the competition."
Wuhen nodded.
"Each province sends two representatives. The first is the Provincial Lord. The second is a participating general chosen by the Provincial Lord."
His gaze briefly settled on Lin Yuan.
"In this case, that would be you."
The projection changed, forming a complicated tournament bracket.
"The rules are simple. Within each division, Provincial Lords will fight other Provincial Lords, while participating generals will fight other generals. Every victory earns points for the province."
Wuhen paused before continuing.
"However, the points are not equal. Victories in the Upper Division are worth considerably more than victories in the Lower Division. The reason should be obvious."
Lin Yuan nodded.
At the end of the tournament, the points would determine everything.
Wuhen continued, "Once the battles are finished, the Emperor’s officials will calculate the total score of all fifteen provinces. The province with the highest score will receive the tournament’s ultimate reward."
He looked directly at Lin Yuan and Lord Zhao.
"The winner will be granted the right to make one request of Emperor Tianxu."
"Within the limits of what Emperor Tianxu is willing to grant," Wuhen continued. "But the authority of a Void Refinement cultivator is enough to make that reward extraordinarily valuable."
Lin Yuan’s eyes flickered.
That was precisely what he needed.
Since Emperor Tianxu possessed the might of the Void Refinement Realm, then he will surely solve Bai Qingyue problem.
"There is one additional rule this century," Wuhen said.
Lord Zhao frowned.
"What rule?"
"The Ascension Clause."
Wuhen’s expression became serious.
"Any Lower Division province may nominate its participating general to abandon the Lower Division bracket and enter the Upper Division instead. If that general wins against an Upper Division opponent, the province will receive an enormous number of points."
Lord Zhao’s eyes narrowed.
"A gamble."
"Exactly," Wuhen replied. "It gives a Lower Division province a chance to surpass the core provinces and claim the final reward. But the risk is obvious."
He looked toward Lin Yuan.
"A Lower Division general entering the Upper Division is essentially stepping into a battlefield where the difference in strength can mean the difference between victory and death."
Envoy Wuhen then rolled up the celestial parchment, his briefing concluded. He offered one final bow to the two. "The tournament commences in a few days. You must formally submit your bracket declarations before the then. May the Heavens favor the Zhao Province."
With a sweep of his silver-threaded robes, the Envoy departed the East Receiving Hall, leaving Lin Yuan and Lord Zhao Shenming alone in the room.
A long, heavy silence settled over them.
Lord Zhao looked at the closed doors, then turned his gaze toward Lin Yuan.
"I brought you here to guarantee our dominance in the Lower Division," Lord Zhao began, his voice a low. "But with the revelation of the Ascension Clause, and the fact that you have miraculously broken through to the Spirit Severing realm... the path of the tournament has fundamentally changed."
Lord Zhao placed his hands flat on the table, looking Lin Yuan directly in the eye.
"Daoist Lin, I want you to use the Ascension Clause. I want you to enter the Upper Division bracket."
Lin Yuan did not flinch, his expression remaining perfectly serene, waiting for the Lord to finish his thought.
"However," Lord Zhao continued, his tone softening into one of genuine warning, "I will not force your hand. If you wish to remain and compete in the Lower Division, you will face Nascent Soul opponents, and you will slaughter them effortlessly. You will be safe."
Lord Zhao stood up, pacing slowly beside the table.
"You must understand the reality of the gamble I am proposing," the Provincial Lord warned. "You are a supreme genius, and your foundation is terrifying, but you are only at the Early Stage of the Spirit Severing realm. If you enter the Upper Division, you will not be fighting Nascent Soul cultivators. You will be facing the absolute elite of the Central Continent. Most of them in the Upper Division are already deep within their Dao Resolve cultivation—the mid-to-late stages of Spirit Severing. Some of the monstrous experts are even at the Half-Step Soul Transformation realm."
Lord Zhao stopped, looking back at Lin Yuan with a grim expression.
"The gap between the Early Stage and the later stages of Spirit Severing is not a mere stepping stone; it is a vast ocean. The Dao resolve required to bridge that gap is astronomical. I understand perfectly if you hesitate. Entering the Upper Division is walking voluntarily into a life-or-death struggle."
Lin Yuan remained seated, his gaze lowered toward his own hands as he carefully weighed Lord Zhao’s proposal. Entering the Upper Division as a general from a Lower Division province was certainly tempting. If his only concern was his own safety, remaining in the Lower Division would obviously be the wiser choice. With his current cultivation, securing victory against the other Lower Division generals would not be difficult. But the tournament was not decided by his victories alone.
He had yet to measure Lord Zhao Shenming against the other eight Provincial Lords. Even if Lin Yuan won all eight of his matches in the Lower Division, they would still need Lord Zhao to achieve the same result. Otherwise, the Zhao Province could easily fall behind in the final tally, especially if one of the Upper Division provinces accumulated a massive number of points.
The Ascension Clause changed that equation entirely.
If Lin Yuan entered the Upper Division, every victory would be worth far more points than a victory in the Lower Division. Even if Lord Zhao suffered a loss or two on his side of the bracket, Lin Yuan’s additional points could potentially make up for the difference. More importantly, it would give Zhao Province a far greater chance of surpassing the other provinces and securing the ultimate reward.
The risk was undoubtedly greater.
But so was the potential reward.
Lin Yuan’s eyes gradually narrowed as he considered the possibilities. If he wanted to guarantee Bai Qingyue, then simply choosing the safest path was not necessarily the wisest one.
Lin Yuan slowly looked up, a chilling smile spreading across his face, his deep purple eyes radiating.
"I did not come to Sky Jade City to play with children in the shallow water, Lord Zhao," Lin Yuan said, his voice vibrating with absolute sovereignty. "Draft the declaration. I am entering the Upper Division."