Soul Emperor Martial God

The first round of competition was still a number of days away.

Xiao Yi sat down cross-legged and took a few Healing Pills, preparing to separate from the others once more.

The group frowned in concern.

Bai Bingxue objected, "You've just suffered serious injuries; are you planning to act recklessly alone again?"

Xiao Yi waved his hand dismissively and chuckled, "It's just a minor wound, nothing serious."

He had suffered many grave injuries before, and this one was considered light.

Zhong Wuyou frowned and asked, "Xiao Yi, what are you planning to do now?"

Xiao Yi shook his head and replied, "I'm simply going out to slay demon beasts."

"In the past few days, when I was luring demon beasts more than 3000 li away, I already saw quite a few teams."

"Out of 47 teams, at least half have already ventured beyond this range."

"Their scores are now far greater than ours."

Ling Yu spoke up, "Then let's speed up. We're a team, we should exert our efforts together."

"We can't let you bear all the responsibility."

Xiao Yi shook his head and said, "No, that range is too dangerous."

"But..." Bai Bingxue wanted to say something.

"Alright," Xiao Yi interrupted, "That's settled."

"You all stay within the 2500 li range, continue slaying demon beasts, and gain experience."

"After three days, I will return and rejoin you."

As Xiao Yi spoke, he smiled and gestured for everyone to be at ease.

"I promised the Senior Swordswoman I would not tarnish the Sect's prestige."

"This round's first place, our Sword Sect team will claim it."

Having said that, Xiao Yi's figure flashed, and he left completely.

He didn't take Ling Yu and the others with him for good reason.

Apart from the area beyond 3000 li being too dangerous, there were other factors.

His enemies were not limited to the Mystic Ice Saint Sect.

...

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

When Xiao Yi returned, Ling Yu and the others had already slain over a thousand Demon Shadow Monsters.

Human-faced Sea Demons, Black Sea Poison Scorpions, and other such demon beasts had been slain in their thousands.

High above, a judge from the Demon Hunting Hall had already recorded all the scores.

"Sword Sect's Genius, what have you gained in these three days?" the judge asked Xiao Yi with a smile.

"Not bad," Xiao Yi replied with a smile, taking out a Qiankun Bag.

The judge accepted it with a laugh, but as he opened the Qiankun Bag, his smile abruptly froze and became fixed.

"Wha... what..."

Inside the Qiankun Bag were a thousand Demon Beast Cores.

All were of Extreme Realm level or higher.

More than half of the cores came from Extreme Third Layer or higher level beasts.

And there were as many as a hundred from the Fourth Layer or above.

"Sword Sect's Genius, what kind of battles have you been through these three days?" the judge said in shock.

Extreme Fourth Layer beasts were those who had step into the mid-stage of the Extreme Realm, far stronger than those of the Third Layer.

Slain demon beasts of this level earned much higher scores than ordinary ones.

Take the Deep Sea Demon Wolf King, for example; slaying one garners more points than hundreds of first-layer Deep Sea Demon Wolves.

At that moment, Xiao Yi merely smiled and said nothing.

The judge took the Qiankun Bag and said, "The first round of competition will end in half an hour."

"Your Sword Sect team can return the same way you came."

"We from the Demon Hunting Hall will calculate the scores and then announce the rankings."

Xiao Yi and the others nodded and took to the air, flying away.

The cores obtained from slaying demon beasts over these seven days were handed over to the judge first.

They were the proof of their scores.

The cores of Abyss Demon Beasts had a unique aura that could not be faked.

Of course, the judges themselves also had records.

Once all Demon Hunting Hall judges had tabulated and announced the rankings, these cores would be returned to the respective teams.

And so, the first round of the East Sea Festival came to a close.

The group returned to the Flame Martial Fortress.

Half a day later, the judge from the Sword Sect team came to Xiao Yi and the others' residence.

He returned their cores and announced the rankings.

Just as well, judges from the other teams were making their rounds to all the teams, performing the same duties.

"Sword Sect's Genius, the rankings are out," the judge said with a smile.

"The first place in this round is your team."

Xiao Yi smiled, as he had anticipated.

"Senior, could you please inform us of the remaining rankings?" asked Xiao Yi.

"Of course," replied the judge, "The other 46 Demon Hunting Team judges are already announcing the rankings to the various teams."

"The complete rankings will also be published later at the 16 fortresses."

"If you want to know now, I have no problem telling you."

"Second place goes to the team from Great Wilderness Kingdom's Wild Martial Sect."

"Third place, the team from Qianmiao Kingdom's Thousand Eyes Sect."

"Fourth place, the team from the royal family of Ice Martial Kingdom."

"Fifth place…"

"Sixth place…"

"..."

The judge announced the rankings one by one, and Xiao Yi nodded his head.

Indeed, as he expected, the teams that made it into the top 16.

Were all led by renowned Heavenly Talents from the 16 nations.

Like the royal team led by Ice Martial Kingdom's Bing Wujiang.

And the team from Qianmiao Kingdom's Thousand Eyes Sect led by the Young Sect Master, among others...

The rest of the common teams were all ranked after the 16th place.

Like the team from Mystic Ice Saint Sect, whose strength was far inferior to the team led by Bing Wujiang.

Even though they stumbled upon good fortune twice and scored many points, they still failed to enter the top 16.

Instead, they were ranked 17th.

The reason is simple, the competition in the first round relies entirely on strength.

Yes, strength.

Xiao Yi had participated in many grand gatherings and major competitions.

The primary factor these competitions test the participants on, is always strength.

But in these competitions, aside from strength, there are also elements of luck involved.

In short, the tests of strength in these competitions are somewhat watered down.

Only in the East Sea Festival, this first round of competition, is almost completely devoid of fluff.

Besides strength, there are no other factors at play.

The rankings are almost entirely correlated with the strength of the team.

In the entire Endless Black Sea, the number of demon beasts is an extremely frightening figure.

The spread and density of which are astonishing.

If one has sufficient strength, the number of demon beasts one can slay is incredibly high.

Therefore, the points obtained are completely tied to one's own strength.

Any points obtained through flukes or picking up bargains pale in comparison to the points one earns through their actual kills.

This is also the reason why Xiao Yi's team managed to take first place.

With his strength, the number of demon beasts he could slay in three days was immense.

...

Meanwhile, at the Ice Martial Fortress.

Within the lodgings of the Mystic Ice Saint Sect team, Han Ming was in a thunderous rage.

"Damn it, to let that rabble take first place."

"We ended up outside the top 16."

"Bastards, bastards…" Han Ming was seething with anger.

The surrounding Mystic Ice Saint Sect disciples didn't dare say a word to console him.

Just then, a figure pushed the door and entered.

Han Ming's voice roared, "Get out, don't disturb this young master!"

The next second, voices from the surrounding Mystic Ice Saint Sect disciples made him shudder.

"Greetings to the Eldest Prince," the disciples of Mystic Ice Saint Sect bowed in respect.

"Eldest Prince?" Han Ming was startled, turning around, only to find that the person was none other than the Eldest Prince Bing Wujiang.

"Greetings to the Eldest Prince," Han Ming immediately bowed in respect.

With a cold face, Bing Wujiang spoke coldly, "Han Ming, have you forgotten this prince's warning?"

"I've told you before that in the first round, do not provoke the team from Sky-splitting Sword Sect, and yet you wouldn't listen."

Han Ming protested, "Please calm your anger, Eldest Prince. How could I have known that Xiao Yi had the ability to lure demon beasts"

"And that his methods were so clever?"

"Nonsense," Bing Wujiang scolded with a hint of wariness in his eyes.

"How could the tactics of one who is known as one of the Twin Prodigies alongside the successor to the Flame Martial Main Hall be lacking?"

...

First update.