The strong cultivators of Golden Mountain were standing in front of everyone. One of them said calmly, "Everybody, follow me to the Temple of Heaven!"
After that, everybody rose up into the air and started flying, After a short time, they saw an empty space stage. They could see many buildings and halls around. Of course, the people from inside the halls could also see them.
Groups of ten surrounded the Temple of Heaven. Many square-shaped pillars appeared, which could accommodate many people.
"There are the pillars for each different group," said a strong cultivator who was standing in the center of the Temple of Heaven calmly. The groups of ten jumped onto their pillars.
"Now, after the end of the allocated time, there must be five of you on the pillars," said the Golden Mountain cultivator. People on the pillars looked nervous. From ten people, they were going to be only five left. Half of them were going to be eliminated. Many people felt great pressure. They knew it was going to be that way before coming, but still…
—
On Lin Feng's pillar, Jin Zhen looked over the group. Some people looked nervous, one of them said, "People who know they can't win should get down."
However, Jin Zhen smiled coldly, looked at five people and said, "Thank you very much for joining our group, but five people have to be eliminated. Since you came to Golden Mountain, you can stay here and you'll have the opportunity to watch."
"Why us five?" asked those five people. They all pulled long faces. One of them said, "When you invited us, you didn't say that."
"That wasn't what I meant. Yu Qing can't be eliminated. Dugu can't be eliminated either, he's got the Godly Imprint King Body, and everybody knows Lin Feng too. Therefore, only you can leave. That's the best for the group!" said Jin Zhen calmly. However, the five people looked angry. Yu Qing suddenly opened his eyes. He seemed to have found a solution, as just after that, someone shrieked and their eyes started bleeding.
"Don't waste time!" Yu Qing said coldly. The five people were depressed. It was the sad truth. A few days before, the old man had invited them and had looked honest. However, now, in the blink of an eye, they were eliminated, how cruel! Some of them were devastated. They hadn't anticipated this ruthlessness at all!
They weren't the only ones. Many people on the other pillars had to go through the same thing.
Lin Feng looked at Yu Qing, the First Master of Jade Clouds. He looked extremely strong. His eyes were terrifying, he could destroy people's seven apertures with his skill…
Quickly, the five rejects jumped off the pillar. Lin Feng thought that if he wasn't famous, he would have been kicked out like the others…
—
After a short time, only five people were left on all the pillars. They were all geniuses.
In such a short time, half of all the people had been eliminated; out of nearly four hundred people, only around two hundred were left.
"Now, time for the second round!" said the Golden Mountain cultivator. He glanced at the crowd and continued, "The groups of five will now fight against other groups of five. Five battles, if one side loses, then the whole group is eliminated. If someone doesn't accept, they can challenge three people from whole group and if they win, then they can move on!"
To avoid losing real heroes because of the groups, they created that rule, thought the crowd when they heard that. Lin Feng's group was extremely powerful: Yu Qing, First Master of Jade Clouds, could already win one battle. Lin Feng could also win one battle.
"The first ones can challenge first!" said the Golden Mountain cultivator. In a split second, someone jumped onto the battle stage, the crowd was startled. It was Prince Wu Qing! He was the first one to jump on the battle stage, people already felt sad for whoever was going to be chosen by Prince Wu Qing.
"You!" said Prince Wu Qing, pointing at a group on a pillar. Those people pulled long faces. They didn't want to get eliminated!
Someone did jump onto the battle stage, but how could that person compete with Prince Wu Qing? His Three Thousand Threads of Emotionlessness Strength made him emotionless and allowed him to use the Three Thousand Deadly Technique. In the twinkling of an eye, he flattened his opponent and won. After that, the opponents won one battle and lost the last one, which meant they were eliminated 2-1 for Prince Wu Qing's group. The group had one strong cultivator, but he couldn't compete with all the others.
"Yu Qing, get a win for us first, that way, we'll have the initiative in the next two rounds as well," said Jin Zhen to Yu Qing. Yu Qing nodded. His silhouette flickered and he landed on the battle stage. He opened his eyes and looked at some people. They all pulled long faces.
"You," said Yu Qing calmly. One person from that group jumped onto the battle stage. It was the weakest person of their group, because they had no hope to win against Yu Qing. They hoped they'd win the next two battles.
The two fighters stood on the battle stage. Yu Qing took a step. It looked like his eyes were coming out of his orbits, they were terrifying. Deadly strength rose in the twinkling of an eye. At the same time, his lips moved and strength emerged from his mouth and pulsed out. His opponent suddenly gave out a horrible shriek, and his seven apertures started bleeding abundantly. Yu Qing moved his hands and sent the enemy hurtling back to his pillar.
It was a crushing defeat!
"Second battle. Dugu the Winner, you go," said Jin Zhen to Dugu the Winner.
"Alright." Dugu the Winner nodded and jumped onto the battle stage. His opponent also landed in front of him. His Qi was terrifying.
"Bzzz!" Three thousand Godly Imprint Lights started floating above the battle stage. It was an incredible display of king Qi!
Dugu the Winner is really strong. Lang Ye and Jun Mo Xi must be really strong too. During those two years, I progressed too slowly. I only improved my physical strength, thought Lin Feng. Years had passed since the Pathfinder Day of the Imperial Ranking List in the Holy City. Back then, Lang Ye was at the same cultivation level as Lin Feng, medium-level emperor, but now so much time had passed. Lin Feng had already reached the top of the Huang Qi layer; the others were probably at the same level. After all, even though they weren't as strong as him when it came to fighting back then, they didn't understand Dao strength back then, either.
People who had king-type bodies became exponentially stronger as they broke through. Their fighting abilities also became more terrifying with time.
Dugu the Winner's Three thousand Godly Imprint Lights started rising to the skies and fusing together with his Dao strength before crashing onto his opponent. In the end, he won. Two wins, one loss. The three other members of the enemies' group turned pale as they were eliminated. With Yu Qing and Dugu the Winner in the enemies' group, how could they win?
—
The following battles were spectacular. Groups kept getting eliminated. Finally, someone who was in a group of losers challenged three cultivators from a rival group and defeated them. Some people recognized him: it was a terrifying cultivator from Supreme Clouds, which explained it all.
A few hours later, only eighty-some people were left on pillars. The others had been eliminated and wouldn't be able to participate in the Meeting of the Continent of the Nine Clouds.
"During this third round, even more people will be eliminated. Each of the five members of the groups must fight. They must win three times. People who are in groups of winners but lose their battle also are eliminated. Those who win their battle and are in groups of winners can fight against three people from any group of winners. If they win the three battles, they are qualified," the Golden Mountain cultivator explained slowly. The weakest ones were all getting eliminated quickly. Only the most heroic of all heroes would remain in the end.
"This time, I'll choose the opponents randomly," said that person calmly. He pointed at two groups of five people. Their respective members fought against one another, their battles were incredible. That time, even if a group won, two of their members could get eliminated. Cultivators were now ready to use their full strength to win and avoid being eliminated. After several battles, only the strongest alliances were left.
Lin Feng was grim. Each time, at least five people were eliminated when two groups fought. A group couldn't win all the battles, or at least it hadn't happened. Therefore, each time at least six people were eliminated!
"Ru Yun was eliminated." Lin Feng was astonished. Jiu Ling Huang and the others were in the same group. Yao Yao, Zi Ling, and Ru Yun had been eliminated already. Only Jiu Ling Huang, Ru Feng, and a member of Golden Mountain hadn't been eliminated in their group.
"Your two groups. Fight." said the Golden Mountain cultivator at that moment. He was pointing at Lin Feng and his group on one side, and Prince Wu Qing's group on the other side.
They both had First Masters!
The crowd looked terribly excited. One group had to be eliminated. But Prince Wu Qing and Yu Qing were probably not going to fight. Even if one group was eliminated, they would then choose to challenge three people to be qualified. Otherwise, if a Master was eliminated before the Meeting of the Continent of the Nine Clouds, then…
Prince Wu Qing jumped onto the battle stage, Jin Zhen looked at Lin Feng and said, "Lin Feng, you fight this one."
Dugu the Winner had already shown how strong he was. Jin Zhen and Yu Qing could defeat the other members of Prince Wu Qing's group. Bing was also strong. They could all win. So now they were thinking that getting rid of Lin Feng was the best thing they could do.