Infinite Slaughter System: I Kill, Therefore I Ascend!-Chapter 179: Prelude To The Tournament

It had been roughly eight months since Li Ling returned from the Black Heaven Sect War of Annihilation after causing so much trouble in the Qing Shan Sect region and then coming back through the Boundless Joy Sect’s teleportation array before locking himself up in seclusion after impregnating Bai Ruyi.

And in that time, a lot of things happened in the wider sect that Li Ling missed.

The first was that this yearly tournament’s rules and structure had been changed for the first time in centuries, puzzling many within the Six Paths Halls as to what was going on with the upper layers of the sect.

Of course, the various Hall Masters, as well as those with connections in the middle and upper layers of the sect, knew that this was due to the situation with the Heavenly Mandate Dao Child of the righteous sect faction and her recent execution of the Six Paths Demon Sect’s Saint Son in a fair duel.

Now, the sect was clearly panicking and unhappy that the righteous side seemed to have been blessed, because a Heavenly Mandate Physique was rarer than even an immortal physique, only born when the Heavens itself was willing to delegate some of its authority to a human.

Usually, this indicated that a great calamity was about to befall the realm, so the consensus of the immortal sects of both the righteous and demonic sides was to provide ample training for the Heavenly Mandate Dao Child to be able to properly ascend upwards, for the lower realm did not have external threats, but the upper realm did.

This naturally left the lower demonic sects aggrieved, because this was clearly saying that they could not afford to harm or kill this so-called Dao Child, but the righteous sects could freely protect and nurture them.

So the Six Paths Demon Sect was keen on training its own next generation of immortal talents to stand up to this kind of person in hopes that they would not be sidelined and bullied by the righteous sects.

So the yearly tournament, which was a regular competition where many third-realm practitioners accumulated in the lower Six Paths Halls, would be participated in to narrow down to 3000 preliminary participants, who would undergo three rounds of tests to be narrowed down to 64 who would pass and be admitted to the Middle Layer.

However, the tournament did not end there, as the remaining 64, despite passing, had to decide who was the best among them and what kind of treatment each of them would receive from the sect once they ascended. Therefore, elimination rounds were held to give placements to those who had gotten through, and that was that.

This time, the ’guaranteed’ entry positions to the Middle Layer had been reduced to eight slots. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Only eight fellows would be able to advance upwards into the Middle Layer this year, causing a major uproar in the sect as many who had made plans, even spent money and favors to ensure they got a position, were now bereft of the opportunity they fought for.

And this was not the only thing. Now, the preliminary round spots were limited to 32 from 3000, and these 32 would now fight using elimination round methods to determine the final eight who would go through.

So the preliminaries had to eliminate thousands of people per stage to narrow down that number, so the tests had increased from three to seven, with their difficulty being scaled from ’be relatively good enough and you pass’ to ’only a heaven-born genius could barely squeeze through’.

Many had protested among the lower sects, but the Middle Layer, acting under the consent of the Upper Layer, were extremely ruthless in handling this situation, making everyone understand that this was not the sect playing around. Now, even those without the channels to know about the inside situation could smell the scent of danger and decided to simmer down.

But that was only one thing. Recently, the entire lower Six Paths Halls had been absolutely buzzing with news about the generational talents of this new upcoming competition and who might come out on top. With more limited slots, each person who passed through was completely up in the air, and since it would come down to brutal fights, the top eight could only be the best of the absolute best in the Six Paths Halls.

Because of this, many who were not qualified to participate or were residents of the Holy City were excitedly discussing and arguing in various tea houses, stalls, brothels, homes, and even restaurants, all about the well-known candidates who might achieve a spot.

"Humph, who doesn’t know that Lady Cao Xian is destined to take a spot in the top eight? She has reached the peak of the third realm and is said to be half a step into the fourth already!" one young man wearing white and gold of the Path Walker affiliation argued loudly within a bustling tavern for Six Paths Demon Sect disciples only.

However, another fellow was dismissive. "Hmph, that only places her at the starting line to compete. Do you know how many old monsters there are who have raised their cultivation to the limit to participate? There are those who have raised their Sub-Path to the fourth realm even!"

"Heh, you kid must be new. Don’t you know that doing so basically disqualifies you from actually getting into the Middle Layer? Even if you somehow do, you would always be inferior and mediocre compared to the others who remained in the third realm!" another elderly disciple stated while sipping a cup of green tea, sneering with disdain.

"Whatever the case, I feel that Shi Gaolin is the best choice for first place. He is currently the number one task taker in the entire Six Paths Halls and is the current disciple of the Hungry Ghost Hall Master!"

"Humph, there is also the disciple of the Hungry Ghost Hall, Bai Yegui, said to have mastered second-realm Daoist Arts to Perfection! Someone like that could easily sweep the opposition!"

"No way, Hu LiLi is destined to come out on top! She is the darling of the Wild Beast Hall, said to be born in the Year of the Tiger with a natural Tiger Root Bone, implanted with the Divine Tiger Bloodline by her Hall Master himself!"

"Forget it, such a little girl has nothing over Bei Dongshi, the illusory killer of fate! It is said that he doesn’t need anything more than your true name to kill you, having mastered the esoteric means of the Desolate Hell Hall!"

"Pfft, what is such a wight going to do in a field of direct battle? I say the champion is destined to be Shen Jian, the young prodigy of the upcoming Shen Clan! He has mastered the Divine Deva Ascent and is said to be able to conjure a blade of pure light to cleave foes apart!"

"Hmph, why not say he is a traitor from the Bright Sword Sect if he can do that? Me personally, I say that Wang Feng of the Asura Blood Hall is the destined champion, due to his invincible bearing. He has yet to lose a battle and has bathed countless battlefields in blood in the name of the sect! That is a real warrior!"

"Just a blood killer, what does he know? The tournament is non-fatal, so what is he going to do, slit his own throat to satisfy his urges?"

"You—!! How dare you, you think that slut Cao Xian can get anywhere as a mere dog of the True Human Hall? What is she going to do, pay her way to victory?!"

"Bastard, you dare?!"

"Why wouldn’t I dare?!"

Soon, a scuffle occurred in the bar that developed into dragging in even the innocent who weren’t a part of the argument, becoming a large-scale non-lethal bar fight where eyes were poked, balls were twisted, and heads were knocked together.

Just as the turmoil was getting heated, a soft yet potent voice erupted in the bar that seemed to transcend the noise from the skirmish, reaching each and every ear as clear as day.

"Such nonsense. Why are all of you avoiding mentioning his name? You fear even the mere thought of him, don’t you?"

These words caused all the fighting to come to a halt, and one would notice that those who were howling with pain before were perfectly fine now, darting their eyes away in a dodgy manner.

The man who spoke revealed himself to be a rather calm-looking disciple of the True Human Hall, nondescript and seemingly not special, but his words had a weird way of reaching the ear directly.

"If none of you dare to say it, I will. The tournament is simultaneously the proving grounds and playground of only one man, and he will decide the entire flow of the competition. Everyone who is participating is realistically only there to serve as a foil for him, and they can only fight for second place and below, because first place’s crown is undoubtedly his to wear!"

The young man’s eyes shone with fervor and worship, while many in the room began breathing heavily when they were forced to now think about that person and his achievements, filled with longing, fear, and horror all together.

"The winner of the tournament can only be him, the Asura War Demon, Li Ling!"