A challenge was meant to be a free fight.

However, to ensure fairness, there should be rules for the challenge.

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Swoosh!

Xing Han lifted his big hand and there were explosive beams of light that flew up the sky.

That was obviously two hundred and eight crystals, equivalent to the number of contestants.

"I have already used Spiritual consciousness in these crystals. I have made some markings to track the order of the challenge, from one to two-hundred and eight. Whenever you inject some dark force into it, the markings will be shown and these markings are indelible. You guys go ahead to choose!" Xing Han told the contestants.

This kind of rule meant that every warrior would depend on their own luck to win the challenge.

Whoever was the first to pick his opponent would have a good headstart and a clear advantage.

The marking that was left behind could not be amended. Once there was a change, the crystal would break.

This was a gimmick and not some deep magical power.

As soon as Xing Han stopped speaking, the contestants started to take actions. They reached out to grab a crystal.

Su Mo also snatched a crystal. He did not get pick carefully. After all, it was pure luck.

With the crystal in his hand, Su Mo infused it with some Chaotic Energy. The crystal immediately displayed a number 168.

Su Mo frowned upon seeing the number 168. It looked like he had run out of good fortune. Number 168 was indeed far behind.

"Su Mo, you have lousy luck!"

That was a snide remark, it was from Long Daotian.

Su Mo turned around and saw the crystal in Long Daotian's hand. It showed a number 51.

A good number 51 indeed. Amongst the two hundred and eight opponents, Long Daotian had indeed picked a good start.

"Yeah, not great luck I suppose!" Su Mo said matter-of-factly. Since he could not initiate the selection of his opponents, he would let them pick him instead.

He had real prowess and was fearless against his opponents.

"Hehe!" Long Daotian smiled as he shook his head. He could feel that Su Mo's confidence was overflowing and his ego was inflated.

He withdrew his smile quickly and resumed his cool composure to get ready for his duel.

At this instant, all the crystals in the sky were taken. Some were elated by their allocated number while others were disappointed.

Warriors who had picked smaller numbers were pleased as they had the power to call the shots.

Those who had picked larger numbers prayed that they would not be matched with strong opponents.

Tuo Si looked at his crystal and he sighed. It said number 200.

His number meant he was trailing way way behind.

However, he did not grumble. With his prowess, it was irrelevant if he had to duel earlier or to duel later.

"What rotten luck!"

Li Qianjue looked at his crystal and condemned it. He had not expected that his luck would take a turn for the worse.

He took a glimpse at Su Mo standing far away. He thought quickly and scanned the ground Su Mo had stood on.

When he saw Su Mo's number, he was shocked. He became bemused after the initial surprise. He burst out giggling.

"What an absurd fool!" Su Mo said without any emotion.

"You....!" Li Qianjue was enraged upon hearing Su Mo's words. How dare Su Mo be so rude and overbearing?"

However, Li Qianjue stopped to control himself. The duel was about to begin. He just needed to tolerate it for a little longer.

Li Qianjue's and Su Mo's bickering had made a few heads turn. They could see that the duo were rivals and, should the duo be matched in a fight, it would be a life and death duel.

Gongcheng Tai Hao wore a wry smile on his face. He needed to wait till Li Zun was called upon before there would be a verdict.

Under such circumstances, there would be no one to challenge Su Mo.

Li Tong, Li Shi and warriors from the Sky Tyrant Clan, were delighted. They were happy for such an outcome.

The folks from the Dragon Tribe were not upset. Which would have better prowess to win, Su Mo Li Zun?

Standing beside them was Leng Xie, dressed in black. He had held the crystal so tightly that it almost broke into pieces.

The number on his crystal read number 7.

"Oh Su Mo! Even God is on my side!" Leng Xie was overjoyed. The moment for his revenge had arrived.

He had vowed to fight Su Mo to take revenge. He had not cared for the outcome of the challenge.

At this moment, Xing Han watched the crowd from the stage. He spoke again.

"The challenge will commence according to the number sequence you have picked."

"However, to ensure fairness, each person may fight for two sessions. That means he can choose who to fight and in turn be picked by an opponent."

"That also means, those who had been challenged, will be barred from being chosen by others, until the second session."

"In every turn, those who lose both sessions will be disqualified."

"In every session, the winner will score a point, The loser is awarded nil points. The fight for the top ten positions will depend on the final score."

"That's all. Those are the rules. Is that clear to everyone?"

Xing Han wasted no time in reading out and explaining all the rules.

"Yes!" the warriors conceded. Such rules were common, they had nothing to query about.

"Good. Let the challenge begin. Each warrior will go on stage to announce their names!" As soon as Xing Han had spoken his last word, he moved swiftly downstage.

There were many contestants and these names needed to be announced for him to score them.

Swoosh!

As Xing Han moved away from the platform, a youthful shadow leapt towards the platform.

This was a talent from the True Spirit Tribe, his cultivation paralleled Rank 3 Empty God Realm.

The True Spirit Tribe was a supreme tribe. It was ranked ninth on the Ten Thousand Archean Tribe Board, below the Dragon Tribe. It was considered to be powerful.

The tribesmen from the True Spirit Tribe were also vastly different from the other groups of tribesmen.

The tribesmen from the True Spirit Tribe resembled elves and fairies. They all had crystal-clear skin. The males were handsome and the females were beautiful.

All tribesmen had long pointed ears.

"Wan Tianling, I shall challenge Yuan Zang from the Red Moon Sect!"

The youth from the True Spirit Tribe scanned around and he rested his eyes on a saint from the Humans Tribe.

"So this is Wan Tianling!" Su Mo suddenly realised that Wan Tianling was the first saint of the True Spirit Tribe. He was ranked eighth out of the ten saints.

Along the journey to the God's Path, Su Mo had heard from Long Xun about the top notch saints.

However, it came as a surprise that Wan Tianling did not pick a saint of comparable calibre. He had instead chosen an ordinary saint to duel with.

Of course, that had made a wise strategy. After all, such challenges would score each contestant in each match and tallied the total score after the final match.

Swiftly, Yuan Zang went onto the platform. The pair did not exchange a word. They fought immediately.

Yuan Zang was only of Rank 2 Empty God Realm. He was defeated after the first blow dealt by Wan Tianling.

Subsequently, the matches continued...

Countless matches followed, they were all intense and ferocious. Several opponents were equally matched, while others were walk-overs after easy fights.

Xing Han stood above the ground and a wall created by the Dark Force was floating above his head in the sky.

The wall recorded the scores of the matches.

The winner of a match was given one point. The loser did not win nor lose a point.

In a flash, six matches were completed. The seventh match had just begun.

Swoosh!

Leng Xie, dressed in a black robe, moved swiftly onto the challenge platform.

No one paid any attention to Leng Xie, who was a warrior of Rank 1 Empty God Realm. He was not thought of highly.

"Leng Xie, challenge Su Mo!"

Once he was on the platform, Leng Xie's gaze was locked on Su Mo. He uttered the challenging words.

Once Leng Xie had issued his challenge, there was a long silence. Everyone was taken by surprise.

This guy with his lowly prowess would want to challenge Su Mo.

Wu Zuo, Li Qianjue, and even Ancient Demon Tuo Si, could not help frowning.

If Leng Xie had challenged Su Mo, neither of them could fight Su Mo in this round. They all had to wait till the next round.

"What a reckless fool!" Su Mo shook his head without saying a word. Leng Xie had not learnt his lesson!

With a sneer, Su Mo was prepared to go onto the platform. Suddenly, there was a roar which shocked everyone.

"Who has given you permission to challenge Su Mo? Get off the platform!"