More statues came to life as Ryu practiced slicing and dicing them up as a warmup. In this life and death situation, not many people had the guts to try out a new style of fighting from scratch like this. The stone obstacles did not delay Ryu much as he finally made his way towards the location where someone was screaming for help. If Ryu’s intuition was right, this could be part of the competition that the Thousand Swords Graveyard was hosting.

As Ryu got closer, he noticed the woman who was screaming all this time. A fist sized bloody mark could be seen on her left leg along with a long trail of blood. Beside her were two swordsmen guarding her, their hands were on the handles of their sheathed sword. Instantly Ryu recognized the skill as the one that Rui Miyamoto had used in front of him. It was a quick draw, a burst of power concentrated in the single strike of the blade. It is not to be underestimated.

“There is no need to discuss what your background is.” A man holding a large anaconda head in his hands said. “Even if you are from the Miyamoto Clan, you are only weaklings from Sector Seven. Everyone who’s witnessing this will just laugh at how incapable you are. Now hand over what I asked for or perish.”

“Try if you dare.” One of the men shouted bravely but uncertainty could be heard in his voice.

The cultivator with the snake wrapped around him smirked and with a wave of his hand, spiders flew out of his sleeves and stopped inches from them. The red spiders which started off as regular sized grew to be as large as an adult pig in seconds. The man then proceeded to throw a blank scroll over beside.

“I could have finished you all a long time ago but my patience is dying. The Sector Seven is the most pitiful clan out of all the Miyamoto clans. However did you really think that I don’t know about your glorious past when you guys held the position of Sector One? The Sundering Heaven Sword style, hand it over. I know that it is only passed within the main house of your clan and that other clans can’t learn it due to restrictions set by the mighty Musashi.”

“Who… who told you that?” The woman on the ground gasped as the news echoed around her ears like thunder. This was… a secret that no outsiders should know. The two men’s faces paled another shade.

The seven clans that makes up the Miyamoto clan actually originated with the seven direct disciples of the legendary swordsman. Each had their own unique styles of the sword.

“A little bird told me.” The man smirked. Of course someone from within the mighty Miyamoto Clan told him. This is one of the biggest unprecedented event in the recent history of Heaven Continent. Of course there was those out to make a profit for themselves. Some are out to take advantage of the situation and seek the demise of their enemies. Some just wanted to make a name for themselves. For whatever reason, he was hired to steal the Sundering Heaven Sword style and was already paid handsomely.

“Ugh.” Suddenly the three of them felt their bodies weaken. The two men’s legs betrayed them as the dwindling sensation crept up their legs. It took them a split second to realize that the air was no longer safe to breathe in. That split second proved to be the line between victory and defeat though.

“Looks like my poison finally kicked in.” The lone cultivator smugly said. Unknown to them, he had released paralyzing toxins in the air. The two guardians of the women were disabled, there was no longer any obstacles left.

“I’ll… never… tell you.” The woman muttered with determination. She was Rinwa, one of the heirs to the Yuihe Clan that governs over Sector Seven. There was no way she’ll betray her clan.

“Oh I’m sure you’ll change your mind after my pet have his way with you.” A sinister smile could be faintly seen under his hood. A grey horrid looking wolf that’s over a meter tall with a sour rotten smell climbed out of his shadows. An expression of pure lust and savageness could be seen on its face. As if an invisible force was restraining it, the crazed wolf stayed one meter shy of her.

The woman’s face couldn’t help turn ugly, she tried to kill herself but no parts of her body had enough strength to do so. She would rather commit suicide then to get defiled by filthy beasts. Her loyalty started to falter as the rancid breath of the wolf washed over her. If she can’t stop the impending doom then should she just give up the clan’s secret art? Her betrayal would be broadcasted publically though. The reputation of the clan would be tarnished. However the alternative would be letting the world see her getting defiled by a beast!

It wouldn’t be too bad since no one had been able to master it for countless years. Also I’m not betraying the clan… someone else already leaked the information out. Rinwa tried to convince herself. The excruciating poison from the original snake bite was already making her delirious. The wolf suddenly inched forward a step, the saliva from its mouth dripped down on to her shoe.

“No…” She feebly cried out. With a trembling hand she took out a jade talisman from her storage ring. She weakly sent a sliver of Qi to unlock the hidden contents and a series of words hastily got projected from the talisman. In return the golden colored words quickly got absorbed into the parchment of paper.

“Good, now my pet have fun with her.” He said as he walked forward. The girl whose condition was already beyond horrible couldn’t even utter a proper response at the breach of agreement.

Cough. Ryu purposely made a sound as he strolled into view from a hundred meters away.

“A knight?” The anonymous aggressor said in surprise. Not only did he not detect Ryu’s presence but he couldn’t believe he ran into a knight since they rarely appear on the Heaven Continent. If one had to ask any cultivators on the Heaven Continent which type of cultivators were the strongest, nine out of ten would no doubt say knights. The reason being that the continent of Britannica had stood at the peak throughout the history while the rest of the continents rose up and down. They have again and again heroically contributed the most in defending against the Dark Continent.

“Hmph, I don’t know which faction hired you but get lost.” He howled, he threw his tattered cloak at Ryu. The cloak which fluttered around in the air suddenly transformed into a dark scorpion. He didn’t pay any more attention to Ryu as he turned his head back towards his three preys. Getting tangled with a knight would be too troublesome, he just wanted to kill the woman and steal the technique.

The Qi suppression worked in his favor, he was a poison beast summoner. This allowed him to be a one man army. Even if the continent of knights was one of the strongest, he still didn’t fear them if it’s under these conditions. He was confident he could stall if not defeat this lone knight. His real cultivation was only in King Domain so if there was no suppression, any Emperor Domain expert would have killed him already.

The rancid looking wolf which had been lusting after the body of the woman couldn’t wait any longer and jumped towards her.

“Enough.” Ryu said as he held his blade above his head. This was the entry level skill that all knight trainee learn, Bash! The skill was the basics of basics. It requires one to concentrate all of their power to the tip of their blade and release it in a swing. When it comes to Qi control, Ryu who is loved by the world had more talent in this category than anyone else.

The towering black scorpion already had its deadly tail dripping with toxic poison pointed Ryu’s neck. Its mouth was salivating at the prospect of feeding off Ryu. Ryu watched as the blood thirsty beast neared him without batting an eyelid.

Swoosh, a powerful gust of wind thundered out of nowhere. The poison beast summoner suddenly felt a piercing pain on the left side of his body. He did not know when or how but his body had bounced off the maze walls. The last thing he noticed was a devastating streak of destruction originating from Ryu.

Although the three paralyzed victims couldn’t move, their eyes still caught everything. Out of the corner of their eyes in the last moment was a blue blade Qi that spanned for over a hundred meters, decimating everything it touched. The black scorpion vaporized without even a speck of its ashes remaining. The whole right arm of the summoner disappeared. The fetid wolf which was an inch away from Rinwa was vanquished as well. Anything in contact with the blade Qi from that one simple swing simply disappeared except Rinwa and her two companions. Somehow in this line of deadly Qi, only they had remained.

“Don’t move… here’s an antidote.” The three survivors were incapacitated but weary of Ryu. However there was nothing they could really do. With a wave of his hand, the Infinity Tomes dropped out a few bottles of medicine from Alexis’s own concoctions.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to take anything.” Ryu assured them.

Ryu only administered the basic aids to ensure their survival. The woman looked like she was about to have a heart attack when Ryu touched the parchment of paper but Ryu only dropped it off by her torso. However just by being in contact with it, the Infinity Tomes already absorbed all its contents.

“Those beads on his waist are the Qualification Tokens. Take them!” Eni’s voice advised as Ryu walked towards the summoner.

The fact that the tokens are out in plain view tells Ryu that they can’t be stored in storage rings. However… the Infinity Tomes might be able to store them. As Ryu hunched over the unconscious summoner, he grabbed four of the five beads and secretly allowed the Infinity Tomes to take one. As he suspected, the tomes which operate outside the common laws of the world were able to store it.

With a tap on the person’s head, Ryu shattered his cultivation. Ryu did so to prevent this man from committing any more evil deeds. It was too risky for him to use any of the tomes’ abilities or the Destiny Defiance skill at the moment. After Eni mentioned that the place was monitored from above, Ryu had noticed that the whole place was created by some sort of Enchantment. According to Drunken Master Du-Bai and ex High Priest of the Sky Continent Vi’Ta’En, higher tiers of Enchantments can create illusions. The pinnacle of Enchantments can create a fake reality. Ryu couldn’t even begin to imagine what tier of Enchanting the maker of this place had reached. Ryu himself is only at the second tier, the Brown Tier.

Just as Ryu got up to leave, a loud voice suddenly boomed out from the skies. A robotic voice started counting down from ten.

The uncomfortable feeling that Ryu felt as he was transported here happened again. This time Ryu found himself in a field inside what appears to be a huge coliseum. The noise and excitement exceeded anything he had experienced. Blinding lights were flashing everywhere, millions of people were cheering and chattering.

“Congratulations contestants! The next challenge will begin in thirty minutes. Those who are staying please remain still, those who are sitting out please leave the platform in an orderly manner please.” A female announcer standing on a large flying round disk with a podium beside her broadcasted. She flew around congratulating on one side of the arena. Ripples of power could be felt from afar from her every movements, this girl was a Supreme Domain expert!

The arena within the coliseum is at least thirty kilometers wide by Ryu’s estimate. There was a much larger group of people on the other side. Ryu could vaguely hear another announcer’s voice on the other side informing the contestants who did not succeed. Those contestants must have failed to gather any tokens from the so called level one challenge in the terrace Ryu was in earlier.

Each person was placed a meter apart. Ryu quickly noticed that everyone around him started taking out voice crystals, image crystals, information talismans and other tools.

What’s going on? Ryu was unsure of the situation so with a thought the Mind Tome flashed opened. A stream of chaotic thoughts ended Ryu’s mind.

“Chukan, the prodigy of the Vanishing Daggers Sect is more formidable than our sources gathered. Also the twin killers from the north also showed up…”

“Gajin watch out for the Battle Golems users from the Yasha Empire, the next round is all about resourcing…”

“The crazy men claiming to be the Chu Empire can’t not be underestimated. They already accumulated five hundred tokens!”

“If you meet any of the purple robes men… run, I have never seen anyone as crazy as them…”

Ryu kept eavesdropping on their thoughts and quickly realized a few things. This is the preliminary rounds where contestants join to gather “Qualification Tokens”. The next challenge was going to be the sixth so that would make the previous one the fifth challenge. The next challenge’s information have been announced beforehand, King Domain Qi limit in a volcanic environment!

Each challenge one can find a boss within the vast terrain, beat it and gain tokens. Each boss can have varying difficulties and the tougher ones will grant more tokens. There will be a nine qualification challenges! So far each challenge the Qi limit went up by one domain. The seventh challenge will be capped at the Emperor Domain if the pattern continues.

The top sixteen factions with the most tokens will be able to proceed in the real tournament! Contestants that are factionless like Ryu right now can always join as a vassal of a larger faction and contribute their tokens. This was what all Ryu could gather at the moment from multiple thoughts around him. He’s sure there are more rules he has yet to uncover since he wasn’t here from the start.

“Bowha that kid on the left in that ridiculous shiny armor. He’s the one that took your brother’s arm and crippled him!”

The last thought warned Ryu of incoming danger, instantly Ryu’s eyes laid on a burly man who reeked of death. Scent of blood lingered around this person, who knows how many people he killed last challenge. The incongruous man threw a large bag filled with gold bars.

[Reminder 1 bar = 100k coin]

“You got some guts kid to mess with our Wraith Slayer guild. If you are a true man, I dare you to step outside to the conflict stadium!”