After Mei's morose expression she felt silent and Lineir could only snicker internally. He was truly heaven blessed. A second later, a thunderous voice came across the Sightless Plains.

"The Gate of the Trials has opened. 64 Chosen remain in the Sightless Plains. Rankings will be determined by the order each Chosen passes through the gate!"

Lineir pricked his ears as a terrific beam of light roared into existence. A few kilometers away it roared into existence spouting from the ground into the sky so bright one might thing the clouds themselves would be charred.

"Heh, I see, they want to preserve those that have made it this far. Instead of forcing us into a real deathmatch, those who were strong enough to come this far will simply be ordered by the time it takes for them to clear the exit. However... I wonder if it will really be this simple! Tch, no matter." With a smirk Lineir made for the light beam.

"Let's see someone try to stop me!"

All across the Sightless Plains the remaining Chosen scrambled to be the first to make it to the light beam. However, many Chosen did not go all out. These were the strong ones, the ones who had deep enough legacies and heritages to know that the 1000 Chosen Cups Trial was rarely so simple! These Chosen also headed to the light beam but cautiously. For at the end... there would surely be complications if not a complete bloodbath!

Clang! Kacha! Kacha! Shua!

At the site of the light beam several of the quickest Chosen stopped and gaped. The beam of light coalesced and spiraled into the air, photons acting as if drops of water. A huge stone monolith rose up into the sky and engraved in bold strokes were characters!

"To enter, stand here unmoving for the time it takes an incense stick to burn!"

In front of the monolith was a shallow platform of stone upon which one was evidently supposed to stay. Instantly battle broke out as those fastest to the site tried to wipe each other out! Many of these Chosen quickly realized what was happening here. If they could defeat all the others and quickly stand here they might be able to sneak a surprise victory before the other stronger Chosen arrived! A vicious melee erupted with techniques flying everywhere! One Chosen with glimmering battle armor, ornately crafted, and a fearsome eagle emblem swept several others away at once and ascended the platform.

"HAHAHA you dare to stand on the thrown of I, your.. father--"

BANG!

A terrifying crash sounded as before he could even utter a victory cry three other Chosen simultaneously launched magical techniques and blew him hundreds of meters away where he choked up mouthfuls of blood! Instantly three other Chosen ascended to stand in the platform. One of them was precisely the huge man who Lineir had dueled earlier, Jun Li! Opposite to him was another snake eyed man clothed in green, his lil bro, Sai Li! And in front of both these two was an elegant girl wearing a Qipao and holding a flute. The three faced each other, Jun Li, smiling with his scarred face and heavy battleaxe, Sai Li raising a strange whiplike flexible blade, and this strange girl. Around them several weaker Chosen fought amongst themselves but none dared ascend against these three!

"That's Jun Li, the Son of Gravity!" One of the Chosen who had retreated from the melee exclaimed to his follower another Chosen.

"And Sai Li! No one offend that snake!" Another Chosen quickly called out. However, when they caught sight of the girl another shout went out,

"Ya Li! The Daughter of Gravity too? Are they fighting over some sort of interclan affair?" Another remarked, however his cry had barely died down when Ya Li unleashed a fearsome cry which drowned out the noises of fighting.

"Sai! I swear that if today you leave the Trials with all your limbs intact I will have the family cut them off for me!" Her voice was as strong as it was high and nothing at all like the graceful opal lute she carried in her hand which looked as if it could have been crafted by the Heavens.

"Haha, lil bro played a joke, it was a joke, a joke, Honey, can't you let him off on account of our upcoming marriage?" Jun Li had an oddly charming innocent expression on his face. He raised his hands to placate Ya Li, but it could be noted that a large amount of dark energy began to build giving his hands a dark glow. Additionally, though he seemed to be raising his hands in peace, they were inching closer to the haft of the battleaxe on his back. He sighed darkly in his mind. When a woman got like this there was no stopping blood from being spilt! As expected, despite his words, Ya Li's face only reddened more and she shrieked,

"That motherf****** no good pervert of a brother of yours tried to kidnap my one and only sister! I don't care if he's family, anyone who tries to touch my little sister is a dead man!" Ya Li raised the ornate flute to her lips and inhaled. Instantly her chest pumped out impressively as air whooshed inside and a fearsome wind Qi gathered in her Second Heart. Seeing this Jun Li immediately paled and drew his battleaxe protectively in front of him as the green robed Sai Li backed off a step an emerald scale shield appearing in his left hand as well.

"Don't you think you guys are being a little too overbearing taking over the whole platform for the Li family?" A roguish voice entered and a petulant blue robed man appeared along with a retinue of strong cultivators. Immediately there was an uproar as several watching Chosen exclaimed,

"Wei Song, his retainers alone contain 5 of the top twenty acknowledged Chosen in the Trials!" Instantly the other Chosen sighed. It seemed their dreams of trying to sneak a good ranking were at an end. With Wei Song here none would pass easily until his entire group had ascended in their minds.