The participants from the Thunder clan were a pair of brothers. They were Lei Ji’s sons, and they were slightly older than Long Chen and Suxue. Although they looked like they were in their twenties, they were actually almost forty.

After reaching the Earthly Martial Realm, due to the increase in strength, lifespans also increased. Once a person reached the Ninth Earthly Martial Stage, they could live up to five hundred years. That was why although they were almost forty, they were still considered the younger generation. The age limit of the Nine Clans Martial Youth Competition was forty.

A person’s best time to cultivate was before the age of fifty. If one failed to break through the Heavenly Martial Wall to reach the Heavenly Martial Realm before fifty, it would be very difficult to progress. For example, the Eight Sect Elders had been at the Ninth Earthly Martial Stage for a very long time, but they had long lost the best opportunity to break through.

People like the Eight Sect Elders had long lifespans, but their potential had already decided their final cultivation levels. The Ninth Earthly Martial Stage was their limit. On the journey of cultivation, not moving forward caused a person to slide backwards. Their usual cultivation was only enough to maintain their current level so they would not deteriorate, but if they wanted to progress, they would need a major opportunity.

Something like Long Chen’s Seven Star Lord inheritance—that was an opportunity. Situ Yao was willing to risk it all because he saw it as a chance for him to reach the Heavenly Martial Realm.

Two muscular young men who looked like they were in their twenties stood in front of Long Chen. This was Long Chen’s first time meeting them. They were not twins; they had an age gap of about three or four years, but they were at the Ninth Earthly Martial Stage. As Lei Ji’s sons, it was not at all strange that they had reached the Ninth Earthly Martial Stage.

There were also people who reached the Ninth Earthly Martial Stage before the age of forty in other clans, but even among, there were weak Ninth Earthly Martial Stage cultivators and strong ones. These two young men had undeniably received Lei Ji’s direct teachings, so they had achieved a very deep level of mastery in terms of cultivation and combat abilities.

Their body types were a bit different. One was slightly taller and thinner; he was the older of the two. He smiled at Long Chen and said, “I am the older brother, Lei Wen. Lei Wu and I were training outside the city for a while and only returned a few days ago. That’s when we heard about your famous deeds. We are quite impressed by your capabilities.”

The other one, who was more muscular, gave an innocent smile and said, “He’s right. You’re only at the Seventh Earthly Martial Stage, but you were able to kill two Ninth Earthly Martial Stage experts, and even broke free from the Seven Thunder Elders’ trap. After hearing about your legendary story, we both respect you very much.”

“Thank you for the praise.” Lei Wen and Lei Wu’s personalities were similar to Lei Ji’s; they were easy to get along with.

“You guys should stop praising him, or he’ll get arrogant and lose tragically at the Eternal Battlefield,” Suxue said with a smile. She was wearing a black chiffon dress.

When Lei Wen saw the beautiful Suxue, he looked at Long Chen with admiration and said, “I really admire you for taking a beautiful girl like Suxue as your wife. That was our dream; I can’t believe you got her instead.”

After chatting for a while, Bai Lan and the others led them on the journey to the Eternal Battlefield. Behind Long Chen, the little Suyan watched him leave in a daze, with tears filling up her sparkling eyes.

It had been three months since he arrived at Heavenly Wood City. During that time, Long Chen had undergone a gigantic transformation. He was the only one who knew exactly how much he had grown. He had arrived as a nameless nobody and emerged as a famous figure whose name was known across the whole Ancient Graveyard. After the conflict with the Divine Wind Faction, talk of Long Chen’s courage and strength had spread far and wide.

The Eternal Battlefield was the center of the five districts. The group of a dozen or so people was led by Bai Lan and Lei Ji, heading to the Eternal Battlefield. Other than Long Chen, everyone else in the group was at least at the Ninth Earthly Martial Stage.

Every single person traveled very quickly. As they passed through the quiet forest, regular cultivators couldn’t even see them clearly. They would only feel shadows flying by.

The group stopped for nothing, and no beast or spiritual herb could make them stop. People like Bai Lan would not be impressed by common spiritual herbs, and the true treasures would not appear randomly in this forest. As for powerful beasts, Long Chen had not encountered one so far.

There were many small demonic beasts along the way, but those with some intelligence fled after smelling the auras of all the masters.

𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

Bai Lan and Lei Ji traveled in front of the group, with Lei Ji’s sons following closely behind their father. Lei Wen went up behind Lei Ji and asked softly, “Father, Brother Long Chen has been training in your domain for over twenty days. Did he break through to the Eighth Earthly Martial Stage in the end?”

Lei Wen froze, then he smiled bitterly and said, “How would I know? Breakthroughs become more and more difficult as one proceeds through the Earthly Martial Realm. Even with the Martial God Tombstone, I don’t think it’s easy. Long Chen actually zoomed through several levels in these three short months. Even I have a hard time believing it. It took me three whole years to progress from the Seventh to the Eighth Earthly Martial Stage.”

Lei Ji said, “Idiot, something isn’t impossible just because

you

can’t do it. It’s not like you don’t know the strength of my domain. He endured my full strength for over twenty days and did not even furrow his brows. Do you think a person like that would fail?”

Lei Wen was wistful after hearing that. After thanking his father, he took a few steps back and traveled beside Lei Wu. The brothers looked at each other, both feeling deep admiration for Long Chen.

Long Chen traveled in the center of the group. Although he was at the lowest cultivation level of all the people present, he had the advantage of the Seven Star Body, so he could travel as fast as them.

He looked up ahead and had a faint feeling. It was Xiaolang’s aura, and he was getting nearer. This time, he truly wanted to rescue Xiaolang from Wu Guangyu. At the same time, he had a precious gift for Wu Guangyu. Death.

Long Chen had long sentenced Wu Guangyu to death in his heart.

When they first arrived at the Ancient Graveyard, Wu Guangyu had taken Xiaolang away and almost killed Long Chen. Long Chen would never forget this grudge. He was not strong enough at the time, but now he was back for revenge.

“Long Chen, are you confident you can defeat Wu Guangyu?” Suxue suddenly asked.

Long Chen looked at the beautiful girl and smiled. “It’s too early to talk about these things. You just watch. Speaking of that, what is the format of the Martial Youth Competition?”

He had been busy with cultivation, so he had only just thought of asking about the competition’s format.

“Each clan sends two young experts under the age of forty to the competition. Since there are nine clans, there will be eighteen people in total. There will only be one champion, and it is the most important position. Even getting second place will be considered bad. Only the champion will receive the one remaining slot to enter the Five Emperors’ Secret Realm from the Long-Bearded Guest’s Yellow Emperor Key. The winner will likely have a huge influence on the final recipient of the true treasure.”

“I see. How will the champion be decided out of the eighteen people? One-on-one duels?” asked Long Chen.

“No. The competition is divided into two segments. In the first segment, ten people will be eliminated. Then the remaining eight will duel each other.”

Long Chen asked, “How are the first ten people eliminated? What is the format of the first segment?”

Long Chen had experienced many competitions on the road of cultivation. It was interesting that many of them were also divided into two rounds.

“The first round is more like a game than a competition.” Suxue had a solemn expression, gently furrowing her willow leaf-like brows.

“How is it like a game? Is it dangerous?” Long Chen asked further.

“It is indeed very dangerous. To us, we are at a disadvantage in the first round because the first round was set by the Five Elements Alliance. It benefits them the most,” Suxue said with a scoff.

She paused, then continued, “There is an abandoned, nameless city at the center of the Eternal Battlefield. It is a vast ruin, and the eighteen participants will be sent there. The ruins have a natural Confounding Array so that even people who are familiar with the place will lose their way. We will be scattered in that place, and we may encounter each other by chance, leading to random skirmishes. If we fight, there will surely be casualties, so this goes on until only eight people remain. Then the first round ends.”

Long Chen gasped and asked, “Hey, girl, are you saying that ten people will die in the first round?”

“Of course not.” Suxue shook her head. “Every young expert here is their patriarch’s darling. Who would be willing to let them be killed? When the game begins, they will plant a Divine Space Talisman on each of our bodies. It is a very strange talisman that creates a protective shield around us, so it protects us from every angle. Once we face an attack that surpasses our bodies’ limits, the talisman will be activated immediately, and it will transport us out of the ruins. If everything runs normally, there should be no danger to us.”