The Imperial Sovereign Dao Root from the last era? Chen Xi’s eyes narrowed while he seemed to be lost in thought.

It was perfectly logical and understandable if based on this explanation.

Yea Chen merely smiled and provided no explanation when facing Leng Xinghun’s words.

This allowed Chen Xi to realize one thing, he wasn’t the only one that had concealed some ability, and the others had done the same as well!

He was even sure that the others including Leng Xinghun, Kong Youran, and Donghuang Yinxuan had probably prepared some trump cards!

Chen Xi said in his heart, Looks like I can’t be careless during the upcoming battles....

...

The Dao Discussion continued.

The eighth battle, Shi Yu from Nuwa’s Dao Palace against Xiao Huaiyuan from the Dao Institute.

Presently, even Chen Xi was aware that Shi Yu had reincarnated and cultivated once more in the three dimensions. Surprisingly, in his past lifetime, he was a renowned and great figure during the primeval times, and he’d cultivated and followed by the Master of Nuwa’s Dao Palace.

Now, Shi Yu had completely recovered his memories after a years of closed door cultivation, so what sort of shocking transformation did his combat strength experience?

In next to no time, everyone obtained the answer to this.

As soon as the battle begun, Xiao Huaiyuan had utilized his full strength and executed a trump card of his. He seemed to have taken Shi Yu to be a formidable opponent.

Unfortunately, he’d lost miserable at Shi Yu’s hands after a mere 10 moves. He didn’t have any room to struggle at all, and Shi Yu had won with extreme ease.

All of this caused the cultivators in the outside world to be dumbstruck and extremely shocked. They finally realized that besides Kong Youran, the Nuwa’s Dao Palace actually had another formidable figure like this.

Even Chen Xi couldn’t help but be impressed, and he sighed endlessly with emotion in his heart. I’ve become stronger. Meanwhile, Shi Yu has undergone a tremendous change as well!

...

The ninth battle, Zhu Qianyu from the Divine Institute against Tai Shuhong from the Divine Mountain of Creation.

It ended with Tai Shuhong’s defeat.

The tenth battle, Li Lufeng from the Dao Institute against Jia Nan from the Buddhist Sect.

It ended with Li Lufeng’s defeat.

The eleventh battle, the Sovereign Sect’s Yuwen Ting against Golden Toad Isle’s Wang Zhong.

It ended with Yuwen Ting’s defeat.

The twelfth battle....

...

As battle after battle was carried out, the atmosphere in the outside world grew more and more explosive, and clamorous voices rose and fell while they seethed with excitement to the extreme.

Amongst the following battles, the most striking wasn’t Zhu Qianyu or Jia Nan, and it was Wang Zhong from the Golden Toad Isle instead!

Wang Zhong was noble, dignified, and elegant. He wore green clothes, had a white jade belt around his waist, wore golden weaved shoes, and crown that had a pair of antennae made of feathers. He was like an elegantly dressed son of a marquis from the mortal world, and he had a graceful bearing and seemed extraordinary. [1]

Just like Jia Nan, Tai Shuhong, and Zhao Qingyao, all of them were from ancient sects within the Imperial Region. Even though they possessed great reputations, they were far from being able to compare with figures like Leng Xinghun and Donghuang Yinxuan.

However, when he fought Yuwen Ting from the Sovereign Sect, everyone in the outside world realized that Wang Zhong’s combat strength was actually much more formidable than the rumors said!

In merely a short moment, he’d crushed Yuwen Ting without any difficulty at all.

It wouldn’t be a big deal if Yuwen Ting was merely an ordinary figure, but everyone was clearly aware that as a disciple of the Sovereign Sect, it was obvious how formidable Yuwen Ting’s combat strength would be.

Yet now, he’d been utterly defeated by Wang Zhong in short period of time, so how could they not be surprised and shocked?

“When did this Wang Zhong become so formidable?”

Many cultivators discussed animatedly.

“Golden Toad Isle resides in the Winter Cloud Star Ocean, and it has practically been isolated from the world for almost 10,000 years. Very little news comes from there. All I remember was that Wang Zhong merely possessed a cultivation at the initial-stage of the Universe Enlightened Ancestral God Realm a few thousand years ago. However, he’d been directly confirmed as the next successor of Golden Toad Isle, causing the world to be shocked by this news. That was the reason why the world knew his name.”

“Golden Toad Isle is an ancient sect that has existed for a very long time. It’s even to the extent that it possesses the protection of a great figure at the Daolord Realm. So, how could it have confirmed a young man at the initial-stage of the Universe Enlightened Ancestral God Realm to be the next Isle Master? Isn’t that a little too inconceivable?”

“Yes, it’s exactly because this matter was too sudden that Wang Zhong had risen to fame. But I never imagined that his combat strength would actually be so extraordinary.”

“The extraordinary do the extraordinary. Wang Zhong seems to be a peerless genius that possesses great Karmic Luck.”

At this moment, even Huai Kong’zi, Wen Ting, Yu Zhen, Lei Fu, Chi Song’zi, and the other great figures had started to pay attention to Wang Zhong.

Existences at their realms of cultivation were naturally able to discern with a single glance that the ability Wang Zhong revealed was entirely on par with Chen Xi, Leng Xinghun, Donghuang Yinxuan, Kong Youran, and the others!

“Interesting. Looks like another formidable opponent has appeared.” A wisp of an arc that carried deep meaning arose on the corners of Leng Xinghun’s mouth.

“Wang Zhong? Can he be considered to be a dark horse?” Donghuang Yinxuan pondered deeply in silence.

At this moment, all sorts of thoughts ran through the minds of Kong Youran, Yea Chen, Shi Yu, and the others when they witnessed Wang Zhong’s strength.

Another fellow that I’m unable to see through. He’s actually not a member of the five extremes. That’s truly rare. Chen Xi seemed to be lost in thought.

No matter what, this battle had allowed Wang Zhong to enter completely into everyone’s fields of visions and cause a mighty uproar amongst them. Moreover, no one dared to overlook him any longer.

Wang Zhong revealed an extremely calm reaction towards all of this. After the battle came to an end, he closed his eyes and meditated by himself on the Square of Vie, and it caused others to be unable to figure out what he was thinking.

...

After two more hours passed, the 1st level of the second round had come to an end.

At this point, the list of the 15 disciples that were advancing to the 2nd level had been revealed.

They were respectively —

Oracle Mountain: Chen Xi, Gu Yan.

Sovereign Sect: Leng Xinghun, Xue Xiao’zi, Fang Chongfeng.

Divine Institute: Donghuang Yinxuan, Zhu Qianyu.

Dao Institute: Yea Chen, Yu Jiuhui, Feng Zhongze.

Nuwa’s Dao Palace: Kong Youran, Shi Yu, Qin Xinhui.

Buddhist Sect: Jia Nan.

Golden Toad Isle: Wang Zhong.

Merely based on this list alone, the disciples of the five extremes occupied 13 positions, and there wasn’t a huge difference between them.

On the other hand, the other ancient sects occupied two positions while three had been eliminated. Comparatively speaking, it was already very extraordinary for them to seize two positions from the disciples of the five extremes.

Amongst them, the most dazzling figures were naturally Chen Xi, Leng Xinghun, Donghuang Yinxuan, Kong Youran, and Yea Chen. All of them possessed dazzling and shocking accomplishments in battle and shocked everyone with their ability. They caused all the spectators in the surroundings to be unable to determine who was stronger amongst them.

Besides them, Gu Yan, Shi Yu, Zhu Qianyu, Xue Xiao’zi, and Jia Nan had drawn a great deal of attention to themselves as well, but it was expected that they could attain such accomplishments in battle.

Only Wang Zhong from Golden Toad Isle was like a dark horse that revealed a brilliant edge as made an appearance, and he caused everyone to have a deep impression of him.

As for the 15 defeated disciples, they had no chance to participate in the next levels.

Needless to say, this was regretful. All of them were strong as well, and every single one of them was a peerless figure in the Universe Enlightened Ancestral God Realm. Yet now, they’d left in dejection. Besides feeling regret and pity for this, all the spectators couldn’t help but be shocked by the disciples that could defeat them.

After all, once one arrived at their level, unless one’s cultivation had arrived at a higher realm, the gap between them was extremely small and could be disregarded.

However, the five of them had still been defeated. This proved that even if they were all in the peak ranks of the Universe Enlightened Ancestral God Realm, there was a difference in strength between them, and they couldn’t be lumped together.

...

At this moment, Ten Direction City was extremely bustling. Everyone was discussing the 1st level that had just come to an end, and they seemed to be not fully satisfied.

But mostly, they felt anticipation!

Because the 15 disciples that would advance into the 2nd level had been chosen, and now, the next round of battles was about to begin!

...

A period of six hours to rest had been provided before the 2nd level began.

During this period of time, Chen Xi decided in an indisputable tone that Gu Yan would take the spot allocated to Oracle Mountain that would allow a single disciple to directly advance to the 3rd level.

In other words, Gu Yan didn’t have to participate in the 2nd level and could directly participate in the 3rd level.

This was a form of compensation provided to Oracle Mountain by the Dao Institute, and it was decided on by the Dao Institute’s Dean himself. So, no one questioned it.

On the other hand, in Chen Xi’s opinion, Tu Meng had already been defeated, and he wasn’t willing to see any mishap occurring to Gu Yan during the 2nd level.

After all, if Gu Yan’s opponent was a figure like Leng Xinghun, Donghuang Yinxuan, Kong Youran, or Yea Chen, then the outcome would be impossible to predict.

For safety’s sake, Chen Xi gave this spot to Gu Yan.

As for Chen Xi himself, he wasn’t worried about losing in the battles during the 2nd level.

Six hours later.

“Now, the Dao Discussions of the 2nd level will begin. Before this, your opponents will be decided by way of drawing lots.” Huai Kong’zi spoke in a deep voice while standing before Convergence Hall.

As he spoke, he flipped his palm, and a bronze lantern appeared there. The wick glowed brilliantly and flowed with a pure and divine aura.

“There are 14 strands of Divine Destiny Flames within this lantern. Every single strand carried the energy of Karma. Karma is like a cycle of cause and effect, so outsiders are utterly unable to see through its secrets.” Huai Kong’zi explained casually. After that, he asked Chen Xi and the others to walk forward, choose a strand of divine flames, and then swallow it.

Swish!

In an instant, flames of different colors floated up into appearance above Chen Xi and the others. They were in the colors of crimson, orange, yellow, green, azure, blue, and violet. There was a total of seven colors, and every two people had the same color.

Chen Xi had a violet colored flame above him, and with a sweep of his gaze, he noticed to his surprise that his opponent was Xue Xiao’zi from the Sovereign Sect!

The violet Flame of Karma similarly meant that the two of them would be the last to battle.

Besides the two of them, the opponents of the others had been decided as well.

The Sovereign Sect’s Leng Xinghun vs Qin Xinhui from Nuwa’s Dao Palace.

The Divine Institute’s Donghuang Yinxuan vs Shi Yu from Nuwa’s Dao Palace.

Kong Youran from Nuwa’s Dao Palace vs Zhu Qianyu from the Divine Institute.

The Dao Institute’s Yea Chen vs Fang Chongfeng from the Sovereign Sect.

Yu Jiuhui from the Dao Institute vs Feng Zhongze from the Dao Institute.

The Buddhist Sect’s Jia Nan vs Wang Zhong from Golden Toad Isle.

The spectators in the outside world instantly broke into an uproar when they laid eyes upon this list.

Such a lineup was simply grand. Every single one of them possessed the might to look down upon the world, yet now, they would be fighting each other, and it was obvious how shocking the collisions between them would be!

It was even to the extent that the spectators were unable to determine which seven disciples would become eminent and advance during the upcoming battles.

After all, every single one of them was so formidable, so no one dared to pass judgment before the battles actually occurred.

However, the more it was like this, the more anticipation everyone felt, right?

1. Search for the crown with two antennae that the Monkey King wears in some depictions.