"Chu Liang of the Mount Shu Sect has defeated Yun Chaoxian of the Great Astral Sect!"

When this announcement rang out, the people in Corridor City displayed expressions of surprise. They were shocked to hear that Chu Liang had defeated Yun Chaoxian, but it had not been entirely unexpected. They had known that Chu Liang was likely to be overwhelmingly strong, but it was his methods that always caught them off guard.

Chu Liang had achieved three victories in a row, each in a remarkably short time… In fact, Chu Liang’s first two opponents had not even managed to withstand a single strike from him.

Yun Chaoxian had only managed to withstand two strikes. If his halberd were as firm as he was in speech, perhaps he might have lasted a bit longer.

This meant that Chu Liang was, without a doubt, the first to make it into the top five, granting him the first bye.

The whole purpose of Corridor City’s mechanism was to accelerate the pace of the competition while minimizing luck as a factor. The first three rounds of the Battle at the Imperial City were different from the final round.

In the first three rounds, the participants advancing to the next corridor in the same direction would have to battle whoever entered the same corridor shortly after them, making it unlikely for the stronger competitors to encounter the weaker competitors for three consecutive rounds.

The competitors that won their battles quickly would have to face other swift victors, while those that took longer to win their battles would go on to face other slow victors. In other words, the competitors of a similar level would be matched up.

This could lead to some strong competitors being eliminated earlier than the weaker ones, but it was unavoidable. Nevertheless, the rankings in the first three rounds of the Battle at the Imperial City were not that significant; only the final round mattered.

Even if a weaker competitor was lucky enough to somehow reach the third round, they would have to face a formidable competitor that had fought their way there. That meant it was nearly impossible for one of the weaker competitors to advance to the top five just because they had good luck.

There could be instances where the fastest competitors in each direction who, despite leading by a wide margin, ended up getting slowed down because they had to wait for their next opponent to arrive. However, that reduced the chances that matched competitors would have an overwhelming gap in level, causing the battles to end too quickly. Furthermore, if they had to wait for their next opponent, that likely meant their opponent was up against another strong competitor in long and grueling battles, placing their opponent at a disadvantage.

Of course, the faster competitors held a huge advantage to begin with. After all, they would be well rested, whereas their next opponents would be exhausted from having been stuck in prolonged battles.

That was why the fastest competitor was given the first bye.

However, the competitor that defeated their opponent the fastest in the semifinals would advance straight to the final duel. The other victor from the semifinals would then have to duel the competitor that had won the first bye to compete for the remaining spot in the final round. This ensured that both finalists would likely have had to fight in four duels.

There had been two times in which the final winner turned out to be the slower victor, despite having fought five, instead of four, battles to get to the finals. These were exceedingly rare occurrences in the history of the Assembly of Immortal Sects.

Ultimately, this complicated competition boiled down to a focus on five words—fairness, fairness, and more fairness.

To the spectators who were familiar with the Assembly of Immortal Sects, they had come to a simple realization—speed equaled strength.

Chu Liang had been the fastest to reach the top five, making him the man who defeated his opponents the fastest in Corridor City. Did that mean he was also the strongest?

Then what about Yang Shenlong?

…

At this moment, Yang Shenlong was engaged in his duel for the third round.

His opponent was the Great Astral Sect's eldest disciple, Ren Hongdao.

The eldest senior brother of the Astral Sect stood proudly with a flame-colored long saber in his right hand. Despite facing Yang Shenlong, who was known to be the top immortal sect disciple of their generation, Ren Hongdao showed no fear. Rather, his gaze was blazing with determination. �

When it came to fighting, the disciples of the Great Astral Sect were never afraid, no matter who they had to fight.

Yang Shenlong's expression remained indifferent, his gaze deep.

Ever since losing to Chu Liang, much of Yang Shenlong’s arrogance had faded, replaced by a restrained but intense determination. It seemed that it had not been a bad thing for him to experience defeat once.

Whoosh.

Ren Hongdao raised his saber and exuded an intense murderous intent, instantly becoming extremely imposing. As a martial arts cultivator at the pinnacle of the fifth-realm, his qi and blood surged to terrifying levels. He was pretty much akin to a celestial beast.

His saber, Soaring Serpent, measured five chi and three cun[1]. It was forged from Heavenly Fire Meteoric Iron and ranked 168th in the Catalog of the Mortal World's Ten Thousand Treasures.

Boom!

A thunderous noise resounded as crimson augmented qi and its scorching flames struck down heavily toward Yang Shenlong.

Yang Shenlong swiftly dodged the attack. Despite being a sixth-realm cultivator, he did not dare underestimate a martial arts cultivator whose cultivation level was a little lower than his. The two followed different cultivation paths, but once they engaged in close combat, Ren Hongdao would pose a major threat.

Whoosh.

After using Dimension Compression to evade Ren Hongdao’s strike, Yang Shenlong followed up with a hand seal. There were only several zhang between them, yet when Ren Hongdao chased Yang Shenlong and tried to attack again, he realized he could not close the distance even with two leaps.

It was the Great Dao of Primordial Chaos.

The normal spectators outside were puzzled by the scene, but the higher-ups of the immortal sects promptly recognized what Yang Shenlong was doing.

He wasn’t using a divine skill or an immortal art but the Great Dao of Primordial Chaos. His deep understanding of it allowed him to instantly alter the spatial distance between him and Ren Hongdao.

This was another manifestation of the World Within One's Sleeve—a demonstration of Yang Shenlong's excellent, albeit incomplete, mastery of the Great Dao of Primordial Chaos.

If Ren Hongdao had no way of countering it, then he would never be able to close in on Yang Shenlong.

While Ren Hongdao continued to leap, Yang Shenlong formed more seals with his hands. Countless streams of green qi emerged from the ground and into the sky, transforming into vines that looked like dragons and snakes. They rushed toward Ren Hongdao, aiming to entwine around him.

Ren Hongdao’s response to this series of continuous attacks was comparatively straightforward.

You have a world within your sleeve? Then I’ll just slash your world apart!

You have vines? Then I will just slash through them!

The strategy for his counterattack was just one word—slash.

The Soaring Serpent Saber flew through the air, and an apparition of a long saber apparition in midair. Then it descended toward the ground with explosive force.

Boom!

The ground split open, forming a deep trench as raging flames surged toward Yang Shenlong's feet. He turned his palm downward, extinguishing the fiery saber wind with his hand.

Ren Hongdao pressed on relentlessly, slashing through the space that the World Within One's Sleeve had altered. With a leap, he closed in on Yang Shenlong and directed a slash at him.

Whoosh.

The saber’s frigid wind pressed against Yang Shenlong’s face, yet he remained calm and collected. He turned his right hand over and drew out a three-chi-long[2] Dragon Bone Jade Blade, blocking the saber with a clang.

His legs sank into the ground up to his knees, the force of the collision driving him downward.

Right then, another figure emerged from behind Yang Shenlong. He used External Manifestation!

The clone leaped up high and transformed its right arm into a massive dragon claw. The claw swiped down toward Ren Hongdao!

Caught off guard, Ren Hongdao pushed the Soaring Serpent Saber harder, forcing Yang Shenlong, who was still in front of him, to retreat. With a fierce swing of his saber, Ren Hongdao summoned strong winds to defend him!

Rumble!

The explosive collision shook the earth, sending shockwaves in all directions. The summoned winds quickly swept away the dust from the collision, revealing Yang Shenlong's clone clutching the Soaring Serpent Saber with its dragon claw. The clone held the saber firmly in place, refusing to let it go even as his golden blood sprayed out.

Meanwhile, Yang Shenlong stepped forward, thrusting the three-chi-long Dragon Bone Jade Blade toward Ren Hongdao.

Faced with attacks from above and below, Ren Hongdao unleashed the valor of the Great Astral Sect’s eldest senior brother.

He roared, "DIE!"

Ren Hongdao ripped his shirt to shreds and emitted an indescribably intense murderous intent.

Rather than abandoning his saber, he intensified the augmented qi on the blade to maximum power, intending to slash both Yang Shenlong and his clone in half!

The Soaring Serpent Saber rose and fell, and Yang Shenlong's clone exploded to bits in midair. Faced with the Dragon Bone Jade Blade, Ren Hongdao did not retreat. Instead, he advanced fearlessly, undeterred by the prospect of mutual destruction.

He stopped his fierce sword strike when the saber was just an inch from Yang Shenlong's face. Tension filled the air.

The Dragon Bone Jade Blade in Yang Shenlong's hand was pointed at Ren Hongdao's chest, a mere motion away from piercing his heart. Meanwhile, Ren Hongdao's saber hovered over Yang Shenlong's head, a slight descent away from killing him.

Was it going to be mutual destruction?

The spectators were astonished by this scene.

Yet, it was at this very moment that another Yang Shenlong emerged from the void.

"You've lost."

The clone in front of Ren Hongdao shattered with a resounding boom.

There had been two clones!

Yang Shenlong's mastery of External Manifestation had already advanced to the point where he could have two clones simultaneously, while he had stayed concealed the whole time using the Shadow of Radiance. All of Ren Hongdao's efforts had been focused on the two clones.

This scene left the spectators exclaiming in admiration and letting out sighs of relief. Just moments earlier, they had feared that the two young men had entered a deadly stalemate. Had either one lost control, it could have ended with two deaths.

Fatalities like that had indeed occurred in past Battles at the Imperial City.

Amid the clamor, an announcement rang out.

"Yang Shenlong of the Penglai Supreme Sect has defeated Ren Hongdao of the Great Astral Sect!"

…

1. Around 1.6m. ☜

2. About a metre. ☜

GLTD Alternate Universe's Thoughts

Translator: LD