The chapter begins in TQI City, at the Battle Arena, where the leaders of the four great houses of TQI City had gathered in one place.
The four great houses were:
- Ju Family
- Wu Family
- Zi Family
- Lung Family
Together, these four great houses were comparable to a 6th-level sect.
In Blue Star, sects were classified from 1st level to 10th level. A sect's level depended on the strength of its background and its strongest experts. The stronger the background and cultivation experts of a sect were, the higher its level would be.
For example, the Heavenly Void Sect had experts at the Saint Rank. Because of the strength of its experts and background, it was classified as a 3rd-level sect.
At that moment, the four family heads could be seen talking among themselves.
The Head of the Zi Family congratulated Xuan Jui Ju, the new Head of the Ju Family, for becoming the new family head.
The other family heads also congratulated him.
However, there wasn't much conversation between them because all four families mainly cared about their own interests. Each family wanted to develop and strengthen itself.
Still, the other three family heads were secretly happy about the death of the previous Ju Family Head.
The reason was simple.
The previous Ju Family Head was someone who could single-handedly push the entire Ju Family forward. He was also considered a Great Power House, so his existence had put enormous pressure on the other three families.
It was then revealed that the previous Ju Family Head, Aash Ju, had been injured in the past.
No one knew exactly how it happened, but after a great incident, Aash Ju's strength had decreased slightly.
In his prime, Aash Ju had possessed the power of a Martial Supreme.
The current heads of the four great families were all at the Martial Great Emperor level.
If Aash Ju were still in his prime, even if the strength of the other three family heads were multiplied by three, Aash Ju would still be able to defeat them.
That was how terrifying his strength had been.
Many people even believed that Martial Supreme wasn't Aash Ju's true limit.
Seven hundred years ago, the demons had launched an attack on TQI City.
At that time, the Demon King who attacked the city was also a Martial Supreme-level expert.
Aash Ju fought that Demon King alone for four months to protect TQI City.
In the end, Aash Ju killed the Demon King with only seven attacks.
Because of that battle, many people began to regard Aash Ju as an existence comparable to the Martial Saint level.
However, after a certain incident, Aash Ju's strength had declined.
Even after becoming weaker, he was still powerful enough to face the heads of the other three great families by himself.
That was why everyone was thinking the same thing.
Aash Ju's death was a huge disaster waiting to happen for TQI City.
A terrifying backup force had disappeared.
Just then—
Everyone suddenly looked toward the sky.
A huge ship appeared in the distance.
Then another ship appeared behind it.
And another.
Soon, the entire sky seemed to be covered by countless ships.
One after another, cultivators began descending from the ships.
The four family heads immediately stood up from their seats.
After sensing the powerful auras coming from above, they lowered their bodies and greeted the incoming people respectfully.
Then they saw something shocking.
From one of the ships descended four Martial Supreme-level experts.
Beside them was a Holy Maiden.
These people were none other than the elders and Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Void Sect.
The ground soon became packed with cultivators.
There were so many people that the entire area was practically full.
The crowd quickly moved aside, creating a path for the Holy Maiden and the elders.
Then everyone lowered themselves onto their knees and respectfully greeted them.
The Holy Maiden walked to a large, elevated seat and sat down.
The other elders sat beside her.
The family heads respectfully greeted them.
"Greetings, Holy Maiden. Greetings, elders. Please accept our respects."
The Holy Maiden simply replied,
"Alright. You may all return to your seats."
After everyone returned to their places, the sect selection began.
A host stepped forward and announced:
"Listen, everyone. Those who have been assigned to a separate match, please come forward. Whoever wins their match will have the opportunity to enter the sect.
All participants, line up within the next thirty minutes and wait for your turn. When your name is called, come forward."
The first participant's name was announced.
A large, tall, and fat man walked onto the arena.
His opponent was a swordsman.
The host announced his name:
Zerak.
Unlike many of the participants, Zerak did not come from a powerful family or a major background.
He was a lone cultivator.
He traveled alone, constantly fighting powerful opponents and improving himself through battle.
The fight began.
The fat man raised his hand and created a powerful flame attack.
Instead of launching it directly at Zerak, he slammed the attack into the ground.
The flames disappeared beneath the surface.
The audience immediately became confused.
"What is he doing?"
"Why did he trap his attack inside the ground?"
Nobody understood what he was planning.
Then an evil smile appeared on the fat man's face.
Before anyone could figure out what was happening—
A burst of flames suddenly erupted beside Zerak.
Zerak barely had time to react.
Another attack suddenly emerged from directly beneath his feet.
The flames shot upward toward him.
Zerak quickly reacted and avoided the attack.
But another attack was already coming.
Yet Zerak's expression remained completely calm.
His eyes were still closed.
He hadn't even opened them.
When the incoming attack reached him, he casually dealt with it as though it were nothing.
However, neither the fat man nor the audience noticed what had actually happened.
The fat man controlled his flames and launched attacks from seven different directions.
He smiled confidently.
"No one can escape this. I've even seriously injured a Martial Master with this technique."
But before he could finish speaking—
Silence.
The entire arena became completely quiet.
People looked at the audience.
Then they looked at the family heads.
Then at the sect elders.
Then at the other cultivators.
Even the Holy Maiden, who normally showed almost no emotion, seemed unable to believe what she was seeing.
Why?
Because Zerak had already done something unbelievable.
The fat man was no longer standing in his original position.
He had been completely defeated.
No one had even seen when Zerak moved.
His sword technique had been so fast that the fat man's body had been cut into countless pieces before anyone could perceive what had happened.
Even his soul had been destroyed.
Everything had happened so quickly that nobody had seen it.
Not the audience.
Not the family heads.
Not even the elders.
For nearly twenty seconds, even the host didn't understand what had happened.
He simply stood there in confusion.
Then, as he finally realized the result, the host immediately announced:
"Winner—Zerak!"
Everyone who had participated in the selection became frightened.
Even those who considered themselves extremely strong felt fear after witnessing Zerak's sword technique.
That single exchange had shown them the terrifying difference between their strength and Zerak's.
The next round began.
A boy fought against a girl, and the boy won.
Another round followed, and this time the girl won.
The battles continued one after another.
Finally, after several rounds...
the next stage arrived.