“Nangong Jun, which contestant our lineage chooses as the seeded player has nothing to do with you. If you continue to show such disrespect, do not blame me for being impolite!” An Miao’s voice turned cold as she rebuked the young man.
Lin Xiao was slightly surprised. This An Miao, who was usually as gentle as water and radiant as light, actually had moments of coldness.
Nangong Jun’s expression turned ugly. He had pursued An Miao for a long time, yet she had always been cold towards him. Now, she showed him no face at all.
“Hmph, sooner or later I will get you into my bed!”
Nangong Jun coldly snorted in his heart. Then, with an icy gaze, he looked towards Lin Xiao and threatened aloud, “Kid, you had better stay far away from An Miao. Otherwise…”
“Cough cough!” Before he could finish, Wang Qi, not far from Lin Xiao, interrupted, “Brother Nangong, this Mu Haoran is the top genius under thirty years old who swept across the nine continents!”
“What?” Nangong Jun was startled, a look of astonishment appearing on his face.
In recent days, they had all been in seclusion on Spirit Pool Island, fully preparing for the spirit controller grand competition. Where would they find time to follow the essence cultivator battles in the nine continents?
However, he roughly knew the level of an essence cultivator genius under thirty years old.
At the very least, such a person would be stronger than a mid seventh-grade spirit controller, stronger than a half-step Martial Saint.
In other words, his own strength was far inferior to the other party?
This young man, with a bone age of only about twenty-two, was actually the one who swept the younger generation across the nine continents, the top essence cultivator genius of the nine continents?
The more he thought about how such a top genius might be closer to An Miao, the more jealousy and anger surged in Nangong Jun’s heart.
However, he immediately stopped his original plan to directly use spirit enslavement.
Since the other party was the top genius of the nine continents, he would not succeed in enslaving him.
Attempting it would only make him lose face and provoke conflict.
If he struck first and the other party spoke out about it, it would also damage Spirit Pool Island’s reputation.
That young man from Yanzhou had reminded him.
However, it was impossible for him to speak humbly to the other party.
“No matter who you are, if you dare approach An Miao, you will not end well!” Nangong Jun still threatened coldly.
“Snort!”
At that moment, An Miao’s spiritual power surged forth, directly hurling Nangong Jun away.
Nangong Jun stumbled in the void and nearly fell, but fortunately, it was not too obvious.
This was already An Miao showing him considerable face.
Nevertheless, many people still noticed, though they said nothing.
But regarding Mu Haoran, some began whispering, “Mu Haoran has offended a disciple of Spirit Pool Island. It seems his future will not be easy.”
“That may not be true. He even killed people from the Ji family, and nothing came of it.” Someone quietly countered.
“It’s a pity Mu Haoran is not a spirit controller. If he were and participated in the grand competition, that would be disastrous.”
“The top essence combat power among the youth of the nine continents. Do you think he could possibly be a spirit controller?”
“Exactly. To reach this realm, he must have devoted all his effort. How could he have energy left to cultivate spiritual power? If his spiritual power were decent, his essence power would not have achieved such greatness.”
…
On the other side, Ximen Haoyue saw the scene of Nangong Jun being thrown out, but he turned a blind eye, pretending nothing had happened.
After all, this was an internal matter of Spirit Pool Island. Bringing it out would only air dirty laundry.
Fortunately, neither had gone too far, or Spirit Pool Island’s face would have been completely lost by these two juniors.
As for their dispute, he had no interest in intervening. He was an outsider and had no relation to either lineage.
Whether it was love or hate, as long as it did not reach an irreparable point, he would never get involved.
The journey continued in silence. Before long, the group was led by Ximen Haoyue to an island spanning dozens of miles.
The island consisted of flat ground, as if it had been flattened by a single sword strike, utterly smooth.
On the island stood neat rows of small rooms.
The small rooms had no windows and were completely sealed, with only one door opening outwards.
The entire rooms were white, and the floors were paved with the same material, spotless.
Everything inside the rooms was clearly visible to all.
These white small rooms totalled thirty-three rows, with over a hundred rooms in each row, and several zhang of distance between each room.
On this island, Ximen Haoyue stopped, and the crowd followed suit.
Ximen Haoyue turned back to face the crowd and said, “Everyone, this is the alchemy chamber area. Once you enter the alchemy chambers, this session of the spirit controller grand competition will officially begin.”
“Now, I announce the competition rules for the continental spirit controller grand competition.”
At these words, the entire scene immediately fell silent. The long-awaited spirit controller grand competition was about to start.
“The rules of the spirit controller grand competition follow those of previous sessions, combined with negotiations among all forces to ensure fairness and justice.”
Ximen Haoyue declared loudly, “The spirit controller grand competition only involves competitions of spiritual power combat strength. No forces other than spiritual power are allowed. No essence power may be mixed in. No energy weapons may be carried. No personally brought pills are permitted. Otherwise, disqualification will occur on the spot.”
“However, before the competition, you will have nine days for pill refinement. Any pills you refine yourself may be used freely.”
“The competition will consist of seven rounds. Except for the seventh round finals, there will be no rest or healing time in between. Detailed rules for each round will be explained before it begins.”
His gaze roughly swept over the spirit controllers present. Ximen Haoyue continued, “Those able to participate in the continental spirit controller grand competition are geniuses from various regions, already heavily screened. Holy Continent has six hundred slots, while each of the other eight continents has three hundred, totalling three thousand of the top spirit controllers under fifty years old across the continent, who are about to compete.”
This point was known to almost everyone present. Each continent’s three hundred slots were basically controlled and allocated by the dominant forces of that continent.
Of course, the allocation was reasonable. The dominant forces would distribute slots to powerful forces within their continent.
Strong spirit controllers would also compete for slots from various forces.
For example, in Yangzhou, the main forces consisted of one family, two sects, three schools, and four valleys. Each valley had five slots, meaning each could select up to five spirit controllers to compete directly without participating in Yangzhou’s final selection.
Of course, bringing their own disciples for free through the teleportation array was a separate matter.
The free slots given by the Ji family were similar, with five per valley as well.
Just like Meteor Valley, they could bring five disciples and additionally five competing spirit controllers.
Meteor Valley could bring more essence cultivators, but beyond five, they would have to pay the corresponding cost for using the continental teleportation array.
The three schools in Yangzhou each had ten slots, the two sects thirty each, and the Ji family one hundred.
These slots could be offered by the respective forces to spirit controllers at any price or through other cooperation methods.
Additionally, there were ninety slots for those who did not trade with major forces and gathered independently at the continental teleportation array, able to pay the entry cost themselves.
If the number of spirit controllers who gathered independently and could afford the cost far exceeded this number, the weak would be eliminated through screening.
Therefore, whether selected through cooperation with forces or from the final gathering, they were the strongest spirit controllers in each continent.
They represented the very top tier of a continent.
If some arrived in Holy Continent early on their own without using the Ji family-controlled continental teleportation array, they could directly compete for slots in Holy Continent.
In Holy Continent, the three holy lands each had one hundred slots, other forces had some, and there were about two hundred more slots that underwent collective screening.
Thus, no matter how the slots were obtained, they basically went to those with the greatest strength.
Therefore, the final three thousand competing spirit controllers were essentially the top spirit controllers of this age group across the continent.
For someone like Lin Xiao, there was no need to worry. By coming to Holy Continent, the issue with Yangzhou’s teleportation array resolved itself.
Moreover, with his seeded contestant slot from Spirit Pool Island, it was equivalent to securing a slot from Holy Continent’s Spirit Pool Island. Thus, he did not concern himself with such slot competitions at all.
