Chapter 254: Chapter 254: A New Force Arises

PFFT!

Finally, a few of the Peak of First Grade Soul Refiner contestants, who had been expected to do well, began to be eliminated.

Twenty people.

Fifteen people.

The numbers were dwindling.

The situation had grown incredibly tense.

Just then, Ye Xuan stood up again. He strolled leisurely to another edge of the arena, sat down cross-legged, and let the surging Soul Power Storm wash over him as if it had no effect.

What in the world was going on?

Everyone was dumbfounded.

They had all thought Ye Xuan wouldn’t be able to last, yet not only had he held on this long, he even looked relaxed, as if he still had plenty of strength to spare.

PFFT!

At that moment, Yun Aoxue and the other Second Grade Soul Refiners also began to falter. Spitting out mouthfuls of blood, their faces pale, they staggered back, teetering on the verge of collapse at the edge of the platform.

Aside from Ye Xuan, the crowd finally noticed something else amiss.

There were still fifteen people left on the stage. Besides the preordained contestants from the five major kingdoms, there were three others who had been sitting cross-legged at the edge from the very beginning. They hadn’t moved an inch, and even under the assault of such a ferocious Soul Power Storm, their expressions remained unchanged.

They were the same ones who had clashed with Ye Xuan earlier.

"Who are those three? How can they have lasted this long?"

The crowd below was stunned.

PFFT! PFFT!

The Soul Power Storm intensified once more, and Second Grade Soul Refiners like Xie Jintang and Yun Aoxue from the five great kingdoms were eliminated one after another.

But those three remained on the arena platform, still holding on, showing no signs of being eliminated.

Everyone was flabbergasted.

"That looks like Zhou Liang from our Mu Zhen Country!"

"The one next to him is Bai Qi from our Black Forest Kingdom."

"And the one in the white robe is Luan Hong from my Wushang Kingdom!"

"I can’t believe our kingdom has such a genius Soul Refiner! It’s incredible!"

The Soul Refiners from the three contestants’ respective countries exclaimed in shock, their hearts filled with wild joy and pride.

Mu Zhen Country? Black Forest Kingdom? Wushang Kingdom?

The others all wore expressions of bewilderment and disbelief. As fellow members of the Thirteen Nations Alliance, they had heard of these three countries, but they were considered to be in the middle to lower tiers. Since when had they produced such heaven-defying Soul Refiner geniuses?

On the main platform, Zhu Tianlan and the others also wore looks of astonishment.

Just then, the situation on the stage changed again.

The Soul Power Storm on the arena platform suddenly intensified dramatically.

He Xuting of Liuyun Kingdom, Chen Jueming of Fire Crow Kingdom, Xuu Zhengqing of Shizhen Kingdom, and other Peak of Second Grade Soul Refiner geniuses all spat blood and were eliminated.

The Soul Power Storm on the stage had now reached the level of a Third Grade Soul Refiner.

Yet those three were still on the platform.

’This is impossible!’

The thought flashed through everyone’s mind.

None of them had imagined that after even geniuses from the five major kingdoms like He Xuting and Chen Jueming were eliminated, these few would still be standing.

"President Ge Lihui, since when did your Mu Zhen Country produce such a genius? The intensity on the stage should have reached the Third Grade level by now, right?" President Zhu Tianlan couldn’t help but ask.

Mu Zhen Country’s leader, Ge Lihui, also looked stunned. He clearly hadn’t expected his own kingdom to have such a heaven-defying Soul Refiner. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"This Zhou Liang is indeed a genius from my Mu Zhen Country, but he only rose to prominence in the last six months and was recruited into the Soul Master Tower in our Mu Zhen Royal City. To be honest, even I’m shocked by his strength."

Ge Lihui had only discovered the genius Zhou Liang in the last six months. While he knew the young man’s talent was astounding, he never expected it to be *this* astounding. He himself was thoroughly shocked.

As Mu Zhen Country’s number one Soul Refiner, Ge Lihui himself was only at the Peak of Third Grade. Yet Zhou Liang’s current performance, enduring a Third Grade Soul Power Storm, meant he couldn’t be much weaker than Ge Lihui, could he?

After the shock came elation. The more heaven-defying Zhou Liang’s performance, the higher his rank would be, and the more people from Mu Zhen Country would be able to enter the Floating Light Secret Realm. This would be a massive boon for Mu Zhen Country.

A dark horse. This was a true dark horse, appearing out of nowhere.

Everyone sighed with emotion.

Looking at the few people remaining on the stage, many in the audience just shook their heads speechlessly, their eyes glazed over. Before the competition began, they could never have imagined that the first round of the Floating Light Assembly would turn out like this.

Amidst the crowd’s shock, the next scene shook them to their very core.

Luan Hong and the others, who had been keeping a low profile, suddenly stood up. They walked over to where Xia Qixi and the hook-nosed youth were still holding on in the middle of the platform, and then all sat down cross-legged in a neat row, all five of them on the same line.

The expression on the face of Celestial Gold Kingdom’s top genius, Xia Qixi, changed abruptly. At this moment, she was already at the end of her rope. Having always believed herself to be the strongest genius in the Thirteen Nations Alliance, she had never imagined that others could match her, let alone more than one.

She gritted her teeth and continued to hold on.

At this moment, the five top-tier geniuses were lined up side by side, continuing to endure the test.

The faces in the crowd flushed red with excitement. Such a magnificent scene was a first in the history of the Floating Light Assembly, and they were all thrilled.

Meanwhile, He Xuting, Chen Jueming, and the others looked terribly grim. They, who had always proclaimed themselves the top geniuses of their respective kingdoms, hadn’t even made it into the top five in the first round. For them, this was a devastating blow.

WHOOSH!

The Soul Power Storm continued to strengthen. Finally, one of the five could no longer hold on—it was Bai Qi of Black Forest Kingdom, the first to fall.

Immediately after, Zhou Liang of Mu Zhen Country also faltered and fell back. Almost at the same instant, Xia Qixi of Celestial Gold Kingdom reached her limit, spat out a mouthful of blood, and tumbled from the platform along with Zhou Liang.

WHOA!

The entire arena was in an uproar. Xia Qixi, the one everyone had believed would be the champion, the number one genius of the Thirteen Nations Alliance, had been defeated so early.

Now, in the center of the stage, only the hook-nosed youth Ye Fanxing from Dongsheng Kingdom and the white-robed youth Luan Hong from Wushang Kingdom remained. The intensity of the Soul Power Storm had already reached Mid-Third Grade.

Seeing Xia Qixi’s defeat, President Zhu Tianlan of Celestial Gold Kingdom looked extremely displeased. He turned to President Zuo Yi Alliance of Dongsheng Kingdom. "President Zuo Yi Alliance, I never expected your Dongsheng Kingdom to produce such a genius."

President Zuo Yi Alliance was also quite shocked himself. Ye Fanxing hadn’t been part of the Royal City’s Soul Master Tower for long, and he hadn’t paid him much attention. In his mind, the number one Soul Refiner genius of Dongsheng Kingdom had always been the Peak of Second Grade Ding Lan.

But to his surprise, Ding Lan had been defeated early on. Instead, it was Ye Fanxing, whom he had barely noticed, who had emerged from nowhere and lasted until now.

Truth be told, he was utterly astonished.

However, faced with President Zhu Tianlan’s question, he naturally maintained a calm facade. "Haha, President Zhu Tianlan, you’re too kind. Ye Fanxing’s performance has also exceeded my expectations. It seems my Dongsheng Kingdom does have a genius or two after all."

Although his tone was modest, the smugness within was completely unconcealed.

"It looks like the champion of this first round will be decided between Ye Fanxing of Dongsheng Kingdom and Luan Hong of Wushang Kingdom," someone said with a laugh.

The words had barely left his mouth when the hook-nosed youth, Ye Fanxing, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed, defeated.

In the center of the arena, only the white-robed youth Luan Hong of Wushang Kingdom remained.

"I can’t believe the winner of the first round is actually Luan Hong from Wushang Kingdom." The crowd was aghast.

"That’s not necessarily true."

On the main platform, Vice-President Kuchen suddenly chuckled.

Everyone followed his gaze, and their astonished expressions instantly froze, replaced by looks of utter bewilderment.

At this moment, besides Luan Hong, there was still another figure on the stage who had not been defeated.

"It’s him."

"That young man from Liuyun Kingdom."

Because of the sudden rise of Luan Hong and the others, everyone’s attention had been focused on the five contestants competing side-by-side, including Xia Qixi. They had completely forgotten about Ye Xuan, who had been at the edge the entire time.

Only now did the crowd realize that Ye Xuan had yet to be eliminated.

He was sitting cross-legged in the furthest corner, completely absorbed.

’So that’s how it is. This Array is truly exquisite.’

No one knew that Ye Xuan’s mind was completely immersed in his awe of the Array. After changing positions so many times and repeatedly analyzing it, he had finally seen through the entire structure of the Soul Power Storm Array, and he was deeply shaken by the ingenious ideas within it.

The person who had set up this Soul Power Storm Array must have been a heaven-defying, supreme expert; otherwise, they could never have created such a powerful Array.

Even the Ye Xuan from his past life couldn’t say for certain that he could have created such an Array.

This made Ye Xuan’s anticipation for the Floating Light Secret Realm rise even higher.

Hmm?

Just then, Ye Xuan suddenly sensed a faint killing intent that snapped him out of his reverie. Only then did he realize that only he and the white-robed youth were left on the entire platform.

The white-robed youth was now staring coldly at Ye Xuan. Upon discovering that Ye Xuan had not yet been eliminated, he was utterly shocked.

’This Ye Xuan actually managed to last this long?’

For Luan Hong, this was absolutely unacceptable.

His, Luan Hong’s, skill should be far beyond the level of the Thirteen Nations Alliance. He refused to believe that anyone in this Thirteen Nations Alliance could have greater attainments in Soul Refining than him.

At the level of the Thirteen Nations Alliance, a twenty-five-year-old Third Grade Soul Refiner was already the limit. Look at Xia Qixi from Celestial Gold Kingdom—she was merely Mid-Third Grade.

’This Ye Xuan is too strange.’

Beyond the shock in Luan Hong’s heart, his killing intent surged.

He had heard from Ye Fanxing about what had happened in the shop that day and hadn’t thought much of it. But now, at this moment, he was finally taking Ye Xuan seriously.