Kill The Old Ones!

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Out of 256 participants of the City vs. City Tournament, only 60 people passed the first round.

The organizers used the merit points ladder to determine those who move on. Even though there were more than 80 people who remained alive during the final day of the first round, not all of them will go to the next round.

After the first round ended, the representatives of Central City were escorted to their rooms. They’ve been in the pods for five days straight, and they haven’t had any real rest. They were tired and exhausted. They only have a day before they have to go to another fight, so the City Lord and the staff did not give them any additional stress.

Off to the beds they go.

Fortunately, the representatives recovered after a decent sleep. They woke up in time for the City Lord’s summons.

Unfortunately, aside from Adrian, Lucian, Elena, and Seraphina, the others didn’t accumulate enough merit points to move on to the next round.

Charles Atelier nearly made it, though. During his insane streak, he got so many merit points that, for a period of time, he had the highest points in the team. It was because of him that the team shot to the 3rd rank in the first round.

But even with that, it wasn’t enough to qualify him, especially since he got eliminated during the 3rd day.

So, Central City will only have 4 representatives for the second round.

That said, nobody in Central City scolded or admonished Charles, or the others who got eliminated for that matter. They watched the hustle; they saw how others did their best to maximize the chances of their city, and they can’t be mad at that.

The only thing that puzzled them, though, is the fact that Soren Marek Vire was missing for the action. He should’ve been there, shouldn’t he? Where is it now?

Alas, nobody could answer this question for them right now. They could only wait until the city lord mansion releases an explanation.

And so, the single-day respite for the participants passed, and the second round was upon them.

Terry Caster was still the host for the Letter Kingdom’s tournament. The participants are in a new venue, and this time, they were there in person.

**

The second round of the tournament changes things up.

If the first round was a ’battle royale.’ The second round was called the ’Halls of Martial Legacies,’ and it poses a completely different set of challenges for the participants.

In this round, there will be no fighting, no alliances, no luck.

The World System will create 60 isolated dimensions for each participant, and every single one of them will face identical trials.

The 1st Hall: Hall of Pressure—it’s a long hallway seeded and permeated by the killing intent of a Martial King. The contestants don’t have to fight; there are no enemies to kill or any nasty surprises either; they just have to walk out of it.

The 2nd Hall: Hall of Comprehension—in this hall, there is a residual ghost of a martial saint performing some kind of martial art. This ghost doesn’t speak, doesn’t tire, and probably doesn’t even know that it still exists. It just repeats the same thing over and over again. The participants must reproduce the martial arts they see in there. The more they closely resemble the one being performed by the Martial Saint’s ghost, the more points they’ll earn.

The 3rd Hall: Hall of Endurance - barring the contestant’s way to the exit was a great wall whose height seemingly breaches heaven’s domain. There is but one ladder here, embedded in the wall itself. The challenge? Climb this wall until they reach the exit.

The 4th Hall: Hall of Judgement—it’s a room that will pull the contestant into illusory worlds. It will create scenarios, not pretty ones, unique ones that will peer into their hearts. It will test their morals and limitations and will make them question their whole life. Whether their answer was right or wrong remains to be seen.

The 5th Hall: Hall of Combat - Here, the contestants fight a projection, not to win, but to survive. The projection can be defeated, yes, but it adapts and it adapts fast. It won’t stop for their sake. The longer they last, the more points they get.

The 6th Hall: Hall of Harmony—it’s a place where they can meditate and commune with nature. Their task is to fully harmonize with the surrounding area, being one with nature—as they say.

And finally, the 7th Hall: Hall of Resolve—they have but one enemy here, and that is...themselves. Not a copy, not an idealized version of themselves, either. One that has no doubts, no hesitation, and no fear. It will mirror everything about them and, in some ways, might even be better than them. Their task is to defeat their mirror image. If they win, they get points; if they don’t, they get nothing.

There are seven halls in total, but Terry never said or implied that the contestants have to pass through them all to get to the next round.

Entering a hall provides 100 points already, and should they perform perfectly, the maximum points they can get for each hall is 700 points.

As much as these halls were a challenge to the participants, they were also an opportunity for them. This was specifically prepared not just to test them but also to allow them to improve.

But just like the first round, they’re on a time limit here. The second round only lasts for 5 days, so the contestants must go as far as they can to earn enough merit points to move on to the next round.

Because of the end of this round, the number of contestants that will move on will only be 20.

Yes. That’s the other shoe.

From 256 to 60 in the first round and from 60 to 20 for this round. This was how tight the competition was.

And with that out of the way, the second round began in earnest.

**

Regardless of whether they’re nervous, excited, calm, or indifferent, the contestants immediately felt the difficulty of the challenges ahead of them the moment they entered the 1st Hall.

Each of them was on their own to traverse the long and narrow hallway permeated by a Martial King’s killing intent.

This was far from a simple challenge.

First of all, the element they’re facing came from a martial king—an existence that most of them never even laid eyes on their whole life.

This killing intent was so dense and so thick that it almost completely manifests into reality. This isn’t something that mere willpower alone could resist. Chakra, willpower, fighting spirit—all of these are required and must be had in spades just to resist the seething killing intent flooding this hallway.

From the moment they tried to take a step forward, it had been made clear that this place doesn’t want them here. It’s as if the whole hallway itself were rejecting their very existence and promising their doom should they continue deeper.

The killing intent didn’t just press down on them; it was trying to break them mentally. It has no voice, but it speaks. It has no hands, but it pushes back and presses down. It had no solid form but manifested in ways that could not be explained easily.

Some contestants hadn’t even been able to take three steps forward before collapsing already. The killing intent was too heavy, and they were too fragile to endure it.

Obviously, not all of them were having a difficult time. There were some who could go much further than three steps. But this doesn’t mean that they could cross the hallway at once, invalidating the Martial King’s killing intent.

The further one goes, the worse the killing intent becomes. Such is the nature of this challenge. So, even for those who could go further, the difficulty of this hallway will still pose problems for them.

The contestants can’t really measure how long the hallway was. The killing intent permeating it obscures their vision too. They could only endure and walk as far as they could and do that until they reached the exit, leading them to the next hall.

One of the fastest contestants who charged forth in this hall was Adrian.

With not only his strong physique, abundant chakra, and strong willpower, but also his sword intent and his innate talent—the Heavenly Sword Heart—Adrian was well protected against the killing intent of a much higher being compared to him.

Of course, this doesn’t mean that this challenge was easy for him. He’s just having a much easier time compared to his peers.

In just three hours since the second round began, Adrian was already halfway through the 1st hall. He’s becoming slower the further he goes, but at the same time, he is adapting.

As dangerous as this killing intent was, to Adrian, it’s an excellent whetstone to sharpen his sword.

He would’ve preferred to stay here for much longer to squeeze out as much benefit as he can. Alas, he was on a time limit.