Ch. 506 - Tournament

"The Blood Race has gone into hiding. Finding them won’t be easy," Xu Zimo shook his head slightly and said.

In this era where the human race is flourishing and the beast race follows closely behind, other races can only live cautiously in the shadows.

Like the Blood Race, they must be hiding somewhere in this world, maybe sealed away, or maybe the person next to you is from the Blood Race.

You’d never know.

"I want to ask you for a favor," said the God Emperor.

"You want me to help you find the Blood Race?" Xu Zimo asked.

"Can you check in your Sacred Ground for me?" the God Emperor nodded. "Your Sacred Ground must have some records about the Blood Race. I can’t expose my identity yet. You know this continent has too many Sacred Grounds that are hostile to me. If they learn of my whereabouts, I’m afraid they’d gather their entire Sacred Grounds and storm the Elden Lands."

Xu Zimo chuckled. The God Emperor had been too arrogant in his youth, dreaming of ruling the entire Primordial Heartlands.

In the end, he was struck down by three Grand Emperors who descended from the Outer Heavens, even his Heaven's Will was shattered.

Now, without first condensing the Heaven's Will through the Myriad Dao Red Lotus, he could only hide away.

"I’ll check when I return, but I can’t guarantee there’s any record of the Blood Race," Xu Zimo said.

Even in his past life, he never heard anything about the Blood Race.

There are more than three thousand races in this world, and many of them even he doesn’t know.

If it weren’t for searching for the Red Lotus for the God Emperor, he might not even remember the Blood Race existed.

"Thanks," the God Emperor nodded slightly and said, "If you find anything, you can come to the Divine Gate and look for me."

"You’d better get back soon. The imperial lineage Sacred Grounds around the Elden Lands are watching your Divine Gate very closely," Xu Zimo said.

The God Emperor looked into the distance, then waved his right hand, opening a portal in front of him.

He stepped inside, and everything around fell silent again.

Xu Zimo could see that the God Emperor had changed. After going through great highs and lows, he seemed to have lost much of his edge.

This could be good or bad, or maybe he was simply hiding his strength.

But Xu Zimo wasn’t worried about betrayal. After all, the Demon Seal placed on the God Emperor by Paimon was under Xu Zimo’s control.

Unless one day the God Emperor broke through the tenth Meridian Gate, he would never escape the seal’s restraint.

The stars that had been scattered across the sky were fading. A few dark clouds moved in and blocked the moonlight.

The sky looked gloomy. Xu Zimo lay on the back of the Darksky Tiger and felt a few raindrops fall from the sky.

The raindrops on his face were cool and refreshing. The massive form of the Darksky Tiger gradually faded into the light rain.

...

In the morning, the True Martial Sacred Ground was shrouded in a mist like an immortal realm.

Whether in the Eastern Continent’s core or the Western Region, this Sacred Ground felt like a towering mountain pressing down on everyone else.

The air was cool and fresh after the rain.

Today was the Sacred Ground’s annual Outer Court Tournament.

The new outer disciples who had joined recently had already cultivated for some time, this was the moment to test their progress.

The sky had brightened, but there was no sun.

Many inner and outer disciples had dressed neatly, swords at their sides, and gathered full of energy at the tournament stage.

The event was overseen by the sixth and seventh Grand Elders of the Sacred Ground.

Normally, Grand Elders wouldn’t bother with an outer court tournament, but this time, the tournament would be followed by the inner court and even core disciple battles.

This kind of event was rare in the True Martial Sacred Ground.

As more and more disciples gathered around the platform, Elders Xiao Yuexuan and Wan Zhen approached with several inner and outer elders.

Xiao Yuexuan wore a light purple long dress, her expression calm, with light makeup. A subtle Empyrean Meridian Realm aura surrounded her.

She had just recently come out of confinement.

The Sacred Ground had originally planned to strip her of her position as Sixth Core Elder, but thanks to the orders of Soaring Goose Ancestor, one of the Grand Empress Hongtian’s war generals, the Sacred Ground reluctantly agreed to let her stay.

After her release, she made inquiries and confirmed that Baili Xiao had not died and had reconciled with the Sacred Ground, even regaining her original Soaring Immortal Body.

Only then did she feel relief.

"Elder Xiao, have you taken a liking to any of these new disciples?" Elder Wan Zhen asked with a smile.

"You haven’t taken on a disciple since Baili Xiao left."

"You’re too kind, Elder Wan. It all depends on fate, I won’t force it," Xiao Yuexuan replied with a slight smile.

...

Below, the disciples were battling enthusiastically. But to these high-ranking elders, no matter how hard the disciples tried, the fights were like child’s play, rarely surprising.

They had seen far too many true prodigies.

After the inner and outer disciple matches ended, the real highlight began, the core disciple battles.

As the future leaders of the younger generation, the core disciple matches were what everyone looked forward to most.

There were two types of core disciples in the Sacred Ground.

One type was regular core disciples. Once they reached the Paragon Meridian Realm, they automatically became core disciples, strong enough to venture out on their own.

The other type were personal disciples chosen by a Grand Elder.

Though technically the same rank, personal disciples often received more resources and guidance, and thus were generally stronger.

Those who had entered the inner court with Xu Zimo had now grown and become core disciples.

Whether it was Ji Baiyu or Gao Xiong, both were starting to make names for themselves in the Sacred Ground.

Many familiar faces from Xu Zimo’s past were among the personal disciples now:

The Overlord, Xiang Qianheng, the Undefeated Sword Monarch, the Heartless Fairy Jiang Xi’er, and even Sacred Lord Xiao’s personal disciple Meng Chenxue would participate.

As more personal disciples gathered, the inner and outer disciples in the crowd began discussing excitedly.

"Who do you think will win among the personal disciples this year?"

"Definitely Xiang Qianheng. He won first place last time too."

"Not necessarily. Now people like Dugu Ao and Gao Xiong have grown a lot. It's hard to say who will win."

"I’m betting on Undefeated Sword Monarch. As a sword cultivator myself, I can sense how terrifying his sword path is."

The platform was surrounded by more and more disciples. Amid the noise and excitement...

Outside the True Martial Sacred Ground, the massive form of the Darksky Tiger slowly came to a stop at the Sacred Ground entrance.

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