The moment the cat folk patriarch's voice fell, everyone there turned into blurs, running towards the forest.

Qingyi was the one with the lowest cultivation among all those young people, the only one below the enlightened soul realm.

Still, he didn't care, ignoring the powerful Qi's falling on him as he disappeared into the forest.

He ran non-stop for several minutes, quickly moving kilometers away from the city.

Fortunately, he had received some tips from Jin'Rao the previous morning and now had a better understanding of how this competition worked.

The beasts would be judged in three categories: size, breed, condition of the carcass and cultivation, the last being the most important.

Sighing, Qingyi began his search, activating his draconic eyes and leaping up to appear above the treetops.

Looking closely at his surroundings, he could see a myriad of auras and battles exploding many kilometers away, with powerful pulses of Qi reaching him.

With the Qi so violent, the spirit beasts in that region became agitated.

Even the nocturnal predators woke up, coming out in broad daylight to investigate what was happening.

Qingyi spotted many beasts until he finally found something that caught his eye.

A large black serpent, its body reaching over forty meters in length, big and heavy, exuded a dark Qi.It was only a beast of the enlightened soul realm, but Qingyi didn't care.

He drew the Heaven-Defying Thunder Sword and advanced, his body turning into a bolt of lightning as he activated the lightning blink.

The great serpent suddenly raised its head. Its jaw opened into a mouth capable of swallowing a horse with ease, a sharp hiss spreading through the forest.

Before it could even react, Qingyi was already upon it, swinging the Heaven-Defying Thunder Sword towards its long neck covered in black scales.

A loud metallic clang echoed, followed by a miserable hiss as the sword tore through the beast's scales, sinking into its soft flesh.

Its huge serpentine body twisted violently. Its jaw opened, squirting black poison all over the forest as it struggled, its Qi exploding uncontrollably.

Wherever the poison touched, a hot steam arose. Wood, leaves and even the soft earth of the forest floor turned into nothing but black goo.

A little of the poison hit Qingyi's chest, who flinched, but barely managed to damage his powerful body.

"Just a little more..." he muttered, looking at the snake's open neck.

His sword had only cut about twenty percent, far less than he wanted. Still, he was satisfied.

Readying the Heaven-Defying Thunder Sword, Qingyi attacked again. He used the second form of the Storm Monarch's Sword Art, a slash of Qi that tore through the air at absurd speed, landing exactly on the open wound.

This time, the snake couldn't resist. Qingyi's attack sank even deeper, tearing through bone, flesh and muscle, decapitating it in an explosion of blood.

The handsome young man landed next to the snake and touched its scales before sighing.

It wasn't a bad kill, but it was still honestly too weak. In addition, the carcass had also suffered a lot of damage, especially to its scales, which would further diminish the beast's value.

Sighing, Qingyi simply sent the carcass into the world of the mind. Feiyan would make some use of it and, if she couldn't, Elize certainly could.

Raising his head, he prepared to go elsewhere when he saw a figure pass by him, running towards the horizon.

Ten other figures followed soon after, all heading for one place.

Qingyi hesitated at first, but after a moment's thought, he decided to follow the crowd towards a mountain on the horizon.

He immediately sensed a clash between two Qi's that he knew well.

One belonged to an elegant young man with long white hair and horns as pure as snow on his head. The other, a cat-man of equal beauty, with dark ears and tail.

Both faced each other, releasing their auras unchecked, making the world around them tremble.

"The steel-shelled turtle will be mine, you bastard!" The young man with draconic blood roared, swinging his sword towards Lioran.

Lioran merely turned his body. The draconic-blooded young man's cut passed inches from his face, drawing a thin trickle of blood.

"Ah... to dare challenge me here, you truly have guts, don't you? Long Xuefeng." Lioran laughed, using his claws to launch small but sharp slashes of Qi towards Long Xuefeng, who defended himself with ease.

They both remained in a stalemate for a long moment before turning their faces, staring at those watching them.

Parasites looking for a chance to take advantage of Lioran and Xuefeng, ready to strike the moment they were weakened.

Exchanging glances, they turned towards those spectators.

"You have ten seconds to disappear," Lioran declared.

They wanted to kill each other, but they didn't want anyone to profit from their fight.

At first, no one moved, at least not until Lioran started counting.

"1... 2... 3..."

When he reached four, half of them had already left, scattering into the forest.

"5... 6... 7..."

Lioran stopped counting just before he reached eight, his eyes focusing on a lone figure, the only one who hadn't fled.

It was a young man who looked human, but smelled like a dragon, with a pure, deep aroma.

Sensing Qingyi's cultivation, Xuefeng laughed. "What? The little commoner in the flowing meridian realm thinks he has a chance? Hahahaha!"

"I'll get rid of this one, don't run away," Xuefeng spoke, taking a step towards Qingyi, his sword tearing through the air at absurd speed.

He expected to crush Qingyi easily, but that wasn't the case.

The moment his sword hit Qingyi's, the ground beneath his feet gave way in a deep crater. A shockwave swept through everything for dozens of meters, blowing off both their clothes.

Xuefeng could barely hide the shock on his face as he was thrown backwards, his back hitting the mountain with a thud.

Smiling, Qingyi stretched, watching Xuefeng and Lioran with a casual expression.

"How's it going to be, are the little couple going to come together, or do you want me to break your legs one by one?"

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