Lin Mu watched the finalizing process of the Spatial Planes, as the arrays were completed in the end and everything was closed.

The closing process was rather grand, with the very space strumming with energy. This time it wasn’t just Lin Mu who ‘saw’ it either. 

Nearly every person that was watching it could ‘see’ the Spatial Planes that had been formed. A cacophony of cries was heard at that moment, as the people marveled at it. Of course, the Spatial Planes were only visible for a brief moment, after which they faded away.

But that one moment was enough to shock and enrapture the hearts of many that witnessed it.

It was a testament to the power of the Temple of the Guardian beasts. Even of the Emperor of the Dao Wind Empire, doing something like this was simply impossible. With all the fortune that he had, he still wouldn’t have the capability to execute something like this.

Of course, he wouldn’t attempt something this reckless either. Only the Temple of the Guardian beasts could do something like this with a 100% success rate. They had done so for thousands of years and the confidence people had in them was almost unbreakable.

~huu~

Lin Mu let out a long breath as he watched the end of it all.

“That was… Amazing.” Lin Mu finally spoke.

“Indeed it is.” The Saintess nodded. “I’m hoping you had some gains?” she asked.

Lin Mu paused for a moment before nodding as well. “I did… More than I thought too.” He finally sensed the movement of the Four Faceted Nebula within his Dantian.

‘So it responded to the creation of the Spatial Planes… Guess it becomes active whenever there is large scale disturbances in space.’ Lin Mu thought to himself.

This somewhat coincided with how he had formed the Dao Embryo in the first place. He had done it when the Teleportation array had been set up after all. Even that was a great spatial change and would cause fluctuations that were far reaching.

‘Looks like I’ll have to look into this a bit more… Still the Dao Embryo has progressed a bit.’ Lin Mu could feel his understanding of Space having improved.

It was hard to explain for him. He just ‘knew’ how things were like in space better than before. It was as subtle thing, but for him it was still quite good.

“Now that the Spatial Planes have been set up, the match announcements should happen soon.” The Saintess informed him.

“Ah yeah… There should be about thirty matches at once.” Lin Mu had seen how many Spatial Planes had been created and they numbered at Thirty.

This part of the Tournament was the true qualifiers. The contestants would be allowed to fight to their full capabilities and had a lot more freedom in doing so as well due to the Spatial Planes.

But even then Lin Mu knew that the number of contestants was rather high.

‘The original number of participants was in the millions. Even if the Preliminary qualifiers have reduced them by six times, there should still be a few hundred thousand of them left. If there are thirty Spatial Planes, it would still take a long time to allow all of them to fight.’ Lin Mu roughly calculated the time it would for the fights to happen.

He wasn’t exactly sure what method the Temple intended to use this time. From what Lin Mu had read, the flow of the Tournament would change depending on how many contestants there were.

If there were fewer contestants in a certain year the rounds would also be adjusted accordingly. This was easier to manage as well. 

But the issues arrived when the number was high like this time.

“They should have an estimate number of contestants by now right?” Lin Mu quickly took out his jade Slip and contacted Luo Liqin.

“Brother Mu Lin!” The man was excited upon hearing from Lin Mu after all this time.

“Is everything well?” Lin Mu asked.

“Yes. Everyone has been training all this time and is prepared for the upcoming matches. Though they were certainly shocked by the demonstration of the temple.” Luo Liqin replied.

“That is true… it was certainly impressive.” Lin Mu could agree. “How’s the information gathering going?” he asked next.

“I’ve accumulated a lot of it and sorted through most of it as well. Do you want to see it now Brother Mu Lin?” Luo Liqin inquired.

“Hmm… I’ll take a proper look later. But for now, I need a specific piece of information.” Lin Mu replied.

“I’ll do my best to provide it.” Luo Liqin replied with resolution.

“How many contestants are left now in the Tournament?” Lin Mu questioned.

“You want to total number? It might be a bit varied since some contestant may resign before the matches. Some have already withdrawn due to injuries.” Luo Liqin asked for clarification 

“Yeah just the total number. It doesn’t need to be totally accurate.” Lin Mu answered.ραпdα `nᴏνɐ| сom

“Umm… The total number of contestants that qualified are… 601,323.” Luo Liqin stated.

“Over Six hundred thousand…” Lin Mu muttered under his breath.

It was certainly a massive number and Lin Mu knew there was no way the Thirty Spatial Planes would be enough if they did fights the way they did before. 

‘Even if the average fight lasted ten minutes it would still take a long time reach the next stage… they need to whittle down the numbers until only sixty four are left.’ Lin Mu calculated the time and reckoned that this could extend for months on end.

While it was wholly possible that the Temple might go ahead with this, Lin Mu had a hunch that they might not do that.

“Wait a second…” A thought suddenly appeared in Lin Mu’s mind as he gazed up at the sky, and the Spatial Planes hidden within it. ‘They don’t need to do individual fights at all…’ Lin Mu pondered.

The Saintess saw Lin Mu’s actions and wondered what he was thinking about. She could somewhat guess from his words, but didn’t want to spoil his thought process. 

‘I’ll let him realize it on his own.’ She decided.

A couple minutes later, a stunning thought presented to Lin Mu.

“Luo Liqin… When was the last time the Tournament had these many contestants left after the preliminary rounds?” Lin Mu asked a question.

“That was… a long time ago.” Luo Liqin tried to recall. “I think it was at least five or six tournaments ago.” He spoke.

“And what kind of match took place for the Qualifiers back then?” Lin Mu asked next.

“What kind of a fight… You don’t mean—” Luo Liqin suddenly realized what Lin Mu was getting at.

“Yes… I think we might have to rethink our earlier strategy.” Lin Mu spoke as slight anxiety appeared in his mind. 

“Brother Mu Lin, do you think they’ll be doing a free for all battle?” Luo Liqin gulped his saliva on the other side of the city.

“I’m afraid they might just do that…” Lin Mu nodded his head. “It is the most logical way of whittling down the numbers. After all to reduce over six hundred thousand to just sixty four would be a long process.” He explained.

“Shit… This might be tough for us then.” Luo Liqin replied.

“Indeed… We’ll have to plan this according to how they give us our fight assignments.” Lin Mu spoke. “Gather everyone… We’ll need to talk about this.” He requested.

“I’ll do it right away.” Luo Liqin replied before putting away the Jade Slip.

~Sigh~

‘Will it collapse just like this?’ Lin Mu wondered if his preparation was lacking.

The Saintess sensed the change in Lin Mu’s mood from his expression and spoke, “you still have time. And you are capable… I don’t think the head of the Scholar Peak should falter like this.” 

The Saintess’s cool and calm voice, soothed Lin Mu’s mind allowing him to refocus.

“You’re right… There is always a way.” Lin Mu took a deep breath. 

“You’re confused about the all out battle right?” The Saintess asked.

“You knew it would be that?” Lin Mu asked with slight surprise.

“Yes. It is easy to guess. They always like to change things up a bit. In the Temples own words, they wish to reward only those who can overcome whatever is thrown at them.” She replied. 

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“Though all hope is not lost for you plan.” The Saintess gave a little hint. “An all out fight doesn’t necessarily mean you cannot form ‘alliances’.”

As soon as Lin Mu heard that, his eyes lit up.

“Of course!” Lin Mu exclaimed. “As long as they are all with me, we’ll still be able to carry out the plan.” New ideas started to form in his mind, rectifying the flaws that were present in the last one.

“Also don’t forget, you’ve already helped them by teaching. They should be able to hold out on their own better too.” The Saintess reminded.

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