531: Chapter 531 Exaggerated Attrition Rate

At this moment.

A fair-skinned young man with long hair walked over, extended his hand to Xiao Weiqing, and introduced himself.

"Ze, from the Heavenly Beginning Civilization."

Surprisingly, Ze's voice sounded somewhat immature; he didn't seem very old.

Xiao Weiqing was slightly taken aback, then smiled and reached out. "Xiao Weiqing, from the Blue Star Civilization."

"I just heard them say you come from the Incubation Ground. Is that true?"

Hearing this, Ji Yu frowned slightly.

Xiao Weiqing maintained his smile. "Yes."

Ze nodded. "You are strong. I look forward to fighting you."

After saying that.

Ze turned and left, walking to the very edge of the crowd without looking at anyone else. It seemed that aside from Xiao Weiqing, these people weren't worth a single glance to him.

"Tch, what a brat. So arrogant."

Ji Yu snorted coldly.

"You know him?" Xiao Weiqing asked.

"I just heard them talking. He's from the Heavenly Beginning Civilization, an Elliottian, and royalty at that. His status is quite distinguished. Word is he hasn't even reached adulthood yet."

"Not an adult yet?"

Ji Yu explained, "That's what they say, but the definition of adulthood in the Universe is vague. It varies for every civilization and race."

"For us Burenites, if you count by Universal Years, adulthood takes 60 years. By that logic, I'm not an adult yet either."

"Elliottians reach adulthood at 38. That guy is 34. What's he acting all tough for?" Ji Yu clearly had no good feelings toward Ze.

"But he's still younger than you. I remember your profile said you're 46. By our Blue Star calculations, you're a full twelve-year cycle older than him."

Ji Yu's face darkened, and he said crossly, "Can't you use a different calculation?"

"Oh?"

"How should I calculate it?"

"He reaches adulthood in 4 years, while I reach adulthood in 14 years. No matter how you calculate it, I'm younger, okay?"

Ji Yu explained.

"Fine."

Xiao Weiqing shook his head, not bothering to argue with Ji Yu over this.

"What about you? Looking at your voice and appearance, you're definitely an adult, right?"

Ji Yu asked, clearly looking for some consolation.

Xiao Weiqing laughed. "We Blue Star people reach adulthood at 18. I've been an adult for a long time."

Ji Yu's expression immediately softened. "Your profile says you're 26. If we convert that to Burenite terms, you're... 86 years old! You're older than my uncle!"

"..."

Xiao Weiqing shook his head helplessly. Such calculations were meaningless because actual Cultivation time was what truly mattered.

Besides.

From his transcendent Awakening to becoming a Star Lord, Xiao Weiqing had only spent less than 8 years in total. This was one of the reasons Hendrick thought so highly of him.

"Hey, congratulations!"

A pleasant voice came from behind the two.

Xiao Weiqing turned around; the newcomer was Yisha.

Her results were good, under 55 seconds, ranking even higher than Weiss. She was already confirmed to move on to the next stage of the assessment.

"Congratulations to you too."

Xiao Weiqing nodded.

"Where are your two companions?"

Yisha said helplessly, "They were just eliminated in your round."

"Is that so?"

"That's a pity," Xiao Weiqing said.

Yisha asked strangely, "Do you really think it's a pity?"

"Yeah, I won't have the chance to spar with that Chris anymore."

Yisha's eyes widened, and she said slowly, "You... really do hold a grudge, don't you?"

Xiao Weiqing denied it. "I don't hold grudges."

Yisha curled her lip, her face saying 'I'd be a fool to believe you'.

"Assemble!"

A booming voice rang out.

The final round of the assessment had ended. A few people entered the crowd, and a few others left.

At this point.

The 331 Star Lords were confirmed and had qualified for the next stage of the assessment.

On the horizon, a train approached silently.

"Let's go."

The burly man acted swiftly, leading everyone onto the train. The train started and headed back the way it came, seemingly returning to the city.

Through the window.

Xiao Weiqing saw three massive spaceships parked within the manor.

"They will be heading to the Lower Three Heavens."

Ji Yu looked at the spaceships and explained.

"It's decided just like that?"

Xiao Weiqing hadn't expected that when the burly man said there was no next stage, he meant it like this—those eliminated were immediately assigned.

"The Yunxu Holy Land has always been this way."

"If you're unwilling, you don't have to go. But if you don't go, you lose the chance to join the Holy Land forever."

"Quite overbearing," Xiao Weiqing remarked.

Ji Yu nodded, agreeing with Xiao Weiqing.

"That may be true, but the Yunxu Holy Land has the capital to be so," Yisha said.

"Where are we going now?" Xiao Weiqing asked.

"The first assessment is over, and over 30,000 people are entering the next stage," Yisha replied. "In a moment, you'll face the second assessment."

"What is the second assessment?"

"An arena round-robin tournament."

At some point, Ze had appeared beside the three and joined the discussion.

"Do you know the rules?"

Ze sat down and said, "Based on the rankings from the first assessment, the 30,000 people will each need to fight two rounds totaling 20 battles. Based on the results, ninety-nine percent will be eliminated. The remaining people will move on to subsequent assessments."

"Ninety-nine percent?"

Xiao Weiqing was startled. Wouldn't that leave only 300 people?

"In the arena round-robin, as long as we successfully stay, we can enter the Middle Three Heavens. In other words, the worst-case scenario is entering the Fourth Heaven." There was a hint of excitement in Ji Yu's voice.

"Sigh, you guys are powerful, so entering the Middle Three Heavens is basically guaranteed. It'll be hard for me. If I have bad luck, I'll have to go find my companions." Yisha wore a bitter expression.

None of the three responded.

Yisha's first assessment result was 55 seconds, which placed her at the very bottom. There was a high probability she would be eliminated.

As they talked.

The ship's speed slowed down.

Xiao Weiqing looked outside. They were now in the city, with over a dozen trains hovering in mid-air and more arriving.

"We're here."

Ze said softly.

The three followed Ze's gaze downward.

Below was a massive... training field, or at least it could be called that. Xiao Weiqing was somewhat shocked; the field's length and width were visually over ten kilometers, and it was equipped with twenty-five square arenas.

"Let's go."

"We're going down."

The burly man led everyone down, arriving first at the spectator stands.

As soon as they stepped into the field's range, everyone's expression changed.

"My body feels so heavy."

The burly man said, "The gravity here is the same as in the Fourth Heaven. If you can't even handle this, it means you don't have the strength to enter the Fourth Heaven."

Xiao Weiqing stepped onto the stand and adapted instantly. On the way to the Reception Star, he had experienced the gravity of the Sixth Heaven and sparred with Hendrick; this level of gravity couldn't affect him.

Ze, beside him, also adjusted quickly, earning a look of respect from Xiao Weiqing.

As for Ji Yu and Yisha, their expressions looked a bit off; they likely needed some time to adapt.

Xiao Weiqing scanned the surroundings.

The arenas were nearly two kilometers wide. Under such gravity, a Star Lord Realm's speed would probably be around a thousand meters per second, which was enough for these Star Lords to fight freely.

Without overthinking it, Xiao Weiqing sat down and waited quietly.

Ze, Ji Yu, and Yisha also sat down. No one spoke, creating a silence like the calm before a storm.