543: Chapter 543 Overwhelming Strength

On the arena.

There were 800 people in total, divided into two camps: 500 on one side and 300 on the other.

"Xinyi, you preside over this." The voice from the Void Realm sounded again.

"Yes, Lord Delka."

The man named Xinyi stepped out from the group.

"Everyone, let's get straight to the point."

"The Ascension Battle consists of two stages. In the first stage, you need to have a one-on-one arena match against the mid-tier veterans of the Fourth Heaven, which is us."

"If you win, you can enter the Ascension Battle; victory means entering the Fifth Heaven, while defeat means staying in the Fourth Heaven."

"Is that clear enough?"

The 300 contestants listened quietly; this was something they already knew.

Seeing that everyone had no objections, Xinyi nodded with satisfaction. "Very good. Now, let's talk about the rules for the first stage."

"Format: arena match, one-on-one."

"Venue: The center of the arena with a diameter of eight kilometers. Being knocked out of the area is a loss; admitting defeat is also a loss."

"Match order: Starting from the last place in the arena round-robin rankings."

"Are there any questions?"

Xinyi asked again.

"Very good."

"Then let's begin. You have three minutes to prepare. From the second match onwards, you will only have one minute to prepare. During this time, the System will randomly select one person from among us, without repeating selections."

After finishing, Xinyi returned to the group, left the central area, and the entire team of examiners retreated to the edge of the arena.

The 300 Star Lords also spontaneously withdrew from the central area.

However, because the 300 Star Lords were not very familiar with each other, they chose to disperse and stand in various corners of the arena.

Xiao Weiqing, Ze, Ji Yu, and Yisha stayed together.

"Sigh, this is boring," Ji Yu said listlessly.

"What's wrong with you?" Yisha asked curiously. "We haven't even started fighting yet, and you're already acting like you're going to give up?"

"Didn't you hear what Zhou Yi said earlier?"

"At most, only 40 people can enter the Fifth Heaven. Even if he was being conservative and we count it as 50, this has nothing to do with us."

"I'm ranked 196th, and you're ranked 270th. We are destined to be supporting characters in the Ascension Battle."

"So what if we're supporting characters? Can't supporting characters have their own scripts? Can't they have their own highlights?" Yisha huffed, her tone changing from the usual to be incomparably serious.

Ji Yu looked at Yisha in surprise. "Well said, I was wrong."

"I was planning to exchange for the second form of the Wind Thunder Blade within a year; how can I fall here?"

"I want to enter the Fifth Heaven!!" Ji Yu said loudly, as if he had been injected with adrenaline.

"Are you crazy?" Yisha's expression changed, looking at him as if to say, 'Are you okay?'

"?"

Ji Yu froze. "I say, Sister Yisha, didn't you just comfort me..."

"I comforted you to encourage you to perform well and show your strongest side, not to make you go crazy."

"..."

Three minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

"Number 300, prepare to start the match."

Contestant number 300 took a deep breath and walked into the designated competition area of the arena.

On the examiner's side, a short-haired woman with a curved blade at her waist stepped up.

"Begin!"

At the command, contestant number 300 struck first, pushing off with his feet, his figure darting out.

Under the gravity of the Fourth Heaven, a speed approaching 1,000 meters per second was already quite impressive.

In just five seconds, this contestant reached the woman, gathered Source Power in his hand, and threw a punch.

"Sumeru Fist!"

"Boom~"

A dull thud was heard clearly by everyone on the arena.

The woman struck contestant number 300 with a palm. His feet left the ground, he traced a graceful parabola, and landed precisely outside the competition area.

The woman hadn't moved a single step from start to finish. After finishing, she turned around.

"Tap~ tap~ tap~~~"

Only the sound of shoes hitting the ground remained on the arena.

"One move, and he was taken out in seconds?" The contestants gasped.

"No, not even one move, she just casually struck with her palm."

"Is the strength of the mid-tier examiners of the Fourth Heaven all like this? What's the point of fighting?"

"It had nothing to do with us in the first place. Didn't Senior Brother Zhou Yi say that at most 40 people will enter the Fifth Heaven? Those of us ranked outside the top 200 shouldn't get our hopes up. Those ranked between 100 and 200 might still have a chance."

"Quiet!"

"Number 299, one minute to prepare."

The arena quieted down.

"Yisha, you were right, I was crazy," Ji Yu said with a bitter smile. "The gap in strength is just too big."

"Scared?"

Ji Yu said, "It's not that I'm scared, but there really isn't much of a chance. Even if I were lucky enough to beat them, I wouldn't be able to beat the examiners of the Ascension Battle."

"That's true."

The strength of the mid-tier members of the Fourth Heaven was clearly not on the same level as the top few hundred members.

Soon, the one-minute preparation time passed.

Contestant number 299 walked into the competition area.

This time, a man with empty hands walked out from the examiner's camp.

"Begin!"

At the command, both moved at the same time.

With this movement, contestant number 299's offensive rhythm was disrupted. He thought the opponent would let him attack first, just like the previous examiner.

But it was too late; he had to bite the bullet and attack.

Suddenly, a figure flashed before contestant number 299's eyes, then, he suffered a heavy blow to his abdomen, his internal organs shook, and he flew out like a kite.

Instant kill. Another instant kill. There was no resistance at all.

"This doesn't look good," Ji Yu said.

Xiao Weiqing nodded slightly. "It is indeed not looking good."

The atmosphere among the contestants around the arena was extremely low, especially for those who were about to go up.

Ji Yu said helplessly, "Sigh, these veterans really don't give any Face at all. Are they doing this on purpose? Are they trying to give us a warning?"

"Maybe," Yisha said. "But this gap in strength does exist; you can't blame others."

Ji Yu looked at Xiao Weiqing. "Xiao Weiqing, and Ze, it's up to you. Show them what you've got in a bit."

During their conversation, several more contestants went up, all ending in one move. The entire arena was silent, extremely oppressive.

"Next, number 270, one minute to prepare."

"Yisha, good luck!" Ji Yu said loudly.

Xiao Weiqing and Ze also nodded at Yisha, giving her encouragement.

"Of course."

Yisha strode towards the center of the arena.

Opposite, the randomly selected personnel from the examiner's camp was also a woman.

"Begin!"

As soon as the words fell, Yisha rushed out.

A few seconds later, the two approached. It was at this moment that lush green grass actually grew in the center of the arena. Not only that, the grass grew wildly and lunged at the female examiner.

"Huh?"

The woman realized something was wrong; contestant number 270 was clearly different from the ones before.

Boom~

The woman kicked the ground hard, preparing to fly into the sky, but didn't expect to be entangled by the lush green grass.

"What?" The woman was shocked.

"How can it be physical? No, Divine Soul attack, this is the Starry Sky Ultimate Technique!!!"

"Did you notice? Too late!" Yisha appeared behind the woman, holding a dagger to the back of her head.

"Yisha wins!"

Finally, after 30 consecutive matches between the two sides, the first winning contestant appeared.