Chapter 2023 Raw 2119 : Competition Begins

Xiao Chen appeared rather calm. Not to mention the Golden Dragon Palace’s Qin Mu, just the Silver Dragon Palace’s Yuan Xi was already tricky to deal with.

Even if Xiao Chen had the Five Element Divine Lightning, he could not afford to get careless. One could be confident, but not arrogant.

Xiao Chen asked cautiously, “What is the first stage?”

The First Palace Master and Elder Tian Yun did not reply to that. They only said, “There are two stages to the competition between the seven outer palaces. The two stages are closely related to each other. If you cannot get a good rank in the first stage, it will directly impact the second stage.”

Since the two could not say it, Xiao Chen did not ask again.

---

Night quickly fell, but this night was destined not to be peaceful.

The Golden Dragon Palace heaven-class core disciples entered the Qin Clan’s residence. Then, the Golden Dragon Palace’s Third Palace Master, Qin Feng, called Qin Mu over to speak to him alone.

“Uncle Qin, why did you call for me this late?” Qin Mu already guessed that it had something to do with the competition between the seven outer palaces.

The Golden Dragon Palace’s Third Palace Master, Qin Feng, cut to the chase. “I’ll tell you straight. Don’t hold back in the first stage tomorrow. It is different from the past. The first stage will directly impact the results of the entire Golden Dragon Palace.”

Qin Mu raised an eyebrow and sighed, “That decisive?”

“Yes. There’s no need to ask about the rest. You have to get first place.”

Qin Mu nodded. “I’ll do my best.”

Although Qin Mu said that, he did not care too much in his heart. Even if he did not use his trump card, he was confident of taking first place without any pressure in the first stage.

Similar scenes happened at the various gathering points of all the outer palaces.

The leaders of the various outer palaces made similar requests of their strongest disciples: to hold nothing back and obtain the first rank in the first stage.

Hence, the atmosphere of the competition between the seven outer palaces turned somewhat tense. The disciples had to go all out in the first stage already, to engage in desperate battles.

This was somewhat different from the past competitions between the seven outer palaces.

---

Early morning, the next day, the heaven-class core disciples of the various outer palaces departed at the same time.

The competition between the seven outer palaces took place in a restricted area of the ancient Divine Dragon City.

By the time the Heavenly Dragon Palace’s First Palace Master led Xiao Chen and the others over, the people of the other outer palaces had long since arrived.

At the Golden Dragon Palace contingent’s location, Qin Mu opened his eyes slightly, then closed them again after glancing at Xiao Chen.

Several heaven-class core disciples immediately looked at Xiao Chen. They pointed and discussed with each other in soft voices.

This Heavenly Dragon Palace’s white-clad bladesman already caught their attention before the competition between the seven outer palaces began.

Xiao Chen previously defeated heaven-class core disciples from the Golden Dragon Palace and the Silver Dragon Palace, fighting one against two.

Then, Xiao Chen had opposed Qin Mu upon arriving in Divine Dragon City.

This shocked everyone and made them look at Xiao Chen in a different light.

However, aside from curiosity, most of these gazes contained some pity.

No matter who Xiao Chen was, everyone knew that he would not have a good end after offending Qin Mu.

Xiao Chen remained calm, ignoring these looks. He only sized up the area before him curiously. It held a large, circular formation plate.

The formation plate flickered with lights of various colors.

Boundless Spiritual Energy circulated along the formation lines. Occasionally, talisman scripts leaped out.

The lights of five colors layered over each other, forming an energy ball that revolved in place, glowing beautifully.

Many people whispered to each other, wondering what this formation was for.

“Whoosh!”

Suddenly, dragon roars rang out in the sky. Five beams of lights soared through the sky from south to north.

These formed many steps of light. Then, some figures appeared above, standing on the light steps.

“It’s the people from Ancestor Dragon City!”

Upon seeing the dragon motifs on the clothes of those figures, the people below turned somewhat excited.

Ancestor Dragon City grasped the core authority of the Divine Dragon Empire. One came in contact with the core of the empire only after entering it.

Only then would one be qualified to sweep through the northern region, standing on the vast stage of the entire Central Great Realm and claiming a place of their own.

A white-clad old man on the light steps exuded intense pressure as he looked down. Then, he said seriously, “For the first stage of the competition between the seven outer palaces, the various outer palaces will send their strongest person into the formation. When they walk out of the formation, the rankings will go by the order they exit. The first one out is the first rank, the second one out is the second rank, and so forth.

“For whoever obtains the first rank, all of the heaven-class core disciples of their outer palace will be qualified to enter the second stage. The second rank’s outer palace will have forty slots for the second stage. The third rank’s outer palace will have thirty slots. As for the remaining outer palaces, they all will get fifteen slots.”

The white-clad old man’s words caused a huge commotion among the various outer palace disciples.

To think that this was how the first stage was designed.

At this moment, Xiao Chen understood the First Palace Master’s words. If he could obtain the first or second rank, all of the Heavenly Dragon Palace’s heaven-class core disciples could enter the second stage.

Due to limited resources, the Heavenly Dragon Palace had much fewer disciples than the other outer palaces.

Forty slots were sufficient to let all of its heaven-class core disciples enter the second stage.

Even obtaining the third rank was completely acceptable.

No wonder the First Palace Master felt so excited—unable to hide it—when he learned that Xiao Chen had arrived in time.

“Outer palaces, quickly decide on your representatives.”

“Golden Dragon Palace, Qin Mu!”

“Silver Dragon Palace, Yuan Xi!”

“Red Dragon Palace, Ding Jun!”

“Blue Dragon Palace, Feng Wuheng!”

…

“Heavenly Dragon Palace, Xiao Chen!”

The figure of each selected representative turned into a beam of light that entered the five-colored energy ball at the formation plate.

“Good. Now that your representatives have been selected, the various outer palaces need to select two people to enter the formation to block the people of the other outer palaces,” the white-class old man continued after glancing around.

This sudden rule shocked the leaders of all the outer palaces.

The information that the various leaders obtained the previous night did not include this.

The face of the Heavenly Dragon Palace’s First Palace Master sank. This rule dealt a massive blow to the Heavenly Dragon Palace, which had low accumulations.

If the experts of the other outer palaces injured Xiao Chen, the strongest disciples of the other outer palaces would pull ahead.

Then, if the outer palace representatives met each other and fought, the injured Xiao Chen would be disadvantaged. The situation immediately turned unfavorable.

The other outer palaces with better accumulations—notably the Golden Dragon Palace and Silver Dragon Palace—started laughing after being stunned momentarily at hearing the second rule. This was great news for them.

The First Palace Master’s gaze swept around before landing on Lu Feng, Bai Yunfeng, and Xiao Jinyu.

Finally, the First Palace Master decided on Lu Feng and Xiao Jinyu. Both of them were experts of the Sword Dao. If they worked together, they should become stronger.

“The two of you, then. Do your best to injure the strongest disciples of the other outer palaces when you meet them. That will decrease the pressure on Xiao Chen.”

The First Palace Master looked earnestly at the two. Now, it was no longer Xiao Chen fighting alone.

Lu Feng and Xiao Jinyu felt immense pressure. They said seriously, “Disciple will do his best.”

“I’ll leave it to you two.”

The Heavenly Dragon Palace disciples turned somewhat anxious.

Initially, the Heavenly Dragon Palace disciples already felt somewhat nervous at sending Xiao Chen to deal with the strongest disciples of the other outer palaces alone. Now, such a rule appeared.

Their situation had worsened.

The fate of all the Heavenly Dragon Palace’s heaven-class core disciples depended on Xiao Chen, Lu Feng, and Xiao Jinyu.

Everyone watched as Lu Feng’s and Xiao Jinyu’s figures entered the energy ball at the same time.

After the various outer palaces selected their people, the five-colored energy ball at the formation plate flared with a piercingly bright light.

Then, the resplendent light suddenly vanished, and three large, ancient, bronze doors carved with dragon patterns appeared in the center of the formation plate.

Whoever was the first to push a door open and walk out would obtain the first rank.

The competition between the seven outer palaces formally began at this moment.

The First Palace Master sighed, “The planning lies with men, the outcome with heaven. I did my best already. Tian Yun, come with me and meet Ancestor Dragon City’s Lord Feng.”

The two soared up, along with the leaders of the other outer palaces. They landed on the light steps spreading across the sky and greeted Ancestor Dragon City’s Lord Feng.

At the same time, they watched the situation below together.

Everyone hoped that the strongest heaven-class core disciple from their own outer palace would be the first to open a bronze door.

The many heaven-class core disciples present also waited anxiously.

After all, this matter affected whether they could enter Ancestor Dragon City or not.