Chapter 96: First Fight.

The white-coated man's eyes flashed with understanding after hearing Ron's explanation.

It wasn't unusual; every year, the Grandmasters would recommend new candidates, and the man in the white coat had brought a candidate of his own.

"You've come at the right time. The preliminary round is going to begin in one hour."

"Come here, young man, let me give you a token number." Now that the white-coated man knew about David's situation, he called David over with a smile on his face.

David felt a wave of happiness and immediately walked over. He had expected some kind of test, but now that he could directly participate, he was naturally pleased.

The white-coated man handed him a white badge with the number 420 written on it. The badge was rectangular in shape and seemed to be made out of plastic.

After handing over the badge, the man looked at Ron and said plainly, "Ron, take him to Arena Three."

Ron nodded in agreement and gestured for David to follow him.

Soon, David and Ron were inside the building.

The interior resembled a laboratory, with metallic pipes running along the ceiling. The walls were painted white, giving the space a monotone vibe.

Perhaps this was intentional, so martial artists wouldn't be distracted by trivial things. Or maybe they didn't want to waste time thinking about decor.

As they walked, Ron began explaining the rules of the World Championship.

The rules were typical of any competition focused on reducing numbers: most contestants would be eliminated in the preliminary stage, and only the cream of the crop would advance to the next stage.

Ron continued to speak, frequently glancing at David to ensure he was listening.

"This old man really knows how to talk," David thought. Ron seemed more interested in the rules than the actual championship.

As they walked, David encountered even more people, all of them wearing carefree smiles without a hint of worry.

These people seemed to live in a utopia, with no need to worry about food, disease, or money.

David might have felt jealous if not for the constant sense of danger he felt in this world.

At this time, he was walking a thin rope; one wrong step, and it would be over for him.

That's also why he had urged his trio to hurry up and build the teleportation formation.

Finally, David and Ron arrived at a huge hall where the preliminary round would be conducted.

This area was far more crowded than the outside. As people moved about, all sorts of voices filled the air, creating an intense atmosphere that assaulted David's senses.

"Did you hear? The Chairman's Disciple is also going to participate in the preliminary round. Ah! I feel sorry for his opponent."

"He's very close to the realm of Grandmasters. It's certain he'll win the championship."

…

"Did you see the two Grandmasters battle? It was so exciting!"

"The bushy-browed Grandmaster thrashed his opponent like a dog, nearly killing him twenty times in a single hour."

…

"The first battle of the championship is about to start, let's go!"

"The first battle is really boring. I'm not going."

…

Ron slowly walked through the large hall, with people pointing at him and whispering among themselves.

"This is the famous unlucky Grandmaster."

"He reached the finals in five championships but lost all of them."

Hearing the hushed comments, Ron's face turned green.

But he couldn't do anything about it. The more he reacted to their words, the more damage it would do to his reputation.

Ron could only ignore their words and focus on leading David. He said, "You need to have ten consecutive victories to proceed to the next stage."

"Don't worry too much about it. You'll easily clear the preliminary stage."

Under Ron's lead, the two came in front of a huge stage.

In front of the stage, there were a great number of martial artists either watching fights or checking their opponents' details.

Some were there to watch, some to participate, and some were even holding cameras to broadcast the fights to the whole world.

Now you might ask why they were doing this when they got no money out of it.

The answer was simple: If fighting and practicing martial arts was Ron's passion, then the passion of these cameramen was to capture the entire event and show it to the world.

Directly in the middle of the stage were four reception tables.

Two of the tables already had guests, and their surroundings were comparatively quieter.

David performed the last bit of formalities and was now all set.

"There aren't many restrictions in the preliminary stage; you're only expected to kill your opponent in the shortest time possible."

"Your opponent is generally going to be weaker than you, given your already high martial powers. But you can also designate the opponent you want, although they will have to agree."

"Look, it's already your turn. Are you ready to fight?" Ron asked with a smile.

David nodded.

This was the special reception; the efficiency of the receptionists was high, and David was quickly assigned an opponent: "The time is 2:30 p.m. Your opponent is token number 422."

There were only five minutes left until the start of the battle.

David walked toward the stage with a curious look in his eyes. His opponent was already waiting inside.

He was a young man, tall and muscular, with an ordinary appearance, dressed in a white practice uniform.

A triangular badge with the number 421 was hanging on his chest.

Seeing David enter the stage, a frown appeared on the young man's face.

The young man's eyes weren't on David's face but on the rectangular badge hanging on his chest.

David might not know it, but the young man was aware of a crucial detail: All the contestants with rectangular badges were recommended by Grandmasters, while those without a recommendation were given triangular badges.

The young man hadn't expected to face such a tricky opponent in his first match.

But he was confident in his own abilities, so after a moment of thought, he calmed down.

David stepped onto the stage, which was huge. Beneath his feet was hard, solid stone—not the usual cushioning material.

There were also a couple of people watching, including the Unlucky Grandmaster Ron.

The preliminary stage had just started, and people were still busy with their own things.

Clang!

A gunshot was fired into the air, signifying the start of the match.

"My name is David Wellwisher," David introduced himself. At least the young man deserved to know the name of the person who would defeat him.

To David, the young man was as good as dead before the match even began.

"Steps of the Mountain Leopard!" the young man shouted, stepping hard and bursting forth with great speed.

David was slightly surprised, not expecting the young man to attack directly.

While David could afford to chat and waste time, the young man couldn't because he knew in his heart that he would only get one chance to win this match.

The young man completely ignored the formalities.

In the next moment, the young man moved like lightning, pouncing on David.

However, something completely different from what the young man had imagined happened in the next second.

A light wind blew. The young man only saw darkness in front of him, and before he could react, David's punch, filled with raw power, struck his head.

At once, the young man felt intense pain, and his skull exploded.

In the next moment, his lifeless body fell to the ground with a loud thud.

The crowd watching from the sidelines was stunned for a moment. They had expected a good fight, not for the match to end as soon as it began.

David had only used a little bit of strength. If he had gone ahead and used extra power, the young man would… No point talking about useless things.

In the next moment, the crowd started discussing loudly.

"The fight ended just like that."

"He wasn't even able to last for a minute. What a disappointment. I wasted my time. If I had known before, I wouldn't have bothered looking."

The two or three experienced martial artists were tongue-tied, not because the young man had died—they had seen death before—but because of how easily he died.

Even some Grandmasters might not have been able to achieve such a feat.

Although there were many fights in the preliminary stage, few ended as quickly as this one.

However, David was busy observing the changes in his domain.

The range had increased once more, and by the same amount as when he killed Ron.

This was good news.

If the deaths of different people had different effects on his domain's growth, things might have become a little troublesome.

But now he had nothing to worry about.

Although David had multiple Crystallization of Life now, but one of the strongest was Domain of Zentih Sovereign albeit it had one glaring weakness the range of its domain was very little.

If the range of the domain could be sufficiently increased, David would almost became unstoppable.

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