The battle of Tianjiao was held in the fighting arena in the imperial city.
The fighting arena is located in the center of the imperial city, close to the palace. Competitions such as 'fighting beasts' are often held, attracting a large number of spectators and earning a lot of money for the royal family.
Not only that, because of this fighting arena, a ranking list was also established.
Those who can be named on the list are extremely powerful.
There are even many monks who come to this fighting arena specifically to challenge other strong men.
Some want to be famous, and some want to accumulate combat experience.
Today, because the Tianjiao Battle is about to be held, people from all over the Haoyang Empire have almost filled the entire imperial city.
A spectator seat in this Colosseum costs one hundred taels of silver, and the closer to the front row, the higher the price.
And the positions inside the tall buildings around the Colosseum cost at least one thousand taels.
But even so, more people can only stand on the rooftops in the distance and watch.
At this time, tens of thousands of people had gathered in the middle of the fighting arena.
But even so, the venue still seemed very empty.
Most of these geniuses come from various sects and families, and some are casual cultivators in the world.
Like the Xiuyuan Sect, there are only less than fifty factions that can have a dedicated rest area.
At this time, on the viewing platform, the royal family members of the Haoyang Empire, as well as some senior officials, the heads of several major families, including some of the top sect leaders, were all seated on the high platform.
Xiao Zhan, Ye Qingcheng, and Gu Chen, as the peak masters of the Xiuyuan Sect and strong men in the Fusion Realm, naturally have their own seats, and to their right is the throne!
On the right side of the throne, there are two worshipers from the royal family.
The scene seemed particularly noisy.
As the nine bells resounded throughout the imperial city, the scene fell silent for an instant.
An old eunuch wearing eunuch uniform jumped over the fighting arena and said in a sharp voice:
"Your Majesty is here, kneel down to greet him!"
Everyone watching the game stood up and fell to their knees.
Not only that, the geniuses in the middle of the fighting arena also knelt on the ground.
Only the disciples of Xiuyuan Sect did not move.
Not only did they not move, their backs were also very straight.
Not kneeling before the emperor has been the privilege of Xiuyuan Sect disciples since ancient times.
The next moment, a golden eagle was seen flying into the sky carrying a sedan.
The emperor, who was wearing a golden dragon robe and exuding a powerful aura, walked toward the viewing platform with his hands behind his back.
The worshipers on the viewing platform bowed and saluted one after another, and the leaders of other sects immediately knelt down and shouted long live His Majesty.
However, Xiao Zhan and the other three just bowed their hands.
The emperor's name was Tuoba Hongwu. He had a majestic face, handsome appearance, and his age could not be seen.
After he sat down, all those who were kneeling dared to stand up.
Tuoba Hongwu looked at the three Xiao Zhans on the left and smiled slowly:
"This year, I specially invited the Xiuyuan Holy Sect to participate in the Battle of Tianjiao. It's hard work for the three peak masters to make a special trip."
Gu Chen smiled and waved his hand:
"Your Majesty is serious."
"As our Xiuyuan Sect, as the Holy Sect that protects the country, it is good to occasionally participate in secular activities."
Tuoba Hongwu smiled and nodded, then waved his hand.
The eunuch leader suspended in mid-air suddenly said:
"The battle of geniuses has officially begun!"
The next moment, applause sounded like a tsunami.
The old eunuch continued:
"I believe that many geniuses have been preparing for this year's battle for several years."
"I believe that time will not let up on your efforts."
"Your Majesty is kind and has specially prepared generous rewards for this battle of geniuses."
"Those who rank at the top will not only receive rewards, but also become members of the Imperial Palace's Forbidden Army."
"Without further ado, let's start the first battle - the big melee."
"The last thousand people standing on the field can advance to the second round."
While he was talking, tens of thousands of golden-armored guards were already standing on the sidelines.
These are the forbidden troops in the palace, and they are extremely powerful.
Their role is to pull the defeated people out of the battle group in time to prevent these geniuses from being sacrificed in this battle of geniuses.
As the bell rang three times, all the geniuses on the field had dispersed.
Taking their respective sects and families as units, they were ready to face the enemy.
The ninety-three members of the Xiuyuan Sect were standing together without making any movement.
This is what Gu Chen explained on the way here.
He said that he wanted to see who could attack the people of Xiuyuan Sect first.
In fact, others had already started fighting, and the situation on the field became heated, with fierce attacks flashing past one after another.
Screams came and went.
The golden-armored guards on the sidelines also kept pulling out seriously injured geniuses from the melee.
Most of them are casual cultivators in the martial arts world.
Of course, there are also casual cultivators who are extremely brave.
Not only that, the geniuses of certain forces also began to cooperate.
It can be said that in this melee, not only can we see which geniuses are powerful, but we can also see which forces have good relations with each other and which forces have hatred between them.
But the battle had been going on for a while, and still no one attacked the Xiuyuan Sect disciples.
The disciples of Xiuyuan Sect looked on expressionlessly, always ready to fight, and did not relax their vigilance because of this.
If nothing unexpected happens, all ninety-three disciples of Xiuyuan Sect will be able to enter the next round.
More and more people were pulled out of the melee by the golden-armored guards.
There are fewer and fewer geniuses still fighting on the field.
Finally, something unexpected happened.
There were three major camps on the field.
On one side were the disciples of those sects and aristocratic families, there were about a thousand people.
On the other side, there are about five hundred geniuses from the martial arts world.
It can also be seen that most people from sects and aristocratic families look down on these casual cultivators, even if the geniuses among these casual cultivators are not weaker than them in talent and strength.
As for the geniuses of these casual cultivators, the reason why they don’t join other sects is actually very simple.
Most casual cultivators are not eligible to join.
These casual cultivators who can be called geniuses do not like to be restrained, so they are unwilling to join any sect.
Such people are actually aliens.
At this time, among the five hundred casual cultivators, the three leaders performed particularly well. One of them had reached the early stage of Nascent Soul, which was the same level as Liu Yong from the Xiuyuan Sect.
The remaining two have also reached the completion of elixir formation.
These three people naturally attracted the attention of countless people.
Even the powerful men from various forces and families around them, as well as the team leaders on the viewing platform, all noticed these three people.
Based on the performance of these three people, it is almost certain that the three of them will definitely enter the finals.
As for the third party, they are the ninety-three disciples of Xiuyuan Sect.
The leader is naturally the strongest Liu Yong.
Regardless of the more than a thousand sects and prodigies of the family, or the casual cultivators, it seems that they have no intention of taking action against the disciples of the Xiuyuan Sect.
The battle paused for a moment, and the three casual cultivators in the early stage of Nascent Soul, leading nearly five hundred casual cultivators, rushed towards the thousand or so sect and family geniuses.
On the side of the sect and family's geniuses, there are five people leading the way, four of them are in the Great Perfection of Dan Formation, and one is also in the early stage of Nascent Soul.
The four elixir-forming Dzogchen geniuses are Huangfu Hao from the Huangfu family, and his biological sister is Huangfu Qiuyue who joined the Xiuyuan Sect.
The second one is Duanmu Lei, the current young patriarch of the Duanmu family.
The third one, named Su Qian, comes from the Haoran Sect and is also the second-ranked force after the Xiuyuan Sect.
The fourth one, from Qingyou Sect, is a woman named Bai Fei.
As for the man in the early stage of Nascent Soul, he came from the Tuoba royal family and was the second prince of the Tuoba royal family, named Tuoba Lanshan.
In the camp of Xiuyuan Sect disciples.
Huangfu Qiuyue looked at Tuoba Qingyun and sneered:
"Tuoba Qingyun, it seems that your second emperor brother is more powerful than you. I'm afraid you won't be able to hold the position of prince."
Tuoba Qingyun said expressionlessly:
"Successive royal princes must become registered disciples of our Xiuyuan Sect master."
"My second emperor brother may not be the prince."
Huangfu Qiuyue sneered:
"That was the situation before and now. Haven't you seen it clearly?"
"The royal family seems to have changed its attitude towards Xiuyuan Sect."
Tuoba Qingyun said nothing.
How could he not feel this?
In addition, her mother-in-law also secretly conveyed a lot of news to him.
He knows more than Huangfu Qiuyue.
But he still did not regard the second emperor's brother Tuoba Lanshan as his strongest opponent for the position of crown prince.
In his heart, the eldest brother who has not shown up all year round is the strongest opponent.
The elder brother who has been hidden since birth is the most mysterious person.
At this time, under Tuoba Lanshan's order, more than a thousand geniuses had surrounded the five hundred or so casual cultivators.
The genius of the casual cultivator suddenly fell into a disadvantage.
The golden-armored guards continued to rush into the battle group.
Whenever they see the golden-armored guards approaching, those geniuses who want to continue attacking their opponents will stop attacking.
After all, violating fear on the spot is tantamount to provoking the majesty of the royal family.
The consequences... are serious.
No one wants to be the object of the royal family's prestige.
Slowly, more and more people dropped out of the melee.
Until finally there were only a thousand people left and the fighting stopped again.
Among these thousand people, there are more than 700 geniuses from aristocratic families and sects.
There are more than 200 geniuses who are independent cultivators.
As a result, the ninety-three geniuses of the Xiuyuan Sect who had not participated in the battle became the focus of attention in the field.
Looking at the current situation, if the disciples of the Xiuyuan Sect do not take the initiative to launch an attack, the two parties will continue to delay, and this preliminary match will not end.
Among the casual cultivators, except for the man in the early stage of Nascent Soul, everyone else had been seriously injured.
And the geniuses from the sect and the aristocratic families have no plans to continue to attack the casual cultivators.
The disciples of Xiuyuan Sect all looked at Xiao Zhan and the other two people on the high platform.
Gu Chen looked at Ye Qingcheng and Xiao Zhan.
Ye Qingcheng said nothing and looked at Xiao Zhan.
Xiao Zhan looked calm:
"Since we can't kill anyone, let's just fight. It doesn't matter if we win or lose."
Gu Chen frowned and said:
"Towards that camp."
At this time, other powerful men on the high platform also looked at Xiao Zhan and the others.
Even Emperor Tuoba Hongwu looked at Xiao Zhan with a smile.
Xiao Zhan seemed not to notice the gazes of these people and spoke slowly:
"It's not easy for casual cultivators, so just give them a chance to show off."
In fact, Gu Chen had the same idea.
He looked at the Xiuyuan Sect disciples on the field, and then at the geniuses of those sects and aristocratic families.
After receiving the signal, the disciples of the Xiuyuan Sect burst out with aura, and instantly rushed towards the sect and the prodigy of the family.
Some people died, but not completely...
