【Ah, Host.】
【Those are just idealized conditions.】
【When cultivators actually fight, who would bother specifying that you can't use talismans, can't use contracted spirit beasts, and definitely can't use your life-saving trump cards?】
【In a life-or-death situation, who's going to listen to reason?】
Yun Heng nodded inwardly.
Since the Five Domains Prodigy Gathering was meant to select the truly powerful young geniuses, the matches should naturally be as close to real combat as possible.
Whatever skills they had, they should use them all.
Yan Yi swallowed the pastry in her mouth and asked in confusion.
“But weren't there many variations in the previous Five Domains Prodigy Gatherings?”
“I remember there used to be team battles, free-for-alls, and quite a few other competition formats.”
Xiao Cen nodded.
“You're right.”
“There were indeed many formats in previous years.”
“But this year is different.”
“It is said that this new set of competition rules was collectively decided by the six top forces of the Central State.”
“As for why they suddenly changed the format, I don't know for now.”
Xiao Cen picked up her teacup again.
“However, this format is indeed more fair and transparent.”
“To make it to the very end, one must rely entirely on raw personal strength.”
Yun Heng agreed with this approach.
“I also think this format is better.”
“It eliminates a lot of uncertainty.”
“There's no need to consider teammates or coordinate with anyone else.”
“You can only rely on yourself.”
There were too many variables in team battles and free-for-alls.
Although one-on-one matches were direct, they were also much purer.
After hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought.
Only Xiao Jingheng looked at Xiao Cen with a face full of confusion.
“Imperial Sister.”
“The rules shouldn't be officially announced yet, right?”
“How did you find out about this?”
Xiao Cen kept her gaze steady.
“Our Imperial Mother told me.”
Xiao Jingheng's expression instantly slumped.
He curled his lip and muttered in a low voice.
“Imperial Mother is biased.”
Xiao Cen took another sip of tea, the corners of her mouth curving into an extremely subtle arc.
Jiang Qian listened very intently.
Only after Xiao Cen finished speaking did she ask in a soft voice.
“Third Prince.”
“How are the opponents for the first round decided?”
“Is it completely random drawing?”
Xiao Cen shook her head.
“No.”
“The drawing rules for this session are also different from before.”
“Soul Transformation cultivators have a natural advantage in the Five Domains Prodigy Gathering.”
“Therefore, during the first round of one-on-one matches, all participants will be divided into two drawing pools based on their cultivation.”
“One is the Soul Transformation pool, and the other is the Nascent Soul pool.”
“A Soul Transformation cultivator's opponent will only be drawn from the Nascent Soul pool.”
“There won't be a situation where a Soul Transformation cultivator meets another Soul Transformation cultivator in the first round.”
“This prevents the strongest group of participants from being eliminated early in the first round.”
Yun Heng was surprised.
When she registered in Dingchuan City earlier, she had already received preferential treatment due to her late stage Soul Transformation Realm cultivation, allowing her to get a slot directly without participating in the rogue cultivator selection.
She didn't expect that after entering the Five Domains Prodigy Gathering, she would benefit from her high cultivation level once again.
This way, she was absolutely guaranteed to advance to the next round.
The System's voice rang out at the perfect time.
【Now you know the benefits of having a high cultivation, Host.】
【As long as you are strong enough, you will have the right to decide many things.】
【Even the rules will proactively grant you preferential treatment.】
Indeed, the strong had more choices, while the weak could only accept the rules.
The others in the room also nodded one after another, not finding this arrangement unreasonable.
Cultivation itself was a matter that defied reason.
Xiao Cen continued.
“As far as I know, among the one hundred and eighteen participants, there are about thirty Soul Transformation cultivators.”
“Most of them are only at the early stage of the Soul Transformation Realm.”
“Those who have reached the mid stage of the Soul Transformation Realm are already very few.”
“As for the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, there are only two.”
She looked at Yun Heng.
“One is you.”
“The other is the Eldest Disciple of the Jiuyi Sect, Ye Zezhi.”
Yun Heng had originally thought she would be the only late stage Soul Transformation cultivator in this session of the Five Domains Prodigy Gathering.
She hadn't expected that there was another young cultivator in the Central State who had reached the same realm.
“Ye Zezhi?”
The System spoke up immediately.
【Don't worry, Host.】
【Ye Zezhi is already over ninety years old.】
【Although her cultivation is also at the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, neither her cultivation speed nor her talent can compare to yours.】
Yun Heng heard this and got a general idea of the situation.
However, for Ye Zezhi to become the Eldest Disciple of the Jiuyi Sect and be the only person in the younger generation of the Central State to reach the late stage of the Soul Transformation Realm, her strength was bound to be formidable.
Yun Heng looked at the few people in the room.
“No matter who the opponent is, we must take them seriously.”
Her gaze swept over Yan Yi, Jiang Qian, Xiao Cen, and Xiao Jingheng in turn.
“I hope we can meet in the finals.”
The day before the Five Domains Prodigy Gathering began, at the Five Domains Platform.
The Five Domains Platform was an area specifically used to hold large-scale competitions.
Within the entire area, there were fourteen ordinary sparring platforms distributed around a central main platform.
That main platform was several times larger than the ordinary sparring platforms and would only be activated for the final matches of the Five Domains Prodigy Gathering. Surrounding it were spectator seats that could accommodate hundreds of thousands of cultivators.
At the very front of the spectator seats, separate viewing areas were designated for the major sects, great families, and empires.
In addition to these, a large image-recording array covering the entire area was set up in the sky above the Five Domains Platform.
Once the matches began, the image-recording array would transmit everything happening on the Five Domains Platform to all parts of the Taiyan Continent, allowing cultivators who couldn't make it to Tiandu City to witness this grand event.
At this moment, the spectator seats of the Five Domains Platform were completely empty.
On the main platform stood the one hundred and eighteen young cultivators participating in this session's Five Domains Prodigy Gathering, lined up in neat order.
Two chest-high boxes were placed on the main platform, one on the left and one on the right, corresponding to the Soul Transformation cultivators and the Nascent Soul cultivators respectively.
A female cultivator stood between the two boxes.
She wore a dark gray robe, her long hair neatly tied back behind her head. Her features were proper, with a hint of seriousness in her eyes, and her aura was steady, her cultivation already having reached the Soul Transformation Realm.
Her name was Gong Yiding, the Chief Deacon of this session's Five Domains Prodigy Gathering.
Although the drawing was not an official match, it would still be transmitted to the Five Domains via the image-recording array.
At this moment, countless cultivators across the Taiyan Continent were already waiting in front of their image-recording arrays, anticipating the start of the first round of drawing.
In the Eastern Region, only a few of the larger cities had image-recording arrays specifically set up to watch the Five Domains Prodigy Gathering, and most of these arrays were located in the widest squares of the cities.
At this very moment, the squares of the major cities were already packed to the brim.
“It's finally starting. It was well worth coming two hours early to grab a spot.”
“I came even earlier than you. Any later, and I probably wouldn't even have been able to catch a glimpse of the image-recording array.”
“Who are you rooting for the most?”
A male cultivator replied without hesitation, “Naturally, it's the Eldest Disciple of the Jiuyi Sect, Ye Zezhi. She's the only late stage Soul Transformation cultivator in this session's Five Domains Prodigy Gathering.”
The person beside him also nodded in agreement.
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