Chapter 63: Martial Arts Tournament

  Heavenly Falling City, Divine Stone Plaza.

  Only a small mountain-sized rhombus-shaped meteorite, standing tall on the meteorite square, with more than half of it deeply embedded in the ground, and the exposed part is over 100 meters high, quite spectacular.

  According to legend, this meteorite suddenly fell from the sky a thousand years ago and landed here. At that time, there was no Tianyun City, and it was still a desolate land.

  After the meteorite fell here, it is said that at first, every night, under the moonlight, the meteorite would shine with a bright silver light. Later, every other day, the silver light of the meteorite at night would fade, and after ten years, the meteorite would no longer emit light, becoming an ordinary stone.

  The people of Shangmeng regarded this block of mysterious meteorite as a divine stone, and built the Tianyun City around it.

  After many years, Tianyuan City has become the largest city in Shangmeng and also the center of Shangmeng.

  However, this piece of meteorite that had long since stopped emitting a silver glow was still considered a divine gift from heaven to the Shangmeng, and was still treated as a sacred stone by the Shangmeng warriors.

  Divine Stone Plaza, also established because of this extraterrestrial meteorite.

  In the business alliance, some men and women, after falling in love, will come to the Divine Stone Plaza, facing the divine stone, making vows of sea and mountain oaths, taking the divine stone as a witness to their love.

  The Merchant Alliance holds its martial arts competitions at the Divine Stone Plaza every time.

  Today, Shen Shi Square is crowded with people coming and going, and there are countless vendors outside the square. Many of these vendors are martial artists, and the goods they sell are mostly related to martial arts training materials.

  Inside God Stone Square.

  In front of that huge meteorite, there were sixteen martial arts arenas, each with an area of one hundred square meters. The martial arts arenas were all paved with hard bluestone, which was extremely hard. Even a warrior at the pinnacle of human achievement couldn't shatter the bluestone with a full-force strike.

  Around the sixteen martial arts arenas stood five tall stone towers.

  One of the stone towers is 50 meters high, and the other four are 40 meters high. The five stone towers are hundreds of meters apart, and on top of each tower stand people from various influential families, who can see all sixteen martial arts arenas at a glance.

  One of the stone buildings, Shi Yan stood beside Shi Jian, looking down at the warriors coming to participate in the martial arts conference around the Divine Stone Square.

  This stone tower belongs to Shi's family, 40 meters high. The other four stone towers belong to Bei Ming's family, Ling's family, Zuo's family and Mo's family respectively.

  The stone buildings of the Ling, Zuo and Mo families are also 40 meters high, just like the Shi family. Only the Bei Ming family is an exception, with a stone building that is 50 meters high, clearly higher than the other four families!

  Just from the height of the five stone pagodas, it can be seen that the Beiming family has an absolutely strong position in the Shangmeng!

  This is the first day of the martial arts conference.

  Shi family's Shi Jian, Shi Tie, and Shi Dang, all direct descendants of the main line, were now on the stone building.

  Han Feng and Han Zhong, the two brothers, were also in the central stone building. There were several unfamiliar faces of the Shi family's servants, who were introduced by Han Zhong. Through his introduction, Shi Yan learned that those people were all servants of the Shi family, who usually did business in other cities, but were called over by Shi Jian because of the martial arts conference.

  It was Yang Hai who wasn't in the Stone Tower, and the reason for this was that Yang Hai hadn't cultivated martial arts. The top martial artists from other cities had been called back, so Yang Hai had no choice but to go to those cities to take charge, lest something unexpected happen during the Martial Arts Conference.

  Every year's martial arts conference is divided into five levels of competition: Hou Tian, Xian Tian, Ren Wei, Bai Jie, and Di Wei. However, the competition among Di Wei warriors often has a reputation without actual substance.

  Generally speaking, even if a martial artist cultivates alone and reaches the level of a master, they must have their own cultivation path. They usually won't covet the prizes offered by the five major families.

  A warrior who has reached the pinnacle of their craft, whether in the Merchant Alliance or the Empire of Flame and the Empire of Providence, is already considered a master.

  This type of martial artist doesn't need to participate in martial arts competitions. To get a good cultivation environment, they can go to any major power and serve as an offering.

  Each major force, if they knew which martial artist was in a certain position, would not only join one side but also proactively extend an olive branch, hoping to recruit the other under their banner.

  Therefore, although the Budokai established a ranking system for martial artists, hardly any of them actually participated.

  Even those who have reached the realm of Hundred Calamities rarely attend martial arts conferences, and only a handful of Hundred Calamity warriors participate in each conference.

  Most of the cultivators who truly came for the Martial Arts Conference were at the Post-Heavenly, Pre-Heavenly, or Human Rank realm.

  These three types of warriors are the most numerous, their cultivation realm is relatively low, and they often don't have their own path. They reluctantly participate in the martial arts tournament, either to obtain some precious treasures for cultivation or with the intention of seeking a good official position among the five major families.

  The martial arts conference usually lasts for five days.

  The previous four days were dominated by warriors who came for the prize and the position of offering, whose struggles would be seen by the five major families, and through the four-day struggle, they would select their preferred warriors and extend an olive branch.

  The last day is the climax of the martial arts conference.

  This day's martial arts conference belongs exclusively to the five major families!

  On this day, the five major families will send out their vassals and direct descendants to compete with the masters of other families. The five major families also use the final martial arts competition to probe each other's family strength.

  This day is also when the five major families show off their power to outsiders!

  On this day, the competition among the five major families often comes with enormous benefits and entanglements, and there may be earth-shattering high-stakes gambles.

  Mines, business districts, a certain treasure, and mysterious martial arts will all become pawns for the five major families!

  A martial arts competition can bring astonishing wealth to a family, but also cause a family's years of savings to be completely lost. The final day's competition may become a topic of conversation that will last for several years.

  On this day, the masters of various great families will reveal their true strength, and rare martial arts and martial souls will appear. In the intense confrontation, all sorts of secret treasures will also suddenly emerge.

  Most of the warriors from outside also came for the final martial arts competition on the last day.

  They can understand the difference between themselves and the martial artists of the five major families through the last day's martial arts conference, and recognize their own shortcomings by observing a fierce confrontation after another, in order to improve their vision and cultivation.

  It is even possible that after the martial arts conference, due to those intense exchanges, one's own level of skill will be elevated.

  This is the most attractive part of the martial arts conference!

  Shi Yan stood on top of the stone building, calm and composed, looking down at the martial artists who came to participate in the tournament below.

  At two hundred meters away, on the stone tower of the Beiming family, two beautiful figures, along with Beiming Ce, ascended to the high building.

  On the high building, Mu Yu Die and Di Ya Lan stood shoulder to shoulder on both sides of Bei Ming Xue, and together with Bei Ming Xue on the highest building, overlooking all the martial arts arenas.

  Mu Yu's butterfly-like figure wore a white dress, her green silk fluttering in the wind. On the highest floor of that tall building, her elegant posture was captivating, as if she were an elf from the mortal world.

  Diya Lan still wore the dark red armor, her fiery figure wrapped in the armor, her whole body curved to the extreme, only a pair of eyes showed a heavy heart.

  Two hundred meters away, Shi Yan slightly raised his head and swept a glance at the two women, with a hint of disdainful cold smile flashing in his heart.

  "Listen up, kid. For the next four days, observe carefully and learn from others. You lack real combat experience, so pay attention to how others fight. Don't waste my time with idle nonsense." Shi Jian noticed his gaze drifting towards the two women from the North Ming family, and a hint of displeasure flashed across his face. He snorted, "Women are everywhere, and with your conditions, you'll be able to get any kind of woman you want in the future. Don't get distracted before you become powerful!"

  "Uh-huh, I have some." Shi Yan nodded slightly.

  "Big brother, Kuro from the Xuanhuan Pavilion has come to visit and says he has something to discuss with you." Shi Tie suddenly shouted at the foot of the stairs in the Stone Tower.

  "Kuluo?" Shi Jian's face flashed with surprise, and after a moment of stunned silence, he nodded and said, "Ask him to come up."

  "Grandpa, what about the matter on the other side of the Fragrant Pavilion?" Shi Yan asked in a low voice.

  Shi Jian nodded slightly and hummed: "Don't interfere with this matter again, don't mention it next time either, got it?"

  "Oh." Seeing his expression, Shiyuan knew he must have finalized the details with Zuoxu. However, since several of Hanfeng's attendants were present on this high floor, Shiyuan was somewhat perplexed and wondered if the Shi family had actually sent someone to assist Chi Xiao at the Xianyun Pavilion.

  Kulou smiled and walked up, calmly arriving beside Shijian, saying: "Master Shi, I've come to ask for something. Do you know where your adopted son Yang Hai is now? I want to find him to go to the Xunyin Pavilion together, will it be a bother?"

  "Yang Hai?" Shi Jian's face sank, and he hummed, "You people from the Xuanhuan Pavilion are looking everywhere for someone named Yang Hai. What exactly do you want to do?"

  "A friend of mine came from the Endless Sea, she had an elder who lost a baby years ago, the baby was named Yang Hai, so she asked me to ask around and also asked Master Shi for help." Kuro smiled and cupped his hands.

  Shi Jian's heart skipped a beat, and his eyes flashed with an unusual light for a moment before he shook his head and said, "Yang Hai is not in Tianyun City for the time being. Because of the Martial Arts Conference, I have called back many people, and he is temporarily stationed in another city. This matter... let's talk about it later."

  "That's fine, as long as the master of Shi family remembers. Kuro also didn't insist, smiling and saying: "When he comes back, let the master of Shi family send him to Xunxiao Pavilion, hehe, I won't let him make a trip for nothing.""

  "Oh." Shi Jian nodded ambiguously.

  "Then I'll go down." Kuro didn't stay for long, after they had discussed and settled everything, he went straight downstairs.

  ……

  The melodious and touching piano sound suddenly came from the stone building of the North Ming's house.

  The sound of heaven that reaches the soul, instantly resonating in every corner of the noisy Shen Shi Square, only to see Mu Yu Die sitting cross-legged on the stone building of Bei Ming's house, intently playing.

  Many warriors who came to participate in the martial arts conference were attracted by this ethereal piano sound, with a look of intoxication on their faces, and they all looked up at the stone building of the North Ming House.

  Mu Yu's slender figure stood beside Bei Mingzhe, her expression proud and haughty, with a hint of disdain for the mundane world at the corner of her mouth, as she accepted the admiring and envious gazes from many warriors.

  The sound of Mu Yu Die's guqin was like a clear spring in the mountains, flowing through the hearts of all warriors, as if purifying the souls of everyone.

  As the music came to an end, many warriors were as if in a trance, their faces revealing astonished expressions.

  At this time.

  Bei Ming Xiong suddenly flew out from the high-rise building, his majestic body miraculously suspended in mid-air above the Divine Stone Plaza, gazing down at the crowd like a deity, and shouted: "The Martial Arts Tournament, officially begins!"

  "Soaring through the void! The strong of Heaven's Seat!"

  Many warriors exclaimed in surprise, with a look of reverence and awe at the strength displayed by Beiming Shuang.

  ……