The compet.i.tion for the second stage was intense but it was nearing its end. The many golden rings on the Qiong Qi were already in the hands of the cultivators, except for a small number of them that were nullified when the Qiong Qi was slew.

Hence, the cultivators began to target each other as they s.n.a.t.c.hed gold rings from one another.

Xu Yunsheng of the Celestial Sect of Wonders was one of the first few to enter this round. Other than the golden rings he obtained from hunting Qiong Qi, he too earned some golden rings from sparring with other cultivators. Hence, he was the first to obtain 10 golden rings and also the first to progress to the next round.

Dao Yuting moved slightly slower. While the time she took to clear the second round was the same as Xu Yunsheng, she took longer to climb the Starry Treasure PaG.o.da in the first round. Hence, she was slower than Xu Yunsheng.

What caught everyone"s eye was the third partic.i.p.ant, Chen Xingyu. Not only did he prevent the Celestial Sect of Wonders from dominating the top three spots, the golden rings he acc.u.mulated in the second round was entirely from hunting Qiong Qi.

Chen Xingyu"s 10 golden rings were all from the Qiong Qi. From start to finish, he did not fight any single cultivator. Neither did he steal from anyone nor did anyone steal from him. It was as if he did not interact with a single, other, cultivator.

The onlookers in the Dharma Hall exclaimed in wonder. The Immortal Soul elders in the Grand Heaven Pavilion too smiled.

Chen Xingyu"s non-interaction with the other partic.i.p.ants was not coincidental. Instead, he was able to discover his opponents before they could discover him.

Other cultivators in the conference could do this too. Some would seek out their opponents to see if they possessed golden rings. However, once Chen Xingyu discovered an opponent, he would avoid him/her.

Chen Xingyu"s group entered the second round later than Xu Yunsheng and Dao Yuting because of the unfortunate event in the Starry Treasure PaG.o.da. However, he was still able to collect 10 golden rings and hence, did not lag behind too much in the second round and thus, he was able to progress to the third.

At that time, Kang Hai of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect, who was in the same group as him and who reached the top of the Starry Treasure PaG.o.da together with him, only obtained three golden rings. He was too busy planning an ambush with s.h.i.+ Shaoqian and s.h.i.+ Jingyun.

After Chen Xingyu, many people hoped that another sect would be able to come in fourth. However, little Lin Tong of the Celestial Sect of Wonders obtained it before them. She could be said to extremely lucky as she managed to rob the person who planned to rob her of her golden rings.

Xiao Yan said gleefully, "Trying to steal from my G.o.d-daughter? Please, in the entire conference, fewer than five people would dare to pick a fight with her."

Luo Qingwu smiled and shook her head, "Lin Tong"s ability is too deceptive. She is the most powerful disciple of the Inferno Precipe."

Xiao Yan smiled at her and said, "Like you."

Luo Qingwu giggled and wave her hands, "How can I compare? I should say that she"s similar to Little Junior all those years ago."

When they thought of s.h.i.+ Tianhao, who managed to thrash many Nascent Soul stage cultivators at a mere age of 16, Xiao Yan, Zhu Yi, and the rest all burst out laughing.

"I"m afraid that number five will be Kang Hai of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect. What a pity for Yuncong," Yue Hongyan smiled and then sighed as she looked at the light projection.

At that moment, a dazzling golden "ten" flashed above Zhou Yuncong"s head. While he managed to acc.u.mulate 10 golden rings, he would be able to leave this round after 15 minutes.

However, he was later than Kang Hai by just a tiny bit. Hence, he would be sent out of this world a little after Kang Hai.

Yang Qing smiled slightly and said, "No one can predict what will happen. This is the whole point of the spiritual conference"s rules."

Objectively, with Kang Hai"s abilities, he would not be able to obtain his current results. However, thanks to a myriad of factors, he was able to enter the top 5 and outcla.s.sing many others.

Chu Yang gave Kang Hai seven golden rings straightaway with the hope of ensuring that he would not interfere with Chu Yang"s battle. However, that was the equivalent of sending Kang Hai straight into the third round.

As everyone in the Dharma Hall looked at the lucky Kang Hai, all of them shook their heads and sighed in admiration of his luck.

As they thought about that, something happened. A human silhouette appeared before Kang Hai.

The person appeared to be a tall, young, man about 20 years old. His face was handsome and he appeared resolute.

He was Lei Jie, the first of the younger generation of the Lei Family. He too had a reputation of being exceptionally talented.

A gold light flashed on top of Lei Jie"s head with the number "five". It meant that he had five golden rings.

In the first round, where they were required to climb the Starry Treasure PaG.o.da, Lei Jie did not go with the rest. Instead, he climbed it alone. Even so, he was extremely fast, much faster than some who worked in groups.

When Lei Jie reached the top of the paG.o.da, he was early. However, due to the rules, he could only progress to the next round when the other members of his group arrived.

In terms of ranking, Lei Jie"s eight-man group was one of the last. However, he was already able to collect five golden rings despite this disadvantage, demonstrating the same abilities he had shown when he climbed the paG.o.da.

When Kang Hai saw Lei Jie, his brows furrowed. He was not scared of his opponent. As he had already collected 10 golden rings, he had no need to fight with Lei Jie. Doing so would bring no benefit and only harm to him.

Here, Kang Hai once again used his Heavenly Sword Teleportation Technique as he tried to flee from Lei Jie.

Who knew that as he moved, a shadow flashed before his eyes and appeared in front of him. The speed was fast enough to shock Kang Hai.

He then saw green sparks of electricity crackling all over Lei Jie"s body. As Kang Hai sought to escape, he realized that Lei Jie blocked all of his attempts. Kang Hai was fast, but Lei Jie was faster. The latter was like a lightning demon.

Kang Hai looked in shock at the crackling electricity all over Lei Jie"s body. "His green lightning is weird. With his lightning, he is able to trigger his teleportation, which is much faster than my Heavenly Sword Teleportation Technique. It can be compared to my sect"s Great Way of the Heavenly Master Sword or Mount Shu"s Shaoze Sword. Even the Sword of Radiance Sect"s Instant Sword Teleportation cannot compare."

"Five golden rings. If not, I will take all ten," Lei Jie opened his mouth and said plainly. His voice was like thunder.

Lie Jie was unhappy. "Time"s almost up, why would I give it to you so freely?"

He summoned his sword mantra as a sharp, heaven-piercing, Sword Qi shot straight into the sky. It appeared to lead a path straight into heaven. His body merged with his sword as he charged towards Lei Jie.

He did not seek to teleport away. Instead, he planned on facing his opponent headfirst.

Lei Jie"s face did not change. He performed an incantation and the green lightning on his body flew out in b.a.l.l.s. In mid-air, they formed a shadow.

An entire stretch of the sky was rendered black. Storm clouds rolled and thunder flashed. It was as if the Apocalypse had arrived.

An aura of a great disaster or catastrophe could be felt. A giant, snake-like, bolt of electricity twisted and turned non-stop. It formed a terrifying h.e.l.l covered by lightning.

That was the pinnacle ultimate move of the Lei Family, the Lightning Purgatory. It threatened its opponent with a thunder-like h.e.l.l where one would experience unimaginable torture, never able to reincarnate.

If it was only the Lightning Purgatory Spell, then Kang Hai was not worried no matter how strong it was. The spells of the Heavenly Master Sword Sect were stronger than the Lei Family"s spells and mantras.

However, this was a different Lightning Purgatory. In the shadow above Lei Jie"s head, the many bolts of electricity came slowly together to form a shape, which then turned out to be the light shadow of a giant, roaring, thunder G.o.d!

Much of the Qi in the sky were congregated on the light shadow of the giant, roaring, thunder G.o.d. Its power seemed to grow exponentially.

Finally, the thunder G.o.d appeared to materialize from its light shadow form to something concrete. It turned into something human-like as it descended onto the world.

The giant thunder G.o.d glowed with bright, green electricity. It clashed together with Kang Hai, sending Kang Hai flying away together with his sword.

Kang Hai was knocked so hard till the very mana in his body became unstable. His soul was rattled and his very Qi went amok. In the previous exchange, he was already injured.

However, the giant thunder G.o.d too disappeared. However, he was not destroyed by Kang Hai. Instead, it transformed itself. It was gone but not destroyed. It turned into a sea of bright thunder as it surrounded Kang Hai. Whips, made out of thunder, lashed out at Kang Hai as they diminished his mana.

Kang Hai was shocked. His powerful Heavenly Sword Teleportation Technique, under the bombardment of his opponent"s thunder, became weaker.

After a while, he was sure that his defenses would be broken by Lei Jie. Then, the thunder would kill him.

At this point, Kang Hai could bear it no more. He shouted, "I"ll give you five!" While it was slightly depressing, he still had five golden rings, which gave him a chance at progressing to the next round. The two opponents had no blood feud and there was no need to see who was the better one. Fighting to the death may injure his opponent, but Kang Hai believed there was no such need.

Kang Hai surrendered his five golden rings. Lei Jie too stopped his spells. He took the five golden rings and the number above his head turned to "ten".

When Kang Hai saw the number on his head turn to "five", he smiled bitterly.

This change was completely unpredicted by everyone. Kang Hai, who had everything going for him at the start, had his fortunes reversed almost immediately.

This sudden incident meant that not only did Lei Jie take ten golden rings from Kang Hai, Zhou Yuncong who was ranked right behind Kang Hai would be the fifth person to progress to the third round.

While Lei Jie managed to take the golden rings from Kang Hai, his 15 minutes had just started. Hence, he was behind Zhou Yuncong. Lei Jie then became the sixth person to progress to the third round.

The seventh was Chu Yang, who retrieved the golden ring he had hidden at the start. This dark horse, who only revealed his true powers in the second round, shocked everyone. Even if he did not perform all that well in the third round, his performance in the second round was enough to earn him acclaim.

Everyone stared intently at the light projection. There was one last slot. No one knew who would get it.