Apotheosis

It was quite a busy day at Oracle City. All the restaurants, hotels, and teahouses were filled with tourists, martial artists, and cultivators of different levels.

The Martial Arts Contest had surely piqued the interest of almost half of the martial artists from the Central Region. But not all of them were qualified to take part in the contests. Still, these martial artists went all the way here just to watch the battles between the great masters of different sects. It was going to be a worthwhile trip if they could learn a new fighting technique from these masters.

Some of these practitioners were even hoping to get an epiphany from watching the fights. Though there wasn't any assurance to it, it was worth a try.

Zen was asking around for the Martial Arts Contest registration booth, but no one seemed to really take him seriously. After several attempts, someone had finally pointed him in the right direction.

Although the contest was open to all practitioners in the Central Region, there were limited available slots. Hence, some pre-qualifying matches were designed to identify the qualified participants to the Martial Arts Contest.

But the pre-qualifying matches were intended only for the practitioners from unknown sects who at least reached the Illuminating Soul Realm. And only after passing these matches could they move on to the Martial Arts Contest.

While for the famous sects, they each could get three to ten reserved slots in the Martial Arts Contest. This meant that participants from Cloud Hall, Bloodwood Cliff, Ethereal Spirit Sect, and other top sects could get into the Martial Arts Contest without going through the pre-qualifying matches. Some top individual warriors could also get a reserved slot to participate in the Martial Arts Contes

Only a dull thud was heard. The punch was strong and powerful, but it wasn't enough to even scratch the stone.

The old man casually glanced at the green stone. He then wrote something on his note and finally declared, "Failed! Next, please!"

The practitioner was stunned to hear the results, but he couldn't do anything. He left with a broken heart, shaking his head as he moved away from the registration booth.

'What a waste of supreme life vitality crystal! He didn't even get a second chance! Darn it!' Zen thought to himself, feeling pity for the practitioner. This was how the World Commercial Alliance made money. It was unfair, but nothing was indeed fair in this world.

Now Zen understood why only a few practitioners would sign up for the contest. A supreme life vitality crystal was not cheap; it was equal to more than a million low-grade life vitality crystals. For the second and third grade sects, and numerous famous families in the Central Region, supreme life vitality crystals were nothing; but not for any ordinary practitioners. Even most of the practitioners at the Illuminating Soul Realm could not afford to spend a supreme life vitality crystal.