Chapter 246 - 145: The Finals Begin, a Showdown of Powerhouses

「Several days later」

At the crack of dawn, the sky was vast and cloudless.

A White-Plumed Spirit Bird soared across the firmament, racing toward the horizon.

Below, on a massive tournament stage, ten figures stood atop ten cylindrical pillars carved with Profound Mysterious Inscriptions.

The gazes of hundreds of thousands converged upon them, accompanied by cheers so loud they shook the heavens. The very ground seemed to tremble in that instant.

The mighty, resounding cheers crashed like a thunderous tsunami.

In an instant, the entire Vast Square was flooded with the heaven-shaking, earth-shattering sound.

At this moment,

atop one of the pillars carved with Profound Mysterious Inscriptions,

a corner of Gu Yun’s robes fluttered though there was no wind. His long hair swayed, his expression was placid, and his eyes were as calm as still water. He seemed to exude an unshakable composure, as if he wouldn’t flinch even if a mountain collapsed before him.

But inwardly, he was far from being so transcendentally calm.

Standing in this vast, clamorous Square, the focus of nearly a million Cultivators, including even Peak Masters and Elders of the Tongxuan Realm... to say he felt nothing was simply impossible.

In fact, his heart was pounding with a fiery, surging excitement.

It was an experience unlike any other.

Before this, he was just another Practitioner among the teeming masses. When had he ever been the center of attention for nearly a million Cultivators, to say nothing of the Tongxuan Realm Peak Masters and Elders among them?

WHOOSH!

Gu Yun took a deep breath,

gradually composing himself as his mind settled.

’No matter what,

I’ve come this far.

All I can do,

is fight with everything I have and leave the rest to fate.’

Besides, none of the opponents he was about to face were weaker than him.

That was especially true for the top three on the Profound Celestial List: Xuanyuan Hong, Lin Tianyi, and Chen Yuan. Their strength was utterly unfathomable, their power so immense it could reach the heavens.

From what he knew,

these chosen few were monstrous prodigies capable of using their Half-Step Tongxuan Cultivation

to cross the great chasm in power and battle true Tongxuan True Monarchs!

Though they might not be able to defeat and slay a Tongxuan True Monarch like his senior brother, Ye Xuantian,

just being able to cross that chasm and fight one was the mark of an absolute monster!

Gu Yun had to admit to himself,

that with his current strength, he was no match for a Tongxuan True Monarch.

He was at least self-aware enough to know that much.

’I’ll just have to do my best.’

As the youngest of the ten,

his accumulated Cultivation was undoubtedly weaker than the others, which put him under some pressure.

But no matter what.

He, Gu Yun, would give this fight his all!

As he listened to the roar of the crowd, which surged like a tidal wave,

Gu Yun’s gaze only grew firmer, and an invisible, awe-inspiring Momentum began to rise from him.

’Hm?!’

Atop a nearby pillar carved with Profound Mysterious Inscriptions, Xiahou Yuan—a tall, burly man with a fierce-looking face, dressed in a pale blue robe—suddenly opened his sharp eyes. His gaze swept over Gu Yun.

’This guy...’

’...is pretty interesting!’

Regarding Gu Yun, the prodigy who had recently taken the Sect by storm,

Xiahou Yuan, of course, recognized him. He had no intention of underestimating him; on the contrary, a blazing fighting spirit ignited within him.

’In fact, anyone who made it this far possesses the strength of the Half-Step Tongxuan Realm at a minimum.’

On another pillar, Shen Kai of Flame Fire Dao Peak—a resolute-faced man in a Fiery Red Battle Robe—also swept a sun-bright gaze over Gu Yun before closing his eyes and resuming his meditation.

As for the strongest three—Xuanyuan Hong, Lin Tianyi, and Chen Yuan—who stood upon the central pillars, they kept their eyes closed, seemingly oblivious. Yet the terrifying, abyss-like auras radiating from them felt as if they could swallow space itself.

At the same time,

within the Vast Square, among the crowd of nearly a million Cultivators,

a young man wearing the robes of an Outer Sect Disciple, his Cultivation at the Spiritual Martial Realm Ninth Layer Peak, stood with an ordinary face and eyes that burned with immense resolve. He gazed up at the figures on the ten pillars with profound admiration and reverence.

His gaze fell upon one man in particular—a handsome youth in a white Profound Robe that billowed in the wind. His eyes filled with gratitude, respect, and awe.

’So he was the one who saved me...’

’There’s no mistake.’

’He’s... so incredibly strong!’

Lin Bei murmured to himself.

This young man was none other than someone Gu Yun had casually saved in a town long ago.

Perhaps even Gu Yun himself never imagined that the person he had once saved on a whim would now be in the same Sect, watching him compete.

Time slowly passed.

High above the stage,

a white-haired, long-bearded elder in a white Daoist Robe stepped out into the air, his body wreathed in a hazy, faint light and exuding a terrifying Dao Rhythm.

His resonant voice, carrying the weight of the Dao, boomed across the square. "First, I congratulate you on reaching the finals of the grand competition. Having come this far, you are undoubtedly the most elite prodigies in our Sect, and indeed, among the very top in the entire Eastern Profound Domain."

"You are the top prodigies of the younger generation, the future pillars of our Sect..." He trailed off, then his voice sharpened. "Enough of that. Now,

I declare the finals of the Profound Celestial Sect’s Inner Sect grand competition... officially open!"

ROOOAR!!

In that instant,

a roar like a mighty river erupted from the Vast Square, a continuous, deafening sound that shook the heavens and echoed across the land.

The Inner Sect finals.

The ten finalists would face off in one-on-one duels.

Winners would advance, while losers would be eliminated.

This single round of battles would determine the top five.

The top five would then draw lots to be paired up, with one contestant receiving a bye.

The contestant with the bye would not automatically advance to the top three. Instead, they would have to defend their spot by accepting a challenge from one of the contestants defeated in the top-ten bracket. If they lost, their ranking would fall. If they won, they would advance to the top three.