Chapter 404: The Great Calamity

Sure enough, the development after the competition began was exactly as Xiao Shou had expected. An Yu and Nangong Si were quickly eliminated. Gou Guangyan suffered serious injuries before finally winning with great difficulty. Water Qilin, however, only needed a few punches from his tiny fists to knock out his opponent.

Lin Ziyang, Xu Kaiwen, and Mo Yichen also won their matches one after another. Fu Young was even more outrageous. With a single kick, he sent a tall Spirit Transformation stage body cultivator from the Divine Armament Sect flying straight out of the competition arena.

Everyone clicked their tongues in amazement and began wondering just how deep Fu Young’s strength really was.

Could it be that no one was capable of defeating him? Even more people became intensely curious about Eternal Prosperity Sect. What kind of sect could possibly nurture such a monster?

No, if Xiao Shou, the sect master, was included, then there were two monsters. A medical cultivator had actually created such an incredibly powerful sword technique. If that was not monstrous, then what was?

What surprised Xiao Shou instead was Xiao Ran. Even though Tushan Shanhe had placed a restriction on her, causing her to suffer excruciating pain like being cut apart by thousands of blades whenever she circulated her spiritual energy, she still went onto the stage.

Moreover, her temperament and bearing were completely different from before. Even though she was in so much pain that her entire body was almost drenched in sweat, she still stubbornly persisted and defeated her opponent.

This caused everyone’s negative impression of her from three days ago to improve greatly. Xiao Shou could not help admiring her perseverance. Such incredible endurance and determination truly suited the female protagonist.

While everyone was completely focused on the matches, Lu Wuchen felt an intense sense of unease. The other sect masters also appeared somewhat restless.

They assumed that their anxiety was simply because unexpected incidents had repeatedly occurred after the first two rounds. They were worried that something else might happen after this competition as well, so they were not particularly concerned with the details of the matches.

Everyone waited wholeheartedly for the competition to end smoothly. As they sensed the matches in all four arenas coming to an end one after another, by the time the setting sun appeared, all the matches had finally ended.

Lu Wuchen announced the results of the competition and told all the winners to defend their arenas again tomorrow. Those who obtained places through the arena challenge would participate in the fourth round three days later.

Just as he was about to announce the end of the competition, an unexpected change suddenly occurred.

The sky suddenly became covered in dense black clouds, blocking out the sun and turning the surroundings pitch black. The cultivators hurriedly took out luminous stones and other means of illumination while nervously sensing their surroundings, trying to figure out what had happened. Yet they could only see the black clouds carrying an extremely unpleasant aura as they fiercely descended from all directions.

At this moment, however, a layer of light suddenly emerged around the Holy City and blocked them. But the black clouds did not give up. They continued struggling against the layer of light without stopping. Seeing that the light membrane was becoming thinner and its color was fading, Lu Wuchen turned his head toward several Holy City elders flying over and asked, "Several elders, what is going on?"

"We do not know either. We have already contacted the city lord. The city lord said that the details are still unknown and that they are currently investigating the matter." An elder with a long black beard frowned as he answered.

A plain clothed female cultivator behind him said, "Since I began guarding the Holy City, this is the first time I have encountered such a situation."

"Could it be that no one knows what happened? Where did those ominous black clouds come from? Why are they attacking the Holy City?" Sect Master Tang Qicen of the Heavenly Void Sect asked with a frown.

No one could answer his question.

Seeing this, the Gate Master of the Ninefold Elixir Gate Palace looked toward the Sect Master of the Celestial Truth Sect, Goglngmen Qixi who was concentrating on making calculations. "Sect Master Gongmen, you do not know either? Could this be related to the blood colored waning moon phenomenon?"

"That should not be possible! Normally, when a celestial phenomenon manifests, it takes some time before changes occur. It has only been a few days!" The Valley Master of the Harmony Union Valley frowned and objected.

The Sect Master of the Azure Frost Sect flicked his horsetail whisk and said to everyone, "Let us hear what Sect Master Gongmen has to say first."

Only then did everyone notice that the Sect Master of the Celestial Truth Sect had stopped his calculations with a pale face. They immediately fell silent and waited for his answer.

Upon seeing this, Sect Master Gongmen nodded. His voice trembled slightly as he said, "According to my calculations, a great calamity has already descended upon the Heaven Origin Realm. Originally, when the waning moon appeared, the three great elders exhausted their cultivation to calculate the future and determined that two great calamities would descend upon the Heaven Origin Realm. The first calamity will bring an unprecedented disaster to the Heaven Origin Realm, destroying more than seventy percent of its life force. The second calamity will follow after the arrival of the first. When that happens, the Heaven Origin Realm will cease to exist, and all life will be extinguished."

"All of us already know this. We discussed the matter before the competition began, but we never expected it to happen so soon." The Sect Master of the Ten Thousand Beast Sect spoke with a bitter expression. "And this is happening before we even know when or in what form these two great calamities will descend. We originally thought it would be like previous disasters, giving us plenty of time to prepare."