Jun Changxiao brought his disciples.

As expected, their entrance was as shocking as always, as attention-grabbing as always, as… ridiculous as always.

“Flashy and gaudy!”

“Boastful nonsense!”

“Arrogant and domineering!”

Everyone cast contemptuous looks their way.

This time, the mockery couldn’t be blamed on everyone—it was mainly because Jun Changxiao was too infuriating. Making a high-profile entrance was one thing, but he had to strike a pose and shout that the Eternal Sect would sweep all the spots.

“…”

Gu Tianxing shook his head and said, “It’s fine for young people to be a bit arrogant, but going overboard isn’t good.”

He still favored Ye Xingchen, but with only fifty advancement spots total, having the Eternal Sect sweep them all was definitely impossible. If they encountered someone like Chu Wange, some disciples would surely be eliminated.

“Enter.”

At this moment, Jun Changxiao snapped his fingers.

Led by Lu Qianqian and Li Qingyang, the competing disciples strode inside. Along the way, Ye Di quietly stored the modified speaker from his shoulder back into his spatial ring.

They were heading to the competition area.

Gou Sheng went to the spectator area instead.

Because Gu Tianxing had led them to register, their seats were adjacent to his.

“Uncle.”

Jun Changxiao sat down, hands behind his head, leaning back, legs propped on the front railing, and smiled, “This junior isn’t late, right?”

“Just in time,” Gu Tianxing said.

Jun Changxiao released his spiritual sense, letting it permeate the interior corners of the venue where various young martial artists gathered. “These are the geniuses of Crossing Heaven Realm?”

“Yes.”

“Seems pretty ordinary.”

“…”

Gu Tianxing pointed toward the standout Chu Wange and said, “This young man is the number one genius of our Crossing Heaven Realm. If your disciples encounter him, they’ll definitely be eliminated, even Ye Xingchen.”

“Is that so?”

After examining him, Jun Changxiao said, “This person is indeed somewhat extraordinary, but I’m afraid he’ll have difficulty threatening Ye Xingchen.”

Gu Tianxing realized this brat was too good at posturing, so he chose to remain silent and quietly wait for the preliminaries to begin.

Jun Changxiao also stopped talking, secretly wondering whether he should take the opportunity to advertise.

Speaking of advertisements, martial artists from Meteor Star Continent would get headaches, because the past Dragon-Tiger Clash had been an unbearably painful memory. To this day, the City Lord Han of the Great Honor Imperial City was still immersed in advertisements, unable to extricate himself.

“Forget it.”

Jun Changxiao shook his head. “Let fate decide.”

He wasn’t really pursuing disciple numbers anymore, only seeking exceptionally talented youth, so recruitment was more about luck. Moreover, young people flooded into the sect from Eternal Realm every year—they were completely self-sufficient.

…

In the competition area of the venue, more and more geniuses entered.

They either stood alone or gathered in groups of two or three, all looking with peculiar gazes at the dozens of Eternal Sect disciples clustered in the corner.

If not for confirming that the Universe Holy War was a one-on-one combat event, everyone might suspect these strangely dressed sect disciples had specifically come to fight as a team!

“Senior Brother.”

Li Shangtian said, “I’m a bit excited!”

He had participated in matches before, but this was his first time in such a high-level event, especially with nearly a million spectators surrounding them, so his heart was very anxious.

“Use the same mindset you have when sparring with fellow disciples,” Li Qingyang said.

“Uh…” Li Shangtian scratched his head. “That depends on which fellow disciple. If it’s Senior Brother Ye, my mentality would definitely explode.”

Sima Zhongda, Huo Ling, and the others expressed agreement.

If they sparred with each other, the problem wasn’t too big, but encountering core disciples like Ye Xingchen or Xiao Zuiji—that wasn’t called sparring, that was called going up to get beaten.

“No problem.”

Su Xiaomo said, “These competitors probably aren’t at Junior Brother Ye’s level, so you can fight boldly with confidence.”

“That’s good then.”

Li Shangtian breathed a sigh of relief and continued looking at the distant competitors. His gaze involuntarily rested on Chu Wange. Seeing how calm and composed the other was, he immediately straightened his chest and raised his head.

He represented the Eternal Sect—how could he fall behind others in momentum when the match was about to begin?

“Everyone.”

Just then, the preliminary competition supervisor Li Renfu appeared at the center of the venue and announced loudly, “Welcome to participate in the Eleventh Universe Holy War, Crossing Heaven Realm Division preliminaries. Next, we will determine fifty advancement spots.”

“Ah ha…”

Everyone yawned.

They hoped to see the matches start immediately rather than listen to this dry, boring opening speech.

“All competitors are now in position.”

“Please look at the big screen!”

Li Renfu turned around. Flowing light gradually gathered in midair, divided into grid after grid, each filled with two names.

Jun Changxiao was quite surprised. “These preliminaries don’t let you pick opponents but have the officials directly assign them?”

Gu Tianxing said, “Correct.”

From the light screen, this competition was divided into many groups.

Each group’s advancing martial artist would fight the advancing fighter from another group, and so on, until reaching the end—equivalent to obtaining an advancement spot.

“Strange.”

Jun Changxiao discovered a problem.

The forty-five disciples he had registered were all assigned to different groups.

If they fought round by round, they could each obtain a spot without encountering fellow disciples during the rounds, successfully avoiding internal battles.

“Uncle.”

Jun Changxiao said, “Separating all my disciples completely was clearly deliberate.”

“Some time ago, Li Renfu came to see me.”

Gu Tianxing explained, “He said your Eternal Sect registered too many disciples. To prevent them from deliberately throwing matches when encountering each other during rounds, they had to be separated. If you want spots, earn them through skill.”

“…”

Jun Changxiao was speechless.

The officials suspected that with so many disciples registered, he hoped they’d encounter each other in matches and throw fights so some disciples could advance smoothly.

“Sigh.”

Gou Sheng shook his head. “Judging a gentleman’s intentions with a petty person’s mindset.”

Well then.

Since they were all separated, they could sweep the spots perfectly.

Regarding this grouping that seemed designed to prevent Eternal Sect disciples from cheating, Jun Changxiao was actually quite supportive. At least they didn’t need to worry about internal battles, allowing all disciples to smoothly obtain spots.

“Bring it on, bring it on.”

Jun Changxiao’s gaze burned eagerly. “This Master can hardly wait to see all the disciples advance smoothly!”

Gu Tianxing shook his head and pointed to the grouping at the far lower left of the light screen. “Your disciple named Li Shangtian faces Chu Wange in the first round. Stop dreaming of a complete advancement.”

With this reminder, Jun Changxiao realized that Li Shangtian’s group and first opponent were actually Chu Wange. He covered his face. “It’s over.”

“Inevitable,” Gu Tianxing said.

In his view, if encountering Ye Xingchen, the two might have a fierce battle with uncertain outcome, but meeting other disciples, especially non-core ones, would definitely spell doom.

“Uncle.”

Jun Changxiao added, “When I said ‘it’s over,’ I meant…”

He paused, then said, “Chu Wange.”

Gu Tianxing reached out, pulled at his cheeks, and roared, “Will you die if you don’t show off!”

—