The kind of pain Lin Chen felt lasted for about ten minutes before it dissipated.

"How about it, did you remember anything?" Zhao Xiaohua asked.

Lin Chen shook his head, "No, those fragments are all very vague. I only saw a guy who looks a lot like me."

"Let's take it slow, I feel like we're getting closer to the truth!" Zhao Xiaowen sighed.

The competition officially began the next day. The competition arena was divided into eight zones, each guarded by one of the top eight contenders, while the ninth and tenth places were randomly assigned to other groups, which essentially meant a death group.

There was excitement and anticipation on the faces of the thirty-two martial artists surrounding the arena.

At that moment, the Taoist of the Void stepped onto the stage to announce the rules.

The Taoist of the Void at this point was a transformation of a man in a black robe, but his actions and manners were no different from the real Taoist of the Void. Even the young Taoist who had followed him for decades hadn't noticed anything amiss.

The Taoist of the Void said solemnly, "The winner of this martial arts contest will become the next Sect Leader of Kunlun, controlling both Kunlun and the Martial Arts Alliance of Huaxia, and will receive an ancient inheritance from me."

"Boom!" The Taoist of the Void's words set the whole venue abuzz.

"Sect Leader of Kunlun, that's a juggernaut controlling the entire martial world of Huaxia, a millennium-long legacy."

Many rumored that the Taoist of the Void was ascending, which is why he was passing on the position of Sect Leader. Regardless, once someone became the winner of the contest, they would control Kunlun and the entire supernatural world of Huaxia.

Lin Chen wasn't particularly interested in the position of Sect Leader, but he was definitely interested in the ancient inheritance.

Moreover, the Taoist of the Void had once said that if he won first place, he would tell him about his origins.

Bai Ling's eyes shone with brilliance, determined to secure the position of Sect Leader of Kunlun, his chilly aura even made some other disciples feel their spirits tremble.

The position of Sect Leader of Kunlun had many competitors' eyes gleaming with gold, showing a trace of mad anticipation.

Soon, the rewards were announced.

The top three would receive Primordial Pills and a chance to train in the Tower of Time.

The top ten would also receive various Cultivation Techniques and Spirit Pills as rewards. Although these rewards were very generous, they paled in comparison to the title of Sect Leader of Kunlun.

Finally, the competition officially began. At this moment, disciples from various parts of Huaxia were extremely excited and exhilarated.

This martial arts contest's rankings would affect the resource distribution among different supernatural families, so regardless of whether they had a chance to place in the rankings, every competitor would give it their all.

The competition officially began, and the eight seeded participants stood on their respective platforms. The top two from each platform would have the chance to move on to the second round of eliminations.

All representatives from powerful factions looked somewhat anxious, as the points from each match would determine the fate of the competitors for nearly four years.

After another round of drawing lots, the rest of the competitors were assigned to their respective platforms.

Lin Chen drew platform number six, which was overseen by Xiao Jian of the Sword Alliance.

"Good thing we didn't run into this freak," Xu Ye breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.

Zhang Yu furrowed his brows. "Lin Chen, this Xiao Jian is not easy to deal with, be careful."

Lin Chen nodded, "Don't worry!"

Actually, Lin Chen was most worried not about himself, but about Tang Bao'er.

This time, Tang Bao'er was surprisingly grouped with Bai Ling. Bai Ling knew about her relationship with Lin Chen, and without question, he would not go easy on her.

"Bao'er, you must be careful and concede immediately if it gets too tough," Lin Chen said seriously.

Tang Bao'er snorted coldly, "Hmph, don't worry, even if I lose, I'll make him expend some energy."

"No, I'll take care of Bai Ling; you just need to ensure your safety, I mean it," Lin Chen said gravely.

"Hmm," Tang Bao'er dutifully said, but her eyes carried an expression of unwillingness to admit defeat.

Lin Chen approached platform number six. This time Lin Chen was quite unlucky; this platform was known as the group of death. Not only was Xiao Jian there, but there was also another top-ranked contestant, Wang Dali.

Dressed in a cyan robe, Xiao Jian stood proudly on the platform. A precious sword was sheathed on his back. Although it was not drawn, the sword radiated an intimidating Sword Qi that made people's hearts palpitate.

His gaze carried a trace of disdain, clearly showing that he didn't take the other competitors in the group seriously at all.

Accompanied by a bell, the competition finally began.

The first match featured the seeded players. At platform number six, Xiao Jian's gaze was chilly and proud, his whole being emanated an aura of being a distinguished and noble immortal, exuding an arrogance that looked down on all his peers.

The person standing before him was a young man in black named Sun Xing from the Liao Dong Sun family.

At this moment, his face was somewhat tense; in the face of Xiao Jian's imposing aura, he was almost trembling.

"Make your move," Xiao Jian said indifferently.

The young man in black steadied his spirit and drew a steel blade, his body flashed, and he suddenly burrowed into the ground.

"Earth Escape Skill, huh?" Xiao Jian's eyes narrowed slightly, and he scoffed coldly.

Clang!

Almost before one saw Xiao Jian make a move, a dazzling burst of Sword Qi swung from behind him, suddenly piercing a dazzling cold light through the surface of the platform.

"Ah!" Accompanied by a scream, Sun Xing suddenly burst out from the ground.

Blood was already covering his legs.

Everyone's face changed color at Xiao Jian's strike.

Lin Chen was shaken; the strike had been too fast. Although he could dodge that strike, Lin Chen clearly knew that Xiao Jian had not used his full strength.

"Is this the legendary Sword Intent?" Lin Chen's eyes narrowed slightly, a surge of fighting spirit welling up inside him.

"I lost," Sun Xing said, his face pale. The strike had been held back by Xiao Jian. If it had hit not his thigh but his chest, he would have been a corpse by now.

Sun Xing, limping, walked down from the platform, probably unable to continue in the later matches.

For a moment, there were only three contestants left on platform number six, which meant that the victor between Lin Chen and Wang Dali would definitely advance to the next round.

Meanwhile, in other areas, the first round of matches ended very quickly as well.

Xu Ye effortlessly knocked his opponent out of the platform with a light palm strike.

Zhang Yu's Tai Chi Eight Trigrams Array was even more mysterious; the martial artist who entered the array completely lost all ability to fight and directly admitted defeat.

The other platforms also saw the seeded players quickly defeating their opponents, with the only exception being platform number one.

This round, too, ended in a swift defeat, but the one who was knocked out was the eighth-ranked seed, Zhu Xiaotian.

"My goodness, that girl is too awesome," someone exclaimed.

"Did she even make a move? How did Zhu Xiaotian just fly out?" another questioned.

Zhao Xiaohua, clapping her hands, walked down from the platform amid the shocked gazes of the spectators.

The first round saw the easy victory of seven seeded players, including the dark horse, Zhao Xiaohua.

Subsequently, several platforms commenced new battles, and Lin Chen eventually took his place on the platform.

"Kid, will you jump off the platform yourself, or should I kick you down?" Wang Dali sneered as he coldly looked at Lin Chen.