Hearing the words of the green-robed elder, everyone’s expressions immediately turned solemn. Even the Four Devil Princes restrained a portion of their arrogance.
"Before we begin, I will first explain the rules of these preliminaries."
The green-robed elder said, "What you need to do is set off from here and head toward the island at the center of Heavenly Heart Lake. The first eight hundred cultivators to reach that island will pass the preliminaries and qualify for the main tournament. Everyone else will be eliminated."
"Perhaps many of you already know this, but I must remind you that the island in the center of the lake was once the secluded residence of Elder Tianxin. The area surrounding the island is filled with various restrictions that he personally arranged in the past."
"However, Elder Tianxin had a gentle disposition, so the restrictions he left behind will automatically adjust their intensity according to the strength of the intruder. Under normal circumstances, they will not kill anyone, so you do not need to worry too much about your safety."
"But I must also remind you that if you are careless or lack sufficient strength and end up triggering a restriction, you will be teleported out immediately. Once that happens, you will lose your eligibility to continue the preliminaries."
"Furthermore, killing is forbidden during the competition. Anyone who dares to kill will be eliminated immediately. However, you may use methods to interfere with other cultivators. In this regard, no methods are prohibited."
"These are the rules. Now, you may begin."
The green-robed elder’s voice caused everyone’s expression to become grave.
Elder Tianxin was a legendary powerhouse of the Central Continent from several hundred years ago. His cultivation had reached the peak of Dao Resonance Realm, only one step away from the Life and Death Realm.
Although the restrictions he personally arranged would not kill anyone and had also lost much of their power over time, they were still not something ordinary cultivators could pass through easily.
"Go."
However, in less than a single breath, everyone snapped back to their senses and began to move.
The fastest was Huang Lingfeng, the Ninth Prince of the Profound Sovereign Dynasty. Riding his mountain-sized Golden Radiance Lion, he transformed into a streak of golden light and left all the other cultivators behind in the blink of an eye.
When the Golden Radiance Lion ran at full speed, its velocity reached dozens of times the speed of sound. It was truly as fast as wind and lightning, like a bolt of golden electricity that left others unable to even see its back.
After him, Su Zimo also moved.
An ancient book appeared in his hand. As he opened it, a grand path of flowing light manifested out of thin air.
Stepping onto the path of light, he crossed thousands of meters with every step. Although his speed could not match Huang Lingfeng’s Golden Radiance Lion, he was still far ahead of the main group.
"Su Zimo, get down from there."
The two heads of the Mo Kuang Twins squeezed together as they let out wild laughter at the same time. His body erupted with towering devilish qi, and he stepped onto a demonic cloud before chasing after Su Zimo.
"Amitabha."
The Wine Monk chanted a long Buddhist invocation.
Rings of golden light appeared behind his head, making him look like a golden holy Buddha, dazzling and bright. With the blessing of that golden Buddhist light, his speed was not inferior to the others.
After that, one powerhouse after another displayed their divine abilities, used their fastest movement techniques, and disappeared from everyone’s sight in an instant.
Immediately afterward, Ye Wuhen and the other experts also set off. For a time, light flickered everywhere, and countless cultivators raced madly toward the island at the center of Heavenly Heart Lake.
"Li Yun, I will go ahead first."
Chu Yuan’s eyes flashed.
Despite his obese frame, his speed was incredibly fast. Although he could not compare to top-tier experts like Huang Lingfeng, he could still be ranked among the second tier.
"Let us go."
Li Yun also moved.
He was not in a hurry. He did not even use Aurora Step and simply glided forward at normal speed.
With his cultivation at the peak of the 2nd level of Heavenly Core Realm, if he displayed too much brilliance before the main tournament even began, it would be far too easy to attract attention. The tallest tree was always the first to catch the wind.
Therefore, in these preliminaries, he had no intention of using his full strength. As long as he could enter the main tournament, that was enough. There was no need to push too hard.
Even so, his current speed was actually comparable to a top-tier expert at the 9th level of Heavenly Core Realm, easily placing him in the middle tier.
"A kid at the 2nd level of Heavenly Core Realm dares to join the fun here?"
Beside him, a crew-cut cultivator’s eyes flashed with a ruthless light. He suddenly struck out with a palm toward Li Yun.
Although this was only the preliminaries and one only needed to rank within the top eight hundred to enter the main tournament, eliminating a few opponents early would naturally make qualifying more secure.
In his view, among all the cultivators around him, Li Yun was the easiest to deal with.
One should always pick the softest persimmon to squeeze, so he naturally chose to act against Li Yun first.
"Stupid."
Li Yun glanced at the crew-cut cultivator.
With just one look, the man immediately fell into a daze and stood blankly on the spot.
Then, with a casual wave of his palm, the crew-cut cultivator fell directly into the lake.
A flash of light erupted, teleporting him straight back to the isolated island.
Just like that, the crew-cut cultivator was eliminated.
"This guy is actually this ruthless?"
"Soul attack methods. This kid is not to be trifled with."
This scene caused the expressions of many surrounding cultivators to change, and wariness immediately appeared in their eyes. Some of them instantly suppressed their intention to act.
Originally, they had the same idea as the crew-cut cultivator. They wanted to eliminate some lower-threat opponents first, but they had not expected the crew-cut man to act before them.
Fortunately, he had gone first. Otherwise, the ones eliminated would have been them.
For a time, a small empty zone formed around Li Yun.
No other cultivator took the initiative to provoke him, and Li Yun did not bother dealing with those ordinary cultivators either.
About fifteen minutes later, he followed the main group and reached a position roughly one quarter of the way to the central island.
The lake water ahead suddenly became turbulent and formed many whirlpools. The rotation speed of these whirlpools was extremely fast. Even though everyone present was a top-tier expert at the 9th level of Heavenly Core Realm, they could not clearly follow the movement.
"Ah!"
A cultivator at the 9th level of Heavenly Core Realm, confident in his strength, did not intend to stop at all. His figure was like lightning as he flew straight over the whirlpools.
However, in the next moment, a miserable scream rang out.
A massive suction force erupted from those whirlpools and dragged the cultivator directly into one of them.
His figure was immediately teleported back to the island.

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