The setting sun cast long, blood-orange shadows across the sprawling white-marble expanse of Glorious Heaven City.
The air, heavy with the scent of ozone, kicked-up dust, and scorched stone, finally began to cool as the frantic clash of weapons and booming shouts of martial challengers wound down to a rhythmic close.
After a while, the intense, high-stakes selection competition finally ended, and all those eligible to enter have all been chosen.
Across the dozens of shattered makeshift rings, the final bouts had concluded without further incident.
The hundred independent spots, carved out through sheer grit, blood, and desperate ambition, were now firmly occupied by a battered yet fiercely proud assortment of rogue swordsmen, vagrant daoists, solitary clan heirs, and hidden talents.
Alongside the core disciples and Spirit Ascension elders representing the top ten illustrious sects, they all stood in a neat, imposing assembly before the towering central dais.
