The Contestants’ Status

Surrounded by her flock of believers, Cheong Suhyeon stood in the centre of Lanying City, which she had anticipated to be a 'normal' prefectural capital. She had slowly worked her way up from county capitals, to regular prefectural cities, to now a prefectural capital. However, she hadn't expected to not encounter a single living Imperial Han Family member or lackey of theirs here! Instead, someone had swept through them all with surgical precision, eradicating them in one fell swoop.

'Nobody knows what happened, other than when they woke up from a temporary trance, all of their oppressors had died. This definitely was the work of another Heaven's Chosen!'

Having come across the traces of someone on her own level for the first time, she couldn't help but become cautious. While it was true that she appeared like a goddess to her practically brainwashed followers, she was fully aware that there were not solely those who could compete with her on an equal footing–there were also many who outright surpassed her!

'It would be best to consolidate my power for a while. I have been hurrying too much and not really put any focus on my own strength. For now, I should cultivate here and make my believers gather the surrounding people so that they might join me. Only after I've reached the pinnacle of the Core Formation Stage will I continue.'

Out of the initial five first movers, amongst the four who hadn't run across Theodore, only one of them other than Cheong Suhyeon was aware of the rampant slaughter of the Hans, and that was Kjartan Skordýr. He had long since begun to spread out his own intelligence network comprised of Fly Slaves, so he was privy to far more information than a regular Heaven's Chosen–or even most of the Imperial Han Family!

Utilizing the provincial capital which he had taken over first as a base camp, he sent out his minions in all directions, infecting some of the leadership in the surroundings towns and cities, turning them into more of his Fly Slaves as a result.

Because of this, he had cast a far wider net than Cheong Suhyeon, who had led her flock to each new location personally. Consequently, he was aware of two cities which had been 'saved' from the Hans and their people. So far, however, none of his Fly Slaves had run across Theodore. If they had, then not only would he have lost them, but he would also have become aware of there being an Array Formation Expert amongst his competitors here.

But for now, he still had to find out anything of substance about the Heaven's Chosen so blatantly hunting the Imperial Han Family. There was one more piece of intel which he was aware of, though–that a peak Initial Ascension Stage expert had obliterated an entire prefectural city. Because of how powerful Han Liangyun's attack had been, many surrounding branches had sent scouts to the crater which had replaced Jingshan City. Some even inquired with their contacts in the state capital–and that was how the intel had spread.

Due to being aware of this, Kjartan didn't dare to extend his Fly Slaves to Qinglong City. For now, he was not yet strong enough to face the wrath of Han Liangyun. And even once he could do so, why would he bother with that? He would much rather accumulate more power and let other contestants deal with that man. Ideally, he would bring him under his control–though that would be everything but easy for a significant chunk of time to come.

Navya Aatma was probably the most carefree amongst the initial five. So far, she had done absolutely nothing but cultivate and absorb the vitality of those around her. Being in a prefectural capital, there were obviously a handful or two of Soul Sculpting Stage elders around, but they never left their underground domain. Therefore, the city itself provided her with everything which she could ever ask for.

However, she had now reached the pinnacle of the Core Formation Stage. While it would be possible for her to break through to the Soul Sculpting Stage in this place, it would be waste of her efforts. So, very cautiously, she made her way towards the nearest provincial capital, where she would have to be orders of magnitude more careful than here. Heck, to avoid accidentally attracting the attention of an expert who she couldn't yet deal with, she was even unable to make use of her Talent!

If Navya was the most carefree, then Saitou Satoru was the least. All this time, he had constantly been tortured by the Hans, enjoying growing stronger day by day. Nonetheless, the pain still negatively impacted his psyche–he wasn't totally immune to its effects.

Half a day ago, when some of his captors had the bright idea to make use of methods which would not inflict physical harm on him, but rather torment him mentally, he had snapped and killed them all in a fit of rage and fear. Not only was that the first time that he had taken a life, leaving a sour taste in his mouth, but it was also when he found out just how terrifyingly powerful he had become over this period of time!

Despite not following the traditional cultivation path, his Talent allowed him to improve in an all-around manner. Not only did he gain control over Energy, but his body and soul were reinforced continuously. If the latter hadn't been included in the package, then he would have long been broken by what he had been made to endure.

With the Hans immediately surrounding him all being dead, he felt unsure of what to do next. Should be simply wait here and let them capture him again, so that the torture might continue? Or should he escape?

Eventually, he decided to make a break for it. At the very least, that way, if they managed to bring him back here, they wouldn't assume that he was benefiting from them in any way, shape or form. But ideally, he would travel to another city under the control of the Imperial Han Family, where he would then repeat this entire play from the beginning.

Aside from the five first movers and Theodore's group, many other Heaven's Chosen in this world had begun to enter the stage over these past a little more than two weeks. The majority of them were fortunate common folk who had been born with outstanding Talents, but who could not compete with someone from a Named Family, which they were very well aware of. As a result, they approached this first round far more carefully than most.

Others, however, simply preferred a slow and steady advance or had initially appeared in extremely desolate locations deep in the wilderness, separating them from both civilization and most places with acceptable Energy concentration. This didn't mean that there wasn't anyone capable amongst them, though.

Renault Dompteur had made use of his time in the wilderness to gather the few dangerous beasts which he could find under his command. From them, he had learned about a ruin deep in a nearby jungle, that housed not only vicious monstrosities, but also had a considerably high Energy concentration.

'All things taken into account, the inhabitants of this world should have long since discovered places like this ruin. Then why didn't they claim them for themselves? Either, there is a danger within which they cannot deal with, or these ruins silently appeared relatively recently. That's not impossible. After all, it would spice up the first round...'

Contemplating what he had learned, an intrigued smirk played across the youngster's lips. His orange-yellow hair fluttered in the wind as his grey-green eyes stared into the horizon. Seated atop a massive alligator-esque reptile, its surprisingly rapid steps carried him towards his destination. A wide variety of terrifying 'animals' were spread out in what eerily resembled a military formation centred on him, protecting him in their midst.

There was more than a single person like him, who had discovered one of the considerable number of ruins in this world. Of course, not all of them would be able to make use of them. Some would perish within, others would lack the capabilities of fully unearthing the treasures they contained. But another group would use them as the foundation for their rise!

However, all of this was what would have occurred under normal circumstances. With about four dozen Heaven's Chosen in this world, most of them were fated to never be able to live up to the potential which they would have been capable of unearthing in a less contested place. Heck, nobody could tell how many amongst the most outstanding ones of them would make it out of the Qinglong World alive!

Well, maybe there was one person who had a pretty good idea.

Seated cross-legged at the peak of a mist-veiled mountain, a young man looking barely older than a teenager patiently scrutinized the pile of differently shaped animal bones on the ground in front of him. His relatively long grey, almost white strands of hair were tied up in a casual ponytail, the moisture in the air making it glisten a little.

All of a sudden, his gold-green eyes were filled with deep concern, even a hint of fear. This wasn't the first time that this had happened. Ever since he had come here, he had spent most of his days divining the future and uncovering knowledge unknown to him, as well as the fates of this world's Heaven's Chosen. He was only aware of them due to having deduced their existence, of course–never had he actually ran across any of them.

Coming from the Predizione Family, Salvator's predictions and countless methods of divination were his bread and butter. With multiple Talents supporting him in his endeavours, he had not come across many situations where he wouldn't be able to see the whole truth. In general, everything which he divined was accurate... unless someone too powerful intervened, or a Talent specializing in shielding one from divination was in play.

Coming from a Pillar family–albeit a relatively 'weak' one–he had known that the likelihood of being faced with a challenge from the get-go was incredibly slim. And yet, no matter how he divined his situation, too many things didn't add up at all.

For one, most of the Heaven's Chosen in this world would meet a miserable end in the not too far off future. But this wasn't what alarmed him. Rather, it was that the events which he had divined informed him that there should be another person in play–yet he could not figure out any intel about them at all!

If they had been making use of a pre-existing location to achieve this effect, then he wouldn't have been all that concerned. After all, Arrays which could shield someone from his divinations–or at least hinder his efforts–did exist. Being aware of the ruins which could be found throughout the first round's event venue–due to what he had seen during his predictions–such things happening were to be expected, plain and simple.

Yet, whoever the person messing with his results and this world was, they were clearly on the move and had intervened in many places over the past weeks! They themselves couldn't be divined, but the results of their actions sure could be.

Knowing that he simply couldn't tell the reason behind the deaths of too many of this world's Heaven's Chosen, he deduced that this person had to be responsible for them. But if that was the case, then they had to be considerably dangerous! Enough to potentially pose a threat to him. Taking into account the fact that this opponent likely had a Talent shielding them from his divinations, they were practically his nemesis!

"... what rotten luck! I guess there is no other option. I'd best leave this place as swiftly as possible. I'd much rather prefer a stable initial growth period."

Rising from his seat, Salvator put away his animal bones and stretched a little, then he unhesitatingly made his way towards Qinglong City at his top speed. The sooner that he got out of this world, the more quickly he could heave a sigh of relief!