The War of Champions Begins – Clash of Titans
The celestial decree had been given.
The rules of the second trial etched themselves into the souls of every participant standing atop their floating islands.
This was not an ordinary battle. This was a war.
A faction-wide battle royale where only the strongest would endure.
Each faction had to send one warrior at a time into the battlefield, a free-for-all where they would fight for dominance. When a warrior fell, another would take their place.
The first faction to lose all nine warriors would be eliminated.
Jiang Chen's golden-amber eyes burned with interest as he overlooked the battlefield below. It was a floating colosseum, an arena of ancient warfare suspended in the abyss of the Temple.
Storms of energy swirled around the edges, forming a natural barrier that prevented retreat.
And below?
Nine factions. Nine warriors.
All standing in a vast circular formation, their auras surging like titanic waves ready to clash.
The Sundering Legion – Jiang Chen's faction. Their warriors stood tall, their eyes gleaming with battle lust.
The Blooddragon Brotherhood – Led by the ferocious Yan Zixian, their warriors crackled with violent, aggressive intent.
The Phoenix Ascendants – Feng Yuechan's faction. The air around their warriors shimmered with oppressive heat.
The Emperor Sword Division – A group of sword-wielding elites, their blades humming with terrifying intent.
The Stormriver Clan – Their warriors were clad in flowing robes, the power of water and storm surging within them.
The Black Titan Guard – Towering brutes, clad in black armor, each one a walking fortress.
The Voidshadow Sect – A faction of elusive assassins, their presence flickering in and out of sight.
The Ironblood House – A faction of warriors known for their brute force and relentless endurance.
The Crimson Fang Sect – A ruthless faction, their warriors exuding a bloodthirsty aura.
Jiang Chen crossed his arms.
"This is going to be interesting."
The celestial voice boomed again:
"Send forth your first warriors."
A wave of energy crashed down, and from each faction, one warrior stepped into the battlefield.
Naturally, each faction would start by sending their weaker members into the fray.
For the Sundering Legion – Xia Qingren.
For the Blooddragon Brotherhood – Yan Zixian's second-in-command, Wei Gang.
For the Phoenix Ascendants – A flame-clad female cultivator, shrouded in burning Nirvana Qi.
For the Emperor Sword Division – A swordsman wreathed in golden light, his aura sharp as a divine blade.
For the Stormriver Clan – A spear-wielding storm cultivator, his power flowing like raging tides.
For the Black Titan Guard – A massive brute with arms like battering rams.
For the Voidshadow Sect – A figure wrapped in darkness, his movements eerie and silent.
For the Ironblood House – A bare-chested warrior, his muscles rippling with pure physical might.
For the Crimson Fang Sect – A blood-soaked madman, grinning with eerie delight.
The warriors faced each other in a deadly standoff.
Then—
BOOOOOOOM!
The battle erupted.
Xia Qingren moved like a phantom, her sword dancing between opponents.
CLANG! She clashed against Wei Gang, their weapons sending shockwaves through the air.
"Not bad," Wei Gang sneered, his blood Qi flaring violently.
Xia Qingren smirked. "You talk too much."
She vanished, reappearing behind him in a flash.
SLASH!
A thin cut appeared on his arm, crimson blood dripping down.
Wei Gang grinned, licking the blood from his fingers. "Heh. You'll need to do better than that."
BOOM!
A storm of fire erupted in the battlefield as the Phoenix Ascendants' warrior unleashed Nirvana Flames, consuming everything around her.
The Stormriver Clan's spear-wielder retaliated with a torrent of water, his spear splitting the firestorm apart.
Meanwhile—
The Black Titan brute roared, charging directly into the Ironblood warrior.
BANG!
Their fists collided, sending a deafening shockwave through the battlefield.
Neither retreated.
Neither hesitated.
They were madmen who only knew brute force.
Elsewhere—
The Voidshadow warrior moved through the shadows, appearing behind his opponent from the Crimson Fang Sect.
But before he could strike—
SLASH!
The blood-soaked madman grinned as he impaled himself on the Voidshadow cultivator's dagger, only to grab his opponent's wrist and drag him into a brutal counterattack.
Blood sprayed through the air.
Xia Qingren was forced onto the defensive.
Wei Gang was relentless, his attacks like a hurricane of blood and steel.
She dodged, parried, countered, but he kept pressing.
Then—
Her blade flickered.
A phantom image of herself appeared behind Wei Gang.
SLASH!
She struck from two directions at once, a technique she had refined during the previous floors.
Wei Gang's eyes widened.
He managed to block one strike—
But the second cut straight through his thigh, sending him to his knees.
The celestial voice echoed:
"Wei Gang of the Blooddragon Brotherhood is eliminated."
His body vanished from the battlefield.
Xia Qingren exhaled.
One down.
She barely had time to recover before a new warrior took his place.
A hulking warrior with flaming gauntlets appeared before her.
"I hope you're not tired yet," he said with a grin.
Xia Qingren grit her teeth.
This battle wasn't ending anytime soon.
On the Sundering Legion's floating island, Jiang Chen watched the battle unfold with a keen gaze.
Xia Qingren had fought well, but she was exhausted.
She wouldn't last against the next opponents.
"Who's next?" Bai Muchen asked.
Qin Tian's eyes gleamed. "Huo Xingren."
Huo Xingren grinned. "About damn time."
He stepped forward onto the battlefield, vanishing in a flash of energy.
The moment Huo Xingren stepped onto the battlefield, the very air around him shifted.
Unlike Xia Qingren, whose fighting style was precise and lethal, Huo Xingren was a walking catastrophe.
His aura exploded outward, sending cracks through the stone beneath his feet. His bare hands clenched into fists, veins bulging with raw, destructive power.
A warrior of pure brute force—no swords, no spears, no tricks.
Just power.
His first opponent?
The hulking brute from the Black Titan Guard.
A mountain of a man, his body clad in thick, armor-like skin, eyes cold and ruthless.
The two locked eyes.
Neither spoke.
There was no need for words between warriors of this kind.
BOOOOOOOM!
Both charged.
The entire battlefield shook as their fists collided.
A shockwave of raw physical force rippled outward, blasting away nearby warriors who weren't prepared for the impact.
Jiang Chen, Bai Muchen, and Qin Tian watched from their floating island, their eyes narrowing.
"He's really just a human battering ram," Bai Muchen muttered.
Jiang Chen smirked. "No. Look at his footwork."
Huo Xingren wasn't just swinging wildly. He was moving like a raging beast, every punch leading into the next, his attacks flowing together in a seamless storm of destruction.
The Black Titan brute grunted, barely able to keep up.
He threw a massive fist at Huo Xingren's chest—
BOOOOOM!
Huo Xingren caught it with one hand.
Crack.
The Black Titan's face twisted in shock. His wrist… it was fracturing!
Huo Xingren grinned. "You hit like a bitch."
BOOOOOOOM!
His counterattack sent the Black Titan flying across the battlefield, smashing through stone pillars and cratering into the ground.
The celestial voice echoed:
"Black Titan Guard – One member eliminated."
The battlefield went silent for half a breath.
Then—
The other warriors moved.
While Huo Xingren continued his rampage, the battle across the arena erupted into pure chaos.
The Phoenix Ascendants' flame-clad warrior clashed against the Stormriver Clan's spear-wielder, fire and water colliding in a swirling vortex of destruction.
The Emperor Sword Division's golden-bladed swordsman danced through the battlefield, cutting down one of the Voidshadow Sect's assassins with a single, perfect strike.
The Crimson Fang Sect's blood-mad warrior cackled as he tore into one of the Ironblood House's warriors, his blade drinking deep from his opponent's flesh.
The Voidshadow Sect's second assassin flickered through the battlefield, launching deadly sneak attacks on weakened warriors.
The battlefield was turning into a maelstrom of pure, unrestricted slaughter.
But in the center of it all—
Huo Xingren was still going wild.
As the Black Titan Guard's warrior vanished from the battlefield, another stepped in to take his place.
A warrior from the Emperor Sword Division.
A tall, golden-haired swordsman, his blade glowing with divine radiance.
He was fast—faster than anyone Huo Xingren had fought thus far.
SHING!
Before Huo Xingren could react, a razor-sharp sword light flashed toward him.
CRACK!
His forearm blocked the strike, but for the first time, he felt the sting of steel slicing through his flesh.
Huo Xingren grinned.
"Alright, now we're talking."
The swordsman didn't respond. He simply attacked again.
SHING!
SHING!
SHING!
Sword slashes came from every direction, too fast, too precise.
Huo Xingren was strong, but this was skill—a type of precision and control that his raw power couldn't simply overpower.
His arms were cut.
His side was grazed.
He was bleeding.
Jiang Chen's eyes narrowed. "He's losing ground."
Bai Muchen exhaled. "He's a powerhouse, but against a technique-based fighter like that… he's at a disadvantage."
Qin Tian, who had been silent until now, smirked. "Watch closely. Huo Xingren's not just a brute."
"Although he is indeed from my sect, it's simply because his father is an elder. He doesn't use a sword, but resonated with a special technique instead."
"The Berserker Battle Technique. The more battle intent he has, the higher his power grows. Against most cultivators, he's simply a nightmare."
Jiang Chen turned his gaze back toward the fight.
And then—
Huo Xingren grinned.
The golden-haired swordsman lunged forward, his blade poised for a finishing strike.
But this time—
Huo Xingren didn't dodge.
He stepped forward.
The swordsman's eyes widened.
"What—?!"
BOOOOOOOOOM!
Huo Xingren's fist smashed into his ribs at full force.
The swordsman's body folded inward.
Crack.
CRACK.
A spray of blood erupted from his mouth as his entire torso was caved in from the impact.
The celestial voice echoed:
"Emperor Sword Division – One member eliminated."
Huo Xingren exhaled, his grin widening as blood dripped from his knuckles.
"Bastard was fast. But not fast enough."
The battlefield erupted into chaos again, warriors swapping out as they fell, factions losing members at a terrifying pace.
But one thing was becoming clear—
The Sundering Legion was gaining momentum.
Their warriors were eliminating enemies faster than anyone else.
And they hadn't even sent in their strongest yet.
Jiang Chen.
Bai Muchen.
Qin Tian.
They were still watching.
Still waiting.
Jiang Chen smirked.
"Not bad, Huo Xingren," he murmured. "But let's see how long you last."
Bai Muchen cracked his knuckles. "It won't be long before it's our turn."
Qin Tian placed a hand on his sword hilt. "When we go in… we end this war."
BOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The faction war raged on.