# Chapter 1378: The Hunt Begins
"What do you all think, fellow emperors?" Qi Huang's gaze swept across the assembled emperors. The rules had been stated, and he believed they would satisfy the vast majority—absolutely fair. With the covenant of the emperors in place, even if he had thoughts of cheating, he would not dare to commit such a grave offense. Some petty tricks—how could they possibly fool the eyes of these Martial Emperors?
"The rules proposed by Qi Huang are fair. I agree." The Martial Emperor of the Sikong Family nodded, being the first to express his stance.
"I have no objections!"
"I agree!"
One by one, the emperors nodded in agreement. Even Yu Huang nodded his consent. Although these rules were the most disadvantageous to Heavenly Terrace, regardless of whether he agreed or not, one person's opinion could not change the outcome. Moreover, his Heavenly Terrace disciples were few in number; no matter what the rules were, they would likely suffer. They could only walk the path of elites, allowing those with talent to advance as much as possible.
Of course, Yu Huang understood very well—the difficulty was immense!
Because, although Qi Huang's rules stated that people from Martial Emperor factions could only be platform masters, within the hundred-mile canyon before the thirty-six peaks, amidst the endless crowd, who would believe that there weren't people from various Martial Emperor factions mixed in? Even his own Heavenly Terrace had disciples hidden among the crowd, not revealing their Heavenly Terrace identities, but instead plundering other battle platforms and hunting down platform masters from other factions.
Yu Huang believed that what he could think of, others would also think of. This covenant of the emperors would be a true contest among the various Martial Emperor factions, filled with deceit, stratagems, and various killing techniques that would catch you off guard. What was spoken openly could only be half-believed, never fully trusted.
"It seems the rules are settled!" The endless crowd saw the emperors nodding in agreement and understood clearly. However, on the surface, Qi Huang's rules appeared to achieve perfect fairness. People from Martial Emperor factions could only become platform masters because their strength was somewhat greater than those not from Martial Emperor factions. This way, those not from Martial Emperor factions could decide whether to challenge based on their own circumstances. With over twenty battle platforms to choose from, they could finish and immediately leave to seek other opportunities.
Moreover, this rule prevented direct collisions among the strong from various Martial Emperor factions. They could only guard their own platforms. Of course, how these Martial Emperor factions would operate behind the scenes was beyond the crowd's ability to guess. They understood—the waters here ran deep.
"Since all fellow emperors agree, the rules are set. Next, I would like to ask Bull Demon Emperor to help create thirty gravity battle platforms!" Qi Huang's gaze fell upon one of the thirty-six peaks—the location of Bull Demon Emperor of Mangniu Mountain.
"Good!" Bull Demon Emperor nodded. With a step into the void, he stood at the center above the arc-shaped canyon, like an enormous demon bull standing proudly there, roaring at those below: "Everyone, move aside!"
Hearing Bull Demon Emperor's thunderous shout, figures flickered as people quickly distanced themselves from that space.
"Roar!" Bull Demon Emperor's body transformed into an immensely enormous wild bull. With a furious bellow, a terrifying force that shook the void pressed down from the heavens. Countless bull shadows appeared in thirty locations, galloping and stampeding, using their enormous horns to tear open the earth.
"Rise!" Bull Demon Emperor roared wildly. Rumbling sounds rolled forth as thirty excavated battle platforms rose from the ground, forcibly pulled up from within the earth. Each battle platform was vast and spacious, separated by several li of distance.
"Gravity Domain!" Bull Demon Emperor shouted again. Immediately, thunderous rumbling echoed as the thirty battle platforms seemed more stable than towering mountain peaks, firmly rooted in place, immovable.
"Done!" Bull Demon Emperor looked up at Qi Huang, then with a step, returned to his own mountain peak. A thunderous roar rolled out, as if it could shatter the mountain itself.
"Troublesome!" Qi Huang nodded slightly to Bull Demon Emperor, then looked at the crowd and said: "Thirty battle platforms. The three northernmost are for Sovereign Lord platforms. The five southernmost are for those not from Martial Emperor factions. The twenty-two platforms in the middle—fellow emperors, each choose one!"
There was no real difference between the platforms. The various Martial Emperor factions each selected one—one faction, one platform.
"Good. Next, each major faction will send one disciple to step onto their chosen platform as platform master. My Qi Family will send thirty people to guard all thirty platforms, recording everyone's victory counts to ensure this round proceeds smoothly." Qi Huang spoke again. Immediately behind him, thirty strong individuals stepped forward, each standing above one battle platform, specially assigned to mark victory counts, ensuring no chaos ensued.
After that, everything was left to proceed naturally. Qi Huang did not need to preside. Once this round of battles began, with hundreds of thousands of participants—even if the advancement ratio was one in a hundred—there could still be millions of people. This would be a war of attrition. The Martial Emperors only needed to oversee or simply watch.
"Boom!" On Qi Tian Peak, a figure descended from the sky, landing on the Qi Family's exclusive battle platform. The Qi Family's first platform master, draped in a long robe, stood out with extraordinary grace. His cultivation was at the Sixth Layer of Sovereign Martial Realm, only one step away from Sovereign Lord. With a dedicated platform for Sovereign Lords, defeating this man would likely be extremely difficult.
"Who dares come!" A rolling roar of fury rang out. The Golden-Winged Great Roc unfolded its golden body, its entire form cast in gold, its wings seeming woven from sheets of gold, hovering above the battle platform, demonic and boundless. For the first battle, the divine bird Golden-Winged Great Roc personally took the field.
"Undying Heavenly Palace, Jun Moxi!" The crowd saw Jun Moxi personally descend onto the Undying Heavenly Palace battle platform, causing their gazes to tremble. These major factions—their first matches featured such formidable lineups. They were directly intimidating the masses, ensuring their first platform master achieved a hundred victories.
The Qi Family, as the host, could not afford to lose the first battle. Peng Mo was proud and arrogant, and with the Demon Emperor Hall suffering repeated setbacks, he wanted to display his might in the first battle. The Undying Heavenly Palace's old emperor was nearing his end, and Jun Moxi needed to borrow this momentum to establish his own and Undying Heavenly Palace's prestige. The appearance of these three on these three platforms made everyone instantly understand the hidden meaning behind it.
"These three platforms—avoid them!" The crowd thought to themselves. Many who were not from Martial Emperor factions aimed to seize opportunities to obtain a hundred victories. They would only go where there was a chance of victory. These three platform masters were too strong; they could not fight them. They would first observe and see the other platforms.
Sure enough, aside from the Sovereign Lord exclusive platforms, among the twenty-plus platforms, not every platform master had such deterrent power. Many platform masters appeared quite unremarkable.
For example, on the Heavenly Terrace battle platform, the first platform master was a refined young man with a faint smile on his face, his clothes spotless. His cultivation was at the Fourth Layer of Sovereign Martial Realm. Many had never seen him before and did not recognize him. Perhaps he was a Martial Emperor's disciple recruited by Heavenly Terrace in a later batch—unremarkable and unknown.
Immediately, someone stepped onto the Heavenly Terrace exclusive platform to challenge—a person at the Fifth Layer of Sovereign Martial Realm. He thought this would be his first plundered victory. However, reality was always unexpected and cruel. With just one palm strike, that Fifth Layer Sovereign Martial Realm cultivator was blasted off the platform, extremely disheveled.
"Who is this person?" The crowd's gazes condensed as they looked at the first golden number one marked on the Heavenly Terrace platform master, representing one victory.
"Mo Qingtian, personal disciple of the Stone Emperor and Yu Emperor. How could he be as simple as you imagine? This is also someone with a chance to obtain a hundred victories!" Someone in the area around the Heavenly Terrace platform spoke, causing the crowd's hearts to tremble. They had been deceived by Heavenly Terrace. This was actually a personal disciple of a Martial Emperor. They would need to find another target.
At the same time, the thirty battle platforms were surrounded by crowds stretching into a continuous expanse. On many platforms, fierce battles had already begun, signaling that the curtain of the covenant of the emperors had been drawn open.
On the thirty-six peaks, many Martial Emperors sat cross-legged in the void with eyes half-closed, as if unconcerned with external affairs. The covenant of the emperors had only just begun. The open and covert battles would unfold one after another. Everything was still early. This first round was merely to ensure more disciples could step into the next round.
However, amidst the scheming and deception of the various Martial Emperor factions, plundering a hundred victories was by no means an easy task.
At this moment, Lin Feng stood among the crowd. In his pitch-black eyes, a hint of cold smile could be seen. Such rules made Lin Feng very satisfied—extremely satisfied!
"Boom!"
On the Heavenly Dragon Divine Fortress battle platform, the first platform master descended. His cultivation was at the Fourth Layer of Sovereign Martial Realm, his entire body covered in dragon armor, ferocious and terrifying. In the covenant of the emperors, one could not rely on the power of Sacred Artifacts; otherwise, the Martial Emperor factions would have too great an advantage. Victory could only be determined by one's own strength. This was an unwritten rule of the covenant of the emperors held once every hundred years.
Moreover, there was another potential rule known to all: the age of participants in the covenant of the emperors must not exceed two hundred years. Whether the younger generation knew or not didn't matter, as they were all under two hundred. But those over two hundred had obviously experienced the covenant before and knew the rules.
Therefore, the dragon armor on the Heavenly Dragon Divine Fortress expert was a innate divine ability technique—a unique technique of the Heavenly Dragon Divine Fortress, granting powerful offensive and defensive capabilities.
At this moment, on the peak where the Heavenly Dragon Divine Fortress crowd was gathered, they watched that person descend onto the battle platform, faint smiles on their faces.
"Junior Brother Wang Feng's cultivation is at the Fourth Layer of Sovereign Martial Realm, but he can easily defeat and kill even those at the Fifth Layer, and can fight those at the Sixth Layer. These people not from Martial Emperor factions will probably need to send someone at the peak of the Sixth Layer of Sovereign Martial Realm to have a chance to fight Junior Brother Wang Feng. Even if he can't hold out for a hundred victories, several dozen victories are beyond doubt!"
"Mm, at least thirty victories. Only when truly formidable people make their move to plunder victory records will Junior Brother support thirty victories. There should be no suspense!"
Some strong members of the Heavenly Dragon Divine Fortress chatted and laughed leisurely. However, at that moment, a figure stepped onto the battle platform. His cultivation was at the Second Layer of Sovereign Martial Realm, peak stage.
"It's a demon cultivator. Courting death!"
"Junior Brother's first battle—he can kill to establish his might!"
The few continued to laugh freely. On the battle platform, the two sides clashed. A sound of collision rolled forth. Then, their smiles froze in place!
The Junior Brother Wang Feng they had just been boasting about was, in the most direct and violent manner, punched through the arm, his chest shattered, his head cracked open—absolutely crushed, killed!
[Thank you: Stephen Zhou for tipping 100 Zhulang coins; Feng Ge.g.g for tipping 300 Zhulang coins; Phoenix Divine Feather for tipping 100 Zhulang coins; thank you all.]
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