"Qualification for the Holy Domain is determined through two types of competition: Martial Combat and Literary Battle."
"Martial Combat is divided into three zones:
Awakeners from the First Layer through Fifth Layer: Basic Tier;
Awakeners from the Sixth Layer through Ninth Layer: Intermediate Tier;
Awakeners from the Tenth Layer and above: Advanced Tier.
When the selection competition begins, participants will be transported to closed Battle Spaces, where life or death is not taken into account during combat, but competitors can silently think to forfeit or admit defeat, after which they will be teleported back to their original location. Additionally, each participant has a chance at resurrection."
"This time, in the eastern eighth region of the Holy Domain qualification selection, the Basic Tier offers two hundred entry spots, the Intermediate Tier offers eight hundred entry spots, and the Advanced Tier offers two thousand entry spots."
"Literary Battle is a competition of skills. Before the competition starts, participants can choose three sub-categories from 'rune, potion, magic, cultivation, forging, command, cooking, etc.' as their qualification round... In total, there are two thousand entry spots for Literary Battle."
This voice sounded even more rigid than the system's.
Tang Yu had initially thought that some ancient powerhouse might emerge!
But now, it seemed more like a predetermined program, where the Saint had foreseen the situation of the Fifth Epoch, thus leading to this Holy Domain qualification selection.
What caught his attention was the regional division like the eastern eighth region—previously, Awakeners from the Investigation Corps, although they had not fully explored this space, had rough conjectures—it encompassed Daxia Country and some surrounding areas.
That alone accounted for nearly one-tenth of the total land area.
And this was just the eastern eighth region? Was there also a western eighth region? Perhaps there were even southern tenth regions, or northern twentieth, fiftieth regions? It was anyone's guess.
Tang Yu recalled something "Zhen" had mentioned, that before the Third Epoch, the area of Origin Star was unimaginably vast.
Perhaps the eastern eighth region was a holdover from that time.
Inside the Holy Domain space,
everyone else was momentarily stunned. Upon hearing that they could concede the match, many breathed a sigh of relief.
Many people didn't have confidence in themselves and only came to the Holy Domain on a day trip, hoping against the odds that fortune might fall their way.
This was to engage in a deathmatch inside a closed space and determine the final two thousand plus spots. Not to mention average Awakeners, even experts couldn't guarantee emerging from tens of millions of Awakeners.
From this perspective, the person who designed the selection process tended towards kindness, not adopting a method akin to raising gu, cultivating the strong.
After the mechanical and rigid voice ceased,
the Holy Domain qualification selections quickly commenced.
The first to start was the Basic Tier, from the First Layer to Fifth Layer, where most of the participants were—over ninety-five percent—but with the fewest spots available. It was evident that the two hundred who would ultimately stand out were extraordinary.
Looking around, many were enveloped in a bright glow and vanished in the next instant.
There were official Green Shadow Corps Awakeners, unofficial adventurers, freelance Awakeners, and so on, which cleared out many areas in the temporarily built village and its surroundings.
Tang Yu spread out his Perception and found that many breaths of Awakeners below the Fifth Layer had not been transported... It appeared that Basic Tier selection wasn't carried out all at once for everyone.
At the same time, thousands of meters above, orange particles twinkled, forming square battle zones that looked like little boxes scattered above their heads from afar.
The boxes were semi-transparent. With his exceptional vision, Tang Yu saw that as the battle zones formed, each contained precisely two Awakeners, standing opposite each other at distances of one or two hundred meters.
Suddenly being transported thousands of meters into the air, many were still confused and hadn't come to terms with it.
Some even collapsed on the spot, shaking in terror—Tang Yu guessed that the Awakeners within the battle zones could also clearly see the scene outside. Imagining standing on a glass walkway thousands of meters high, he understood why some collapsed without even fighting.
But there were also those who, after a brief moment of astonishment, took the opportunity to strike quickly, injuring or even killing their opponents.
Tang Yu kept his gaze on the high sky. In less than ten seconds, some of the orange boxes disassembled and vanished, likely indicating that the battle had ended—a few had been killed, others conceded.
Whether losers, winners, or corpses, all were subsequently teleported back to their original locations after a round of Martial Combat.
Tang Yu saw a distant Awakener, who had just vanished, reappear as a corpse, with a large hole pierced through the heart by a spear.
"Overwhelmed by shock, some even paralyzed by the fear of appearing thousands of meters high, they missed the chance to silently concede."
"Martial Combat tests not only strength but also courage and will."
One after another, the orange semi-transparent battle zones unfolded and quickly dissipated.
One by one, Awakeners were transported away and then back again. Before long, almost all low-level Awakeners had experienced one or two rounds of combat.
Initially, the disparity between the opposing sides was often significant. When Fourth or Fifth Layer faced First or Second Layer, the latter would sense the former's presence and immediately concede defeat without daring to engage in combat—for fear of not seeing the opponent's moves clearly and losing their life.
There were also Awakeners of the First or Second Layer on both sides who struggled clumsily. The two would wary and stalemate in the battle space, holding weapons and staring each other down, circling without approaching. Then, as the battle area started to shrink, they were forced into combat.