novelraw Chapter 530 - 529 - Competition Begins
Chapter 530 - 529 - Competition Begins
Fireworks began to thunder in the clear blue sky as the massive arena finally shook with the cheers of the audience looking on. Unlike any other competition, there was only mystery ahead as it was the first time the competition was being held.
Races that were normally wary of each other were now mixed as they looked at the massive stone floor divided into various areas.
Some were clear forges for refiners or artificers to work while others had herbs and cauldrons laid out. The sheer number was in the 1000s for all to look at since the first round was the elimination round for the amateur section.
Those would be the peak grade 3 at most competitors. While some wondered why such low level grades were brought into the competition, the experts knew why.
Iron and Gold Tier crafters would start to shine. Those that could create above their cultivation realm were seedlings to keep an eye out for.
It was not easy to do such a thing but it was possible.
Massive jade stones were set up to let details be blown up for the audience to see better but the crowd was simply feeding off itself until a massive sinuous form began flying overhead.
It glowed with emerald light and the powerful aura washed over them all, even those in the VIP booths, felt the power of the dragon as it roared in the air. The silence caused by its appearance turned into cheering as it slowly disappeared to reveal a man in crimson robes floating in mid-air.
Dark green eyes and dirty blonde hair filled all the displays setup around the arena before his voice boomed across the air.
"Welcome to the first Moebius Competition! I know many do not know the treat they are in for but before we get to the main competition, we will be going through the elimination rounds!" Roars welcomed his words as people began to file out in the arena below.
There were only 3 groups strangely when all knew there were 6 professions being tested but then they saw artifacts being set up as jade slips were distributed to all the contestants by the proctors.
"The first round of elimination is very simple. Each of the experts below need to be able to correctly identify materials that can blend in with nature or mimic others. For those not aware of the rules it is as follows:" Lind then summoned an artifact that changed the massive displays around the arena.
[1. Elixir masters and alchemists must correctly identify 100 herbs as best as possible until the sands runout in the glass vial.]
[2. Forgers and refiners must correctly identify 100 ores…]
[3. Formation masters and weavers must correctly identify 100 catalysts….]
[4. The cut off will be the top 100 of each group split evenly between professions.]
[5. Any cheating or challenge will be evaluated before appropriate measures are taken. All decisions are final.]
It was fairly easy to understand and would cut away a large number of the thousands below. A quick headcount put each area over 1500 each at least with alchemists and elixir masters being the most numerous.
A few quickly realized the rules did not specify each subset of professions so that meant a whole profession could be eliminated?! Lind Frey did not wait as the proctors and organizers were ready below.
There were 3 different glass vials with narrow midsections turned. All felt the strong protections on each vial but noticed they were not going at the same pace. The formation timer was flowing the fastest while the refiner timer was the slowest.
The competitors were closely watching the artifacts as different materials were displayed. The use of jade slips was genius as no one could cheat off each other and was the fastest way to record information.
It also served as an additional test. Imprinting information constantly to jade slip would test the mental endurance of each competitor.
"While that goes on, we will start the elimination round of the next group!" Surprise flared but all could see that the sand timers would not finish until midday. It was not bad to keep things rolling in that case.
Another set of people emerged but the number was much smaller compared to the first group. The grade 3 experts maybe came to 6 thousand total but the current group was barely half of that.
"Here are the peak mortal grade competitors!" A new cheer went up with more energy than before. Here were young production masters that could help all Sky Realms! True interest was felt from the crowd.
The rules for them were a bit more harsh.
Their elimination was still the top 100 but it was not only to identify their materials but how to make them improve in the case of grade 4. They also had to do over 1000 such judgements.
They were given slightly more time but not much.
As that group settled, all looked back up to Lind as he smirked down at them.
"Of course, as you would expect, the next batch will be the Heaven grade experts, but only after the grade 3 round is over!" Some booed but many masters and powers were glad. While the peak mortal grades were of more interest, they would not fully detract from the larger grade 3 group.
Their disciples and experts would get their day in the sun!
"Please look at the competitors and cheer them on!" Lind then descended from the sky and the crowd turned to look down at the arena.
He landed next to one of the VIP boxes and opened the door into it. Inside were Kexin and the 2 aether children who were now freed up.
"You can bark quite effectively, Pup!" Huo immediately smacked Azylea in the back of the head but he only smiled as they settled to watch.
Lind was actually not looking at the peak mortal grades at all. Instead he was intensely looking at the grade 3 experts. It was merely an elimination round but he was finally seeing experts from other powers compete against his own.
Despite how powerful his sect's elixirs were, it was hard to gauge if they were teaching the fundamentals properly. The contest actually gave him a vast amount of information about it, but also his own goal of expanding his own knowledge base was helped as well.
He saw how quickly some imprinted their jade slips with his Eyes but if they were right or not was difficult even for him to know. If he tried to expand his senses, the proctors would immediately know.
As he looked, he noticed some of the competitors were hardly challenged but others were sweating heavily, yet they kept answering.
To ensure fairness, the proctors watching the round were not the judges afterwards. All the judges would know were numbers from the slips that only the competitors themselves held onto.
There was still the possibility of someone trying to cheat but Lind had done his best to mitigate it at such an early stage. Besides, under the eyes of so many masters, the current round was near impossible to cheat at all.
The reason being the slips were not issued in any order but at random. He had other Soul to Heaven Eyes keeping an eye on those steps to ensure that was the case.
"You are smiling like you used to." Kexin's voice suddenly made him jump but Lind simply shrugged as he pointed at the arena floor.
"I was thinking back to when I finally revealed my abilities to the world in Cimmeria. I felt so free after that. I was also jealous I could not compete back then." He had learned so much from the contest back then but now he was running one.
He also felt ideas boiling in his head on how to improve the elimination round in the future.
Lunch had not even arrived when the grade 3 experts were winding down. It was not meant to take much time but seeing the panic in some places did lead to cheering as well as when the last image displayed and some jumped up in clear triumph.
The scoring judges collected the storage treasure with the slips in them and the competitors with the crowd all turned to the still ongoing peak mortal grade round.
Unlike the grade 3, that one had materials of great interest to all. A few were excited to see ores, herbs, and other items they had only ever heard of.
Lind saw a lot more confidence in that group but still there were those clearly worried they had gotten one wrong.
While the pool of rivals was smaller, it did not mean they could relax at all. It meant a much higher quality of expert. There were some Diamond Tiers still in that group which showed how impressive they were, but the majority were tier 3 or 4 Sky Realms.
Lind looked on and glanced at the sky. It was actually going well as the first day was meant to be quickly wrapped up.
Still, there was one more group to go but he wondered how the audience would feel about it as it was a rather unusual group.
Finally, just as midday passed, the peak mortal grade experts finished their round.
"Time to display the results!" Lind took off back into the sky but another person joined him.
Mythra was in a form hugging dress but her crimson and green hair swirled as he came up next to her.
"For the results, I have Lady Mythra of Starfire House to present!" Lind then floated back as he took control of the displays and relayed the results.
Mythra's good looks and commanding presence drew all eyes from him as he noted far more than 100 entries. Still, she displayed those as he looked over the rest.
"Kexin, I have sent the names that caught my eye. Do not let them leave without a meeting." Lind was not just holding the competition to find the best but to help those that needed a little push.
As Mythra wrapped up to the constantly cheering audience, she waved him back forward.
"I am sure you all want to see the main event but we have one more elimination round to pull off!" The audience actually went a little wild as the experts about to come on the stage were legends!
Heaven grade was not easy to achieve no matter how far they went, even Heaven grade 1 experts were revered, but the contest was going to let them see some true experts!
"Bring out the Heaven grade experts!" Lind waved his hand and a group of people came out but there were barely 500 of them! The clear separation of the grades became apparent but while some were older, there was a stunning amount of young looking people as well!
Lind smiled and then waved his hand as he displayed the requirements for the elimination round which brought dead silence to the arena.
Even a novice could see the insane level of experience required but not only was it 1000 materials again, each profession had to add what the materials could be broken down into to achieve Heaven grade results! They also only had till sunset!
The crowd cheered them on as the proctors started the test and all waited to see the top 100!