Published: November 30, -0001
Everyone looked at each other in silence, each person not uttering a word.
What kind of challenge is this? Even Jiang Zhong was knocked away with a single punch. If they went up, they would probably end up the same way.
No one was willing to seek death.
“Is no one going to challenge?”
Seeing that no one dared to step forward, Xiao Zhan snorted coldly, his expression indifferent.
“You are all geniuses of our Qi Kingdom, you should think more about how to survive in the upcoming competition among the five countries, and achieve a good ranking, rather than fighting amongst yourselves.”
“Lord Xiao Zhan, is there really a possibility of casualties in this competition among the five countries?”
Someone couldn’t help but ask.
“What do you think? In the last competition among the five countries, our Qi Kingdom had a total of one hundred and sixteen young martial artists participating. During the preliminary round, seventeen died, and thirty-nine were severely injured or disabled. In the end, only nineteen made it to the arena, qualifying for the final competition.”
Hearing Xiao Zhan's words, everyone present gasped in shock.
They only knew that the competition among the five countries was an opportunity, with rich rewards. As long as one achieved a ranking, they would be personally summoned by the emperor upon returning to Qi Kingdom, and promotion in titles would be assured.
Yet they never expected the competition to be so cruel, with such a high mortality rate.
Almost half of the participants would end up severely injured, and one in ten would fall during the competition.
Seeing the terrified expressions on everyone’s faces, Xiao Zhan said solemnly, “Currently, although the five countries in the northwest have not erupted in large-scale wars, conflicts among the countries are continuous, and there are frequent frictions.”
“Take our conflicts with the Wei Kingdom as an example; every year, there are skirmishes at the border, with thousands, even tens of thousands of soldiers dying each year.”
“For a country, the number of geniuses is the greatest guarantee of its vitality. In order to weaken the strength of other countries, many geniuses die at the hands of spies from other nations every year.”
“In this situation, the competition among the five countries, held every five years, becomes a meat grinder for geniuses. Every country aims to eliminate the geniuses of others as much as possible during this competition.”
“And our Qi Kingdom, while not weak among the five countries, cannot be considered top-tier. Moreover, apart from the five countries, there are also geniuses from other regions who will join the competition, such as some sects and factions from the northwest.”
“This makes the competition among the five countries every five years extremely brutal.”
The so-called competition among the five countries is not just limited to five countries; there are also powerful sects and factions from the surrounding areas and some small nations that will participate, effectively dividing the forces in the northwest.
According to the results of the competition, the interests among the countries will shift each year.
A young man gasped, “So some sect geniuses will also participate in the competition?”
“That's right.” Xiao Zhan nodded.
The so-called five countries in the northwest do not mean there are only five countries in total; in fact, there are dozens of large and small nations.
It’s just that the five nations are the top five among them.
The other countries, while weak, still want to cultivate geniuses to hope for the emergence of more powerful individuals and to rise to the status of a strong nation in the future.
This reasoning is simple, but the participation of some sect geniuses left everyone puzzled.
“But what do they hope to gain?” someone asked in confusion.
Outside the five northwest countries, there are indeed many powerful sects, but what is their purpose in participating in the competition among the five countries?