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719 World Center
The sky was shrouded in darkness as the wind howled.
The 17 Giant Apes knelt before their king in a show of respect.
“Your Majesty,” they intoned.
...
“The Myriad Species Arena begins in a year’s time.” The one-armed Giant Ape King, though shorter than his subjects, exuded an intangible and unfathomable aura. “It is located at the World Center, and even with an aircraft, it will take us a month to reach it. We must set off early.”
“Yes, Your Majesty,” the Giant Apes responded in unison.
A massive aircraft soon arrived, and the one-armed Giant Ape King and his 17 subjects boarded.
In the belly of the aircraft, the one-armed Giant Ape King gazed out at the quickly shrinking landscape. The aircraft soared through the clouds at breakneck speeds.
With an array of powerhouses heading toward the Myriad Species Arena, I can reconnect with some old friends, the one-armed Giant Ape King mused. As a half-step third-realm powerhouse, he was familiar with both the half-step third-realm powerhouses and Abyss Overlords of the surrounding dominions.
Thus, the one-armed Giant Ape King was acquainted with many of the top powerhouses who had been transported to this world.
“Your Majesty.” A golden-haired ape interrupted his thoughts. “Do the ordinary Giant Apes stand a chance of leaving this world?”
“Those weak species we have hunted have grown stronger over the years, and some of our high-dimensional lifeforms have been killed,” the thin Giant Ape Yarojin spoke up. “Do we still have a chance of becoming the number one species in the Myriad Species Arena with our strength?”
The golden-haired ape and the thin ape were second only to the Giant Ape King in power.
“Your chances are slim,” the one-armed Giant Ape King replied, surveying his subordinates. “I won’t sugarcoat it. The first few rounds of the Myriad Species Arena are designed for the most powerful species to dominate. Even I must fight with all my might to earn a chance. The probability of you succeeding is zero. As the tournament progresses, the weaker species will gain the advantage. You won’t stand a chance then either.”
His words left the Giant Apes in stunned silence.
They had done everything in their power to increase their odds, attacking weaker species in hopes of improving their chances. But they were all exceedingly intelligent and found that the more they fought against the weaker species, the more they recognized their own mediocrity.
“Your only chance is your lifespan,” the one-armed Giant Ape King continued.
“Lifespan?” The apes’ eyes lit up.
“Another advantage of the most powerful species is their long lifespans. Five-Colored Dragons, for instance, live for around 100,000 years, while Mountain Demons typically have a lifespan of 10,000 years. We Giant Apes generally live for around 1,000 years, which is just the baseline. As we grow stronger, our aging will decelerate significantly, allowing us to live for tens of thousands of years.”
“Conversely, the weaker species like Ants have a lifespan of only 30 years. Even if their aging process slows down by hundreds of times, they’ll be lucky to live for more than 10,000 years. Humans, with a basic lifespan of 200 years, age much slower than their counterparts, though it’s still impressive for them to age 100 times slower.”
“Our bodies are massive, and it’s more difficult for us to slow down our aging process, but we can still do so by a factor of 30 to 50.”
“For example, if the Five-Colored Dragons slowed down their aging by a few times, they could live for hundreds of thousands of years.”
The one-armed Giant Ape King surveyed his subordinates. “After living for tens of thousands of years, the powerhouses of the weaker species will no longer be present, and the competition will naturally decrease, increasing your chances of victory.”
“Of course, a plethora of powerful species will still compete with you,” he added.
The Giant Apes nodded in agreement.
Indeed, if one lived long enough, they could participate in the Myriad Species Arena tens of thousands of years later.
The one-armed Giant Ape King continued to look out the window, thinking to himself, I can sense that I’m already approaching the limit of my species. I’ve only managed to increase my strength by one level over the past 100 years. My progress will only slow down from here on out.
It’s easier for the most powerful species to reach their limits. I must seize the first few opportunities to claim first place. The longer I wait, the more powerhouses will reach their limits, and the competition will only become more intense.
…
The Myriad Species Arena is scheduled to take place in a year. I must witness my future competitors with my own eyes. A 20-centimeter-tall Ant, with a cold glare in its eyes, sat inside a small aircraft.
After cultivating for over three centuries, I, Haverten, have only reached Lv. 43. In terms of toughness. I am likely stronger than the Lv. 60 Mountain Demons and Giant Celestials. However, my body is too small, and the strength I can unleash is less than one-millionth of a Lv. 60 Mountain Demon. My body is becoming tougher and denser, making it harder to improve.
For me, reaching the same Lv. 60 is countless times more challenging than the Mountain Demons and Giant Celestials. In fact, I am not even qualified to participate in the early stages, the Ant powerhouse thought to himself.
However, I can now perfectly hide my aura and disguise myself as a noble among the Ants, the Ant powerhouse thought.
After a long period of reproduction, the Ants were divided into three major categories.
The royal Ants had the highest status and were all females. They were enormous, standing between three and five meters tall. They reproduced and gave birth to countless Ants.
The Ant nobles were relatively large, standing between 20 and 30 centimeters tall. Their intelligence was comparable to that of ordinary humans. The Ant society was mainly maintained by the nobles.
Ordinary ants were a few centimeters tall, and they worked hard without complaint. Their intelligence was also relatively low.
When the Abyss Overlord, Haverten, first descended, he found himself in an ordinary Ant. Having cultivated to Lv. 43, his size only reached 20 centimeters.
…
In the underground Demon Rat Empire.
There is still a year before the once-in-a-thousand-year Myriad Species Arena competition. A gray-robed Demon Rat sat on a small sofa, looking at the bustling scene of World Center on the projector. I was born into the Demon Rat race, and I have completely given up on the first five competitions! Once I head over, I’m very likely to be attacked by powerful species.
I’ll focus on cultivating for 5,000 years before aiming for number one, the Demon Rat thought.
Did the creator of the Myriad Species World do this on purpose? They threw a half-step third-realm powerhouse like me to the Demon Rats. The Demon Rat powerhouse felt aggrieved.
In terms of size, the Demon Rats were among the top five smallest of all the species. Of course, they were much better than the Ants. The Ants were the smallest among all the species.
******
In a desolate, mountainous region, Xu Jingming had reverted to his true form in this world. He now stood taller and more muscular, possessing a level of physical toughness unimaginable to most.
Whoosh.
With a deep inhale, Xu Jingming’s aura was so heavy that it caused the ground to tremble.
“Ha!”
He exhaled suddenly, and the breath he released broke through the air before colliding with a hill over a hundred meters tall, reducing it to a fine powder.
The seventh realm of the Eight Directions Map, My Dao realm.
Transcending life and practicing my Dao. The Dao isn’t about comprehension, but rather putting it into practice. Xu Jingming frowned slightly.
I used the profundities of my mind to unearth the infinite potential of my body. My improvement has become slower and slower in the past 300 years.
Looking toward the southeast, Xu Jingming focused on the center of the Myriad Species World, where the Myriad Species Arena was located.
Buzz.
Suddenly, his watch rang, and Xu Jingming tapped it to answer.
“Lord Ming,” Yu Yangwei’s enthusiastic voice sounded. “Shadow and the others are preparing to head to World Center City. Do you want to come with us?”
“You guys go ahead. I’ll be there before the competition begins,” Xu Jingming replied.
“Then, we have to get together when we reach World Center City. I’ve been wanting to meet you for a long time, but I haven’t seen you once,” Yu Yangwei said.
“I also want to meet Lord Ming,” another enthusiastic voice chimed in.
“Ming, we’ll meet in World Center City,” Shadow declared.
Xu Jingming smiled and said, “Alright, see you then.”
After ending the call, Xu Jingming thought to himself, “It’s time to make a trip home. The last time I visited was over 50 years ago.”
Even though he had been wandering and cultivating all these years, he still returned home every few decades. His parents’ lifespans were relatively limited, after all.
Whoosh.
Soon after, a small aircraft flew over and landed in front of Xu Jingming.
“Home,” he said as he entered the aircraft
…
More than a month had passed when the small aircraft arrived in Jianghan City, the capital of Eastern Cloud, one of the seven human countries. It landed in the courtyard of Xu Jingming’s parents’ residence.
As Jing Yulong and Yuan Yu walked out of the house, they shouted happily, “Jing Ming, Jing Ming!”
“Dad, Mom,” Xu Jingming replied with a smile, but he looked puzzled when he saw the baby in his mother’s arms. “Who is this?”
“This is your sister,” Jing Yulong replied.
“How many siblings do I have now?” Xu Jingming blinked.
“We are healthy and have lived a long life, so we naturally have more children. This sister of yours is the ninth,” Jing Yulong said. “You disappeared for decades despite being the eldest. Of course, we have to have more children to accompany us.”
“Alright.” Xu Jingming was speechless.
He had refused to get married or have children, no matter how much his parents had persuaded him.
And now, his parents had started having children themselves!
Thanks to the body tempering technique, his father was at Lv. 18, and his mother was at Lv. 15. They currently had a lifespan of 500 to 600 years, and they were only 300 years old, in their prime.
“How long will you be staying this time?” Yuan Yu asked.
“It can’t be just another half a month, right?” Jing Yulong looked at his son.
This son of theirs was something they were proud of, but in the past 200 years, he had only returned a few times, never staying more than a month.
“I’ll be staying for more than half a year before leaving,” Xu Jingming said with a smile.
“It’s finally a little longer,” Jing Yulong said with a smile.
“Where do you plan on going this time?” Yuan Yu asked.
“To World Center City,” Xu Jingming replied without hiding anything. “The Myriad Species Arena is starting soon.”
“Yes, your mother and I plan on attending the millennial competition,” Jing Yulong said, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “Most humans don’t get to see the Myriad Species Tournament in their lives. As for your mother and me, we cultivated the body tempering technique you created, and our lifespans have been greatly extended, allowing us to have a chance to watch the Myriad Species Tournament. Of course, we have to watch the greatest event of all the species up close.”
The Myriad Species Tournament held extraordinary significance.
Even wars would experience a ceasefire during the convening, and all species would participate in watching this competition.
“Watching the Myriad Species Tournament with our own eyes is the greatest blessing of our lives,” Yuan Yu said, holding the baby in her arms. “The only pity is that we won’t be seeing humans at the Myriad Species Tournament.”
“Only 300 people can enter the official arena after passing the selection,” Jing Yulong said. “There are so many powerful species, so it’s very normal for humans not to enter the arena.”
Xu Jingming smiled and listened.
“Son, let’s go together when the time comes,” Yuan Yu said.
“Alright, let’s go together,” Xu Jingming nodded.
…
Time passed, and all eyes in the entire Myriad Species World were fixed on World Center City, eagerly awaiting the official launch of the Myriad Species Tournament.
A medium-sized aircraft soared above the clouds.
Xu Jingming, Jing Yulong, Yuan Yu—who held a baby—and his younger siblings were in the aircraft’s cabin.
“Boss, we’ll be arriving in five minutes,” Ni Yun informed.
Xu Jingming nodded. He could already see the towering structure in the distance—it was the center of the world.
My extensive family had come to witness the competition. Xu Jingming shook his head slightly. Since there were too many people, they had brought along assistants and bodyguards.
“I see it. World Center City.”
“We’re there.”
The group of younger siblings was thrilled.
Watching the Myriad Species Tournament live held significance for every living being in the Myriad Species World.
Xu Jingming smiled. He could already sense powerful auras.
There were numerous powerhouses in the World Center!