Chapter 832: Chapter 832

On the Divine Race's side.

Emperor Ashura returned to the clan and spoke with a cold look in his eyes. "Everyone, I've just received news. The Humanity's Supreme seed, Li Pin, will once again take part in the preliminaries of the Ten Thousand Tribes Overlord Tournament."

Several of the Divine Race Heavenly Emperors' expressions turned cold at once. "Again? How brazen!"

One after another, the Heavenly Emperors sneered.

"Does he really think he can dominate the battlefield like last time? He's walking straight into death!"

"He just swept through all the other races. They're still simmering with pent-up anger, waiting to take it out on the humans. And now he's not dodging the heat but charging right into it? Talented, sure, but clearly not very smart."

"Or maybe he has total confidence in himself," said another Heavenly Emperor, whose attire looked strikingly similar to the Scorching Flame Divine Lord's. "Maybe he believes that even if the top fighters from every race team up against him, he'll still come out on top."

The one speaking was Wu Chang, Scorching Flame's senior martial brother. Not only was he a personal disciple of a Supreme, but he had also reached the ninety-eighth step on the Supreme Ladder. He was just one step away from becoming a Divine Emperor himself. Follow current novᴇls on novel{f}ire.net

After speaking, Wu Chang looked at Scorching Flame. "Junior brother, I'll leave it to you."

Scorching Flame gave a slight nod.

But before he could say anything, Emperor Ashura spoke up again. "There might be no need for Scorching Flame to act right away."

His tone grew serious. "Word of his strength has already gotten out. I was worried it might make the other races wary enough that Humanity would rally their allies and strike first. But now, with Li Pin drawing all the heat, we can let Scorching Flame lie low. Once those looking for payback clash with Li Pin and both sides wear each other down, then he can make his move."

"No need," Scorching Flame interrupted. He spoke with absolute confidence. "If anyone's bold enough to come for me, let them. Whether it's Li Pin alone or a group trying to swarm me, against true strength, their siege is nothing but a joke."

"We believe in your strength," Emperor Ashura said with a solemn look, "but the mission you carry is tied to the Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations disputed category. There's no room for error. Killing all Human contestants is important, but so is winning the whole tournament."

Then he turned to Bloodslaughter, who stood beside Scorching Flame. "Let Bloodslaughter handle Li Pin. There are other races planning to gang up on him too. Bloodslaughter, reach out to them. With the combined force of ten or more Tyrants, taking Li Pin down won't be hard. As for you, Scorching Flame, focus on securing your place in the next round as fast as possible."

Scorching Flame gave him a skeptical look. "Bloodslaughter?"

Bloodslaughter felt a little uncomfortable under those stares.

He took a deep breath and said coldly, "It's only because I happened to be born in the same era as you, Scorching Flame. Otherwise, with my strength, dominating the Overlord Competition in any previous era would've been no challenge. As for dealing with someone like Li Pin? That's hardly worth mentioning. Even if Emperor Ara and Yao Ji showed up, I could've taken them head on and crushed them without anyone's help."

"Bloodslaughter is right." Emperor Ashura nodded. "Among the current batch of contenders, he's clearly among the top tier. He is fully capable of competing for the title of Cosmic Overlord."

He glanced at Bloodslaughter. "I believe you have the strength to defeat Li Pin, Emperor Ara, or Yao Ji in a direct fight. But what I need is absolute certainty. You saw Li Pin's movement technique. It's the Grand Oblivion Art, created by Humanity and modeled after the Void Emperor. If he realizes he's about to lose and escapes at full speed, can you stop him?

"The preliminaries aren't the same as the main round. The main round requires a one-on-one duel with a clear winner. In the preliminaries, whoever reaches the Supreme Pillar essentially secures qualification.

Bloodslaughter thought for a moment. He wasn't skilled in movement techniques. If Li Pin really decided to run, catching him might not be possible.

After a brief pause, he nodded. "Alright. I'll coordinate with others and attack him together. Let's take out this so-called Humanity's Supreme seed first."

Emperor Ashura nodded. "Good."

He turned to Scorching Flame.

Scorching Flame frowned slightly. Letting a Supreme seed slip away clearly didn't sit well with him. But then another thought struck him.

What's the point of crushing a Supreme seed that hasn't even matured?

Besides... compared to Li Pin, isn't Yao Ji, also a Supreme's personal disciple and a recognized Supreme seed, an even bigger threat? Killing her would be far more satisfying.

With that in mind, the Divine Race prodigy gave a nod. "Alright."

"Go," Emperor Ashura said.

Bloodslaughter, Scorching Flame, and another Divine Tyrant nodded.

As Divine Emperor Yuan Jie announced the start of the competition, the three descended toward the Weeping Emperor Battlefield.

But while falling toward the battlefield, Bloodslaughter was already considering how to keep Li Pin from escaping...

After some thought, his gaze settled on a clan that shared their enemy—the Sky Clan.

He moved and headed straight toward the Sky Clan's territory.

Bloodslaughter's gaze went past Long Li, the Sky Clan's well-known trump card, and instead fixed on a translucent figure behind him. "You Xu."

Others might not know, but the Divine Race was well aware. This was the Sky Clan's true ace—a Sacred Monarch who had grasped the Laws of Space in less than a single epoch.

"You need something?" You Xu asked indifferently.

Bloodslaughter responded, "You saw how arrogant Li Pin was during the Prodigy Competition, sweeping through the other clans like nothing. Now he's appearing again in the preliminaries of the Overlord Competition. It's like none of us Tyrants matter to him. Can the Sky Clan really swallow that insult?"

You Xu replied coolly, "Say what you came to say."

"Then I'll be blunt," Bloodslaughter said. "We, the Divine Race, along with myself, are contacting other experts who also want to settle scores. We're planning a siege on Li Pin. But his movement technique, you saw it at the Prodigy Competition, it's modeled after the legendary Void Emperor from the Void faction. With that kind of speed, we'll struggle to pin him down.

"When it comes to speed and movement, no one outruns the Sky Clan. So I want your help to make sure Li Pin doesn't get the slightest chance to escape."

"What about Scorching Flame?" You Xu asked.

"He's not good at movement either," said Bloodslaughter.

"But he's strong," You Xu replied.

You Xu looked at Bloodslaughter. "If this really is about ambushing Li Pin, Scorching Flame should've come to me himself. Why are you here instead? Is he saying I'm not worthy of being his opponent?"

"He didn't mean it that way," Bloodslaughter said, frowning. "It's just that I'm the one handling this ambush."

"You're in charge? Then that means Li Pin doesn't even deserve Scorching Flame's full effort?"

You Xu's eyes turned cold. "A target Scorching Flame doesn't even care to deal with, and yet you want me to step in? You want me to team up with you for a joint attack? So what, Scorching Flame's supposed to be a cut above me, and I'm only good enough to fight alongside the likes of you?

As soon as he said that, Bloodslaughter's face turned dark. "You—"

"Ridiculous." You Xu sneered. "If you don't have the strength, then recognize that and train harder. You can't take someone on alone, so you rally a group to gang up on him? And now you want me to join in?"

He gave a cold laugh. "You? You think you're worthy?"

"You Xu!" the Bloodslaughter Divine Lord growled in frustration.

But You Xu just stared at him coldly. "What, can't take it?"

The Bloodslaughter Divine Lord was seething, but he quickly held himself back.

Though he wasn't afraid of You Xu, he understood that at this crucial stage of the Ten Thousand Tribes Overlord Competition, it would be unwise to strain relations with the Sky Clan.

Just then, another Sky Clan ace, Long Li, spoke up at just the right time. "Enough. Since You Xu isn't willing to join the ambush, don't push it. If you're really worried that Li Pin might just run and you won't be able to stop him...."

He turned to a Sky Clan Tyrant nearby. "Mo Xu, go with Bloodslaughter. If the two of you really manage to kill Li Pin, not only will your past crimes be wiped clean, but you'll even be heavily rewarded upon your return and recognized as a hero of your clan."

The Bloodslaughter Divine Lord had heard of him. He was a Sky Clan genius cultivated as one of their trump cards this era. He'd once fallen for a Heavenly Emperor's descendant. After being rejected, he tried to take her by force, which enraged the emperor and nearly got him killed on the spot.

That he'd survived the pressure of a Heavenly Emperor was proof enough of his terrifying talent.

"If it's just keeping him from escaping, I can handle it," Mo Xu said in a low voice.

"Then I'll leave it to you," the Bloodslaughter Divine Lord replied with a smile. "I'll try reaching out to Shimo, Tyrant Wu Jin, and the others, see if we can get more support."

"There might not be enough time," Long Li said.

"To be honest, with the strength we already have, we should be able to take Li Pin down. I just want to make sure there's no room for error," Bloodslaughter explained.

Long Li gave a small nod and didn't say more.

But after that, things didn't go smoothly for Bloodslaughter. Many other clans still bore grudges against the Human Race, but they weren't reckless. Seeing the Divine Race and Sky Clan already took the lead, most of them chose to watch from the sidelines. They were clearly waiting for both sides to clash and suffer losses so they could swoop in later for the advantage.

After all, when it came to ongoing disputes, especially the "Three Calamities and Nine Tribulations," the Humans, Divine Race, Sky Clan, and these other factions were all in direct competition.

Though Bloodslaughter worked quickly to contact others, time was tight.

Divine Emperor Yuan Jie had wanted to give Bloodslaughter more time to pull others in and force a mutual destruction with the Humans, but the rules of the Overlord Competition had already closed that loophole. Participants were only revealed at the moment of entry, and from announcement to match start, there was almost no time to adjust strategies or form new alliances.

Seeing that Bloodslaughter had managed to gather over twenty Tyrant-level powerhouses at his side, the Divine Emperor finally declared, "The Ten Thousand Tribes Overlord Competition Preliminaries... begin now!"