The voice of the Thunder Dragon Grand suddenly boomed through the space, instantly stirring up rolling thunder, and hundreds of thick, purple lightning bolts struck down simultaneously.

Nie Kong moved like a streak of light, darting swiftly between the gaps in the lightning.

Yi Yang and the others were also rapidly evading, and the figures of the six people had unknowingly drawn much closer together.

A moment later, Yi Yang called out loudly, "My lords, there are six of us in total, so we can pair up two by two, forming three groups for the fight. What do you all think?"

"That is exactly what should be done."

Yan Luo laughed heartily, and Mo Tianxing, Qi Xian, and Du Su all echoed his agreement in unison.

Yi Yang then looked toward Nie Kong, "Brother Nie Kong, what is your opinion?"

"I have no objections."

Nie Kong replied with refreshing directness.

Hearing this, Yi Yang smiled with satisfaction, "Excellent. Then, Brother Nie Kong and I will form one group, Brother Yan and Brother Qi will form another, and Brother Mo and young Brother Du Su will form the third. After the three groups have settled their victories, two among the three winners will continue to spar, and the victor will then contend with the person who received a bye for the spot to enter the Cave Heaven..."

As soon as the words fell, Nie Kong burst out laughing, "A fine arrangement, but I have one small addition: I think it would be more appropriate if Brother Qi Xian and I were grouped together."

Yi Yang, Qi Xian, and Du Su, all Ninth-Grade Spirit Gods, hailed from the Primordial Heaven Mansion.

"Qi Xian?"

Yi Yang was momentarily stunned, his gaze unconsciously flicking toward Qi Xian, only to suddenly hear Qi Xian roar, "Watch out!"

The very next instant, Yi Yang saw a sky full of blood-red sword shadows erupting toward him, instantly upon him. He immediately understood what was happening.

Yi Yang was furious, but he could not spare the time to curse Nie Kong.

By pure reflex, Yi Yang's figure flashed away, dodging to the right, but immediately following that, a massive bolt of lightning appeared out of thin air. Yi Yang was forced to halt abruptly, the purple lightning nearly grazing the tip of his nose as it struck. However, before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, nine pale, misty Star Seals descended upon him.

Yi Yang was caught slightly off guard, and a surge of potent Earth Divine Power hastily surged from his body.

"Boom!"

The layers of Star Seals struck Yi Yang squarely, and the terrifying force instantly ravaged outwards, tearing apart the Earth Divine Power coating his body and slamming him down to the bottom of the lightning space.

"Nie Kong, you..."

Blood sprayed from Yi Yang's mouth, but before he could finish speaking, he saw several lightning bolts cleaving down from above. He instantly paled with shock and hurriedly crushed that lightning jade shard.

"Swish!"

A figure shot through the gate of the 'Grand Thunder Sound Palace' and landed just outside the Central Domain.

"Yi Yang?"

Upon clearly seeing the face of the person who arrived, the five Divine Venerables exchanged glances. Sensing their strange looks, Yi Yang's old face flushed with embarrassment, and he spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Yi Yang, what happened to you? Defeated so quickly?"

Divine Venerable Zi Wei frowned, somewhat suspicious.

Among the Ninth-Grade Spirit Gods, Yi Yang was the strongest. In previous free-for-alls, he was the one who held out until the very end five or six times out of ten, winning the qualification to enter the 'Great Beginning Cave Heaven'. But this time was strange; not only did he emerge first, but the time he lasted was less than ten seconds.

"Divine Venerable, I..."

Yi Yang felt both ashamed and furious, finding the subsequent words utterly impossible to utter. He could only stare involuntarily at the palace gate, his eyes flickering with unconcealed malice and unwillingness...

...

Inside the Grand Thunder Sound Palace, within the lightning space.

The instant he struck Yi Yang down, Nie Kong's figure had already silently melted into the void, vanishing without a trace.

"Crack! Crack..."

The sound of lightning was incessant, yet Yan Luo, Mo Tianxing, and the others were astonished. They had completely failed to anticipate Nie Kong making a move so suddenly and without warning, using the power of the lightning in this space to wound the strongest among them, Yi Yang, forcing him to retreat from the Grand Thunder Sound Palace.

The entire process took less than a second; the speed was staggering, leaving them completely unable to react.

"Nie Kong, you actually ambushed us?"

Qi Xian was the first to recover, shouting in anger while dodging the lightning, his expression extremely ugly. The others also snapped out of their daze, their faces grim.

"Ambushed?"

A light, mocking chuckle suddenly pierced through the dense thunder, reaching their ears. "You lot are truly laughable, having the nerve to accuse me of an ambush? Don't tell me that you all closing in on me, surrounding me, was merely to listen to Yi Yang arrange the rules for this spar."

"Nonsense! We stand for integrity; how could we engage in such petty behavior?" Qi Xian rebuked, though his old face couldn't help but warm slightly.

Yan Luo, Mo Tianxing, and Du Su also had shifting gazes and remained silent.

In truth, what Nie Kong said was absolutely correct. Before he even entered, Yi Yang and the others had already made up their minds to eliminate Nie Kong first. They sparred once every ten years in this 'Grand Thunder Sound Palace,' and they knew each other very well; a few glances were enough to finalize the plan.

But what they hadn't expected was that just as the five of them used the opportunity of dodging lightning to complete their encirclement of Nie Kong, he struck first, taking down Yi Yang instead.

"Since that is the case, then stop looking for my trace and hurry up with your sparring. According to Yi Yang's grouping, you make exactly two pairs. I have defeated Yi Yang, so now it is your turn," Nie Kong taunted mercilessly, his voice nearly echoing throughout the entire space, making it impossible to discern its origin.

"You..."

Qi Xian was instantly rendered speechless.

A sinister glint flickered across the young and handsome face of Du Su, who let out a cold laugh, "Nie Kong, sparring with a shameless villain who only knows how to ambush is a waste of time. It would be better to eliminate you first, lest we defile the 'Grand Thunder Sound Palace' of the Thunder Dragon Grand."

Qi Xian quickly came to his senses and said gravely, "Young Brother Du Su speaks well! Nie Kong, considering you are the disciple of the Seven-Colored Grand, I advise you to obediently exit yourself. If we truly fought and injured you, it would be difficult for us to explain to the Seven-Colored Grand."

"If you guys..."

Just as Nie Kong's teasing words began, a bright light flashed in Qi Xian's eyes. A green snake spear, twenty to thirty meters long, suddenly manifested and stabbed toward the left with lightning speed that left no time for reaction. In the blink of an eye, the spear shadow appeared a hundred meters away, tearing a slit several tens of meters long in the void, the spear's essence plunging into it.

"Bang!"

The snake spear burst forth with countless wind blades, shredding the void into fragments. However, it seemed to have no effect, and in an instant, the fragmented void healed itself.

The strike missing its mark, a trace of confusion flashed in Qi Xian's eyes.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss..."

A dense, sharp whistling sound suddenly arose. A torrent of sharp, blood-red sword shadows blanketed the sky—it was precisely the 'Blood Prison Sword King Tree' manifestation Nie Kong had used earlier to repel Yi Yang.

Qi Xian had no time to turn back. With a flicker of his intention, thousands of snake spears materialized from behind him.

Clang, clang, clang, clang...

A chorus of crisp metallic collisions rang out. A flicker of terror suddenly crossed Qi Xian’s eyes; his manifestation had been smashed to pieces by the onslaught of the 'Blood Prison Sword King Tree,' and countless sharp sword lights shot toward him, threatening to pierce him full of holes. Qi Xian could hold on no longer and crushed the lightning jade shard.

...

...