Chapter 40: First Battle

The Royal Hunting Ground is a vast, expansive, independent space. Within this realm, there are mountains and waters, indistinguishable from the outside world. Nearly one hundred thousand geniuses participating in the hunt have all appeared within the grounds simultaneously.

"Hmm?"

The moment Su Xin appeared, he scanned his surroundings. While he could see others nearby, Long Dao, Qiu Ze, and the others who had been standing with him before were nowhere to be seen.

"Has everyone been scattered?" Su Xin muttered to himself.

"Little ones."

A majestic voice resonated from the void above the hunting ground, echoing into every corner. All the geniuses within the grounds stilled, listening intently.

"The rules for the first stage of the hunt are quite simple! Each of you received a token representing your identity when you registered at the camp. Your task is to do whatever it takes to kill those you encounter and seize the tokens in their possession! After five days, the one thousand people with the most tokens will pass."

"Furthermore, these identity tokens contain a special prohibition that will protect your lives at the moment of death. Therefore, you may attack without restraint; even if you 'kill' your opponent, they will not truly die, but will simply be eliminated."

"Little ones, let the madness begin!"

The majestic voice slowly faded away. The many geniuses within the hunting ground immediately understood the rules. This was a chaotic melee—a slaughterous feast gathering nearly one hundred thousand geniuses!

"Nearly one hundred thousand geniuses, and only one thousand can remain?"

Su Xin narrowed his eyes. He realized the moment he entered that he could sense the precise locations of the geniuses nearby through his own token. This meant that as long as someone was in his vicinity, no matter how skilled they were at concealment, he would detect them immediately. This forced a situation where, even if someone had already gathered enough tokens, they would have no way to hide during these five days of fighting.

"They want to force us into a frenzied battle," Su Xin thought, frowning slightly.

At the very moment the rules were understood—*whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!*—Su Xin immediately sensed several geniuses nearby, who burst into high-speed movement, rushing to attack him. Four of them were the fastest.

"Coming for me, are they?"

"Because I only have the cultivation of the Great Success stage of the Sea Transformation Realm, they treat me like a soft persimmon?"

Su Xin’s eyes turned cold as he drew his longsword. The four who reached him first—three men and one woman—included a charming youth in purple robes directly in front of him. Gripping a war halberd with both hands, the youth's spiritual power surged, and a flicker of excitement danced in his eyes. "A mere Great Success in the Sea Transformation Realm, yet you dare to participate in the Imperial City Hunt? If I don't kill you, who should I kill?"

With nearly one hundred thousand people and only one thousand remaining, killing one person meant one less rival. Since the tokens prevented actual death, these geniuses felt no pity.

"Die!"

The purple-robed youth took the lead, his halberd swinging like a hurricane as he lunged toward Su Xin. Su Xin held his sword in one hand and thrust it forward. It seemed effortless, but the sword intent within his strike instantly knocked the halberd aside, and his blade swept through the void toward the youth’s throat.

"What?" The youth’s eyes were filled with shock. But the prohibition in his token had already activated; a wave of white light enveloped him and whisked him out of the hunting ground, leaving his token floating in the air. Su Xin reached out and claimed it.

No sooner had he done this than the other three launched their attacks.

"Get lost!" Su Xin roared, his sword turning into lightning.

The first form of the Phantom Shadow Sword Art: Dark Light!

Like the final glimmer of light in an endless void, the depth of the intent contained in that swordsmanship was far beyond the imagination of those three geniuses. *Clang! Clang! Clang!* Following three metallic clashes, the offensive of the three geniuses was not only dismantled, but the weaker woman among them was killed instantly by Su Xin.

"How is this possible?"

"He's that strong?"

The two surviving geniuses were terrified and turned to flee without hesitation. Su Xin did not pursue; instead, he stepped forward to collect the token left behind by the woman.

"These four were barely strong enough to pass the first level of the Soul-Seeking Tower," Su Xin muttered. Being able to pass the first level of the Soul-Seeking Tower made them genuine geniuses—ordinarily, one of them could easily kill several Peak Sea Transformation experts. Yet, two months ago, when Su Xin was only at the Minor Success stage, he could pass that level with relative ease. After two months of cultivation, his realm had reached Great Success, and his swordsmanship and understanding of sword intent had improved significantly. He was now confident he could challenge for a top-ten spot in the overall rankings. Dealing with such geniuses felt far too easy. He hadn't even fully exerted his bloodline power or his true sword techniques.

Meanwhile, other geniuses who had been rushing toward him stopped in their tracks after witnessing the battle. They had seen four Peak Sea Transformation experts attack a Great Success practitioner, only for two to be killed in an instant and the other two to flee in panic.

"This Great Success practitioner is this strong?"

"Four people surrounded him, and two were killed instantly. This level of strength is definitely that of the second floor of the Red Dragon Tower or higher!"

"Run!"

They turned and fled without hesitation, fearing Su Xin would hunt them down. Inside the Royal Hunting Ground, the rules ignited battles everywhere. Nearly one hundred thousand geniuses fought frantically to seize tokens, and as the slaughter continued, many were eliminated and sent out.

Outside the hunting ground, on the vast plain, one genius after another was sent out through the spatial passage.

"Kang Jing, you were eliminated too? So quickly?" Several geniuses from Yongning County gathered together.

"I had no choice. Although I’m slightly stronger than you, I barely reached the level of the first floor of the Soul-Seeking Tower. Among so many geniuses, I'm still at the bottom. As soon as I understood the rules, a genius rushed me and killed me in just two moves. He was definitely a top-tier genius who had passed the second floor of the Soul-Seeking Tower. I had no way to defend myself." Kang Jing sighed bitterly.

In a corner of the plain, another genius looked at the stunned purple-robed youth. "Brother Chu, how were you eliminated so early? With your strength, you should have been able to stay longer and grab a few tokens."

After a long silence, the purple-robed youth replied, "Brother Ling, it’s embarrassing to say, but I encountered a Great Success practitioner in the hunting ground. I thought I’d found a soft target, but he killed me in a single exchange."

"A Great Success killed you in a single exchange?" The surrounding geniuses were shocked.

"I didn't expect it either," the youth said with a bitter smile.

As time passed, more geniuses were eliminated. In just half a day, more than half of the nearly one hundred thousand participants had been removed. After the first day of slaughter, the geniuses in the hunting ground tacitly chose to rest, needing time to recover their spiritual power and eat. At dawn on the second day, the killing resumed.

Inside the hunting ground, Su Xin’s sword moved with fluidity, like a snake sliding past an opponent's blade to strike at their neck. The genius's eyes widened in horror before the white light enveloped him.

"The fourteenth!" Su Xin watched calmly as the youth was whisked away. This opponent had been close to the standard of the second floor of the Soul-Seeking Tower, yet he still stood no chance. Su Xin had personally eliminated fourteen people, but he had already gathered over thirty tokens, as the ones he defeated had collected tokens from others.

"After a day of fighting, the geniuses I encounter are becoming fewer," Su Xin muttered. He knew that the initial density of nearly one hundred thousand people had made the early fighting the most frenzied. As more were eliminated, the frequency of encounters dropped.

"However, those remaining after a full day of slaughter must all be experts. Their tokens will be plentiful; killing one of them is worth more than several of the earlier ones."

By midday, the scorching sun baked the earth. Su Xin walked slowly through a forest with his sword in hand.

"Hmm?"

His expression shifted. Through his token, he sensed three geniuses appearing nearby. They had clearly sensed him as well and were rushing toward him.

"Three working together?" Su Xin was not surprised. With the rules as they were, luck played little part. Those at the top, like Xia Mang, Duan Yunfeng, and Tu San, could rely on their own strength, but those who were weaker had to form alliances to survive.

Moments later, the three appeared before him.

"Just one Great Success?"

"He must have sensed the three of us coming, yet he doesn't run?"

The three stood side-by-side, looking at Su Xin as if he were a lamb waiting for the slaughter.