My skills have mutated again!

Chapter 371 City of Oaths: Wuxin Appears, No Longer Hiding, Preliminaries Begin

Holding the pre-purchased qualification certificate, Xia Lin approached the entrance to the Ash Zone.

The entrance to the Ash Zone turned from black to white, and a suction force surged forth, which Xia Lin did not resist.

As the dizziness from the teleportation subsided, Xia Lin opened his eyes and saw a spacious square.

The plaza was enormous, with buildings standing at the far end and empty space behind. At its very center stood six statues, their faces obscured. However, their imposing presence and general shape suggested they were likely depictions of the Six Pillars—primarily because an indescribable monster was mixed among the five humanoid sculptures, making it easy to associate them with the Six Pillars and the unique entity within them known as the Primal Dark Side.

After tilting his head and observing the sculpture on the original dark side for a long time, Xia Lin still couldn't describe what it looked like, so he simply ignored it and looked around instead.

Long before Xia Lin arrived, some people had already arrived in advance.

As Xia Lin steadied herself and observed her surroundings, more teleportation lights flashed, and more and more Ember Walkers arrived at the preliminary arena.

Purchasing a qualifier requires 1 ranked match points, but Emberwalkers have a full twelve Emberwalker days to earn those points.

These are the rules for the preliminary selection—the difficulty is not low but not too high either, so looking at the entire human race, there are quite a few Ember Walkers who can pass the preliminary selection.

Some people had experienced this stage in the last, or the one before that, human race ranking battle and were familiar with the situation here.

Having just completed the teleportation, I couldn't wait to head towards the distant cluster of buildings.

Some people, like Xia Lin, were here for the first time and were completely bewildered, not understanding the situation or the rules.

Soon, the notification sound from the Ash Zone rang out first, clearing up the confusion for everyone.

Welcome to the preliminary selection battlefield!

[You are currently in a place called the City of Oaths! It will be the venue for all subsequent phases of the Sequence Battle!]

[Fighting is strictly prohibited within the city; violators will be executed!]

All food, clothing, lodging, and transportation in the city are free, so you can explore this place without worry and spend the next three days here.

[The complete preliminary rules will be released by the Ember Zone system in three days!]

Just after Xia Lin finished processing this information, another sound rang out from not far away.

"Ember Walkers from the Creator and Overlord factions, gather here."

The voice was faint, but Xia Lin found it very familiar.

Because this voice is the voice of Luo Zhidao.

Immediately after the voice faded, more than 60% of the Ash District Walkers around Xia Lin immediately started walking towards Luo Zhi Dao.

Xia Lin then realized that these people's clothing and appearance generally had a strong cultivator style.

The profession of cultivator is one of the six pillars, the innate profession of the creator of the Heavenly Dao.

The profession has profound implications, a complete system, and extremely high potential, but its development is slow.

On Shining Blue Star, cultivators generally cannot rise to prominence, simply because Shining Blue Star has only been a scorched planet for a short time, and cultivators have not had time to develop. However, looking at the entire human race, the number of cultivators is truly enormous.

This is also one of the reasons why the Creator of Heaven has such a large influence among the human race.

But following Luo Zhidao, another voice rang out.

"Superstar faction, come to my side!"

The unfamiliar voice made Xia Lin turn her head to look.

Then they saw that the one who spoke was a handsome man dressed in black with a long sword at his waist.

Human race sequence three, indifferent.

Xia Lin's former acquaintances, such as Xiao Feng, Bao Bowen, and Wen Rou, all stood behind Leng Mo.

And so, another large group of people headed in the direction of Leng Mo.

The entire square then became empty.

"The paths of immortality and martial arts are still the mainstream of the human race... This makes us miscellaneous people quite embarrassed."

A familiar voice rang out, and Xia Lin turned her head to see Nelson standing beside her.

With so many people around, Nelson couldn't find Xia Lin, but now that the crowd has been divided, the two old acquaintances have run into each other.

Nelson, in fact, has a factional bias—his faction leans towards the Demon Emperor, but the relationship is so distant that it can be ignored and does not affect the logic of Nelson's actions.

"What's more, in the human race's sequence war, the people on the Demon Emperor's side are being suppressed extremely badly, even worse than those on the Super Star side. Rather than meeting up with the people on the Demon Emperor's side, I'd rather come to you."

This can be considered Nelson's strategy in this ranking battle.

He clung to Xia Lin's coattails, hoping to somehow manage to get a lower-ranking position in the sequence.

This is better than following the Demon Emperor Fang Hunyi and his group, only to be constantly targeted by those cultivators who have broken through their limits.

Xia Lin instantly realized what Nelson was thinking.

He then laughed rather awkwardly.

"Brother, you've miscalculated..."

Nelson was taken aback: "What's wrong?"

Xia Lin raised her hand and pointed at Luo Zhi, saying, "The mistake lies there."

Nelson knew that Xia Lin had a conflict with the Creator of Heaven.

But the problem is, considering that Xia Lin has survived until now, Nelson feels that this contradiction, while not insignificant, is not a major issue.

After all, you, Xia Lin, are still alive, aren't you?
Your survival means either the conflict has been resolved, or Xia Lin has the ability to resist the dangers involved.

In short, Nelson didn't think it was a big problem.

But it's clear that Nelson is unaware of two things.

Firstly, Xia Lin has already played a game with Luo Zhidao.

Xia Lin certainly didn't need to tell Nelson about this, and Luo Zhidao, as the loser, wouldn't publicize his defeat.

This means that the conflict between Xia Lin and the creators is greater than Nelson had anticipated, but it also means that Xia Lin has the ability to resolve the danger, and that Nelson's assessment was not wrong.

The problem lies in the second point: Nelson certainly doesn't know what kind of person Wuxin really is.

Just as Nelson was looking on in confusion, the Ash Walkers from the Creator's side suddenly separated.

A young figure stepped out from behind the crowd, a gentle, even obedient smile on his face.

He stood at the very front of the Heavenly Dao Creator's camp and then looked at Xia Lin.

Xia Lin smiled and tilted his head.

……

Human race sequence one, Heartless, is a mystery.

He rarely appears in public or makes a move, and when he does, it's always a crushing defeat, so no one knows his power system.

The descriptions of Wuxin's appearance circulating outside are varied and numerous, which means that even if Wuxin himself appears, few people would recognize him as the famous human race's number one, the strongest Ember Walker!
But Xia Lin knew him very well.

Inside the Dream Time Tower, you'd be killed by this kid hundreds of times; you'd remember it vividly too.

The two looked at each other across the distance, the atmosphere complex and indescribable.

Even though fighting is prohibited here, the aura emanating from the confrontation between the two still caused the atmosphere in the entire square to become tense.

Everyone felt a sense of impending doom and unconsciously lowered their voices.

Soon, the entire square became so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

However, neither Wuxin nor Xia Lin, who were directly involved, spoke.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded again.

On the Demon Emperor's side, the Ash District Walkers, led by Soul One, the fifth in the human race, approached Xia Lin and eventually stood behind him, adopting a posture of Xia Lin as the leader.

This scene made Wuxin chuckle.

"The weak huddle together for warmth, yet they remain vulnerable to attack."

Xia Lin raised her hand and pointed, replying with a smile: "You have even more rotten fish and shrimp over there."

These words made Luo Zhidao, the fourth in the human race, twitch his face, but he dared not retaliate.

But when he looked at Wuxin, he found that Wuxin had no intention of standing up for his teammates.

In this person's eyes, Luo Zhidao and his group were not even considered teammates.

He simply nodded slightly, then turned and left.

Only the sound echoed in the square.

"Remember, you are the challenger."

"I'm waiting for you at position one in sequence."

Xia Lin did not respond.

……

The inexplicable low pressure in the square only disappeared after Wuxin left and vanished.

But everyone's eyes were on Xia Lin.

Nelson, who was standing nearby, pondered for a long time before suddenly gasping for breath.

"I'm waiting for you at position one in sequence." What does that mean?

Xia Lin chuckled: "The literal meaning..."

Nelson pondered for a moment, then suddenly froze.

He looked in the direction Wuxin had left: "Was that Wuxin?"

Xia Lin: "Yes, that was unintentional."

Nelson then looked at Xia Lin and the Demon Emperor Fang Jin District Walkers behind him, led by Hun Yi, and then back at Xia Lin.

"If you're not a brother, then who are you? How come you seem to have become the leader of the Demon Emperor's side?"

Xia Lin laughed and patted the bewildered Nelson on the shoulder.

"If I were the leader, wouldn't your position make you the second-in-command?"

Nelson thought for a moment, then smiled with relief: "Hehehe, I knew it. What did I do to deserve being the second-in-command? Hey, look at the mess this has made."

Xia Lin: "But I really am the leader here."

Nelson chuckled three times: "Don't be silly, bro, I'm really not the second brother."

Xia Lin: "But I really am the eldest brother. If you want to be the second eldest brother, it's just a matter of one word from me..."

Nelson's face began to twitch.

Behind Xia Lin, Hun Yi sneered and added insult to injury at the opportune moment: "Greetings, Second Brother! I've met you, Second Brother!"

The rest followed suit.

Amidst the resounding "Hello, Second Brother!", Nelson's cloudy eyes gradually revealed an unprecedented clarity.

Then his eyes rolled back and he simply fainted.

A burst of boisterous laughter immediately erupted behind Xia Lin.

Xia Lin coughed lightly twice, then helped Nelson look at Hunyi.

"Alright, the excitement's over, time to get down to business."

……

Return the peach.

Xia Lin lived in the Demon Palace for half a year and received a great deal of help from Donald.

You can view the Demon Emperor's design of dual professions as a "transaction," where neither party owes the other anything. But what Donald offered Xia Lin was pure friendship.

Therefore, when they parted, even though Donald didn't make any demands, Xia Lin still took the initiative to approach Hun Yi and proposed the idea of cooperating with them in this sequence battle.

But unexpectedly, Soul One dealt Xia Lin a huge blow...

—You take the lead.

Xia Lin instinctively wanted to object, but after thinking about it, she felt there was no need to. The title of "leader" was just a name; frankly, it was just someone who sticks their neck out.

As for Xia Lin, he was already a troublemaker on Wu Xin's side, and his strength no longer allowed him to keep a low profile... so he simply stepped forward and stopped hiding himself.

For Hunyi, who was familiar with Xia Lin's strength (the two had sparred before), all of this was perfectly natural.

But for others who didn't know Xia Lin's strength, their expressions were probably similar to Nelson's.

The discussion suddenly broke out after Xia Lin and his group had gone far away.

"who is this?"

"I don't know, I don't recognize him."

"I think her name is Xia Lin."

Everyone was astonished: "Who is Xia Lin?"

For those unfamiliar with Xia Lin, this name is quite unfamiliar.

Most people who have heard of Xia Lin's name are limited to the wanted list of the Heavenly Dao Creator.

People like Xiao Feng and Wen Rou know Xia Lin, but they don't know how much Xia Lin's strength has grown to.

Human Race Sequence Three, Leng Mo, turned to look at Bao Bowen.

"Your information is wrong. Xia Lin seems to be stronger than Hun Yi. Otherwise, given Hun Yi's personality, he would not be willing to be subordinate to someone else."

Bao Bowen gave a wry smile: "This person's growth rate is indeed quite fast. The information I have is only from half a year ago. At that time, his strength was probably in the top five of the rankings, similar to Soul One. Now, it seems that Brother Xia Lin has become even stronger..."

But just how strong it is remains a mystery.

The growth model of the Life and Death Battle system is too exaggerated. For those who are unfamiliar with this system, they simply cannot assess its growth speed and actual effects.

Thinking of this, Leng Mo nodded slightly: "It seems that this ranking battle will be quite interesting... I wonder if Xia Lin's strength can shake my ranking."

Behind him, some of the Super Star faction's Ash Walkers hurriedly said, "That's absolutely impossible... Sequence four and five are one tier, and the top three in sequence are another tier. I estimate that in this round, the top three in sequence will still be the top three in sequence. Xia Lin being able to shake Luo Zhidao's position is already an extraordinary feat."

Behind the Chaoxing camp, Wenrou opened her mouth as if to refute the statement, but then remained silent.

She had an inexplicable trust in Xia Lin, but her intuition told her that Xia Lin's strength should be inferior to that of Leng Mo and above.

He nodded calmly and indifferently, ignoring Xia Lin, then turned his gaze to the distance.

In the distance, a tall, imposing man dressed in a black dragon robe stood with his hands behind his back, taking in everything that had just happened.

Perhaps sensing Leng Mo's indifferent gaze, the person turned around and nodded slightly to him.

Sequence Two, Qin Tai, Lord of Ten Thousand Armies.

For these two, Wuxin was beyond their reach.

Below Luozhidao, there is another level of difference.

In their eyes, the biggest competitors in this sequence battle were each other; everyone else was beneath their notice.

Their eyes met, but they quickly looked away.

Qin Tai then looked at Xia Lin, who was leaving in the distance, and a hint of jealousy slowly rose in his eyes.

……

The City of Oaths is a supermodern metropolis.

The city has no residents and is managed by an AI and intelligent robots.

The arrival of hordes of Ashwalkers brought life to the area.

Xia Lin led Hun Yi and the others to a hotel, where they would have a place to stay for the next few days.

Human Sequence 26, Jiao Lengyan, and Human Sequence 11, Yordle, went out to gather intelligence and soon returned.

"This time, we have about a thousand people who passed the preliminary selection..."

Despite the large number, tens of thousands of Emberwalkers have already arrived in Oath City.

Proportionally speaking, the Demon Emperor's side's influence among the human race is indeed quite pitiful.

Hun Yi said calmly, "In the previous few Sequence Battles, I would always find Leng Mo first to discuss cooperation."

This is Dark Souls' consistent strategy: cooperation.

It's even a form of dependence.

There's nothing we can do. Among the human forces, the Heavenly Dao Creator is the most powerful. Strictly speaking, the core of the Super Star faction is also within the human race, but they just can't compete with that old scoundrel, the Heavenly Dao.

Joining forces is necessary for both sides.

Xia Lin thought for a moment and said, "Just do what you did before, and do it the same way now."

Hun Yi gave a wry smile: "I was afraid you would have a problem with that... With your strength, it's unreasonable for you to be relegated to a subordinate position."

In previous battles, cooperation between the two sides was characterized by indifference.

Soul One's individual strength is inferior to Leng Mo's, and his influence is also inferior, so it is only natural that he is the primary and secondary.

The situation is different now.

Xia Lin thought about it and realized that it made sense...

Damn it, I'm already this strong, and I still have to take orders from someone who's weaker than me. What's the point of me becoming stronger?

"Let's first establish a cooperation intention, and then discuss other things once the detailed rules are released."

Three days flew by.

The notification sound for the Ashes area is playing.

[The three-day countdown has ended; the City of Oaths is now closed!]

[A total of 132589 Human Ember Walkers have passed the preliminary selection. The preliminary selection assessment rules are now released!]

[Preliminary Stage Assessment Mode: Oath of the Lost City!]

[The City of Oaths: From this moment forward, countless traps and a fog capable of sealing all senses and communication will appear throughout the City of Oaths… All Ember Walkers are free to explore, hunt, and counter-hunt within this city!]

[This phase ends once 1000 survivors are selected, and the main human race ranking battle begins!]

[Note: You may leave the Oath City at any time and teleport back to your home planet without a ten-second waiting period. However, making this decision means you are voluntarily forfeiting this Sequence Ranking Battle!]

[Preliminary round assessment, begin immediately!]

The moment the system notification from the Ash Zone ended, endless mist immediately enveloped Xia Lin.

The fog obscures the view; even with Xia Lin's attributes combined with his Witness Talent, he cannot see through it!
The line of sight was blocked within a radius of ten meters.

When he turned to look at Hunyi, who had just been beside him, he found that Hunyi had disappeared.

“Layered space + spatial transfer... these preliminary rules are quite novel.”

Previously, Hunyi had discussed the format of the Sequence Battle Preliminary Rounds with Xia Lin.

Basically, all kinds of modes are available...

Team competitions, squad competitions, faction competitions, and so on.

The current Oath City can be categorized as an individual competition mode.

—The Ash District deliberately disrupted the power structure of the travelers, scattering everyone into the Dark Forest.

To stand out from this stage, one can only rely on their comprehensive abilities and hard skills.

Thinking of this, Xia Lin frowned.

Because this rule is only superficially fair.

……

The city of oaths shrouded in thick fog.

Inside the room, Wuxin stood up, a cold smile playing on his lips.

"Everything is inseparable from Master's calculations!"

"This model is indeed to my advantage!"

In theory, the six pillars are not ranked in any particular order, but their emphasis does differ.

When it comes to matters of fate and destiny, Heaven is indeed the first creator, and there is no room for argument about that.

This has inadvertently led to the following result: certain things will develop in a direction that benefits the Creator of Heaven.

For example, this ranking battle.

Rumors circulate that this ranking battle was initiated by the Creator of Heaven, with the aim of giving special instruction to His closed-door disciple, Wuxin.

However, within the Ash Zone, the six pillars check and balance each other, and even the Creator of the Heavenly Dao cannot violate the relevant rules—in other words, He cannot interfere with the detailed rules of the Sequence War, much less directly intervene.

However, indirect methods are always possible.

Considering the focus, it's unclear whether it was intentional or just luck, but the Ember Zone system introduced the current rules during the preliminary rounds.

—A rule that benefits those who are unintentional, even those who fabricate stories, and even all those who stray from the path of immortality.

Watch as Wuxin slowly stretched, his smile still innocent, but the words he uttered sent chills down one's spine.

"Let's die a few times first..."

Having said that, Wuxin smiled, pushed open the door, and walked out.

It remains unclear why Wuxin felt that the Oath City was advantageous to him.

But judging from his smile, he seemed to have already won.

……

In another space, in a room not far from Wuxin.

Luo Zhidao let out a soft sigh.

Thinking of Wuxin and Xia Lin, Luo Zhidao's gaze gradually became serious.

He was inherently competitive, and he felt angry when Wu Xin mocked him and Xia Lin ignored him.

At this moment, the rules of the Oath City were released, and Luo Zhidao keenly realized that these rules were practically tailor-made for him!
Amidst the fluctuations of immortal power, seven-colored threads spread out from Luo Zhidao's body.

This is Luo Zhidao's specialty, the Great Luo Zhitian Technique!

This is why Xia Lin said that the rules of the Oath City are only seemingly fair.

Because immortal cultivators cultivate the Heavenly Way and are in harmony with Heaven.

High-level Immortal Path practitioners in the Ash Zone, such as Luo Zhidao, are fully capable of briefly merging with the Oath City, thereby avoiding the suppression of the city's rules, and even using the city's rules in reverse to turn passivity into initiative!
This Oath City is almost identical to the Immortal Path's home ground.

But soon, something unexpected happened!

Luo Zhidao had just connected to the Oath Maze City, and before even the foreplay was finished, dozens of completely different energies and auras abruptly entered it.

Most of them were immortal powers, but a small portion were of various kinds, which even Luo Zhidao, with his knowledge, could not recognize.

This made Luo Zhidao narrow his eyes slightly and nod knowingly.

"Hidden talents abound; this is how the Sequence Battle should be!"

The real battle has not yet taken place, but the battle for control of the rules of the Oath City has already begun.

This game was undoubtedly a high-level match.

Inside the room, Xia Lin smiled.

"It seems fair and good... I like this kind of differential treatment."

Not for any other reason, but because Xia Lin also has the means to interfere with the Heavenly Dao.

Moreover, the strength of this method may even surpass that of the Luo Zhi Dao.

"It's a shame I didn't crush you last time. This time, I'm going to give you a big one!"

As he muttered to himself, Xia Lin's figure grew taller.

Black Origin Martial God Form, activated!