"Participate," Li Yun replied calmly.

The old man gave a slight nod before continuing.

"State your name, age, and background."

His eyes became sharper.

"Do not falsify any information. The consequences would be severe."

Li Yun naturally understood the importance of that warning.

Name and background mattered, but age mattered the most.

The Hidden Dragon Tournament had strict rules. Only young talents under thirty years of age were permitted to participate. Anyone above that age was forbidden from entering the competition.

In the past, some cultivators older than thirty had tried to deceive the city authorities in order to compete and obtain the blessing of Dragon Qi.

Their endings had been miserable.

Some were crippled.

Some were publicly executed.

Some disappeared without even a burial place.

Li Yun nodded and answered clearly.

"Li Yun, eighteen years old, true disciple of the Martial Ascension Gate."

The old man in black glanced at him for a moment, then casually flicked his sleeve.

A token flew toward Li Yun.

"This is your identity token. Take it and enter."

Li Yun caught it smoothly.

The token was gray in color and shaped like a coiled dragon. Its craftsmanship was exquisite, with scales, claws, and curved horns carved in fine detail. At the position of the dragon’s heart, the name Li Yun was inscribed clearly.

This object was known as the Hidden Dragon Token.

Within it rested a faint wisp of Dragon Qi.

When the Hidden Dragon Tournament began, participants could seize the Hidden Dragon Tokens of defeated opponents and absorb the Dragon Qi contained within them. The more victories one achieved, the greater the amount of Dragon Qi they would accumulate.

When the tournament finally ended, each participant could refine the Dragon Qi gathered inside their token and bestow its benefits upon themselves.

The greater the amount stored within the token, the greater the rewards one would receive.

Li Yun looked at the token briefly before storing it away.

From this moment onward, every competitor on the island would become both hunter and prey.

"Next!"

The old man’s cold voice rang out again.

As Li Yun stepped through the gates and entered Hidden Dragon City, another martial artist walked forward to register.

He was a lean young man with sharp features and a steady aura. His cultivation had already reached the third level of the Essence Qi Realm.

That was the normal threshold for participation.

At the very least, most entrants were expected to possess the cultivation of the Essence Qi Realm before daring to join the Hidden Dragon Tournament.

Of course, exceptions existed.

Someone like Li Yun, who remained in the Qi Sea Realm yet possessed battle power far beyond his realm, was still allowed to enter. If a person believed they could survive and perform well despite lower cultivation, no one would stop them.

But such people were rare.

Most who overestimated themselves only entered to become stepping stones for true geniuses.

"Name, age, background."

The same cold and emotionless question once again came from the mouth of the old man in black robes.

His tone did not rise or fall in the slightest, as though he had repeated those words countless times and would continue repeating them countless more.

Standing before him, the lean young man cupped his fists respectfully and answered without hesitation.

"Wang Chao, twenty-four years old, loose cultivator."

The old man glanced at him briefly, then continued the registration process without any visible reaction.

Li Yun, who had not yet moved far, heard the exchange clearly.

His thoughts stirred slightly.

Participation in the Hidden Dragon Tournament was not a privilege reserved solely for disciples of the great sects. Talented individuals from independent backgrounds could also qualify to enter, and among them, loose cultivators occasionally appeared.

However, in previous Hidden Dragon Tournaments, loose cultivators had rarely achieved impressive results.

The reason was simple.

Loose cultivators walked the martial path alone.

They lacked abundant cultivation resources.

They lacked high-quality cultivation techniques and powerful martial skills.

They lacked guidance from experienced masters who could point out flaws and prevent costly mistakes.

Everything had to be explored through personal effort, trial, danger, and failure.

Every breakthrough was harder.

Every step required more sacrifice.

Sect disciples, on the other hand, lived in a completely different world.

They had access to pills, spirit stones, training grounds, libraries, inheritances, and teachers of high standing. If they encountered confusion, elders could guide them. If they lacked resources, the sect could provide support.

This difference in foundation created a huge gap.

Because of that, loose cultivators were generally at a disadvantage when facing disciples nurtured by major powers.

Of course, exceptions always existed.

Every now and then, an extraordinary rogue genius would rise through blood and hardship to shake the established order.

But such figures were rare.

Li Yun withdrew his thoughts and continued walking into Hidden Dragon City.

Because the Hidden Dragon Tournament was about to begin, the city had become exceptionally lively during this period.

The streets were packed with endless streams of people.

Crowds surged in every direction like waves of a restless sea. Looking across the avenues, one could see only layers of moving figures stretching far into the distance. Voices overlapped with voices, footsteps mixed with merchants’ calls, and discussions of the tournament filled the air until the noise became almost deafening.

The entire city felt alive with anticipation.

Vendors displayed treasures, pills, weapons, talismans, and rare ingredients along both sides of the streets. Inns overflowed with guests. Restaurants were filled with travelers speaking of famous geniuses and upcoming battles.

Everywhere one looked, excitement and tension could be felt.

What stood out most, however, was the sheer number of young experts gathered here.

Talents of the Essence Qi Realm, who would normally be considered remarkable figures in many places, could be seen almost everywhere in Hidden Dragon City.

They walked the streets openly, gathered in groups, stood proudly beside sect elders, or quietly observed the surroundings with sharp eyes.

To exaggerate only slightly, if someone threw a brick into the busiest avenue, nine out of ten people struck would likely be young talents of the Essence Qi Realm.

For ordinary martial artists, such people were already experts worthy of admiration.

For Li Yun, however, they did not hold much weight.

With his current cultivation and battle power, most of these so-called young talents were merely average figures who could not draw his attention.

Yet Li Yun did not allow himself to feel contempt because of that.

His confidence came from strength, but arrogance born from ignorance was foolishness.

The moment he entered the city, his powerful spirit soul had already begun sensing the auras hidden within Hidden Dragon City.

And what he sensed caused his eyes to sharpen slightly.

Among the countless people moving through the streets were many individuals who had concealed their presence, yet their true strength could not fully escape his perception.

Some of those hidden auras were weaker than his, but only by a small margin.

Some were nearly equal to him, carrying steady and dangerous pressure.

And some were even stronger.

Those auras were restrained, quiet, and difficult to detect, but they existed like sleeping beasts hidden within the crowd.

Li Yun immediately understood the truth.

This single Hidden Dragon Tournament had drawn together the geniuses, monsters, and prodigies of the entire Southern Martial Domain.

The weak might come here to watch.

The talented came here to compete.

But the true monsters had come here to seize destiny.