So at this moment, Arthur feels no sorrow, only anger from suffering a loss.

His subordinates quickly bowed their heads in fear and explained with trepidation: "It was the Vermilion Bird Divine General who made a move; under the Celestial Fire Divine Sword, everything is incinerated, and the Omen Bird is thus left with no remains."

Under temperatures comparable to the sun's purification, flesh and blood naturally stand no chance.

Knowing it was a Martial Saint personally involved, Arthur, despite his displeasure, could only consider himself unlucky. However, he then laughed: "This is fine too. After all, the reason I sent people to attack Ye Qingzhou was merely to attract the attention of the Western Pole Kingdom and Dongji Kingdom's intelligence departments. Now, with the Omen Bird's death, the whole situation has become even more credible."

The goal of Kabbalah has always been to perform special mystical rituals by spreading the plague, thereby using the concept and ideology of the plague to summon the Plague Knight from the Spiritual Realm to Blue Star.

In fact, this is just the first step!

Domineering the Blue Star financial markets, the Golden Council has long secretly controlled food and arms trade outside the Dongji Kingdom.

They create hunger, they incite war, in extracting excessive profits, they also perform special rituals to summon the Hunger Knight and War Knight among the Four Knights of the Apocalypse.

Finally, when nearly ten billion people on Blue Star die massively in plague, hunger, and war, the tide of death will impact the barrier of the Spiritual Realm, summoning the last of the Four Knights—the Death Knight—to the human world.

Once all Four Knights descend, they will blow the horn of doom, open the Heavenly Gate leading to the Divine Dynasty, and humanity on Blue Star will face the ultimate catastrophe.

Nick thought he was redirecting disaster, but in reality, the disaster first surged from the Western Pole Kingdom.

......

"Strange..."

Ye Qingzhou is sitting in the passenger seat of a fiery red electric sports car, activating the Celestial Eye on his forehead, scrutinizing the building in front of them repetitively but still finding nothing.

The driver of the supercar is a stunning woman with fair skin and lips like flames. Her eyes are sharp as swords, exuding an aura of majesty without anger.

"Have you found anything?"

Vermilion Bird, wearing large black sunglasses, casually resting her Jade-like arm against the car window, sat there expressionlessly, accompanying Ye Qingzhou to inspect enemy situations.

The target of the inspection is precisely the six buildings Ye Qingzhou encountered in earlier visions that are problematic.

Ye Qingzhou shook his head: "Indeed, there are arrays set up inside the building, but they're just ordinary arrays that gather Primordial Qi. At most, the six arrays can perceive each other and coordinate Qi, which is not illegal."

"Oh, what a bother."

Vermilion Bird seemed a little impatient: "The people above are still too concerned. According to me, we should just arrest them directly and then let Cyan Dragon use the Great Derivation Divine Technique to calculate the Celestial Secret. What can't you find out? At that point, arrest those who need arresting and kill those who need killing, not like now, where things are about to escalate to bloodshed, yet they're still concerned about acting with justification. Isn't this tying one's hands and feet?"

"..."

Even Ye Qingzhou, as an activist, felt Vermilion Bird's approach was somewhat too aggressive.

After all, politics is the art of compromise, and the Zhuang Family, the capital comprador lackeys, are never the focus; if you strike, strike against the master behind the dog.

"By the way."

Vermilion Bird turned her head, looking seriously at Ye Qingzhou: "Kabbalah may send people again to snatch the Philosopher's Stone from you. Don't wander around in the coming days, or I can't guarantee your safety."

"Alright."

Ye Qingzhou nodded in response. In reality, he had already summoned Yingyue to Xiangjiang as his personal bodyguard.

But having another Martial Saint-level expert beside him naturally increases his safety; only a fool would refuse such a thing.

Though Ye Qingzhou is wild, he understands the seriousness of the situation. Kabbalah has forces of Golden Martial Saint-level power, and if they disregard face and send a Martial Saint against him, he may suffer a great loss.

Now, with two Martial Saints—one in the light and one in the dark—serving him together, such fortune is not a privilege enjoyed by ordinary people.

A week passed in the blink of an eye.

Everything remained calm, with no incidents.

The preliminary rounds came to an end, and Xu Yunxi astonishingly fought more courageously, successfully qualifying for the main event, almost transforming with each battle into a new self, her strength advancing by leaps and bounds.

Even Xu Yunxi was surprised by her rapid progress.

But Ye Qingzhou saw clearly: "The strand of Innate Metal Sword Qi within you is constantly nourishing your essence, Qi, and spirit, placing you in a state of burgeoning fortune. This means whatever you do now, you are perceptive and seem divinely assisted. But this is not normal, so you need to seize it well."

"Hmm."

Xu Yunxi nodded earnestly, her bright eyes soft yet determined.

Although a senior by generation, Ye Qingzhou's cultivation and realm were higher, so she listened intently to his guidance, not daring to be careless, remembering his words profoundly.

The next day, the main event participants went forward for a draw.

The Celestial Sword Cup main event was divided into two parts.

The first part was the group stage, where sixty-four participants were divided into four groups, sixteen per group. After one round, the top four in points advanced to the sixteen-strong competition, while the rest were eliminated.

The second part was the sixteen-strong competition.

From here, the matches entered the elimination phase; the winners progressed all the way, participating in the quarter-finals and the final four semi-finals, and the ultimate final round to compete for the laurels.

Ye Qingzhou was the first participant to step on stage for the draw, which drew everyone's attention.

"Why is the first to draw in this Celestial Sword Cup a young man?"

"Wow, don't you even recognize him?"

"Who is he?"

"He is ranked first on the Hidden Dragon List, personally selected by the World Martial Arts Discussion, the strongest genius among the younger generation in the martial arts world of Dongji Kingdom!"

Among those watching, many young people recognized Ye Qingzhou, and some were even fans from Ye Qingzhou's live stream.

Only the older martial arts community understood that being the first to draw in the Celestial Sword Cup signified a special meaning—this meant that the Celestial Sword Cup evaluators unanimously believe Ye Qingzhou is most likely to win the championship.

Many found it hard to believe, since Ye Qingzhou was too young. Advancing to Grandmaster at eighteen was already shocking, and now you say this "newcomer" could win the Celestial Sword Cup, an international top-level martial arts tournament?

It's simply a joke!

The weight of the Hidden Dragon List in such a top-tier competition starting with masters like Celestial Sword Cup is negligible.

Therefore, among the martial arts community present, not many had faith in Ye Qingzhou.

On the contrary, fellow draw participants Huo Qingyun, Ann Daoyuan, and Li Yunsheng regarded Ye Qingzhou as a formidable opponent, each concentrating and observing him.

Celestial Sword Sikong Jingming, one of the evaluators for this Celestial Sword Cup, is known for his title "Heart Like a Clear Mirror," with insightful gaze and impeccable judgment.

So if even he believes Ye Qingzhou is the strongest in this Celestial Sword Cup, then undoubtedly, Ye Qingzhou is the strongest among all participants.

Walking onto the stage, Ye Qingzhou felt the powerful battle intent from Huo Qingyun, Ann Daoyuan, and Li Yunsheng, and his Sword Intent similarly responded.

Soon the entire arena echoed with the sound of Sword Qi resonating, with the weapons of other participants and even the audience specializing in swordsmanship echoing together, embodying the phenomenon of Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Root.

"Sword Follows Heart, this is the sign of a swordsman's Mental Imagery taking shape!"

"Who? Who has triggered this heavenly anomaly?"

Then, everyone's gaze focused on Ye Qingzhou, Huo Qingyun, Ann Daoyuan, and Li Yunsheng, anticipating the impending earth-shattering battle.

The victor might forge a Mental Imagery, reaching the Martial Saint Realm.

Soon, Ye Qingzhou drew number four ball and was assigned to group four.

Huo Qingyun went to group two, Ann Daoyuan to group one, Li Yunsheng to group three, the four championship favorites were skillfully separated to avoid clashes before the quarter-finals.