Talented Martial Hero
Chapter 234 Exclusion

"What on earth could be going on? Why are there so many superior talents here? Are they planningon taking the examination, too?"

Everyone was greatly puzzled.

"I never expected that the Ancient Void Battlefield would suddenly open. Surely, a few among youwill be lucky to have the opportunity to enter it," the old man standing in the middle of the hallproclaimed at last.

"But what is the Ancient Void Battlefield?” Almost everyone was still confused, most of them neverhaving heard of this before.

The elder from the Grand Void Manor explained its history in detail, and they finally understood itall. Once they found out about it, some of them grew quite excited, while others felt rather worried.The Void Battlefield, according to the elder, was a broken space that had remained active sinceancient times. It contained many treasures.

However, it was difficult to obtain these treasures, unless one could pass the grueling tests thatarose as they challenged every step of the way.

In its very essence, the Void Battlefield was an assessment space.

For the longest time, it had opened every few months and allowed several geniuses to enter. Evenso, the many talents who had attempted to reach its depths had gone no deeper than the peripheryand were only able to compete with each other there for the treasures. The most important and vitalpart of the Void Battlefield was the Ancient Void Battlefield.

It opened every one hundred and eighty years. Legend said that its heritage was truly beyondshocking. It had been thousands of years since the Grand Void Manor was established and from thetime of its birth, tremendously gifted talents had already ventured there, but not one of themacquired the real, great heritage.

If all went according to plan, the Ancient Void Battlefield was expected to open twenty years later.That was why its surprisingly early appearance startled many grand warriors.

The Void Battlefield opened only for one day. Only fifty warriors under the age of twenty-five wouldbe permitted to enter. The moment they heard the news, a few grand warriors immediatelygathered the superior talents under their command, fourteen in total.

Since it was a rare opportunity, the rest of the thirty-six places would be selected from the geniusesthat happened to take the examination on ordinary martial skills today. Since there were hundredsof talents here, a quick selection must be carried out in order to guarantee the efficiency of theprocess. It was a disappointing blow to some of them. Here was a great opportunity right beforetheir very eyes, but the chances of qualifying were slim for the more inferior ones. They felt reallyupset at missing this rare chance to try and prove themselves.

"Elder, what is the distribution of the rest thirty-six places? Are the winners decided on the arena?” agenius asked, confident in his strength.

The elder of Grand Void Manor just shook his head and replied, "Since time is limited, I havediscussed with the lords present to draw up the selection mechanism.”

The elder paused, and then added, "Twenty-one of the rest of the places will be recommended bythe superior talents from the seven biggest alliances, and the other fifteen places will be selectedfrom the twenty talents ranking among the top five hundred on the Talent Roll.”

"That's unfair! How about us?"

some cultivators from the other alliances complained about the unfairness of the process

"Silence!" the elder from Grand Void Manor shouted. The loud din hushed. No one dared utter asound against his wishes. Then he continued, "Save your complaints! It is the lords, not you or I, thatare responsible for the selection mechanism.

Superior talents, you can start to recommend the geniuses in your alliances.”

Each alliance had two representatives among the fourteen superior talents. Since they had alreadyhad a framework of the geniuses in their alliances, the list of recommendations was accomplishedquite efficiently.

"Next, the twenty geniuses among the top five hundred on the Talent Roll will compete in the arena.The winner will be decided within one round. The five weakest geniuses will be eliminated. If anyonewants to drop out of the competition now, please do as you like. I won't oblige you to stay here,"the elder from the Grand Void Manor said, looking around at them. The Ancient Void Battlefieldopened only for one day, and half a day had already elapsed. Everyone looked around at eachother, and started to get worried. Time was running out!

After the elder's declaration, no one quit the qualifying battle. All of the twenty geniuses includingDarren yearned for a chance to enter the Ancient Void Battlefield.

"Darren, I have faith in you,” Boyce smiled at him warmly.

"I will try my best," Darren said with a confident nod. The truth was, he was also convinced that withhis power, he wouldn't be among the five eliminated geniuses. His strength alone was able todeflect any strike, so no one could knock him down in a single round.

"Well then, follow me to the arena!" the elder from Grand Void Manor commanded.

Darren began to walk forward, but was stopped by the elder's hand pushing firmly on his shoulder."You must be Darren. You don't have to go through with the competition,” the elder said quietly."Why?" Darren was stunned.

"Because your realm is too low, young man. The Ancient Void Battle field will be too tough for you. Ithink you should make room for the other qualified geniuses rather than waste the rareopportunity,” the elder replied.

"Don't look down on me! You're right; my realm is lower than the others, so what? As you can see, Iam still among the top five hundred on the Talent Roll!" Darren yelled at the elder in rage, clenchinghis fists. He was fuming. How dare this old man push him aside in public!

"Young man, it is no use shouting at me. I'm not the one making decisions.” The elder lookedunhappy, but he went on, "Don't hide the truth. All the lords know that you have cultivated a bodyrefining skill. That's why you're on the Talent Roll. Exploring the Ancient Void Battlefield requirespower, real power. Do you understand?"

With a serious nod, the elder left Darren alone as he led the other nineteen geniuses toward thearena.

Standing in the middle of the hall, Darren could sense the scornful looks from all directions lingeringon him. They began whispering, someone even smirking directly, "Oh, what a waste! Fortunately,you didn't join the Dragon Alliance, or it will be really humiliating!” the members of Dragon Alliancejeered, rolling their eyes at Darren with distain.

Even some minor alliances which had tried to bond with Darren started to sneer at him too. "You'rejust a hypocrite. A weak man shouldn't have such unfounded pride and pretentiousness. You makeus feel sick."

The jeers came from almost every group there. Though Darren was furious at their words, he failedto defend himself.

Darren sneered at those lords, who had made such a rash decision. The Ancient Void Battlefieldseemed not to be worth his painstaking striving. Then and there, he made up his mind. He resolvedto never help any grand warrior to replace the Primitive Stone once he was among the top onehundred of the Talent Roll.

As Darren turned to leave, a girl by his side held him back.

"Darren, don't go. We have faith in your power. We will give you our place.”

Both Betty and Boyce were the chosen ones to enter the Ancient Void Battlefield.

"That's right, Darren. You can join Skywalker Alliance temporarily. Betty has decided to give you herplace. And you can quit whenever you like,” Boyce said.

"Never mind. Forget about the Ancient Void Battlefield. I can't do that to Betty. I don't want theopportunity that badly.” Darren shook his head proudly.

"Darren, don't refuse it. Now they look down on you. What better way to prove to them that you areeven more qualified? Show them who's really on top! I believe in you. I'm sure we can obtain sometreasures this time," Boyce said encouragingly.

"Yes, Darren. I think I am nowhere near your tremendous power, so you had better take my place. Itmakes much more sense! If you manage to acquire something, don't forget to share it with me,”Betty smiled sweetly.

Darren meant to decline their kindness, but Boyce and Betty tried hard to persuade him to acceptthe place. Finally, he grudgingly agreed.

"What! How dare you give your precious place to such a worthless guy?" Don Zhou yelled loudly atBoyce and Betty. Since each alliance could recommend three geniuses, he had been the thirdchosen one of Skywalker Alliance.

"Don, you'd better keep your mouth shut! I have brought up the matter to Tom and he has alreadyagreed.” Boyce had always been on bad terms with Don Zhou.

"Humph, you bastard. I've watched you for a long time. If your decision proves a waste of time, youwill suffer the consequences when you come back to Skywalker Alliance,” Don Zhou said withvenom.

Darren didn't take heed of his empty threats. He was in a place where his actions would speak muchlouder than his words.

Seven men were talking and drinking tea in a quiet yard of the Grand Void Manor.

"Chad, how could your disciples make the lad join your alliance? I hear that he didn't deserve to beon the Talent Roll," a big man sneered.

"Brian, are you gloating over me? Or are you laughing at me?" Chad Lou said with great displeasure.Just now, it had been Brian You who proposed to exclude Darren from the qualifying battles. Theother masters of the seven alliances also found that the reason why Darren was able to withdrawthe warriors at the middle age of the Wonder Realm was that he had just cultivated a body refiningskill, but his real power was only in the Mysterious Realm. How could he overcome the severechallenges in Ancient Void Battlefield? Based on this consideration, they concurred that excludingDarren right away was justifiable.

Then one man acted as a peacemaker. "Well, no more arguing. We can personally reiterate thedecision later. By the way, if anyone of them reaches the eleventh round of Ancient Void Battlefield,there will be a sumptuous harvest."

"Good point. Many Primitive Stones are stored there. Chad, since you have Darren, the so-calledsuper genius, I have a feeling that you will make a fortune this time. Ha-ha!" Another man laughedsarcastically. Well, they would have to wait and see just how things would turn out!