scramble

As the loud bell rang, Long Chen and Tang Waner shot forward like arrows released from a bowstring. At the same time, the other Core Disciples were no slower than the two of them.

Everyone could see that this was a ruthless battle for resources; he who strikes first gains the advantage, and seizing the initiative was crucial.

However, although they started almost simultaneously, Tang Waner was the fastest. Having undergone an Awakening of the Ancestral Runes, she possessed greater control over the power of wind, making her speed the best among everyone present.

After Long Chen and the others dashed out, those behind them followed rapidly. However, unlike the others, Long Chen's group moved slightly slower because they had to maintain their formation.

The other factions clearly didn't have such concerns; they sprinted with all their might, without any formation at all.

"Whoosh." Tang Waner was the first to reach a small flag. With a stretch of her jade hand, she pulled the flag from the ground and flicked it, sending it flying straight toward Guo Ran in the team.

Guo Ran caught the flag immediately and placed it into the quiver on his back. Once the flag was inserted, a number immediately lit up on the quiver: One.

This meant that they had successfully obtained one small flag. At this moment, the other Core Disciples had also arrived at the locations of the small flags and were reaching out to seize them.

Just as they were scrambling for the first flag, Tang Waner's second flag was already flying toward them, putting her a big step ahead of the others.

The others couldn't help but feel a jolt in their hearts when they saw this. If things continued like this, her advantage would be far too significant.

However, now was not the time to fight others; they had to focus on seizing the flags on the ground first, and then fight to take them from others later.

Qi Xin's team was to the right of Long Chen. He had just sprinted to the first small flag and reached out to grab it, only to grasp at empty air.

He discovered in shock that the small flag had actually taken flight on its own, slowly drifting into the distance.

Startled, he immediately spotted Long Chen and flew into a rage: "Long Chen, you are courting death!"

Under the guidance of Long Chen's Soul Power, the small flag had been snatched from a distance, causing him to miss his grab.

After Long Chen grabbed the small flag, he didn't even look at it, casually tossing it toward his own team while sprinting toward the next flag.

He didn't even glance at Qi Xin. What an idiot. At a time like this, instead of rushing to grab flags, he actually had time to curse. Long Chen truly admired his intelligence.

"Don't daze off, grab the flags first!"

Gu Yang, in the distance, shouted a reminder and continued sprinting forward, though his path was above Long Chen's.

If Long Chen continued to grab flags along that route, he would inevitably cross paths with him. A hint of mockery appeared in Gu Yang's eyes.

Because he could see that the route Long Chen had chosen had seven flags, and they were all the most conveniently located; Long Chen would definitely not change his route.

For a moment, flags were flying everywhere. Guo Ran and the people around him focused intently on catching the incoming flags and placing them into the quiver. In just a few breaths, they had already secured eight flags.

The people around him were all tightly surrounding Guo Ran, advancing in a triangular formation.

Long Chen had previously instructed them that their mission was to protect Guo Ran and not let anyone get close.

"Watch out! Damn, the flag was stolen!"

Someone roared in anger. It turned out that because everyone was focused on sprinting forward, one faction hadn't paid attention, allowing someone from another guild to break into their formation. That person grabbed three flags from their quiver and tossed them toward his own camp.

By the time the members of that faction reacted, the flags had already entered the quiver of the other faction.

That faction was furious. The guy who had rushed in to steal the flags was beaten until his nose was bleeding profusely and he passed out, but trading his injuries for three flags was definitely worth it.

That faction began to launch a frantic assault on the other faction, but the latter was now on guard, making it impossible to succeed.

For a time, the scene behind was extremely chaotic, but Long Chen's side was not in the least bit disorganized. A few who tried to fish in troubled waters were beaten away immediately.

Their ironclad defense kept Guo Ran very safe; he and the few people around him only needed to pay attention to the incoming flags.

Ye Zhiqiu's side was attacked, but they were also very smart. Seeing Long Chen's side set up that formation from the beginning, they followed suit and were not successfully targeted.

The Core Disciples were extremely fast. After Tang Waner pulled out a small flag in front of her and tossed it to Guo Ran, she discovered that there were no more flags nearby.

Looking into the distance, there were still a few scattered flags, but it was too late for her to rush over; others were much closer than she was.

"Fall back and defend!"

Long Chen gave a low shout to Tang Waner while sprinting toward the last flag himself. After obtaining this flag, he would also need to fall back and defend.

Now that all the flags on the battlefield had been pulled, Long Chen took a look. Guo Ran's quiver already contained thirty-six flags, currently placing them in first place.

In second place was Gu Yang's faction with twenty-seven, and Ye Zhiqiu's side had nineteen. Their exact ranking was currently unknown, but it was certainly not low.

Because several factions only had three or five flags; one reason was that they weren't very good at observing and hadn't chosen their routes well, causing them to collide with others.

Another reason was that they hadn't been able to seize the initiative and were beaten to the punch by others, leaving them with nothing but to stare blankly.

Just as Long Chen's hand was about to touch that flag, a warning sign suddenly arose in his heart. A terrifying gust of wind was heading straight for his back.

Before the attack arrived, the terrifying pressure already made Long Chen's bones ache; it was an incredibly terrifying power.

Long Chen didn't even think, immediately shifting a dozen feet to the side. Turning his head, he saw Gu Yang's figure exactly where he had just been, still maintaining his punching posture.

"Not bad reactions, but that won't stop me from smashing you into meat paste."

Gu Yang was somewhat surprised that Long Chen had been able to dodge his sneak attack. He let out a cold snort and reached out to grab the small flag.

Long Chen snorted coldly. Moving objects from a distance using Soul Power was too draining on his Soul Power, but since they already had enough flags, he didn't care about this one. He flicked his finger, and a blue spark flew out.

Just as Gu Yang's hand was about to touch the flag, the small spark struck it. The small flag was immediately incinerated by a powerful flame force, rendering it useless.

Gu Yang was furious, a ferocious expression appearing on his face as he punched toward Long Chen.

"Go to hell!"

Long Chen's expression turned solemn. Activating his Fengfu Star, he also threw a punch.

"Boom!" With an explosive sound, Long Chen felt an unstoppable force surge through him. His arm shook violently, as if it were about to snap, and he was sent flying backward.

"What powerful strength!"

Long Chen was greatly shocked. This Gu Yang was truly worthy of being the first powerhouse to undergo an Awakening of the Ancestral Runes; his strength was unimaginably great.

This punch alone, relying solely on Physical Body strength, had sent Long Chen flying. This was the first time Long Chen had encountered someone with a Physical Body stronger than his own.

"Take another punch!"

After sending Long Chen flying with one punch, Gu Yang moved his feet, caught up to Long Chen, and swung another punch.

After this punch was swung, the sleeves on his arms burst apart. The tattoo-like runes on his arms slowly lit up, and the terrifying pressure made one's heart tremble.

Long Chen immediately felt the terrifying pressure, knowing that Gu Yang's strength far exceeded his imagination. He could no longer hold back.

"Hum." The heavens and earth trembled. A huge divine ring appeared behind Long Chen, and a terrifying Aura rose up, as if a god of war had descended upon the world.

At the same time, Long Chen extended his hand, and a massive blade of fire was born, taking the form of a blue saber over a dozen feet long.

Blue flames rolled across the blade, which was covered in dense runes, scorching the sky. As soon as the fire blade appeared, it slashed toward Gu Yang.

"Boom!" The loud sound shook the heavens. The fire blade collided with Gu Yang's rune-covered fist, erupting with a terrifying wave of air, and both Long Chen and Gu Yang were knocked back.

Gu Yang was greatly shocked. Although he had heard that Long Chen had very powerful methods, as someone who had undergone an Awakening of the Ancestral Runes, he wouldn't take a rookie who was only at the Blood Condensation Late Stage seriously.

He had originally thought he could settle Long Chen with one strike, but he hadn't expected Long Chen to actually take his blow just like that.

The commotion here shocked everyone for a moment, but they soon began to fight frantically again because they discovered that the stick of incense had already burned more than halfway. They had to fight with all their might, and the entire scene was in a chaotic battle.

Because none of them had experience in team battles, everyone was acting on their own, and the whole scene looked like a group of thugs brawling.

Elder Sun, who had been watching the whole scene, saw the divine ring behind Long Chen, and a look of burning desire appeared in his eyes.

He could feel that the ring behind Long Chen was continuously absorbing the energy of the heavens and earth to replenish his Spiritual Qi.

Such a battle technique was simply a divine skill. With such a battle technique, one would not fear group battles, and he became even more desperate to obtain it.

Senior Brother Wan watched as someone with only Blood Condensation realm cultivation was able to block a strike from Gu Yang—and a strike imbued with rune power at that—and couldn't help but inwardly praise him.

No one knew that on Tianmu Mountain, in front of the entrance to an Immortal Cave, a table had been set up where two people were drinking fragrant tea and watching the battle in the distance.

"Sect Leader, do you know what battle technique this is?" Tu Fang asked.

Ling Yunzi shook his head and said, "I have never heard of it. There are similar battle techniques, but those are all Cultivation Techniques that assist in cultivation, not in battle.

The ring behind Long Chen not only absorbs the energy of the heavens and earth to replenish his own consumption, but it can also boost his combat power several times over. It doesn't look like a Cultivation Technique, nor does it look like a battle technique. Hehe, interesting."

Ling Yunzi and Tu Fang were watching this great competition from hundreds of miles away. Ling Yunzi also wanted to see just how strong this legendary anomaly really was.

After the strike, Gu Yang smiled coldly and said, "You have some skills. This way, I don't have to worry about beating you to death."

After Gu Yang finished speaking, his Aura slowly climbed, and the runes on his body began to flicker continuously, as if countless caterpillars were constantly twisting their bodies, eerie and terrifying.

As his Aura continued to rise, the soil beneath his feet began to crack apart, and the space around him twisted, as if he were a humanoid monster.

"I said it before: I will beat you into a meat patty!"

Gu Yang let out a roar, moved his feet, and with an explosive sound from the ground, he charged toward Long Chen.