That was Master Yu Han’s aura.
Evidently, their master had personally stepped forward to handle the final registration procedures for the millions of competing students from Canaan Starry Sky Martial Arts University.
Sure enough, after only a few minutes, every Canaan student’s personal terminal simultaneously received a broadcast message from Master Yu Han, as concise and to the point as ever.
Registration is complete.
All participating students, leave this vessel immediately and transfer to the planetary passenger ships docked at the external port. Select your preliminary match venue according to your registered competition zone.
The preliminary round is about to begin.
Once the directive was issued, the entire silent, colossal vessel instantly came to life.
Millions of students emerged from their cabins and poured into the wide interior corridors. They formed immense currents of people, surging in an orderly fashion toward the designated disembarkation points.
Qin Feng and his three companions were swept up in the crowd, moving along with the main throng.
Stepping onto the cold alloy deck of the Space Fortress, a grander, more bustling atmosphere washed over them.
Ships of every model imaginable, emblazoned with the insignias of countless different academies, filled every corner of their view. Young geniuses from various star systems, clad in an array of combat suit styles, brushed shoulders with one another, their faces alight with either excitement or confidence.
This was a true gathering of geniuses.
Guided by port staff, they quickly found rows of massive, planetary passenger ships that resembled aerial trains.
These passenger ships had sleek, streamlined bodies covered by Energy Shields. They were designed for mass personnel transport between the Space Fortress and the planetary arenas below, functioning much like a city’s public transit system.
Without a moment’s hesitation, Qin Feng and his companions boarded a passenger ship marked "Sixth-level Martial Artist Division."
Upon entering the ship’s interior, even for someone as worldly as Qin Feng and his friends, the sheer vastness of the space within was shocking.
This didn’t feel like a "bus" at all; it was more like a colossal, mobile plaza, with tiered seating and standing areas capable of accommodating over a million passengers at once.
Following the crowd, they found a relatively open space inside the ship and settled there.
With a steady hum of energy, the passenger ship slowly lifted off, detaching from the Space Fortress. It became a streak of light, rocketing toward the massive blue-green planet below.
Just a few minutes later, the passenger ship docked smoothly at its destination.
When the doors hissed open and the crowd disembarked, an immense and utterly magnificent plaza unfolded before their eyes.
The plaza was paved with an unknown, pure-white, jade-like stone. It was as smooth as a mirror and stretched beyond the horizon.
Suspended in the sky were several artificial suns, bathing the entire plaza in a soft light as bright as day.
Surrounding the plaza stood colossal pillars of light that pierced the clouds. Vast streams of data flowed across their surfaces, clearly marking them as the control hub for the entire arena.
This was the venue for the Sixth-level Martial Artist preliminary round.
Just as the crowd stood in awe of the sight, a majestic, neutral, and completely emotionless synthetic voice echoed across the plaza, reaching every single person’s ears with perfect clarity.
"Welcome to the ’Starry Sky Cup’ Martial Dao Tournament, Division Six, Sixth-level Martial Artist Preliminary Round."
"All contestants, please proceed in an orderly fashion through the qualification gates ahead. You must display your ’Imperial Arena’ rank and your real-time vitality index."
"Once verified, you may enter the dedicated space for the preliminary round."
As the voice spoke, over a thousand archways formed of pure light materialized at the front of the plaza.
The voice paused for a moment before announcing the specific rules for this competition.
"The competition for the Sixth-level Martial Artist Division will be divided into six stages: the Preliminary Round, the Main Tournament, the Top 100,000, the Top 10,000, the Top 100, and the final Championship."
"Stage One: Preliminary Round.
All contestants will enter an individual Virtual Space to face a Virtual Puppet generated by the tournament system. The puppet’s strength is fixed.
The puppet’s vitality index is locked at Ten Thousand Points. The Fourth-level Killing Technique it wields is at the ’Minor Accomplishment’ stage.
Successfully defeating the Virtual Puppet within the time limit will clear the preliminary round and grant you qualification for the next stage: the ’Main Tournament’."
"Stage Two: Main Tournament.
All contestants who pass the preliminaries will enter a single, massive, open-world battlefield that simulates a variety of complex terrains for an all-out battle royale.
Survive the battle royale until you are among the last one hundred thousand contestants, and you will automatically advance."
"All contestants who successfully advance to the top one hundred thousand will receive the tournament’s base reward: one month of meditation time at the ’Enlightenment Stele’.
Additionally, based on your individual performance in the battle royale, you will be rewarded with varying amounts of Imperial Contribution Points."
"The rewards for the subsequent Top 10,000, Top 100, and final Championship rounds will increase exponentially from this base reward."
When the announcement of the rules concluded, the breathing of the millions of young geniuses across the plaza grew heavy.
The Enlightenment Stele!
One month!
’Just for passing the preliminaries and the main tournament to make it into the top one hundred thousand, they could earn such a precious reward!’
For the vast majority of contestants, reaching the top ten thousand, the top one hundred, or even winning the final championship was a distant dream, like grasping for stars in the sky.