After completing the formalities for challenging the Martial Commander Gold Rankings, Su Xiaobai arrived at the combat arena of the Demi-God Martial Commanders.

"So many Demi-God Martial Commanders?"

As soon as he arrived, Su Xiaobai noticed that there were over a thousand Demi-God Martial Commanders waiting in the contestant area!

What kind of concept is that—over a thousand Demi-God Martial Commanders?

If even one in ten of them had the potential to become a Martial God, that would mean hundreds of future Martial God candidates!

Su Xiaobai's presence immediately drew the attention of many Demi-God Martial Commanders in the waiting area.

Everyone furrowed their brows.

An Ultimate Martial Commander?

Did this guy enter the wrong combat arena?

The Martial Commander Gold Rankings had always been the exclusive battleground of Demi-God Martial Commanders.

Without exception, only those Demi-God Martial Commanders who could dominate or even utterly crush their peers were qualified to challenge the rankings.

As for an Ultimate Martial Commander—shouldn't he be staying in his own lane, competing for a spot on the Silver Rankings? What was he doing here? Trying to make a fool of himself?

Although they all secretly looked down on him, no one voiced their thoughts. They continued their quiet training or attentively observed the battles in the arena, learning and gaining experience from others' fights.

"These Demi-God Martial Commanders… their strength isn't bad!"

"The ones over here are relatively weak, at best on par with an ordinary Martial God. The ones over there are stronger—they could probably put up a fight against an Elite Martial God. But the group closest to the combat arena… they give me the strongest impression!"

"It looks like the Martial Commander Gold Rankings might actually be interesting for once!"

While everyone else was training, Su Xiaobai curiously scanned his surroundings.

"Hmm?"

Just then, Su Xiaobai sensed someone watching him.

Following the gaze, he looked over and immediately spotted a middle-aged man in white robes sitting in the central viewing area of the audience stands, observing him with great interest.

"This aura… a Martial King!"

Su Xiaobai's expression changed.

Back at Base No. 15, when the beast tide attacked, he had once sensed a Martial King's aura through the dark golden eyes emerging from the breach in the interdimensional passage.

Back then, he had felt an oppressive pressure from a higher lifeform—like a thorn in his back, making him Ultimately uneasy.

But this Martial King's aura was distinctly different. There was no aggression at all—on the contrary, it was completely restrained. If Su Xiaobai's mastery of spatial attributes hadn't reached the Lesser Transcendent level, he wouldn't have even noticed this faint yet overwhelming presence above the Martial Gods!

Their eyes met. The white-robed man gave a warm smile and nodded slightly toward Su Xiaobai.

"Elder Meng, are you observing that Ultimate Martial Commander?"

A nearby Sub-King Martial God council member asked.

This white-robed man was none other than Meng Qianzheng, one of the twelve Elders of Base No. 1, who had previously taken an interest in Sculpted Moon Azure Dragon!

"That Ultimate Martial Commander is quite strong!"

"His aura is deep and vast… seemingly chaotic, yet somehow harmonized—completely balanced and undisturbed. It's extremely unique!"

Meng Qianzheng withdrew his gaze.

Su Xiaobai's chaotic aura stemmed from the fact that he had cultivated numerous techniques, especially attribute-based ones, all fused together. How could it not be chaotic?

"I noticed it too."

"With his true strength, he should be able to match an Elite Martial God! He's a promising talent. With proper training, he might even earn a notable rank in the Virtual Network!"

The Sub-King Martial God council member nodded in agreement.

…

"Big Sister Yan, do you see that Ultimate Martial Commander, contestant 668? He seems pretty powerful!"

Near the combat arena, a young girl with twin buns excitedly spoke to a stunning red-clad woman beside her. The woman had an ethereal, otherworldly presence.

The red-clad woman's long, delicate eyelashes trembled slightly as she slowly opened her eyes and glanced in Su Xiaobai's direction.

"His aura is indeed far above that of an ordinary Martial God. But that's all."

After just a single glance, she lost interest.

"That's true! Big Sister Yan is a genius who has even slain Ultimate Martial Gods before. She's way stronger than him!"

The twin-bunned girl giggled.

"My goal this time… is that man!"

The red-clad woman gazed across the combat arena.

There, a young man clad in golden armor sat cross-legged.

Beside him lay a gilded long halberd.

Among the many gazes in the arena, at least one-third weren't focused on the two warriors battling intensely but on this golden-armored man instead!

Why?

Because he was the reigning champion of the Martial Commander Gold Rankings for three consecutive years!

It was rumored that he had once fought a Sub-King Martial God for two whole days and nights without a clear victor, forcing the Sub-King to withdraw in the end.

That battle had made his name known far and wide, establishing him as the most promising genius of Base No. 1!

Everyone believed that once the golden-armored man fully matured, he might become the second legendary figure of humanity!

As for the first?

That person was no longer on Earth.

No one knew where he had gone… only that he had once turned the tide of battle and saved humanity!

Zhuo Bingyan's goal was to challenge this golden-armored man and seize the number one spot on the Martial Commander Gold Rankings from him!

She had trained relentlessly for years, only to be overshadowed every time.

This year, after experiencing a major breakthrough in her techniques, her strength had skyrocketed.

She had to seize this opportunity—to defeat the golden-armored man and prove herself!

…

"I've been waiting for almost an hour. When is it finally my turn for the qualification match?"

Su Xiaobai was speechless.

The Martial Commander Gold Rankings worked differently from the Silver Rankings.

In the Silver Rankings, matches were determined by a random draw—whoever you were paired with, you fought.

But for the Gold Rankings, since most participants were Demi-God Martial Commanders, the lottery system had been scrapped in favor of a challenge system.

For example—if you wanted to reach the top of the Gold Rankings, you had to start by challenging the 100th-ranked contestant.

If you won, you'd face the 90th-ranked, then the 80th, then the 70th, and so on. Only by defeating each opponent along the way could you claim the top spot!

Some might think this was unfair.

What if too many people challenged the same person? Wouldn't they just be worn down in an endless cycle of battles?

To prevent that, a qualification match was introduced before the challenge phase.

Over a thousand Demi-God Martial Commanders would duel against each other.

Win a match, and you'd face an even stronger opponent.

Only those who won three consecutive battles would qualify to challenge the top 100 on the rankings!

This system ensured relative fairness in the Gold Rankings—something that hadn't existed before.

After all, in the world of martial artists, no one cared about fairness. If you weren't strong enough, then you simply weren't strong enough!

But so far, Su Xiaobai hadn't even had a single qualification match.

If he wanted to challenge the number one spot, how long was he supposed to wait?

"Contestant 668!"

"Versus Contestant 1036!"

As if responding to his thoughts, the referee finally called out Su Xiaobai's number.

Su Xiaobai's spirits lifted immediately.

"Finally, I don't have to sit around rotting in boredom!"

He stepped onto the arena.

An uproar swept through the crowd.

An Ultimate Martial Commander?

What's someone of his rank doing here?

Meng Qianzheng, however, showed an amused expression.