The stutterer was unlucky. He had been constantly bullied by others, but fortunately, he was very quick, and he had been able to run away every time.
Xia Tian’s strength was not bad either, and even though he was not quite at the same level as the Ten Arbiters, he was still able to keep himself safe.
Little Leaf King had gone missing, and nobody was able to find him.
Qing Longlong spread poison everywhere, so very few people tried to provoke her, as everyone was wary of a poison user.
The most unfortunate one ended up being Tai Yuanjun, as he was not very impressive, not very strong, and had a sharp tongue. This combination led him to constantly being surrounded and attacked by several people.
Starsibyl remained unbothered, and she had not acted even once. Even the people in the Neoverse were rather hesitant when it came to the Starsibyl Sect, as nobody dared to casually provoke those with the ability of divination. Besides, Starsibyl was far too pretty, so many of the Neoverse cultivators tried to butter her up.
On the continent, the previous one-on-one battles had developed into chaotic battle royales, and quite a few people had already formed parties of groups of two or three. They would work together to attack others, causing a great deal of smoke to drift up from all over.
Within a certain mountain range, there were eight people locked in battle, and they caused the mountains to crumble as the sky shook from numerous explosions.
When a lone figure descended, the chaos instantly stopped, and both sides fled from the mountain range, not a single one of them daring to show their face there.
Soon after, news of the appearance of the Mavis family’s Treeheart Descendant shook the Mountain and Seas Zone.
There were a few colossal organizations in the Neoverse that could not be provoked. The Hall of Honor went without saying, and there was also the Cosmic Sect, the Seven Courts, Burial Garden, and the Mavis family. Each one of these forces was incomparably powerful.
The Mavis family was very mysterious, and their residence was not in a fixed location. Many people were aware that the Mavis family’s origins stemmed from an ancient tree that grew on the back of a giant tortoise. For countless years, they had controlled the finances of the Human Domain, though nobody knew how they had managed to do so. Still, one could only imagine how terrifying they were.
Beyond the mountain range, two men and a woman panted heavily. “Who knew that the Mavis family’s Treeheart Descendant would get here so quickly! The Hall of Honor’s Chosen haven’t even arrived yet.”
“The Mavis family might currently be a bit further away from the Mountain and Seas Zone, leaving them with no choice but to get here earlier,” one of the men said.
The three youths were helpless, as the commotion from earlier had been the three of them fighting against another group. However, everything had stopped as soon as the Mavis family’s Treeheart Descendant had appeared.
A piece of stone fell down and struck the ground, causing dust to billow up from the ground for a little bit. It moved very gently, but it also contained a power that made the three people too afraid to move at all.
A man had appeared above them at an unknown time, and he was slowly descending towards them until he was right in front of them.
The man looked rather ordinary, and there was nothing noteworthy about his appearance with the sole exception of his eyes; they were unforgettable after just one glance.
“Did you guys just say that the Mavis family appeared in this mountain range?” the man asked with a gentle voice.
The trio nodded in stunned silence.
“How many?”
“O- one.”
The man was astonished. “Just one?’
The trio nodded.
The man waved a hand, and the trio felt as though a burden had been lifted off of them. Once free, they instantly fled.
“So there’s actually only one. It seems like this generation’s Treeheart Descendant is very confident in herself. This is quite troubling,” the man mumbled to himself.
The trio ran a great distance before finally stopping.
“That frightened me out of my mind! I thought that he was going to kill us. Who was that?” the woman asked fearfully.
The two men both shook their heads. “I didn’t recognize him, but his strength left us paralyzed, so he’s definitely a top-notch expert.”
“Too many experts have shown up for the Mountain and Seas Zone this time, and the Innerverse’s so-called Ten Arbiters don’t seem weak either. Apparently, they can go up against the Seven Courts’ heirs, which is ridiculous.”
“Let’s find a few more people to team up with since we’re not even considering aiming to become one of the Cosmic Five.”
“That’s right, let’s find a few more teammates.”
***
Within the mountain range, Yuhua Mavis was floating in the air, and tender blades of grass spread out beneath her and propped her up.
She was sitting on the grass as she stared off into the distance, looking at the hazy mountains. It was impossible to know what she was thinking.
Before long, a man arrived and smiled at her. “Sure enough, there’s just one person. May I ask for your name?”
Yuhua Mavis looked at the man, her face showing her surprise, but she calmly replied, “Yuhua Mavis.”
The man exclaimed, “That’s a good name. I’m Xia Jiuyou.”
Yuhua Mavis’s eyes lit up. “From the Seven Courts, the scion of the Xia family. I’ve heard of you.”
Xia Jiuyou smiled. “The honor is mine.”
“What’s brought you here?” Yuhua Mavis asked.
Xia Jiuyou said, “I only came to take a look. After all, the Mavis family’s Treeheart Descendants are rarely seen.”
“That’s nothing too strange, isn’t it?” Yuhua Mavis said.
Xia Jiuyou smiled and spoke to her for a bit before moving on.
Yuhua Mavis’s expression grew solemn as she watched Xia Jiuyou leave. He was somewhat different from the others, though she did not know how to describe it. There was just something about him that seemed rather unfathomable.
The Seven Courts’ families were Xia, Yōu, Yu, Ce, Ku, Hui, and Xie. Although there was no differentiation in strength among the families, the Hall of Honor had always been the most wary of the Xia family.
Even her Mavis family, the Cosmic Sect, and other top powers publicly recognized the Xia family as the leader of the Seven Courts, and Xia Jiuyou was definitely one of the most terrifying people to appear at this Astral Tower contest.
***
Outside the Mountain and Seas Zone, a spacecraft emitting smoke arrived.
Many looked at it with strange expressions, as this vessel looked like it was about to explode!
Within the spacecraft, Gu Xiao’er was excited, as he had arrived and finally escaped from his wretched suffering. He was more than willing to enter into a deathmatch with those freaks if the other option was to remain at Smoke Eater Peaks to be tormented by his father. He had finally escaped alive. As soon as he could, Gu Xiao’er leaped out of the spacecraft and was about to make his way to the Mountain and Seas Zone. However, perhaps due to a twist of fate, Gu Xiao’er slowly turned his head and looked at Azure Mansion. Without any hesitation, he changed directions. He felt that he should relax for a bit first.
Three days later, a massive spacecraft appeared outside the Mountain and Seas Zone, drawing a great deal of attention.
Within Azure Mansion, the originally carefree Gu Xiao’er and God Taiyi were both stunned, and they looked at the ship. This was the Hall of Honor’s vessel, and within this impressive vehicle sat the Honor Chosen.
There were many rumors circulating around about the current generation’s Honor Chosen, and the most prevalent rumor was that the First Honor Chosen had successfully cultivated the Tri-Yang Technique.
The Tri-Yang Technique was nearly as famous as the Hall of Honor itself. From another angle, the Tri-Yang Technique was what had actually given rise to the Hall of Honor.
It was equivalent to the Cosmic Sect’s Cosmic Art.
Everyone had heard of the Tri-Yang Technique, and all of the various organizations had researched it. However, very few individuals knew its true strength. This was because, even in ancient times, nobody had ever managed to bring out the true power of the Tri-Yang Technique.
Of course, there was another reason as well, which was that not many people in each generation were even capable of cultivating the Tri-Yang Technique.
In the past hundreds of thousands of years, nobody had ever managed to cultivate the Tri-Yang Technique, and many did not believe the tales of its power.
Shu Jing was the first to exit the spacecraft. He was the Honor Chosen who had charged into the forefront of the battle against the Sixth Mainland in the Cosmic Sea. During that battle, he had worked with the Ten Arbiters to fight against Bu Kong, and many people respected him for his efforts.
Next was a woman with a mask that completely covered her face. In fact, her power level was also hidden, and not even God Taiyi could see her rune lines.
Finally, Shang Qing appeared. He was the First Honor Chosen.
Shang Qing had a cold face, and three currents of air twisted about his body, giving him the appearance of a deity and leaving many caught off guard.
“That- could that be the fabled Tri-Yang Technique?” someone guessed.
“Shouldn’t be. Wasn’t the Hall of Honor just bragging?”
“You actually believed them?”
“Sorry, are you asking if I believe that the Hall of Honor was bragging, or if that’s the Tri-Yang Technique?”
“Why do I get the feeling that this First Chosen seems to view himself as a god like those maniacs from Gods’ Origin?”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
…
God Taiyi’s expression grew darker as he listened to the nearby conversations, and his pupils transformed into runes as he looked at Shang Qing.
However, no matter how hard he stared, he could not determine Shang Qing’s true strength, and the woman and Shu Jing were the same.
Gu Xiao’er no longer cared after glancing at the newcomers. His dad had sent him here to compete at the Astral Tower, but he did not want to fight at all. Wouldn’t he just be chasing death if he fought against these freaks?
In the blink of an eye, the three Honor Chosens from the Hall of Honor entered the Mountain and Seas Zone.
As these three entered the Mountain and Seas Zone, Tai Yuanjun was confronting two Neoverse cultivators.
Tai Yuanjun had an arrogant expression. “These are the so-called elites of the Neoverse? You people are supposed to be the only ones qualified to fight for the Astral Tower’s inheritance? What a joke.”
Before the Sixth Mainland’s invasion, Tai Yuanjun had been extremely arrogant, but even then, he had not shot off his mouth in such a manner. However, after Starsibyl had started following Nightking Zhenwu, Tai Yuanjun had been triggered, and he still struggled with the impulse to vent his frustrations on everything around him.
In front of him, the two cultivators coldly responded, “A cultivator from the barbaric Innerverse dares to act this brazenly here? Are you trying to die?”
Tai Yuanjun waved a hand. “Try me.”
At this moment, Shang Qing’s trio calmly appeared, and they stood between Tai Yuanjun and the other two cultivators.
The two cultivators saw Shang Qing’s small group, and they revealed a look of surprise before quickly backing away. They had recognized Shu Jing and the woman; she was the Second Honor Chosen, and her mask was too recognizable.
Even after his two opponents had moved away, Tai Yuanjun was still unhappy. “Just stand there! Don’t you guys know how to walk behind us? Is everyone from the Neoverse this rude?”
Shang Qing’s trio paused, and they all looked at Tai Yuanjun.
The two cultivators who had been confronting Tai Yuanjun earlier were overwhelmed, and they exchanged glances before racing away without looking back. Their respect for Tai Yuanjun had just spiked a hundred times over, as he was clearly a person who wanted to die!
Tai Yuanjun frowned. “They ran away? Trash!”
He then glanced over at Shang Qing and the other two before turning to leave.
“Stop there. You- are you from the Innerverse?” Shang Qing spoke up, and when he spoke, the mask-wearing Second Honor Chosen flew up and away.
Shu Jing gave Tai Yuanjun a sympathetic look before also leaving. Now, Shang Qing was standing there alone as he stared at Tai Yuanjun.
Tai Yuanjun turned around. “Why? Do you want to challenge me?”
Shang Qing coldly commanded, “Take me to see the Ten Arbiters.”
Tai Yuanjun’s gaze grew sharp. “How do you know that I’m not one of them?”
“You can’t measure up,” Shang Qing indifferently replied.
Fury immediately raged in Tai Yuanjun’s eyes, and his first thought was of Nightking Zhenwu and how Starsibyl had followed Nightking Zhenwu for so long. Thoughts about who knew what had happened between those two emerged soon after, and as soon as that thought entered his mind, Tai Yuanjun seemed to lose control. He whipped out his dark green flute without any hesitation and started using his musical battle technique known as Gentleman’s Eulogy, as this song would send off a gentleman.
His Gentleman’s Eulogy was famous throughout the Innerverse, and it had left countless peers of Tai Yuanjun speechless. As long as this flute released its song, only the Ten Arbiters could withstand the melody.
Recently, Tai Yuanjun had created a name for himself within the Mountain and Seas Zone due to his Gentleman’s Eulogy.
Right when the flute was about to release its song, a stream of air swirling around Shang Qing’s body suddenly vanished as it shot past Tai Yuanjun. His pupils instantly shrank, and the flute helplessly fell from his hands as his entire body collapsed to the ground. Fresh blood leaked out from the corner of his mouth.
