To a mortal, a year was a period of time that could be referred to as neither short or long, but to some cultivators who were constantly in seclusion, a year was akin to the blink of an eye.
Ever since news of Han Li's Grand Ascension Stage celebratory ceremony was announced, cultivators in the nearby area had immediately begun to flock to Deep Heaven City.
As time passed, more and more cultivators arrived in the city, including powerful demonic beings who had come from afar.
Some of these cultivators entered the Deep Heaven City, while others created temporary lodging for themselves in the mountain ranges near the city.
In the final month leading up to the ceremony, even more cultivators rushed to the city, with over 100,000 new arrivals almost every day, and the city became extremely lively and bustling as a result.
Some of the cultivators took advantage of this opportunity to seek out others and establish relationships, or set up all types of small markets to exchange for the resources they required.
As for Deep Heaven City itself, it would hold an official auction almost once every week.
During these auctions, all types of rare items were frequently being presented, and even the elders of the city benefited immensely from these auctions, securing many spirit medicines and other exotic items that they would've otherwise been unable to.
Several days prior to the commencement of the ceremony, the cultivators residing in the nearby mountain ranges also began to enter the city en masse.
Deep Heaven City was extremely massive, but with such a huge influx of new arrivals, it was becoming quite crowded.
Overpopulation had suddenly become an issue, and there were even some cultivators who couldn't find any places to stay.
The panel of elders of Deep Heaven City immediately addressed this issue by opening up some stone pagodas inhabited by the city guards, as well as some underground secret chambers, as extra lodging. On top of that, they also built several temporary pavilions for the new arrivals to stay in a few secluded corners of the city, and only then were they able to just barely resolve the issue of insufficient lodging.
Of course, due to the enormous and spontaneous increase in population, all types of trouble and unrest began to arise in the city, but the panel of elders was very proactive and quickly resolved all of these problems one after another.
Everyone knew that there was no way that they would all be permitted to attend the ceremony. In fact, it was most likely the case that only less than 1% of everyone present would be able to attend.
As such, most of them had arrived in the city to find opportunities for themselves as such a massive gathering of high-grade cultivators most likely wouldn't arise again for thousands of years.
As long as one remained vigilant, perhaps they could find a powerful master, or join a renowned sect, or exchange for an item that they'd been searching for for many years…
In any case, this was a situation that presented countless opportunities.
On this day, while it was still very early in the morning, a pristine white platform that was over 100 feet tall had appeared on a boundless plaza at the center of Deep Heaven City.
There was an unknown object that was around 30 feet tall on the platform, concealed under a piece of golden fabric, and there was a half-naked musclebound man standing expressionlessly next to it.
The area near the platform was surrounded by tens of thousands of guards wearing armor of different colors, and even the elders of Deep Heaven City were among these guards.
Everyone was looking up at the sky, where the sun had just begun to rise, with solemn looks on their faces.
Shortly thereafter, the first ray of sunlight finally appeared in the distance.
"It's time! Strike the bell!" Elder Gu instructed as he turned toward the musclebound man on the platform.
"Yes!"
The musclebound man gave an affirmative response before stepping forward and tearing the piece of golden fabric away, revealing a luxurious and mysterious giant silver bell with countless five-colored spirit runes etched all over its surface.
The man then made a grabbing motion with his other hand, and a long golden hammer that was around 10 feet in length emerged in his grasp amid a flash of golden light.
He grabbed onto the shaft of the hammer with both hands, then abruptly struck the giant bell with the golden hammer.
A series of silver halos immediately erupted from the head of the golden hammer, spreading in all directions.
Within the silver light, the five-colored spirit runes on the giant bell seemed to have sprung to life, flying off the bell and dancing around the entire jade platform.
Initially, the chime of the bell wasn't very loud, but the further the soundwaves traveled, the louder they became, so the further away one stood, the more deafening the sound was.
Thus, the chime of the bell instantly became clearly audible in every single corner of the city.
Initially, people didn't pay this sound any heed. However, as one chime rang out after another, everyone's expressions began to change, and there were even some who directly exclaimed, "The Heaven Shaking Bell is being struck! The ceremony has commenced!"
Many people immediately rushed out onto the streets, calling upon some acquaintances before flocking toward the place where the bell chimes had originated from.
However, most of the cultivators who had arrived in the city didn't possess advanced cultivation bases, and they remained in their places of residence with disappointed expressions.
Only after a total of 81 bell chimes had rung out did the sound draw to an abrupt halt, and at this point, some of the cultivators living near the plaza had already arrived.
A faint smile appeared on Elder Gu's face upon seeing this, and his lips tremored as he seemingly transmitted his voice to someone.
A series of white light formations immediately lit up around the plaza, and even more armored guards emerged to surround the entire plaza, temporarily keeping out the cultivators who were arriving on the scene.
The presence of so many armored guards effectively prevented anyone from trying to barge their way forward, and at the same time, the armored guards near the platform changed their formation to open up around a dozen patches of empty land.
Around a dozen temporary teleportation formations appeared at the center of these patches of land, and some of the cultivators arriving on the scene were enlightened upon seeing this, while others were still as confused as ever.
"Senior Han should be ready soon, right? Could it be that he's been unable to complete that thing in time? If so, the ceremony will have to be delayed," Fairy Silver Light said in a slightly uneasy manner as more and more people began to gather around the plaza.
"The power of a Grand Ascension cultivator is unfathomable to the likes of us; Senior Han instructed us to wait for him here a year ago, and I'm sure he won't be late," Elder Gu replied with a smile.
"Such a trivial matter naturally won't be able to stump a Grand Ascension Stage being like Senior Han, but prior to his departure, Senior Han took close to a third of our city's supplies. Even though he only took very ordinary tool refinement materials, it's still a staggering amount," Elder Yan said with a wry smile.
"Hehe, that may be the case, but just like you said, they're only ordinary materials, so we'll be able to gather more over time. If we can leave Senior Han with a good impression of our city, then those materials would be an entirely insignificant price to pay," Elder Gu chuckled in response.
"Indeed, Brother Gu. It looks like you're still the one with the most foresight among all of us," Buddhist Monk Jin Yue said with a smile.
Within a certain stone pagoda, Han Li was currently seated with his eyes, but his body was entirely enshrouded within a layer of purplish-golden flames.
Following the conclusion of the 81 bell chimes, Han Li's expression changed slightly, and he finally opened his eyes as a smile appeared on his face.
"I made it just in time; that item has just been completely refined, and can be used during the ceremony."
As soon as his voice trailed off, Han Li made a hand seal, and the purplish-golden flames around his body faded.
At the same time, he opened his mouth to expel a ball of silver flames, within which was an indistinct miniature three-colored mountain that didn't appear to be a substantial object.
Han Li quickly appraised the miniature mountain, and a pleased look appeared on his face as he pointed a finger at the object.
Dazzling light immediately erupted from the miniature mountain, and it abruptly vanished into thin air.
In the next instant, spatial fluctuations erupted tens of thousands of feet above the plaza at the center of Deep Heaven City, following which a tiny three-colored mountain that was only several inches in size emerged.
Countless arcs of golden lightning then erupted over the mountain's surface, and it began to rapidly expand, swelling to over 1,000 feet in size in just a few flashes, while emitting a terrifying aura.
Immediately thereafter, spatial fluctuations erupted near the mountain, and Han Li suddenly appeared.
He looked down at the masses of people gathered around the plaza, and a mysterious smile appeared on his face.
He then cast his gaze toward the three-colored mountain up ahead before opening his mouth to expel a burst of azure light, which vanished into the mountain in a flash.
The giant three-colored mountain began to rotate on the spot, and the three-colored runes on its surface surged forth in a frenzy while releasing a formidable aura.
All of a sudden, a resounding boom akin to a rumbling thunderclap rang out, and all of the world's origin Qi in the entire sky surged violently before converging toward the plaza as streams of five-colored light.
Brilliant silver light radiated from the surface of the three-colored mountain, absorbing all of the world's origin Qi, upon which it swelled drastically in size once again.
