After they departed from Dusk Province, Lu Yun and Qing Han took the transportation formation from Outré Province to make their way to Life Province.
Contrary to the almost empty Dusk, Life Province was chock full of cultivators and immortals. As soon as the pair walked out of the transportation formation, they were met with a sky full of immortals rushing about their business. The groups of people were so numerous that they blotted out even the sun.
Being jointly held by the nine majors, ten lands, four immortal seas, and many other major factions, it was only natural that this year’s gathering would attract more attention than the tournament in Dusk.
The precedent three years ago had benefited many cultivators, further enhancing the allure of the repeat occasion. This year, many ancestors of the major factions had left closed door cultivation and ordered their youths to participate in the True Sovereign Meet.
After a month of buildup, the hype for the True Sovereign Meet was about to froth and boil over.
……
Destiny City was located in the east of Life Province, fifteen thousand kilometers away from Xiankan. It possessed an extremely long history, as even texts unearthed from ancient tombs mentioned it. It was also one of the few cities to survive the war of immortals.
Eighty thousand years ago, when the divine race had ruled over Nephrite Major, the city was their capital in the major. It was now the second greatest city in Nephrite, and the tenth greatest in the world of immortals. Over time, four satellite cities had formed in each of the cardinal directions of Destiny, making it look as if the city had expanded outward for thousands of kilometers.
On paper, the city lord served the Nephrite court, but they were effectively autonomous. Its city lord was a mysterious heavyweight in the world of immortals.
Destiny was chosen as the venue for the Sovereign Meet. The city spanned a thousand kilometers, but was currently packed to the brim with cultivators and immortals. Among their numbers were reclusive sects, families, and factions who’d distanced themselves from the world.
Some even dated back to the age of the divine race’s rule.
There was barely even room to stand in the city, so it was impossible for Lu Yun and Qing Han to enter, unless they revealed their identity for preferential treatment. Only members of the top factions with high status could enter the city now. Regular cultivators had to do with making camp outside the city.
There were simply billions upon billions of cultivators here.
Since Lu Yun and Qing Han had disguised themselves with the Shapeshifting art, they didn’t intend to enter the city. The tournament hadn’t yet commenced, but information about it was spreading like wildfire.
Much of it stunned even Lu Yun.
Arcane dao immortals had chosen to sever their own cultivation!
Apparently they’d reached peak arcane dao immortal realm, but seeing that origin dao remained out of reach, they’d elected to sever their cultivation, inner energy, and constitution. They returned to the spirit realm, desiring to experience the void realm this time on their journey upward.
In fact, a few had already made it to the void realm!
“Do you think Fairy Mo Yi will attend this year’s Sovereign Meet?” a nearby cultivator asked in an impassioned tone.
“Fairy Mo Yi became an immortal immediately upon ascending to the void realm,” snorted a derisive voice. “Why would she bother to attend a tournament for cultivators?”
Many sighed, yearning to see Mo Yi themselves. They held her in higher regard than they did Qing Han, Wu Tulong, Mo Qitian, and Zi Chen.
The young sovereigns might have restored the void realm, but immortality had previously been possible even without the void realm. In fact, the restored realm had become an obstacle that prevented many of them from reaching immortality.
It was Mo Yi who’d lit the path to the void realm, bestowing unto them a sliver of hope for ascension.
“Perhaps Fairy Mo Yi really is a fairy from the nine heavens, and she returned to them after pointing out the right way to us.”
……
As they strolled, Lu Yun and Qing Han heard cultivators and immortals discuss Mo Yi, the geniuses who’d been held in reserve by the major factions, and dao immortals who’d severed their own cultivation.
Some of them mentioned Lu Yun and Qing Han as well. Bets were made as to whether or not the two would dare participate in the Sovereign Meet. If they showed their faces now, someone more powerful would immediately kill them with no concern for the established rules.
Being the head of the Star Demon Sect had made Lu Yun enemies all over the world. Moreover, he’d killed an origin dao immortal with a shot from his cannon, which further caused the world to be wary of him.
As for the Great Formation of Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Demons, many formation masters had taken the blueprints back to their factions. Various grandmasters of the supplemental paths were summoned to study how the formation might be incorporated into a body.
In addition, the matter of how the world saw Lu Yun divided a small settlement outside the city into two. One side supported and admired Lu Yun and criticized the top factions at the top of their lungs for their pettiness and retaliation, while the other looked down on Lu Yun, considering him a puppet of the infamous demon sect and a fiend pillaging the world.
“Young brothers!” a voice piped up just as Lu Yun and Qing Han were enjoying the heated debate between the two factions.
“Hm?” Qing Han turned to see a graceful old man with grey hair and beard. There was a faint smile on his thin face.
“You must’ve only recently arrived,” the old man said with a smile.
“What can we do for you?” Lu Yun also turned to give the old man a onceover. The newcomer appeared to be a golden immortal, but he’d concealed his true cultivation. He was a peerless immortal, and a monster spirit at that.
“Yi Tianling, at your service,” said the old man. “Your cultivation is impressive, so you must’ve come to participate in the Sovereign Meet in Destiny City. However….” He paused with a regretful look.
“However?” Qing Han played along, blinking curiously.
“The Sovereign Meet is a weighty and important affair. I can tell you’re both extraordinary cultivators and dragons among men. You will certainly rank high on the final list.” Yi Tianling made his approval of Lu Yun and Qing Han very clear. As a ‘golden immortal’, royalty in the world of immortals, his compliments would’ve made regular cultivators lose themselves.
Lu Yun and Qing Han puffed out their chests and looked around pridefully.
“Unfortunately, despite your more-than-sufficient strength, you lack some fortune.” Deeply concealed mockery flashed through Yi Tianling’s eyes. “Not everyone can participate in the tournament. You’ll need Life Glyphs to do so.”
