The cultivators continued to discuss some of the rumors they had heard about the place, which all sounded quite interesting to Qin Nan.
In the half-God region, apart from the lack of teleportation formations, they also lacked a faction that specifically sold intelligence to the public like the Shadow Pagoda. Therefore, most of the major events such as the battles between Martial Monarchs, the deaths of Martial Monarchs, etc. were only known to the minority.
Only news like someone achieving the Martial Monarch Realm or Martial God Realm, surpassing the rules of cultivation, or battles between Martial Gods would cause a stir for the entire half-God region.
Suddenly, a powerful aura could be felt coming from the entrance of the eatery.
Many among the cultivators including Qin Nan raised their heads and glanced toward the entrance.
After all, a place like this would have the dragons and fishes jumbled together, with many experts concealing their auras. Normally, no one would dare to be so high-profile.
The person emitting the aura was wearing a long golden robe with a wooden badge hanging on his waist. His eyes were filled with an obvious look of pride.
Behind the young man were five other people, each with a relatively outstanding aura.
Apart from the young man, the rest of them were the disciples of the Eight Ancient Tribes.
"Who's the young man?"
"I've never seen him before, but the people behind him are all inner disciples of the Eight Ancient Tribes."
"The young man is leading the way. It seems like he must have a more impressive background. No wonder he is acting so smug."
The cultivators whispered among themselves. Some of them were not too happy seeing his attitude, but they chose to remain silent.
"Xiaoxian?"
Qin Nan's eyes were filled with surprise.
One of the five people behind the young man turned out to be Zhan Xiaoxian.
"Brother Duan Qing? You're here too?"
Zhan Xiaoxian turned around and looked surprised.
"Mm, why are you here now?"
Qin Nan asked. Zhan Xiaoxian's status in her clan should be quite good, thus she should have been given the chance to enter the Upper Arcana.
"Hehe, my father didn’t allow me to come here. He asked me to cultivate in seclusion instead, but I wasn't willing to, so I snuck my way out."
Zhan Xiaoxian's smile blossomed.
"Xiaoxian, who's this?"
The young man who was unleashing his aura asked with a frown. His gaze toward Qin Nan was slightly hostile.
With his status, he could easily follow his tribe to enter the Upper Arcana straight away. He had decided to come earlier just to spend some time together with Zhan Xiaoxian.
However, what made him frustrated was that despite the sacrifice he had made for Zhan Xiaoxian, the latter had been relatively cold toward him, but greeted the man before him with a rather warm attitude.
"Everyone, this is Brother Duan Qing, a very impressive eye-technique master. Brother Duan Qing, this is Huo Dun, the son of an elder from the Lost Herb Garden. This is Ao Sha from the Blood Tribe…"
Zhan Xiaoxian introduced everyone.
"The Lost Herb Garden? I'm Duan Qing."
Qin Nan's eyes flickered upon hearing this. He brought his fists together toward Huo Don.
It was his first time seeing a disciple of the Lost Herb Garden in the half-God region.
For some reason, after knowing Huo Dun was a disciple of the Lost Herb Garden, he did not feel any grudge against him.
"An impressive eye-technique master? Is it possible for Master Duan Qing to tell us who your master is? And what faction you are from?"
Huo Dun ignored Qin Nan's greeting and asked in a relatively mocking tone.
"I don't belong to any faction. My master is Sacred Leader Qinglong."
Qin Nan said smilingly.
"Don't belong to any faction? You're not from the Three Great Factions? Xiaoxian, not that I'm trying to teach you, but you should be more careful when it comes to meeting new friends. Otherwise, you will regret it!"
Huo Dun cast a disdainful glance toward Qin Nan.
Not only was he factionless, he had never heard the name Sacred Leader Qinglong either. Besides, since he was not calling him by the title Martial Monarch, his master would not be a Martial Monarch Realm authority either.
As a result, it went without saying that Huo Dun would look down on Qin Nan.
The other disciples from the ancient tribes looked at Qin Nan with cold faces too. They did not even greet him.
Qin Nan's face remained as calm as usual, even though his good impression of Huo Dun was instantly gone.
"Huo Dun, watch your mouth. Otherwise, I will not go easy on you."
Zhan Xiaoxian's face became icy.
"You…"
Huo Dun became furious. He did not expect Zhan Xiaoxian would treat him with such an attitude for someone insignificant.
"Forget it, let's go to the room on the fourth floor. The meal is on me."
Huo Dun withheld his anger and glanced at Qin Nan coldly, before saying with a smile.
"Brother Duan Qing, are you coming with us?"
Zhan Xiaoxian asked.
Huo Dun could feel a thump on his chest upon hearing this.
"I'll stay here. You guys have fun."
Qin Nan waved his hand.
"This…"
Zhan Xiaoxian was about to say something, but ended up nodding when she saw Qin Nan's gaze.
After all, there was still plenty of time when they entered the Ancient Battleground. She still would have a chance to hang around with Brother Duan Qing.
"Good to know that you're still sensible."
Huo Dun let out a relieved sigh, before glaring at Qin Nan while transmitting his voice. He then proceeded to the fourth floor with Zhan Xiaoxian and the others.
Qin Nan was left speechless. He did not expect this Huo Dun to be so arrogant and to hold a grudge against him for something so insignificant.
"Speaking of which, will the Princess be here this time?"
Qin Nan immediately felt happy, with slight anticipation as the thought crossed his mind.
How was the Princess doing lately?
Qin Nan left the place and found himself an ancient tree. He sat under it with his legs crossed and began to cultivate.
Time passed gradually. When the Ancient Battleground was about to open, more cultivators from different places had arrived.
To an extent, some of the cultivators even fought each other after having some conflicts.
Finally, at the crack of dawn on the second day, the mysterious light door at the peak of the mountain emitted a soft shudder.
It immediately prompted the cultivators to inspect it with their Divine Sense.
"The Ancient Battleground is about to open."
"Tsk tsk, since there's still some time left, the Battle for the Map should be taking place sometime soon, right?"
A few voices could be heard.
Qin Nan who was cultivating immediately opened his eyes and glanced toward the entrance at the peak of the mountain.
At that instant, an unexpected change took place.
A huge white mist swept toward the place from the woods in the distance. Several black birds let out strange cries as they flew into the sky.
A graceful figure slowly approached the crowd from the mist.
For some reason, even though her footsteps were extremely light, the sound it made was extremely clear in everyone's ears.
"Time has been quick. Fifty years have passed once again."
"Fellow cultivators, I'm the Ugly Crow Daoist. I've prepared a hundred copies of the map. Is anyone interested? If so, please hand over two thousand God Stones…"
Qin Nan was quite intrigued by the Ugly Crow Daoist. He immediately activated his left eye and glanced at her.
However, Qin Nan's expression froze.
Just a second ago, the nine Martial Trees in his body had slightly shuddered as if they had become aware of something.
