“I’m surprised to see that someone is still sweeping my room after all this time.”
The woman in the long plain white skirt stood in an unadorned bedroom and smiled faintly. Xiao Yan followed hot on her heels.
“Father arranged for someone to clean it.”
“Him?” A hint of mockery flashed across her face as she sneered in contempt, “Little Brother, I might believe it if you said you ordered someone to keep it clean, but now you’re saying it was him? Did you truly think I’d believe that?”
“Big Sister, it really was Father,” said Xiao Yan, unable to hold himself back. “After you left, he sent people to search the entire God Realm, even the lands of the Yao Clans and the demons. Father even went looking for you himself, but no one could find you. After that, he sat in your room for a whole year. When he finally left, all his hair had turned white.”
She smiled faintly, and for a fleeting moment, she seemed moved, but all she said was, “oh really… That’s really…. Just what he deserved!”
With that, she took a set of rings from under the bed and placed them onto her fingers, then turned and smiled at Xiao Yan.
“That’s enough. You welcomed me with great warmth and hospitality so I’ve given you face, but it’s already late. It’s time for me to leave.”
Xiao Yan frowned. “Big Sister, are you really leaving? Don’t you want to see Father at least once?”
“What’s the point? This is enough,” she smiled faintly, then turned around. “Someone blocked Yang Jian’s tribulation in the Lower Realms. You’d best not concern yourself with this affair. Just take this as a request from your older sister.”
Then she floated out of the Xiao Family estates. Xiao Yan stood in the entrance to her room and watched as she faded into the distance.
He stood there, unmoving, for a long while. Finally, voice low, he called out, “Someone, come here.” A few people appeared by his side.
“My Lord.”
“Go follow the woman in the plain white skirt who was here earlier. Protect her, but don’t let anyone discover you. Get a sense of her whereabouts, then report to me. Tell no one of her arrival; anyone who does so is to be executed without exception.”
“Yes, sir.”
They bowed low and nodded their assent. Suddenly, Xiao Yan recalled her request.
“Tell everyone I sent to investigate Yang Jian’s situation to come back. Also, have someone keep an eye on the Ascension Pool for the next few days. If you see Yang Jian ascend, you can stealthily help him out.”
“Understood.”
“Good. Go on, then.”
They nodded their assent and vanished, leaving Xiao Yan alone in the room. He looked around and sighed, shook his head, and left.
…..
Who would have guessed that such fierce conflict would turn into this? The immortals within that pure white space were astonished. They felt their minds couldn’t quite keep up with it all.
Ye Zichen was close to it all and could clearly sense that Gu Zichen’s breathing was in disarray. He knit his brows and glanced at Gu Zichen, then transmitted, “is something wrong?”
Gu Zichen ignored his concern. Instead, his gaze fell on Yang Jian.
“You have to find your future path on your own. In an hour, you’ll ascend to the Higher Realms. First, I must warn you: don’t get conceited. The Upper Realms are vast; there’s always someone stronger than you. You might be considered an expert here in the Lower Three Realms, but after your ascension, you might not even be considered mediocre. You have to be careful. Do you understand?”
Then, ignoring Yang Jian’s response, he waved his right hand.
“Go bid your friends and relatives farewell. Who knows? It might be tens of thousands of years before you see them again.”
Woosh.
Yang Jian was astonished, but had no time to return to his senses: with a burst of fluorescent light, he disappeared from view.
The immortals watched his departure, most of their eyes glinting with jealousy. For the majority of them, ascending to the God Realm was their deepest desire.
Although Yang Jian was highly ranked within the Heavenly Court, in the eyes of figures like the North Pole Emperor and Suiren, he was still just a member of the younger generation.
They never would’ve guessed that he’d ascend before them. This was undoubtedly a major blow to their pride.
They sighed dejectedly, then noticed Gu Zichen. As he waved his hand, the chairs Yang Jian shattered reformed, good as new, and returned to their original locations.
“Sit.”
They sat according to rank. Before long, they realized that a stone table had appeared before them, a ballot box placed in its center.
None of this had ever happened before, but then, this whole Struggle was completely out of the ordinary, particularly because the man behind the scenes had finally stepped forth.
“Senior, what is this for?” Having witnessed his fight with Yang Jian, the North Pole Emperor was deeply aware of this person’s true strength. Yang Jian became a god, yet still wasn’t his opponent. How strong was this guy, exactly?
There was no shame in calling an expert like this “senior.”
“Past Struggles have always consisted of you receiving awards based on your leaderboard ranks,” said Gu Zichen smiled at the crowd of immortals. “However, this time is different. Instead, we’ll be…. voting.”
“The seat of Master of the Three Realms has been empty for far too long. Furthermore, in your current situation, you truly need someone to take charge of the whole situation. Therefore, in this Struggle for the Three Realms, we’ll be choosing the next Master of the Three Realms. We’ll choose in an election based on the Reputation Leaderboard. That is, those standing here will vote, and, based on the results, we’ll choose the victor. Does anyone object?”
The immortals looked at each other in surprise and confusion.
The Master of the Three Realms.
There hadn’t been one for tens of thousands of years. As time passed and the Three Realms developed smoothly, they had gradually forgotten that such a role existed.
But now….
“Senior, it was recorded in ancient texts that the next Lord of the Three Realm wouldn’t appear until the Three Realms were at the verge of annihilation. For you to appear now, are you saying…”
“Do you think otherwise?” Gu Zichen squinted at him, then scanned the crowd and evaluated their reactions.
“How much turmoil have you gone through in the past few years alone? Didn’t you ever sense anything strange about it? I’m not being alarmist. You truly have reached the brink of destruction and need someone to oversee the big picture.”
“This…..” said in the immortals in astonishment
“Enough, the outside world is already locked in fierce conflict. You shouldn’t waste any time here. If you have no objections, let’s hurry and get started.
He snapped his fingers and a card appeared in each immortal’s hand. “Let’s get started.”
As the immortals hesitated, there was a sudden commotion amongst the crowd as a bald youth walked onto the platform.
“I’m voting for myself. I can do that, right?”
