Originally, Tai Yuanjun had not paid much attention to Xia Luo, but after trading blows, Tai Yuanjun realized that he was a fearsome opponent. Xia Luo’s star energy control was very impressive, and all of Tai Yuanjun’s attacks were being dissolved. To be more precise, Xia Luo was using lockbreaking to dissolve all incoming attacks, which rendered any attack that used star energy useless against Xia Luo. He also did not use any battle techniques and only released casual attacks. It was as if Xia Luo could fight however he wished.
Tai Yuanjun was feeling very sullen. Then, he formed a flute with his star energy and started playing A Gentleman’s Eulogy; this was a melody to send off a gentleman.
The flute released a melody that formed ripples, but they dispersed before they could reach Xia Luo. The melody was simply unable to touch him.
Tai Yuanjun was shocked. This person was also a Cruiser, and he seemed have only recently broken through at that. However, he was already able to withstand Tai Yuanjun’s full strength attack.
Xia Luo calmly observed Tai Yuanjun. “Second on the Top 100 Rankings. You live up to your rank.”
Tai Yuanjun kept a wary eye trained on Xia Luo. “Who are you?”
Xia Luo smiled. “I attended the Astral Combat Academy, and I’m a classmate of Lu Yin’s.”
Tai Yuanjun was shocked. “You’re from the Innerverse?”
Xia Luo smiled. “Not really.”
Tai Yuanjun’s flute spun in a circle over his palm, and he took a series of light steps approaching Xia Luo. “Wherever you’re from, get out of here!”
Xia Luo moved to the side, but his focus slipped past Tai Yuanjun and locked onto the surface of the nearby sea. A graceful figure slowly appeared where Xia Luo was looking, and there was a strange red and white mask covering this person’s face. Lei Nü had arrived.
Lei Nü’s appearance caused the few people present to immediately stop fighting.
Although Lei Nü was only the Second Honor Chosen from the Hall of Honor, her battle record was not far from Shang Qing’s, especially when people remembered her fight with the Ten Arbiters’ Liu Tianmu that had taken place before the start of the Astral Tower contest. The news of Liu Tianmu’s defeat had spread everywhere, and everyone knew that Lei Nü was terrifyingly strong.
Suddenly, an overwhelming amount of star energy swept through the area and caused the surface of the sea to start boiling. It felt like the sky and the air itself had suddenly frozen solid.
Tai Yuanjun, God Qingguang, and the others were stunned. “An Enlighter?”
Lei Nü had revealed her power as an Enlighter immediately after appearing, and she had also activated her innate gift. Ripples spread out and gradually enveloped the base of the mountain as she tried to use her innate gift of hypnosis to strike everyone down at once.
God Qingguang’s pupils shrank as a screen appeared in front of his body. It looked identical to what Jin He had used against Lu Yin, and various weapons soon appeared all around his hands, ready to attack Lei Nü.
In this situation, God Qingguang seemed to be the only one who could put up a fight against Lei Nü, as Shu Jing would not. God Qingguang was a Hunter, so he was the only opponent that Lei Nü would even bother with.
Lei Nü’s eyes had been fixated on God Qingguang from start to finish, but nobody present thought that he could beat her. If God Taiyi was present, then there might be a bit of hope, but only the faintest glimmer.
At the bottom of the mountain with an overflowing fog covering its peak, the Little Leaf King and God Taiyi fought against each other. One of them sealed his opponent’s star energy while the other erased their opponent’s runes. Both sides’ attacks were somewhat strange as the two became entangled.
The Little Leaf King had a cool expression, though internally, he was actually feeling rather helpless. Back during his time, there had not been this many young experts, and there had not been any Arbiters around. However, the current generation had the Ten Arbiters, and all of the Neoverse’s great powers had youths who were incredibly difficult to deal with.
Aside from the Little Leaf King and God Taiyi, Xia Tian, the stutterer, and others had also gathered at this mountain. All of them were standing at the foot of the mountain, thinking of a way to reach the top.
These people were all locked in an intense battle when green grass suddenly appeared atop the sea’s surface. This grass seemed to be overflowing with vitality, but there was also an unshakeable strangeness to it.
It was impossible for grass to normally appear on top of the sea, and the only possible reason behind its appearance was Yuhua Mavis’s arrival.
The Mavis family controlled the finances of the Human Domain, and their foundation was truly unfathomable. Yuhua Mavis was the Mavis family’s most important heir, but she had never taken action up till now. Despite that, she was publicly recognized as one of the most powerful members of the younger generation, and she was seen as an existence that could rival Shang Qing.
Her arrival caused all of the fighting to stop.
“This inheritance is not related to any of you, so leave.” Yuhua Mavis spoke as her eyes swept over everyone in front of her.
God Taiyi and the Little Leaf King froze while Xia Tian carefully observed Yuhua Mavis.
As the person on the top of the Top 100 Rankings, Xia Tian had challenged many people in the Innerverse who were from the Mavis family, and his greatest impression of them was, first their money, and second their absurd physical strength. It was not as simple as merely being strong. Who knew what these women ate while growing up, but all of them had an insane level of physical power.
The woman standing before him was the only member of the Mavis family who had been sent to the Astral Tower contest, and her power would definitely be overwhelming.
The stutterer stood some distance away, carefully watching Yuhua Mavis. He violently swallowed his saliva and was clearly rather afraid; this woman seemed to be very powerful, and after thinking about it, he quickly moved over to the Little Leaf King’s side.
The Little Leaf King carefully studied Yuhua Mavis. During his time, there had also been a Treeheart Descendant in the Mavis family, and her strength had indeed been shocking. It left him wondering just how strong this era’s Treeheart Descendant was.
Yuhua Mavis knew that just talking would not be enough to chase anyone away. After a moment’s consideration, a field of green grass spread out from beneath her feet, and it covered the sea’s surface as far as anyone could see. After that, the green grass grew frantically and twined together to form a massive green fist, similar to what had dealt with Ling Gong.
Dozens of giant fists smashed towards the gathered cultivators.
There had been more than twenty cultivators locked in an intense battle at the foot of the mountain earlier, but at this moment, all of them were faced with the green fists. One cultivator tried to receive a fist head on, but they were sent flying the moment they made contact with the attack.
The other cultivators all suffered the same fate.
The stutterer ran away at the first sign of danger, as he did not dare to go up against such an attack.
The Little Leaf King used his Starswapped Leaf, and the star energy surrounding Yuhua Mavis’s body transformed into leaves that trapped her.
Yuhua Mavis was surprised, though there was still a smile hanging on her lips as she glanced at the Little Leaf King. Then, an emerald green flashed through her eyes before the leaves that had trapped her melted back into star energy; the Starswapped Leaf had failed.
The Little Leaf King’s pupils shrank, and he looked stunned. Right after that, he used Starswapped Leaf to trap all of the other cultivators.
God Taiyi carefully watched on as the green fist blasted at him, and he used Truesight to erase some of its rune lines. However, to his shock, the star energy surrounding his body suddenly turned into leaves that trapped him. He turned to glare at the Little Leaf King only to see that the man’s eyes were sluggish. Once he saw that, God Taiyi’s heart sank as he remembered the Mavis family’s innate gift. Unable to do anything, he silently cursed, and there was a thump as his body was struck by a green fist and sent crashing into the sea.
Even God Taiyi had suffered such a fate, so there was no need to mention the others.
Yuhua Mavis had only used one attack, and she had even included God Taiyi among her targets. Despite that, everyone had been beaten to the bottom of the sea, and she had even taken control of the Little Leaf King, who was also smacked into the sea. The green fists did not dissipate, and they reformed themselves into tendrils of green grass that tied everyone down to the seabed.
Yuhua Mavis looked down and glanced at all her prisoners. She then smiled faintly as she stepped onto the mountain.
She suddenly paused and then turned around. A person had shot out of the sea, and although they were in a rather pathetic state, this person had still broken free of the green grass’s grasp. It was none other than God Taiyi.
“You were able to break free?” Yuhua Mavis was surprised.
God Taiyi panted heavily, and there was blood dripping down from the corner of his mouth. His pupils transformed into runes, and he stared directly at Yuhua Mavis. A screen of star energy surrounded him as the weapon in his hands constantly changed shape until finally settling into the shape of five black balls. He let go and the five balls spiralled towards Yuhua Mavis.
Yuhua Mavis smiled. “The Perception Realm of Rune Technology. You are the first person to attain the Perception Realm in your generation from Gods’ Origin. It’s no wonder why you’re their top heir. Unfortunately, you haven’t reached the Enlighter realm yet.”
The five black balls surrounded Yuhua Mavis and then exploded one after another. Each explosion formed an incomparable shockwave that tore through the void, and the five explosions overlapped with each other, increasing the power of the attack until the void where Yuhua Mavis was standing shattered.
Even with God Taiyi’s strength, it was not easy for him to form these five black balls, and this was his strongest attack.
As the smoke cleared, he saw an unscathed Yuhua Mavis standing in the same place. The green grass was gradually dissipating, but there was not even the slightest wrinkle on her clothes.
God Taiyi was overwhelmed; how was this possible?
Yuhua Mavis looked at him. “When has your Gods’ Origin ever defeated my Mavis family?”
She then lightly tapped out with a finger; God Taiyi’s legs had been wrapped about by green grass without him even realizing it, and it suddenly pulled back with Yuhua Mavis’s move. He wailed in agony and immediately tried to weaken the grass’s rune lines, but it was already too late. He was dragged down to the sea floor by the grass, and once there, he spat out a mouthful of blood as his strength drained away.
Yuhua Mavis turned to continue making her way up the mountain.
Under the mountain with the phenomenon of countless chanting voices, the Hui family heir, Hui Santong, was locked in battle with the Yōu family heir, Yōu Qin. Aside from these two, Qing Longlong, Starsibyl, and a dozen others were also present.
Starsibyl left those who tried to attack her feeling sullen, as she was able to predict all of their actions and always be one step ahead.
Anyone who tried to attack her would ultimately give up in frustration.
She stared up at the phenomenon and silently listened to the chanting, looking as though she would be able to receive the inheritance from where she stood.
Qiu Shi arrived from the distance, her face calm. She had only just arrived at the base of the mountain, but she was surrounded by almost a thousand stars that enveloped everyone gathered. Next, she used just one Cosmic Palm to cause the stars to explode, affecting everyone present.
Hui Santong cursed the woman, and used the Hui Secret Art that could eliminate all battle techniques. He then shuttled amidst the exploding stars to appear in front of Qiu Shi, and golden meteors appeared over his palm as he slapped out with it.
Qiu Shi looked up and vanished only for Yōu Qin to appear in her place. She had used the secret technique Star Transference to swap positions with Yōu Qin.
Originally, Yōu Qin had been busy dodging the explosions of stars, but unexpectedly, she suddenly traded places with Qiu Shi, who then left. She had no idea that she would have to face not only the exploding stars, but also Hui Santong’s golden meteors.
She was slightly slow to react, and her shoulder was struck by a golden meteor. Her face turned deathly pale, and she plummeted down into the sea.
The other cultivators also tumbled down, one after another, just like raindrops.
Qiu Shi waved a hand, revealing her strength as an Enlighter. The stars revolved about her once again before exploding. Hui Santong felt overwhelmed, as the power of this attack was even more terrifying than before. He could not repeatedly use the Hui Secret Art and thus could only reluctantly try to dodge. However, this Cosmic Palm had enveloped the entire area around him, and he could not dodge the attack, which caused him to be injured by the exploding stars. Hui Santong thus also ended up falling into the sea.
This was Qiu Shi’s strength. So what if her opponent was the Hui family heir? The Seven Courts had started declining long ago, and it was possible that after just a few more years, Progenitor Chen’s Mausoleum might not be in their control anymore.
Qui Shi then glanced over at Starsibyl. From start to finish, this woman had not moved at all, yet all of the exploding stars had not harmed her in the slightest.
Starsibyl gave Qiu Shi a slight smile. “I don’t plan on climbing the mountain.”
Qiu Shi’s gaze trembled. “You’re this generation’s Starsibyl? Help me divine who this generation’s Cosmic Five will be.”
Starsibyl smiled. “Why bother with a divination?”
She then looked at the five mountains. “These five directions were already divided up by you all long ago, isn’t that right?”
Qiu Shi’s face was calm, but she gave Starsibyl a measured stare before stepping past her and continuing on towards the mountain. “Don’t try to act smart, as you might just invite trouble upon yourself.”
Starsibyl did not respond, and she silently watched Qiu Shi ascend.
Five mountains, five directions, five top-notch heirs. This was what the Cosmic Five represented.
