Xun Jiong panted heavily as he glared at An Shaohua. “You will destroy Watermoon Villa one day! You’re from the Innerverse, yet working for Lu Yin.”
An Shaohua sneered. “Isn’t the Xun family just working for the Daynight clan?’
“My family comes from Ascension Flowzone! We’re not related to the Daynight clan.’
“So you deny it? If not for my Watermoon Villa, your Xun family would have gone to help the Daynight clan. However, now that the Daynight clan has been dealt with, your family can’t wait to sever all ties with them. I’ve never seen such a shameless clan!”
“I’ll kill you!” Xun Jiong charged at An Shaohua.
An Shaohua smirked. “You’re getting desperate.”
He rushed also towards Xun Jiong.
Off in the distance, someone crouched in a corner while sneakily filming the battle. His name was Wu Da and he was someone from the Astral Combat Academy. He had founded the academy’s tabloid and had done multiple reports on Lu Yin’s fights. His ambition was to be the best reporter ever, and he had spent a long time preparing for ZENITH, as his goal was to interview the final champion.
Although neither Xun Jiong nor An Shaohua were very famous, the trigger for their fight was itself interesting enough for Wu Da.
The greatest source of conflict at the moment was the mere existence of the Great Eastern Alliance, and Wu Da had kept his eye on the matter for a long time. Additionally, the Great Eastern Alliance had been founded by one of Wu Da’s peers: Lu Yin. This made the alliance even more interesting to the would-be reporter.
Xun Jiong and An Shaohua’s battle was a representation of the conflict between the Innerverse and the Great Eastern Alliance, and there was no way that Wu Da would miss this battle.
In another hidden location, someone else was also recording the fight. She was Yun Yun, and she had been the girl who had interviewed the Ten Arbiters at the Cosmic Sea on their way to the Neoverse. She had still been inexperienced at that and had been absolutely terrified of the Ten Arbiters. However, she had since gained more experience and was determined to take advantage of ZENITH to shake off her image as a terrified girl.
Even though Xun Jiong and An Shaohua were not very powerful when compared to others contestants, their battle was still being filmed from all angles.
Senior generation powerhouses from both the Xun family and Watermoon Villa were also present. However, since they were already right next to Zenith Mountain, and since the battle was only between two members of the younger generation, none of the elders would interfere.
The older powerhouses would not generally interfere with most of their juniors’ battles unless someone’s life was at stake.
The battle continued for yet another hour, as two combatants’ strengths were too close, and no victor could be determined. Xun Jiong grew impatient and asked for reinforcements. Someone else from Ascension Flowzone stepped out to help him, as the Xun family had many allies due to the usefulness of their Gear Construction Technique.
In contrast, An Shaohua was a quiet person who did not have many friends. Fortunately, he belonged to the Great Eastern Alliance.
After seeing that Xun Jiong was getting reinforcements, An Shaohua immediately requested help for himself. Yue Xianzi, Ah Fan, and even Lilyrose, who had left for Zenith Mountain before Lu Yin, moved out to help Ah Shaohua.
Suddenly, more than thirty people had gathered within the area, and the battle intensified.
Nearly a hundred people had gathered around the arena, one side represented the Innerverse and the other side represented the Great Eastern Alliance. The Great Eastern Alliance in turn represented the entire Outerverse, which made it a battle between the Innerverse and the Outerverse.
“Since when did the Outerverse dare to fight against the Innerverse? Has the sky fallen?” a woman standing next to Xun Jiong sneered.
Someone behind Yue Xianzi retorted, “Even if the sky collapses, tall people die first. Woman, you’re pretty tall; you must still be single.”
The woman snapped, “You’re shameless! Is everyone from the Great Eastern Alliance like you? No wonder it’s about to be given over to the Sixth Mainland.”
Yue Xianzi coldly replied, “The Sixth Mainland is supposed to be our common enemy; are you actually on their side?”
Xun Jiong answered, “Yue Xianzi, aren’t you the heir of the Innerverse’s Frostmoon Sect? Why would you stoop to An Shaohua’s level and become Lu Yin’s lackey? No wonder your sect went into hiding. You better be careful the Daynight clan doesn’t destroy your sect.”
“Worry about your own family, first. I heard that the Xun family were the first to escape when the Sixth Mainland invaded the Innerverse.”
Xun Jiong smirked. “Watermoon Villa took off pretty quick, too.”
…
Hundreds of people taunting each other created an impressive sight.
Both sides had similar strength at the moment, but the situation did not favor the Great Eastern Alliance, as there were simply too many people from the Innerverse who despised the Great Eastern Alliance.
Also, most of the people taking the lead for the Great Eastern Alliance’s side were actually from the Innerverse.
There truly was a huge gap between the Outerverse and the Innerverse.
A large crowd gathered some distance away to watch the fight, and among them were some people from the Cosmic Sea and even the Neoverse. They watched the entire scene with disdain, as though looking at ants.
As more and more people from the Innerverse appeared, someone famous finally arrived: Avery, a genius from the Dire Barbarian Clan who was ranked fourth on the Top 100 Rankings. He had called himself the Second War King when participating in the ported battles, and he was extremely powerful.
Of the people from the Great Eastern Alliance, only Lilyrose could be considered somewhat comparable to Avery. However, Lilyrose only ranked 31st, which was much lower than Avery.
Avery’s presence caused the area to fall silent, and even some of the people from the Neoverse grew serious upon seeing Avery.
Although the number of powerhouses in the Outerverse and the Innerverse could not compare to the Neoverse, both regions still had numerous youths who were close to the level of the top talents. This became more apparent once they became Hunters, as talented cultivators would improve greatly after that breakthrough.
Avery was a hideous man, and he glared at the people from the Great Eastern Alliance. “Who gave you the courage to challenge the Innerverse? Do you really think you can rebel against us simply by joining forces?”
He glanced at An Shaohua, Yue Xianzai, and the others with cold eyes. “As people from the Innerverse, how could you follow someone from the Outerverse? You all have no right to claim to be from the Innerverse.”
Lilyrose stepped forward. She had changed quite a bit after the destruction of the Blaze Realm and the death of Leader Hong. Also, her mother’s death had traumatized Lilyrose. She had previously been very arrogant because of her mother, but that had changed entirely. “You have no right to taunt us, Avery. The Dire Barbarian Clan is just a subordinate to the Lingling Clan.”
Avery looked at Lilyrose and sneered. “Oh? It’s a bitch who betrayed her own sect.”
Lilyrose froze.
The people from the Great Eastern Alliance all looked furious.
“Since you were able to betray your own and surrendered to Lu Yin, you two must be very close,” Avery said suggestively.
“Avery, how dare you!” Ah Fan bellowed. He leapt forward, and An Shaohua and the others were unable to stop him. Avery lifted his head, he had not actually intended to attack the Great Eastern Alliance, as he was still scared of Lu Yin’s reputation after Lu Yin had defeated two of the Ten Arbiters one after the other, not to mention the fact that the Hall of Honor itself had recognized Lu Yin’s strength. Therefore, no matter how much Avery despised the Great Eastern Alliance, he still did not dare openly cross Lu Yin. If he attacked anybody from the Great Eastern Alliance, he would simply be giving Lu Yin a reason to target him.
However, there was no need to worry about such things if the person from the Great Eastern Alliance attacked first.
Avery roared as soon as he saw Ah Fan, and overpowering soundwaves shattered air. Ah Fan went pale as the sky in front of him was torn apart. He was not able to withstand the attack at all. However, suddenly, someone moved in front of Ah Fan and instantly dissolved Avery’s attack.
Everyone in the area pulled back a bit.
The person in front of Ah Fan was Ye Gui, who was an Enlighter who Lu Yin had assigned to protect Zenyu Star after the man had tried to ambush Lu Yin. Ye Gui had traveled with the youths from the Great Eastern Alliance.
As soon as Ye Gui appeared, the Enlighter from the Dire Barbarian Clan showed up as well. The two Enlighters glared at each other, but nobody attacked.
Ah Fan panted heavily and warily eyed Avery.
Avery laughed. “So the Great Eastern Alliance can only rely on their elders?”
Ye Gui did not want to fight against the Dire Barbarian Clan, as he did not want to become an enemy of the Innerverse. He turned to face the Dire Barbarian Clan’s elder. “The young ones can fight, but there’s no need to use deadly force.”
The Enlighter from the Dire Barbarian Clan looked at Avery in a threatening manner.
The Great Eastern Alliance had just defeated the Blaze Realm, and the Dire Barbarian Clan definitely could not compare to the Blaze Realm. Only idiots would try to fight against the Great Eastern Alliance at this time. Since nobody from any of the eight great flowzones had attacked, smaller powers should not initiate anything on their own.
Avery was not dumb, and he stopped attacking Ah Fan.
At that moment, another famous person appeared, though it could not really be considered a person. It was a rock that floated in the air.
Despite that, everyone kept a wary eye on the rock, as this was the inheritor of Beast Tamer Flowzone’s Divine Grade Hall. This was a powerhouse who had been in cryostasis for a thousand years: Little Mountain God.
Bai Wanshan had always used the appearance of a great mountain when appearing in public, while Little Mountain God always took the appearance of a round stone.
When compared to the steadfastness of Bai Wanshan, Little Mountain God seemed far more energetic, as well as more impatient. “How dare the Great Eastern Alliance challenge us?”
An Shaohua and the others warily watched Little Mountain God.
The names of the participants in ZENITH had already been announced, and while Little Mountain God had not been included within the list of the predicted top ten, he was still considered a powerful competitor and had been listed within the top thirty. Despite not being an Arbiter, he was nearly as strong as the Arbiters. This was a true elite.
Little Mountain God’s appearance stressed Ye Gui, as this was the heir of one of the eight great flowzones. Ye Gui did not dare offend such a person, as that would be no different from insulting the entire Beast Tamer Flowzone. Moreover, Ye Gui was not even confident that he could actually beat Little Mountain God.
Ye Gui felt the shift in the atmosphere. These youths were insane. Back when Ye Gui had been a youth, no matter how powerful his peers had been, not one of them had been able to compare to an Enlighter. This was a change brought about by the introduction of formcast models, and they had led to the rise of so many geniuses.
The people from the Great Eastern Alliance had no more allies.
Lightning flashed across the sky and a terrifying aura descended upon the area.
“The Great Eastern Alliance? Lu Yin’s Great Eastern Alliance? You all are nothing but a joke.” Ku Lei appeared and glared at An Shaohua and everyone standing behind him.
Ku Lei’s appearance was shocking not only to the people from the Great Eastern Alliance, but also to Little Mountain God. Ku Lei was extremely powerful.
Avery’s expression grew much more serious. This man’s aura was terrifying.
Ku Lei arrogantly surveyed the area. As an inheritor to one of the Seven Courts from the Neoverse, there was nobody from the Innerverse or Outerverse who could beat him.
The people surrounding the crowd all started retreating. The Great Eastern Alliance had offended too many people, or to be more accurate, Lu Yin had offended too many people, and all of them wanted to get revenge from the Great Eastern Alliance.
Ye Gui started sweating. He was absolutely certain that he could not defeat Ku Lei. How could he protect the people under his protection when he was not able to keep even himself safe? How had the Alliance Leader managed to offend so many people?
Ku Lei turned to An Shaohua. “Where’s Lu Yin?”
An Shaohua reluctantly replied, “The Alliance Leader isn’t here yet.”
Ku Lei sneered. “I heard that he was injured quite badly when invading the Blaze Realm. Tell him that he should avoid me during ZENITH, or else I’ll be the first to deal with him.”
