The unknown young man pressed his hat down and looked back at Lu Yin’s statue. “That’s a huge pocket dimension, and time passes differently there. I should go take a look.”
At that same moment, a massive screen appeared next to Lu Yin’s statue which attracted the attention of everybody nearby.
Screens then appeared all over Earth.
The screens showed a towering mountain, and a loud voice rang out: “ZENITH has begun.”
At this same time, a screen appeared on the busiest street on Zenyu Star, right next to Lu’s Grand Auction. Screens also appeared next to King Zishan’s palace, the imperial palace and many other locations on the capital planet.
There was a competition occurring on the first mainland ring surrounding Zenyu Star. Huo Xiaoling, Gerbach, Logan, Huo Zhong, and Ruky Mathers were all present, as well as Hall Master Schutz. They were all watching a match between Fu Xiaoshu and Song Shi. Although the two had only trained for a short period, their innate gifts made them almost comparable to the Hall Masters.
Everyone from the Yu Academy was cheering.
A screen suddenly appeared in the sky: “ZENITH has begun.”
Schutz immediately stopped the match and looked up at the screen in excitement. This was ZENITH, and the Great Yu Empire’s Royal Regent, Lu Yin, was one of the five gatekeepers, and the competition was finally beginning.
Countless planets throughout the entire Outerverse, as well as all of the major forces were watching ZENITH and Zenith Mountain.
Similar events could be seen in the Innerverse, as screens also appeared at the Sword Sect, the Wen family’s territory, the Lingling clan’s territory, and even about the Astral River Ark. Screens even appeared in the Cosmic Sea and the Neoverse.
In the western region of Chaos Flowzone, all of the cultivators from the Sixth Mainland looked up at the screens. ZENITH was finally about to begin, and everyone vividly remembered what the three Progenitors had said, and everyone believed that the Daosource Three Skies were the three strongest competitors in ZENITH due to their status as the future leaders of the Sixth Mainland.
In another part of the universe, a screen appeared within a majestic, futuristic looking city in the Technocracy.
Hui Kong was sitting in the plaza and looked up at the screen. “ZENITH? Even the Sixth Mainland has joined? This is really an unprecedented matter. I wonder who will appear.”
Within the Astral Beast Domain, a screen appeared in parts of the Celestial Beast Empire. Countless beasts stared at the image of Zenith Mountain with hopeful expressions. Their crown prince, Yao Xuan, would undoubtedly become the champion.
The Celestial Demon race was invincible, which was a simple fact that all beasts in the Astral Beast Domain simply accepted.
The Fifth Mainland, the Sixth Mainland, and all planets that were part of civilization were attentively watching various screens; ZENITH had begun.
…
How many young cultivators were there throughout the universe? Nobody knew the answer, and not even the Hall of Honor had an estimate. Even a wasteland like the Outerverse had billions of cultivators.
Proportionally, not many cultivators had been able to successfully reach Zenith Mountain to participate in ZENITH. The competition was being held in the Innerverse, and the location alone disqualified many would-be participants. Despite that, millions of cultivators had still arrived at Zenith Mountain along with their elders.
Not every cultivator dared to participate in the competition, as items and such were not allowed to be used during ZENITH, and there was also a possibility that the competitors could lose their lives.
Also, anyone who had not even become a Limiteers did not dare participate, as only Explorers and above had a chance of placing well during ZENITH.
Despite all of those limitations, there were still millions of competitors, which just showed how anticipated the competition was.
Also, this horde was merely the people who had successfully arrived at Zenith Mountain. If everyone who had registered had successfully arrived, there would have been billions of competitors. Most people simply wanted to see their names on the side of Zenith Mountain for a while, and some of the people who had registered were mere Melders and Sentinels.
However, their names would only remain on the mountain briefly, as anyone who did not successfully pass the five gatekeepers would be eliminated; only those who passed those five obstacles would enter the second round, which was the actual start of ZENITH.
There were also a massive number of elders who had escorted their young juniors. They surrounded Zenith Mountain, and some of them were nervous, while others were excited or concerned.
…
Zenith Mountain possessed steep slopes and a powerful current blew down from the peak. The wind was strong enough to kill Limiteers.
At the moment, millions of cultivators were gathered around the mountain. They were divided into four areas: east, south, north, and west. There were four passes a third of the way up Zenith Mountain, and the competitors would only be able to continue climbing after passing through the checkpoints. Additionally, another third of the way up Zenith Mountain, there was another, enormous checkpoint. Only those who passed through this fifth checkpoint would remain in the competition, which made it the gateway to the true competition.
Countless eyes were focused on Zenith Mountain, and every corner of the mountain were being broadcast to the Universe.
All of the video feeds were naturally focusing on the five gatekeepers.
At the northern pass, a handsome man leaned against the mountainside with closed eyes. He looked like he was sleeping. The man’s clothes were ornate, and he exuded nobility. He was the Crown Prince of the Astral Beast Domain’s Celestial Beast Empire, Yao Xuan.
At first glance, Yao Xuan looked similar to an average human, except for his exquisite looks. However, as people continued looking at him, they felt that his image became increasingly vague, and their memory of him began to fade.
The longer they stared at this person, the more people felt that he was shrouded in fog.
At the western pass, Zhi Yi wore a white cotton robe and had her black hair carelessly thrown over her shoulders as she stood there with a solemn expression. Although she looked normal, her usage of Vitality Qi gave her an indescribable aura.
She stared down at the base of the mountain where hundreds of thousands of cultivators had already gathered. All of them hoped to pass through her checkpoint.
Zhi Yi’s eyes flashed; most of the gathered people were useless and were unqualified to fight with her, yet there were a few elites within the crowd. Of particular note was that girl Qiu Shi. During the battle in the Cosmic Sea, Qiu Shi had always been nearby, yet had never used her full strength.
The Daosource Three Skies were the future leaders of the Sixth Mainland. After this competition, Zhi Yi intended to be the future leader of the Fifth Mainland as well.
Compared to Zhi Yi, Bu Kong’s thoughts were much simpler; he simply wanted to teach the Fifth Mainland’s people a lesson. However, he only intended to do that during the real competition.
He was confident that he would become the champion. Since that was the case, he did not mind giving some people a chance.
Bu Kong was clearly not as mature as Zhi Yi, and had a much more casual appearance.
Yet despite appearances, more people were willing to face Zhi Yi than Bu Kong, because Bu Kong was a Boundless Advanced Lockbreaker who had comprehended a sourcebox array. Although he looked young, he was amazingly talented to be able to become one of the Daosource Three Skies.
Bu Kong protected the northern pass. A playful smile appeared on his face as he looked down. “Just a bunch of ants. My mood will determine whether or not I’ll let them pass.”
At the eastern pass, Lu Yin leaned against the mountain much like Yao Xuan as he silently stared at the base of the mountain.
It would not be easy for the contestants to reach the gatekeepers’ positions. Of the millions of competitors, less than half of them would reach the checkpoints. This was not only because of the difficulty in ascending Zenith Mountain, but also because of the challenge presented by the other competitors as everyone made their way up to the gatekeepers.
As the gatekeeper, Lu Yin was able to attack at random. If he wished, he could even attack all of the cultivators waiting down below.
Millions of cultivators created a massive horde, yet quantity could never make up for pure quality.
Lu Yin had not expected to be able to watch the battles between elites like Yuhua Mavis and Liu Tianmu. He still remembered the awe and eagerness he had initially felt when hearing about the Ten Arbiters, yet the Ten Arbiters currently had to look up at him.
The lowest points in one’s life never lasted forever, and everything depended on one’s destiny.
Lu Yin was sure that out of the other Ten Arbiters or even the elites from the Neoverse, no one had gone through as many life and death experiences as he. Lu Yin had even actually died a few times in order to reach his current place.
However, Lu Yin was still not recognized as the pinnacle. He turned and looked up to see the enormous pass further up the mountain. Shang Qing stood there silently, as if a statue. He was surrounded by three streams of qi, and he was floating above the ground.
Lu Yin pouted; nobody looked more like a god than that person. What a poser!
However, due to Shang Qing’s ability to summon a past Progenitor from when they had possessed the same cultivation as himself, Shang Qing had been widely acknowledged as the strongest person in the tournament. Nobody would dare claim to be able to defeat a Progenitor when having the same strength, let alone three Progenitors. This was even more true due to the fact that nobody knew who the last Progenitor even was, and it had become the subject of a great deal of speculation.
Only those who had been present for the battle in the Mountain and Seas Zone understood just how helpless it felt to go up against Shang Qing. This Tri-Yang Ancestral Qi Technique was truly invincible.
Yao Xuan, Bu Kong, Zhi Yi, and everyone below them wanted to take first place, yet they all felt that their greatest obstacle was Shang Qing.
Lu Yin let out a long breath. Even with his current strength, he still felt threatened by Shang Qing. People were always scared of the unknown, and Lu Yin was worried about which Progenitor would be the summoned from Shang Qing’s third strand of qi.
The sky trembled as a huge ripple spread across all of Zenith Mountain. Somebody released the first roar, and then millions of cultivators simultaneously rushed towards Zenith Mountain.
Although millions of cultivators were surging forward at once, Zenith Mountain was truly enormous and it was not crowded at all, and there was a considerable distance separating all of the contestants from each other.
On the eastern side, Yuhua Mavis was the first to race forward. Although she did not move very fast, she had already spread out grass beneath her feet. The moment the competition started, the grass formed a palm that threw her forward.
Lu Yin was shocked, as this woman was clearly rushing at him.
If this were a normal location, the throw would launch Yuhua Mavis all the way to the peak, yet Zenith Mountain was different, and it was the location chosen for all of the universe’s most talented youths to compete against each other.
