Chapter 23 The Gathering of Heroes
The black clouds were endless. Within the black clouds, numerous golden lightning bolts were flashing through the sky.
When the golden lightning bolts passed, they were accompanied by deafening thunder. It was as if a Celestial God had descended into the world.
The thunder seemed to be roaring as if it were filled with the boundless might of Heaven. The sound of the thunder was like the roar of Hades True Immortal who had once perished here. The sound seemed to be announcing to the world that someone had once transcended eternity, who was the imperator of this world.
This was where Ding Hao had gone through God’s tests more than a thousand years ago and successfully transcended eternity.
The power of a thousand years ago remained.
For thousands of years, countless martial artists had taken the risk to come here, intending to help themselves break through the bottleneck of martial arts with the help of the energy waves produced by Imperator Ding’s tribulation.
However, this place was so holy that even though the sea of lightning had receded after a thousand years, there was still lightning in the sky, and one could still hear thunder in the surroundings.
Many martial arts practitioners with the hope of getting lucky immediately died after taking half a step into the lightning pool.
This was a place that martial artists below the Celestial Realm could not step into. There was the power of thunder that did not belong to this world.
At the same time, it was also the most suitable place for a battle between masters in the True Immortal Realm. More than a thousand years ago, the God of War of Mysterious Frost and other top nine masters of the world set up a boundary formation here to protect Ding Hao.
So far, the thunder had not yet dissipated, and the boundary formation left by the top ten masters was still there. It was the most suitable place for the duel between Mu Tianyang and Xiang Zeyu.
Experts in their realm could destroy heaven and earth with every move. Even the Heaven Battlefield would not be powerful enough to bear that kind of power. But in this area, power would not erupt through the boundary formation and would not affect the outside world.
The place was surrounded by seas. It looked as though an immortal island and immortal mountain had been born from the depths of the sea. Looking from afar, the place was like a crown that stood tall on the blue sea. The crown glittered with golden light.
A few days before the battle, this place was already filled with many people, regardless of whether they were humans, demons, or beasts.
Those who could come here must have a certain level of martial arts cultivation. Those below the Martial Demigod Realm were not qualified to watch the battle.
What was different was that in the past, if something big happened, there would be transactions in places where there were many people. Some of them would take the opportunity to exchange magical weapons and pills, and some would sell their seats at a high price.
But in the past few days, before the duel between Mu Tianyang and Xiang Zeyu, such very common deals had not taken place, because everyone had no time to consider doing business. This once-in-a-lifetime battle was far more valuable than other real rare treasures.
All the people who were able to approach the boundary formation were experts in the Celestial Realm.
As far as the eye could see, there were many experts from all clans.
“A hundred years ago, I successfully advanced to the God Realm. Originally, I knew that there were a lot of masters above the God Realm on the continent nowadays. I didn’t expect that there would be so many of them. Only after I came here today did I know that there are many hidden talents.”
“Indeed. Even if the No-war Alliance Treaty ceases to be effective and the World War starts, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be impossible for so many experts to gather at the same time!”
“This is the horror of the White-Robed Emperor and the new master of the Feather Clan. The battle has attracted the attention of the whole world. As far as I know, Ding Chunqiu, the Sect Leader of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect in the Northern Region, Hua Mojian, the God Emperor of God’s Palace on the Eastern Continent, and the Sea God of the Seven Seas will come here in person to watch this peerless battle.”
“That’s right. This battle is of great significance. The Feather Clan has been itching to make a move over the years. This is the first time that the Human Clan and the Demon Clan will fight head-on against each other.”
“Xiang Zeyu dared to challenge the White-Robed Emperor Mu Tianyang at once. Even if he is the reincarnation of the God of Feather Clan, it must be difficult for him to win under Mu Tianyang’s sword. After all, the White-Robed Emperor was the man who was powerful as the Divine Emperor of the Saber and Sword in those days.”
“I don’t think so. Xiang Zeyu’s 24 pairs of Golden Wings have never fully shown their strength. It seems that today I will definitely see his power. I don’t think Mu Tianyang is a match for him.”
“Nonsense! The White-Robed Emperor hasn’t drawn his sword for a thousand years. How did you know that his cultivation hasn’t risen? Perhaps he has already reached the Eternal Realm and will second kill the junior Xiang Zeyu.”
…
Several God Realm Masters were discussing on the side.
Outside the boundary formation, among a large number of masters at the God Realm and the Celestial Realm, an inconspicuous scholar-like man in a cyan shirt named Ding Hao was mixed in.
At this time, Ding Hao deliberately hid his mysterious strength. Most people would only think that he was another admirer of Ding Hao when they saw his cyan shirt and cultivation in the God Realm. They would not pay much attention to him.
In terms of martial arts contests, Mu Tianyang and Xiang Zeyu each had a lot of supporters from both the Human Clan and the Demon Clan. But Ding Hao knew that Xiang Zeyu dared to challenge Mu Tianyang openly, which was undoubtedly a probing of the Human Clan’s strength.
Ding Hao didn’t know much about the martial arts cultivation of the rising star Xiang Zeyu, but he was quite confident about Mu Tianyang’s strength.
While Ding Hao was thinking, his eyebrows moved slightly and he said to himself, “These two people are also here!”
“Look at those two peerlessly pure rays of Sword Light!”
“It’s the heads of the Extermination Swordsmanship Sect and the Blue Cloud Sect!”
“As expected, true experts would only show up at this time!”
In the dark clouds, when the golden lightning flashed across the sky again, two sharp Sword Lights flew over from the sky, with the power to cut through the sky and reveal the sun.
When the Sword Lights reached the boundary formation, they suddenly stopped, turned into two balls of light, and levitated in the void.
“Fatty Song, it seems that we’re still early. Look, the protagonists haven’t appeared yet.”
In the void, a glowing ball of light was floating, above which stood a person. This person was calm and composed, and there was a faint indiscernible aura in his deep eyes. This man was Bai Quanshui, the head of the Extermination Swordsmanship Sect.
“It doesn’t matter. They will come here. Let’s pick a good spot first. We’ve been depressed for more than a thousand years, and now there will finally be a good show.”
On another light ball sat a fat man with big ears. He looked at the boundary formation with expectation. This man was Song Que, the head of the Blue Cloud Sect.
“Bai Quanshui, the Extermination Swordsmanship Sect’s Monster, known as the One Move to Kill Them All, is here! He must have come from the Northern Region. Since the heads of the Extermination Swordsmanship Sect and the Blue Cloud Sect have arrived, the people of the top sect in the Northern Region, the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect, will surely come here as well!”
“The Swordsmanship-seeking Sect will definitely come. The White-Robed Emperor has a deep relationship with the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect, and Mu Yunrui, the son of the White-Robed Emperor, has joined the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect.”
“Yes, it is rumored that Mu Yunrui’s qualifications are above Mu Tianyang’s. Unexpectedly, for more than a thousand years, such a genius has not shown any amazing achievements. It seems that the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect is secretly training this disciple.”
“It’s obvious that the Heavenly Path continent has been peaceful for a long time. There’s no chance for this mysterious disciple to make a move at all.”
Right at this moment, two water pillars shot out from the boundless sea.
At first, there was only a faint light at the end of the horizon. In the blink of an eye, the light turned into tornado-like water columns, and two waves were surging on the sea.
They rushed from both ends of the sea to the center.
The nearby experts were horrified. Some of them thought that it was Mu Tianyang and Xiang Zeyu who had arrived at the same time. Their momentum was overwhelming. All the people present activated their protective Qi to resist the strong Qi pressure.
Boom!
With a loud bang, the 3,000-meter-high water columns were stirred up, and the seawater sank a lot in an instant. Outside the boundary formation, it was like a waterfall pouring down.
At this time, strange laughter broke the crowd’s doubts.
“Hahahaha, big monkey, you got lucky this time. We’ve fought to a draw.” The strange voice sounded provocative.
Sure enough, it was the Pig Immortal.
“Humph, Zhu Ganglie, it’s obvious that you cheated. We agreed to go around the Heaven Path continent and see who would get here first, but you took a shortcut in the Western Desert,” the Great Ape King said angrily.
“That’s not true,” Pig Immortal said. “You must be mistaken. You got there at the same time as me. If you’re not convinced, why don’t we take another round?”
“Piss off. The duel is coming. I don’t have time to fool around with you, but we will have a competition. When Mu Tianyang and the boy of the Feather Clan are done fighting, we will also go inside and have a good fight. Do you dare to accept the challenge?” the Great Ape King said angrily.
“Let’s do it. I’m tired of your stick skills. I’m not afraid of you.” Pig Immortal was not to be outdone.
…
Sure enough, it was the two lords. Over the years, the contest between the Pig Immortal and the Great Ape King had intensified. It was known to almost all the people, demons, and beasts on the continent. They were no longer satisfied with fighting alone in the Beast Clan. Instead, they came up with more strange ways to compete.
It was obvious that the Pig Immortal had come up with these ways to compete.
The massive crowd had to make way for the two geniuses of the Beast Clan. The others were completely unprepared for the two huge waves of attacks and were still in a state of shock. However, the two continued to bicker with each other, completely ignoring the other people.
Ding Hao was not surprised at their arrival in such a way. It would be really unexpected if they could come to watch the show obediently.
All of a sudden, the two masters seemed to have sensed something. They stopped arguing and looked up at the sky at the same time.
Naturally, no one dared to approach the Pig Immortal and the Great Ape King. There was an empty space outside the two, so they became the focus of everyone’s attention.
Seeing that the two masters seemed to have sensed something, everyone followed their gazes and looked up.
Originally, the sky appeared a little dim under the cover of the dark clouds. Just as everyone’s eyes were fixed on the sky, an incomparably brilliant golden light was emitted from within the dense dark clouds as though it had responded to everyone’s request.
It was as if the sun, which had not passed through the clouds for a long time, suddenly burst out after accumulating power for thousands of years.
However, this golden light was different from the sunlight. Its luster was brighter and looked as if it had been meticulously carved. Even the dark clouds reflected a golden color after being illuminated by it.
“It’s the Yellow Crystal Dark Stone Carriage!”
“It’s… it’s the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect!!”
“Sect Leader Ding is here!”
“Only the Sect Leader? Who else is in the carriage? Where is Mu Yunrui?”
“Could it be that Imperator Ding is also in the carriage?!”
Ding Chunqiu’s arrival caused a sensation on the spot.
Before the commotion subsided, cries of alarm sounded again. After the golden light faded away, a dragon’s roar sounded.
As the heavenly dragon crossed the universe, the God Emperor descended into the world.
Hua Mojian from God’s Palace on the Eastern Continent also arrived.
