Chapter 1130: Jun Wuming, Sword Wuming (Part 1)
A pale world, where heaven and earth were one color. Only a dimensional profound formation, etched there at some unknown time, was slowly rotating. Although it did not release a strong profound light, it was still strikingly conspicuous.
Yun Che, along with Mu Bingyun and the others, landed in front of the profound formation. He looked around and asked in confusion, "Master said that nearby star realms would pass through this dimensional profound formation on their way to the Zhou Tian God Realm. Why is there no one here?"
"Of course, because they all went early." Mu Huanzhi gave a bitter smile. "In just three short days, the Profound God Convention will begin. With such a major event, whether it's the young profound practitioners participating in the convention or the invited star realms, no one would wait until now to set out."
"This dimensional profound formation was set up three months ago. Other star realms must have already gone. Even going a month early wouldn't be considered too soon. The profound practitioners from other sects in the Yin Xue Realm who are qualified to participate also went to the Zhou Tian Realm long ago. For us to be setting out only now, among the lower and middle star realms, we are probably the latest." Mu Tanzhi also added with a chuckle.
"I see." The reason they had delayed until now was, of course, because of Yun Che.
"Don't worry." Mu Bingyun said softly to Yun Che. "After all, your goal isn't really to... Oh?"
Before she finished speaking, Mu Bingyun suddenly frowned and turned around. Mu Huanzhi and the others also sensed something and turned almost simultaneously, looking toward the sky behind them.
"This aura... could it be..."
Soon, high in the distant sky, a blurry red shadow appeared. The red shadow rapidly enlarged in their vision, revealing a quite massive crimson profound ark. As it approached, it stirred up an increasingly intense wave of heat within the extreme cold of the Yin Xue Realm.
"The Phoenix Wing Divine Ark of the Fenghuang God Sect from the Yan Shen Realm!"
The crimson profound ark flew straight to the top of the dimensional profound formation, circled once, and then flew back. At the same time, several thousand figures descended from the sky. Most of these people were dressed in red, and each carried an incredibly pure and intense aura of flame. As they descended, the falling snow lightened considerably, and the biting cold was pushed back layer by layer.
Leading the two figures at the front were none other than the Phoenix Sect Master, Yan Juehai, and the Golden Crow Sect Master, Huo Rulie!
"Sect Master Yan? Sect Master Huo? You..." Seeing Yan Juehai and Huo Rulie, along with the people from the Three Flame God Sects behind them, Mu Huanzhi and the others were all startled.
Yan Juehai and Huo Rulie were also equally surprised. Exchanging greetings, Yan Juehai swept his gaze over the Bing Huang God Sect's people and asked with doubt, "Your sect is only now setting off for the Profound God Convention? The dimensional profound formation is set up in the Yin Xue Realm. I thought you would have left long ago."
"Well, what a coincidence." Mu Huanzhi said. He was also puzzled as to why the Yan Shen Realm would have delayed until now.
"Yun Che, you little rascal!" Huo Rulie spotted Yun Che at a glance, his face immediately showing excitement. He let out a loud laugh, completely ignoring everyone else from the Bing Huang God Sect, and strode straight toward Yun Che: "I heard earlier that you were caught... brought back by your master. I was worried for a while. If it weren't for being held up by Poyun's matters, I would have come looking for you long ago. Hmm, seeing that you haven't lost a single hair and are still full of energy, I can rest easy."
"Sect Master Huo." Yun Che smiled and greeted him.
"But what are you doing here, kid? You don't mean to..." Huo Rulie's voice suddenly paused, and his eyes widened several times as he stared at Yun Che: "Divine Tribulation Realm!?"
"Oh?" Yan Juehai also froze.
The elders and core disciples of the Yan Shen Realm had long since fixed their attention, either openly or covertly, on Yun Che. Those who had experienced the battle in the Burial God Fire Prison would never forget the scene of Yun Che charging alone at the ancient horned dragon to save Mu Xuanyin and flipping it over with a single sword strike.
Everyone clearly remembered that at that time, Yun Che's profound strength had just entered the Divine Origin Realm. But now, in just over two years, he was already in the Divine Tribulation Realm!
"You little rascal, that's really something. Truly incredible." Huo Rulie exclaimed in admiration.
Yun Che was quite calm: "It was all bestowed by my master. I only just completed the breakthrough, barely qualifying to enter the Zhou Tian Realm. It also caused the sect to set out this late. Sect Master Huo, Sect Master Yan, why have you also delayed until now?"
Yan Juehai smiled without speaking, but Huo Rulie couldn't help but burst into loud laughter, a deep pride surging on his face: "Hahaha, of course it's because of Poyun, that little rascal. Coincidentally, he has also just completed his final breakthrough."
"Brother Yun!"
As Huo Rulie laughed, Huo Poyun also stepped forward and arrived in front of Yun Che. He seemed completely unchanged, except that his eyes seemed to faintly reflect a crimson-gold light, and his face carried a joy and excitement that came from the heart: "To be able to see you again and to go to the Profound God Convention together is truly wonderful."
Yun Che looked Huo Poyun up and down and was about to speak when he suddenly sensed something off about the atmosphere. He quickly glanced sideways and was stunned to see that all the elders and palace masters of the Bing Huang God Sect, including Mu Huanzhi and Mu Bingyun, had expressions of shock on their faces. Their astonishment was so intense it was as if they had seen a ghost—ten times greater than the shock Huo Rulie and Yan Juehai had shown when they detected his own breakthrough to the Divine Tribulation Realm.
And their gazes were all fixed on Huo Poyun.
Yun Che's heart stirred violently. He gave Huo Poyun a deep, penetrating look. He could not perceive Huo Poyun's cultivation level, but the faint aura he exuded was utterly different from the last time they met—like two different people: "I barely just entered the Divine Tribulation Realm and will be at the bottom of the Profound God Convention. I won't even pass the preliminaries. But Brother Poyun... will surely shine brilliantly."
"Hehehe," Huo Poyun did not modestly decline; instead, he laughed. "Whatever I have achieved today, I owe to Brother Yun's kindness. If I were not bound by not being able to leave the sect during this time, I would have long since visited the Yin Xue Realm to thank you and your master."
Huo Rulie's loud laughter, the reactions of Mu Bingyun and the others, and Huo Poyun's words all indicated that Huo Poyun had made tremendous progress. Clearly, the method the Three Flame God Sect Masters had mentioned back then had succeeded, perhaps even more successfully than expected. And the prerequisite for that success was hunting the ancient horned dragon.
Yun Che shook his head: "As for debts of gratitude, Sect Master Huo has long since repaid them. If it weren't for Sect Master Huo's life-risking help back then, I wouldn't have been able to save my master, let alone obtain the ancient horned dragon's corpse. So Brother Poyun doesn't need to dwell on it."
Huo Poyun sighed with emotion: "Brother Yun's magnanimity fills me with deep admiration. What Brother Yun has given me is a life-renewing grace. I sincerely hope that one day I can repay Brother Yun; otherwise, it will always weigh on my mind."
In this respect, Huo Poyun was very much like Huo Rulie.
Mu Bingyun withdrew her gaze from Huo Poyun and said lightly: "Congratulations, Sect Master Huo. It seems the history of the Yan Shen Realm is about to be rewritten."
"No, it has already been rewritten." Mu Huanzhi said, the shock not yet fading from his eyes.
"Hahaha," Huo Rulie laughed again. "Your Yin Xue Realm has produced Yun Che, the little rascal. Don't envy us. The dimensional formation hasn't been activated yet. After all, this is your Yin Xue Realm's territory, and you arrived first, so naturally you go first."
"Disciples of the Yan Shen Realm, all fall back!"
Two of the Three Flame God Sect Masters had come, Huo Rulie and Yan Juehai, but Yan Wancang, the Vermilion Bird Sect Master, was absent. Yun Che could roughly guess why he hadn't come... He probably felt too ashamed to set foot in the Yin Xue Realm again and even more ashamed to face Mu Xuanyin.
After all, it was his selfish stubbornness back then, ignoring Yun Che's desperate pleas, that had led to Mu Xuanyin falling into a desperate situation. Later, Yun Che had still given half of the horned dragon's corpse, which he and his master had obtained through life-and-death struggle, to the Yan Shen Realm. This left Yan Wancang deeply grateful but also filled with shame.
Among the disciples, besides Huo Poyun, Yan Juehai's grandson Yan Mingxuan and Yan Wancang's son Yan Zhuo were also present. Further back, a single glance showed that the total number of Yan Shen Realm disciples heading to the Zhou Tian Realm to participate in the Profound God Convention was as many as over six thousand.
In terms of numbers, it was almost ten times that of the Bing Huang God Sect!
And this was just the Vermilion Bird, Phoenix, and Golden Crow sects. The Yan Shen Realm, besides these three ruling sects, had many other forces said to be no weaker than the Bing Huang God Sect. If all were combined, the number would likely be more than just ten times that of the Yin Xue Realm.
The difference in comprehensive strength between the Yin Xue Realm and the Yan Shen Realm was obvious at a glance.
"If not for my master's strength, the Yin Xue Realm probably wouldn't even have the qualifications to speak on equal footing with the Yan Shen Realm." Yun Che sighed to himself.
All the disciples of the Yan Shen Realm stepped back, lining up neatly behind the Bing Huang God Sect.
Yun Che glanced at the dimensional profound formation and said thoughtfully, "Is this formation not activated at any time?"
"Of course not." Mu Bingyun said. "These dimensional profound formations set up by the King Realms connect the entire Eastern Divine Region. The consumption is unimaginable. If they were continuously activated, even the four King Realms would find it difficult to bear. Therefore, they are activated once every hour, and each activation lasts for a hundred breaths. Once the Profound God Convention ends, their power will also be exhausted and they will disappear on their own."
"That's the case for all the dimensional profound formations set up for this Profound God Convention."
"I see."
Silently comparing the scale of the participating disciples from the Three Flame God Sects and the Bing Huang God Sect again, Yun Che asked, "Palace Master Bingyun, for this Profound God Convention, roughly how many people from the entire Eastern Divine Region will qualify to participate?"
Mu Bingyun said, "The Profound God Convention has always had an age limit of less than sixty years. In previous conventions, the profound strength limit was the Divine Soul Realm. This time, it is limited to the Divine Tribulation Realm. Although it's only a difference of one realm, in terms of scale, it will shrink nearly ten thousand times."
"Every previous Profound God Convention would have several hundred billion young profound practitioners participating. This time, at most, it will not exceed fifty million."
"..." Yun Che was silent for a long time.
"Especially this profound strength limit. For young profound practitioners from lower star realms, it is extremely harsh, even fatal. Among all the lower star realms in the Eastern Divine Region, those that can select more than a hundred qualified individuals are few and far between. Many weak star realms won't even have a single one."
"As for middle star realms, such as the Yan Shen Realm, the number of qualified individuals across the entire realm might reach up to ten thousand. But there are not many middle star realms that can achieve this scale. As for our Yin Xue Realm..." Mu Bingyun paused for a moment, then sighed softly: "Among middle star realms, ours is on the lower end of the scale."
"And what about upper star realms?" Yun Che asked.
"The Divine Region has forty thousand star realms. The Eastern Divine Region alone has nine thousand. Among these nine thousand star realms, there are barely five hundred upper star realms. But this time, at least seventy percent of the participants in the Profound God Convention will come from just these five hundred upper star realms!"
"And the profound practitioners from the eight thousand five hundred middle and lower star realms will not exceed thirty percent!"
"The gap is that large?" Yun Che's face showed shock.
"Probably even larger than you imagine." Mu Bingyun said softly. "In the past, the Profound God Convention was held once every three thousand years. This time, it's only seven hundred years since the last one. The preparation time is very short, and the scale has been drastically reduced. The venue is also completely different. Anyone can clearly see that the main purpose of this Profound God Convention is different from before. At the very least, the primary purpose is to select the one thousand young profound practitioners to be sent into the Zhou Tian Divine Realm."
"So, if it weren't for saving face for the middle and lower star realms, the Zhou Tian Realm could have set the qualification limit at the higher Divine Spirit Realm. In that case, it would basically be a stage exclusive to the upper star realms, having nothing to do with us."
Yun Che: "..."
"Yun Che, you have only been in the Divine Realm for a short time and have never had contact with the upper star realms. This trip to the Zhou Tian Realm will at least broaden your horizons and let you re-understand what kind of existence the Divine Realm truly is."