Chapter 1136: Shengyu, Liuguang, Futian
The world before them was incredibly vast, with the far reaches of their vision seeming to be shrouded in a layer of mist, a hazy gray. Yun Che and the others followed Mu Huanzhi and Mu Bingyun for a long time, yet there was still no end in sight.
"It seems we truly have arrived too late. Most people have already entered the Zhou Tian Realm. I still remember the last Divine Profound Convention; when we arrived, the world was in an uproar, with people as numerous as the stars in the river." Mu Huanzhi sighed.
"That's only one reason. Limiting the participants to the Divine Tribulation Realm and greatly reducing the scale is the more primary reason." Mu Bingyun said.
As they progressed, Yun Che suddenly saw, far in the distance, a vague black shadow. This shadow shot straight up into the sky, piercing the heavens, with no end in sight.
"Palace Master Bingyun, what is that?" Yun Che asked.
"That is the Zhou Tian Tower." Mu Bingyun said. "It is the tallest tower in the Divine Realm, soaring thirty thousand li into the sky."
"Thirty... thousand li?!" The Bing Huang disciples who heard this all gasped in shock, sucking in cold air.
Even for practitioners of the divine path, thirty thousand li was an extremely long distance. To use such a number for height could only be described as mind-boggling.
"Hahahaha!" Huo Rulie let out a loud laugh, strode over, and said, "The Zhou Tian Tower is not a 'real' tower, but rather a special projection from the Zhou Tian Pearl. It is said that its true body lies within the 'Zhou Tian Divine Realm' inside the Zhou Tian Pearl. Directly beneath this Zhou Tian Tower that you can see is where the Zhou Tian Pearl itself is located."
After speaking, Huo Rulie turned his head and said loudly, "Poyun, in this Divine Profound Convention, if you can obtain the qualification to enter the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, the most likely place for you to cultivate will be inside this Zhou Tian Tower for three years... Oh no, three years in the mortal world, three thousand years in the Zhou Tian realm. And being able to cultivate for three thousand years in this Zhou Tian Divine Tower is absolutely far better than cultivating ten thousand years outside. Understand?"
Huo Poyun's face turned serious: "Master, rest assured. Poyun will not fail Master's expectations, nor fail himself."
"Good! Hahahaha!" Huo Rulie laughed once more and continued striding forward.
The Bing Huang disciples behind looked on with envy and jealousy. Mu Huanzhi also shook his head, looking quite dejected. He glanced at Huo Poyun and a feeling arose in his heart: if only he could have such a successor, he would die without regrets in this life. But what followed could only be sighs and melancholy.
Huo Poyun, on the other hand, showed a hint of embarrassment. He sneaked a look at everyone's expressions, then sidled up to Yun Che and said quietly, "Brother Yun, my master absolutely did not mean to show off or intimidate. It was just... just a casual..."
"Haha." Yun Che let out a light laugh. "Brother Poyun, there's no need for that. In any star realm you go to, you have the absolute capital to be shown off."
He turned his face and suddenly lowered his voice: "Brother Poyun, your Golden Crow Sect's ancestral god spirit should have faded away only in recent years, right?"
"..." Huo Poyun's footsteps paused for an instant, and his expression clearly stiffened as he stared blankly at Yun Che.
His reaction had already told Yun Che the answer... Just as he had suspected, Huo Poyun's abnormally powerful Golden Crow flame force was, like Feng Xue'er's, the result of receiving the complete bestowal of the Golden Crow god spirit at the cost of its own complete dissipation.
When he first arrived in the Divine Realm, Mu Bingyun had said that there were no longer any god spirits existing in the Divine Realm, and the Flame God Realm was the same. But obviously, that was not the truth.
Back in the Illusion Demon Realm, the Golden Crow soul spirit of the Golden Crow Thunder Flame Valley had personally told him that if he couldn't see Mo Li within five years, he would never have the chance again. Since identical soul spirits could communicate via soul sound, it knowing about matters in the Divine Realm meant it had communicated through the Golden Crow soul spirit of the Divine Realm... which meant that at least up to that point, the Golden Crow soul spirit of the Divine Realm was still alive.
The first time he saw Huo Poyun, the moment he displayed his Golden Crow Flame, it gave Yun Che a feeling similar to Feng Xue'er's.
Now, it seemed everything was as he had thought. Huo Poyun's astonishing flame ability was indeed a "divine bestowal" from the Golden Crow soul spirit.
"Brother Yun... why do you say that?" Huo Poyun's expression was somewhat stiff.
"Oh, it's nothing. I just heard some legends about the Flame God Realm from senior sect members a while ago, so I asked casually." Yun Che said casually, but his mind was deep in thought: With the dignity of a god, it would never extinguish itself to benefit a human. But the Primordial Azure Dragon gave its last dragon blood, dragon marrow, and dragon soul to him, then there was Feng Xue'er, and now Huo Poyun as well...
Clearly, this was an all-or-nothing gamble for some major reason.
What was it that they sensed, and the "prophecy" of the Tianji Realm, what exactly was it...
"This—"
BUZZ!!
Just as Huo Poyun was hesitating, not knowing how to respond, the sky suddenly darkened for no apparent reason, and an immense pressure cascaded down from above.
Yun Che instinctively turned his head. Far away in the sky behind them, a colossal mysterious ark... to be precise, a massive palace was slowly flying past. At a glance, it was a hundred li in size. Approaching the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, this enormous palace was flying very slowly, but its pressure was like a blazing sun hanging overhead, making people's hearts tremble and souls shudder.
"Shenwu Heavenly Palace!"
Yun Che heard the low exclamations of both Mu Huanzhi and Huo Rulie at his ear.
"Shenwu Heavenly Palace? The main mysterious vessel of the Shenwu Realm that Master once spoke of?" Huo Poyun exclaimed quietly.
The Shenwu Realm? Yun Che's heart stirred.
"Correct." Huo Rulie slowly nodded. "That the Shenwu Realm would arrive at this time is hardly surprising. There are not many upper star realms allowed to land their mysterious vessels within the Zhou Tian Divine Realm, and the Shenwu Realm naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity to show off their might."
"I've heard that among the young children of the Shenwu Realm King, there is a prodigy named Wu Guike. In the peak battles of this Divine Profound Convention, the Shenwu Realm will surely have a place." Mu Bingyun said slowly.
Yun Che's brows twitched... Shenwu Realm, Wu Guike. He had heard that name two years ago and had almost encountered him.
And also...
The Shenwu Heavenly Palace slowly sailed past, heading toward the Zhou Tian Divine Realm. But its divine might lingered, and then another wave of pressure suddenly descended from the sky, instantly overpowering the momentum of the Shenwu Heavenly Palace, startling everyone into stopping in their tracks.
"What... what is that?!" Almost all the Bing Huang disciples cried out in shock.
In the boundless sky, a huge black shadow was slowly swimming. Looking closely, it was actually a pitch-black giant whale! The whale's body was a full four to five hundred li in size, like a world-destroying behemoth that could devour the earth at any moment, looking down on the humble land and creatures below.
"The Futian Shark! The Futian Realm has arrived too... Wait, that is!"
Behind the giant whale, a shadow slightly smaller but several times faster swept across from beside the whale. It was a cyan-black giant eagle, a full three to four hundred li in size.
Just as the giant eagle passed by, another giant figure slowly approached. It was an incomparably massive mysterious ark, spanning a thousand li across the sky, blotting out the sun and covering the earth as it moved slowly. Every inch of its advance caused the wind and clouds to shift.
"The Chaos Eagle of the Liuguang Realm!"
"The Star-Destroying Ship of the Shengyu Realm!"
Huo Rulie, Mu Huanzhi, and the others had completely stopped in their tracks, looking up at the sky, their faces full of shock. The Bing Huang disciples were naturally even more overwhelmed, their mouths agape, as if they were in a dream.
"Those... are profound beasts?" Yun Che asked in astonishment. Flying giant sharks and giant eagles several hundred li in size—he had never seen or heard of such things before.
"Of course they are profound beasts." Mu Bingyun said softly. "That giant whale is called the Futian Shark. It is the guardian divine beast and main mysterious vessel of the Futian Realm. That giant eagle is called the Chaos Eagle, the personal mount of the Great Realm King of the Liuguang Realm. They are profound beasts, but they differ from the profound beasts you know. To be precise, they are 'Primordial Mystic Beasts.'"
"Primordial... Mystic Beast?" Yun Che looked utterly confused.
"Because they were brought out from a place called the 'Tai Chu Divine Realm,' hence the name 'Primordial Mystic Beast.'" Huo Rulie cut in boisterously, then waved his hand. "But you don't need to know too much. The Tai Chu Divine Realm is a place even I don't dare enter lightly. As for you, lad, you're far from needing to understand it."
"But speaking of the Chaos Eagle, I seem to have heard a rumor about a month ago." Huo Rulie said somewhat hesitantly. "The Liuguang Realm King has supposedly given it to his youngest daughter as a gift for her fifteenth birthday. I don't know if it's true or false."
Huo Rulie's casual remarks were something Yun Che didn't expect to cause Mu Bingyun and Mu Huanzhi to both turn around simultaneously, their expressions changing significantly. Mu Bingyun said, "The Chaos Eagle was personally brought back from the Tai Chu Divine Realm by the Liuguang Realm King, who never allowed anyone else to touch it. But if it's for his 'youngest daughter'... it's not entirely surprising."
Mu Huanzhi also slowly nodded.
"The Liuguang Realm... the Liuguang Realm where the 'Yingyue Immortal,' one of the Four Divine Sons of the Eastern Domain, resides?" Huo Poyun thought of something and exclaimed softly, "Is that who Master referred to?"
"No..." Huo Rulie shook his head. His expression was complex, as if he wanted to say something but stopped, and finally he said, "The Divine Profound Convention is at hand; don't add unnecessary distractions."
"Yes, Master." Huo Poyun immediately stopped asking.
It wasn't so much that Huo Rulie didn't want to add distractions for Huo Poyun, but rather he didn't want to add pressure... because that girl was an anomaly enough to make all the prodigies of the Divine Realm feel inferior.
"The Star-Destroying Ship of the Shengyu Realm, the Chaos Eagle of the Liuguang Realm, and the Futian Shark of the Futian Realm—these three great realms arriving at the same time is almost as if they planned it." Mu Huanzhi said.
"Matters at the level of those three great realms are beyond our reach. Let's go." Mu Bingyun withdrew her gaze and said calmly.
"Are these three star realms very powerful?" Yun Che asked.
"Heh, 'powerful' doesn't even begin to describe it." Mu Huanzhi laughed. "The Shengyu Realm, the Liuguang Realm, and the Futian Realm are the three strongest among all the upper star realms of the Eastern Divine Region. In other words, beneath the king realms of the Eastern Divine Region, these three realms reign supreme."
"...I see." Yun Che nodded, finally understanding why they had reacted so strongly.
"The 'Four Divine Sons of the Eastern Domain' I mentioned to you earlier—aside from the Sword Lord's successor, Jun Xilei—the other three divine sons come from these three realms respectively." Mu Bingyun said. "Luo Changsheng of the Shengyu Realm, Shui Yingyue of the Liuguang Realm, and Lu Lengchuan of the Futian Realm. In this Divine Profound Convention, the core remains these three realms. Even if others are also upper star realms, they can only bow beneath their radiance."
The word "remains" undoubtedly indicated that this situation had persisted for many years, many generations. These three star realms stood like three great mountains in the Eastern Divine Region, majestic and unshakable.
After traveling for over an hour, the "Zhou Tian Tower" they could initially see was still just a blurry shadow, seeming not to have come any closer. But at last, the space ahead was no longer empty. Countless light curtains shot up into the sky, blocking their view but also forming a dreamlike, enchanting strange world.
Beneath each light curtain stood a figure, either a young man or a young woman. Mu Bingyun and Mu Huanzhi led the group of Bing Huang disciples to the nearest light curtain. Mu Bingyun stepped forward and saluted, saying, "The Bing Huang God Sect of the Yin Xue Realm has been invited to visit the Zhou Tian Divine Realm and brings its disciples to participate in the Divine Profound Convention."
The young woman before the light curtain took the invitation letter and gracefully returned the salute: "So it is the honored guests from Yin Xue. Please wait a moment; someone will come to guide you in shortly. Those participating in the preliminaries of the Divine Profound Convention, please touch your arm to the light curtain. Those who meet the qualifications will be allowed to enter."
Mu Bingyun nodded in acknowledgment, while Mu Huanzhi began arranging the Bing Huang disciples.
"Yun Che, we will be parting ways for now." Mu Bingyun specifically said to Yun Che. "The Grand Elder and I will enter the Zhou Tian Realm first. You and the other sect disciples will be sent into the preliminary competition grounds. As for what the competition grounds are like, you will only know once you enter."
"Place your hand on the light curtain. If your qualifications are sufficient, you may enter."
Yun Che nodded, then reached out and touched the light curtain before him.
A faint, almost imperceptible blue light enveloped Yun Che's palm, then spread over his entire body, flashing once and disappearing.
Clear text appeared on the light curtain:
Lifespan: 27.
Cultivation: Divine Tribulation Realm, Level 1.
At the same time, a clear soul sound resounded in Yun Che's mind: "Please imprint your name and origin."
"Yun Che, Yin Xue Realm." Yun Che responded directly.
A moment later, Yun Che opened his eyes and said to Mu Bingyun, "Palace Master Bingyun, I can enter now."
"Among the many practitioners participating in the Divine Profound Convention, your cultivation is at the lower end, so your matches should end quickly." Mu Bingyun spoke very directly, and she also knew that Yun Che's heart was not in the Divine Profound Convention at all; to him, it was merely a medium to enter the Zhou Tian Realm. "After it's over, remember to send me a sound transmission immediately. Afterwards, your movements within the Zhou Tian Realm must be under my watch... This is your master's order."
"Yes, Palace Master Bingyun, rest assured." Yun Che complied.
"Poyun, you go too." Huo Rulie pushed Huo Poyun to the front of the light curtain. His slightly reddened face rippled with the greatest hope of his life.
This was not just Huo Poyun's personal Divine Profound Convention; it was a major event that would determine the future of the Flame God Realm.
Streaks of blue light wrapped around Yun Che, Huo Poyun, and the group of Bing Huang disciples. The young woman before the light curtain murmured softly, "After entering the venue, you will not be able to leave until the preliminaries are over. Before the Divine Profound Convention officially begins, no private fighting is allowed; violators will be immediately disqualified and isolated until the preliminaries end. Please be sure to remember."
The young woman's voice was gentle, but every word carried an unyielding authority.
Finally standing at the gates of the Divine Profound Convention, everyone's faces rippled with tension and excitement. In contrast, Yun Che was the calmest, because he was completely indifferent to the results of the Divine Profound Convention.
With a slight thought, his body was enveloped in blue light, and the world before him transformed drastically.