The legion soldiers maintained order as the spectators who had come from various places began to disperse. Dongbo Xueying, the Drunken Lone Guest, and the others all returned to their respective abodes.
On the high platform.
Bai Sha City Lord and the others also rose to leave. After all, the three rounds of selection in the entire Anhai Province had concluded, and there was no need for them to stay any longer.
“Brother Bai Sha, will you be going to the Divine Court?” Rong Hai Wang asked.
“Even if it’s just for his sworn brother Dongbo, he’ll definitely go to watch the battles,” Mo Yang City Lord chuckled from the side.
Bai Sha City Lord grinned, stroking his upturned beard with pride. “Mo Yang City Lord, you guessed right. I must indeed go to the Divine Court to see… to see which great power my brother Dongbo will eventually become a disciple of.”
“You needn’t worry about that. That little Dongbo’s talent is exceptionally high,” Mo Yang City Lord said confidently. “To be this strong in just over 2,300 years, with the potential to break through in both the Void World Divine Heart and the Star Divine Heart—under the guidance of a great power, he has a great chance of reaching a first-grade Divine Heart within ten thousand years. With such potential, the great powers will surely be eager to take him in.”
“I’m not the least bit worried about whether he’ll be chosen by a great power,” Bai Sha City Lord shook his head. “If someone with Dongbo’s potential isn’t selected, who else could possibly be chosen?”
On the surface, Jiu She might be stronger than Dongbo Xueying, but Jiu She had cultivated for nearly six million years!
His potential was far inferior to Dongbo Xueying’s!
“What I’m slightly concerned about is whether Dongbo has any chance of becoming a disciple of one of those three,” Bai Sha City Lord said expectantly.
“Those three?” Qin Junzhu and Rong Hai Wang couldn’t help but shake their heads slightly.
Difficult!
“Reporting to the Province Lord, now that the selection in Anhai Province has concluded, I shall return to the Divine Court first,” the Divine Court emissary said to Anhai Province Lord above.
“Go ahead,” Anhai Province Lord nodded. The emissary needed to quickly report the details of the survival battles to compile more comprehensive intelligence for the great powers.
—
According to the rules, all participants in the Divine Court’s grand battle naturally became part of the Bloodblade Divine Court. Thus, although many great powers would come to observe, only those aligned with the Bloodblade Divine Court could take disciples.
“Rumble—”
A vast river, shrouded in endless mist, surged through the void. The river roared with boundless might, and even World Gods could not fly across it—they had to cross by boat. This river, born of the void, encircled a vast starry landmass. Stretching for countless millions of miles, even a city as large as Anhai Province’s capital would barely match its width.
On this landmass, countless cultivators resided.
At its center stood a magnificent black palace. Within one of its courtyards, a black-robed, black-haired elder sat cross-legged in meditation, eyes closed. He seemed devoid of any presence, as if merged with the palace, the landmass, and even the roaring void river itself.
“Master,” a beautiful woman in red robes entered, slightly nervous as she bowed respectfully.
The black-robed elder opened his eyes and looked at her.
“This is the intelligence report sent by the Divine Court. The selections across all nineteen provinces of the Bloodblade Divine Court have concluded. The information on the one hundred participants from each province—1,900 in total—is all here.” The woman respectfully presented a crimson scroll, which floated to the elder. With a mere glance, he absorbed all its contents.
“Good.”
“This session of the Divine Court’s Ten Thousand Blossoms Feast truly has some promising youngsters,” the elder mused.
“Are there any that Master desires?” the woman asked with a smile.
“Two or three,” the elder replied. “The one I favor most is a young man named Dongbo. Unfortunately, if I can see his potential, so can others. I wonder under whose tutelage he will ultimately fall.”
“If Master wishes to contend for him, you will surely succeed,” the woman said quickly.
“His Majesty has not taken a disciple in a long time. It’s unlikely he will now,” the elder said. “What I fear is those three competing with me.”
“Those three?” The woman’s expression shifted slightly.
—
As the news spread, many of the great powers attending the Divine Court’s Ten Thousand Blossoms Feast became aware of the most promising talents of the younger generation. The Drunken Lone Guest was exceptional, but he was already a direct disciple of the great power ‘Yu Gong.’ Truly high-potential individuals without a great power as their master were rare, and unless their potential was exceptionally dazzling, most great powers wouldn’t bother competing—taking them as disciples wouldn’t make much difference.
Thus, only a handful were worth contending for.
Dongbo Xueying was one of them.
In his quiet chamber within his Anhai Province abode, Dongbo Xueying contemplated silently.
“I hope, during this Divine Court’s Ten Thousand Blossoms Feast, I can become a disciple of His Majesty, the Divine Emperor,” he thought. “But His Majesty, as the strongest in the Divine Realm, rarely takes disciples anymore… If I can become a disciple of one of the Three Ancestors, that would also be excellent.”
Great powers—those who transcended the River of Time, truly eternal existences. Although Fourth Heaven World Gods were rare, and taking that final step to become a great power was immensely difficult, the accumulation of endless years had resulted in twenty-three great powers within the Bloodblade Divine Court.
The most illustrious among them was His Majesty, the Bloodblade Divine Emperor.
Next were the Three Ancestors.
And then the remaining nineteen great powers.
The Three Ancestors…
The first was ‘Destruction Monarch,’ originally a ruler of one of the Dark Abyss’s layers, one of the earliest great powers of the Abyss. His antiquity ranked among the top three. When his avatar journeyed through the Divine Realm, he took a disciple—none other than the current Bloodblade Divine Emperor. As an ancient monarch of the Dark Abyss, he continued to grow even while mentoring the Divine Emperor. Though his strength now paled in comparison to his disciple’s, he still surpassed ordinary great powers.
Moreover, he was unparalleled in teaching.
Over the eons, aside from the Divine Emperor, he had nurtured five other great powers.
Thus, despite his origins in the Dark Abyss, ‘Destruction Monarch’ held an exalted position within the Bloodblade Divine Court, commanding immense respect. He typically resided within its borders.
The second was ‘Pang Yi.’
Pang Yi was one of the earliest and most ferocious creatures born in the Divine Realm. In its primordial era, countless beings fought and slaughtered one another. Only five survived and ascended to become great powers—known as the ‘Five Fiends of the Divine Realm.’
Pang Yi was their leader. The other four were merely average great powers, but Pang Yi stood far above them.
The third was ‘Bamboo Mountain Estate Master.’
Bamboo Mountain was one of the nineteen provinces of the Bloodblade Divine Court, and its master was merely a Fourth Heaven World God.
Conventionally, Fourth Heaven World Gods, after living long enough, would gradually undergo changes in temperament, even losing their original resolve. Most lived for around ten billion years, with some extending to several tens of billions. Few exceeded two hundred billion.
Yet—
Bamboo Mountain Estate Master had lived for five trillion years, the longest-lived Fourth Heaven World God in history, with no signs of his truesoul collapsing. Moreover, his strength was extraordinary, surpassing even ordinary great powers! Ranked among the Three Ancestors, none in the Divine Realm or the Abyss still held illusions about his truesoul collapsing. After all, the average Fourth Heaven World God lived for a mere ten billion years, while he… had lived far too long. Some great powers had perished without lasting as long as he had. Though not a great power, all treated him as one, and even ordinary great powers showed him deference.
For instance, the Red Dust Sage had not lived nearly as long as Bamboo Mountain Estate Master.
“The Three Ancestors’ strength surpasses that of ordinary great powers,” Dongbo Xueying mused. “But at their level, taking disciples isn’t a priority.”
“Dongbo, Dongbo—His Highness the Seventh Plum Rain has come to visit.” Yu Jingqiu’s voice came from outside the quiet chamber.
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