The stone gates of the Godfall Deadlands stood shut. Outside, waves of void storms battered the spatial barrier, making it tremble.
Three factions occupied separate positions around the gates. None had left.
A black Bone Ship hovered on the left, crowded with black-robed cultivators. Their leader was Mingya, a gaunt, deeply wrinkled elder from the Calamity Abyss. Tu Jue, who had entered the Secret Realm, was the expert they had sent.
On the right floated a resplendent Celestial Palace, with a group of golden-armored cultivators standing before it. Their leader was the burly elder Aoshan of the Jin Court. Feng Qi was one of theirs.
The Myriad Worlds Merchant House held the center.
Butler 001 sat in a Floating Grandmaster Chair with a cup of Immortal Tea in his hand, but he had not taken a sip. He frowned, too anxious to sit still.
Mingya and Aoshan had never liked each other. Bored from waiting, they began trading insults across the distance.
Stroking his few sparse whiskers, Mingya gave a sinister smile. "Old Ghost Aoshan, the Calamity Abyss has brought out everything it has this time. Tu Jue is among the strongest of the Eighth Step. The True God Inheritance will belong to us."
Aoshan folded his arms and sneered.
"Tu Jue is a brute who only knows how to kill. What makes him worthy of the True God Inheritance? Feng Qi is no weaker than him and a hundred times cleverer. The Jin Court will claim this opportunity."
Mingya's smile deepened.
"Then you haven't heard. For this trip into the Secret Realm, the Abyss Lord personally bestowed a Primordial Spirit Treasure on Tu Jue for protection. With that treasure in hand, what threat could the Fierce Beasts pose?"
Aoshan's expression darkened briefly before he replied with a haughty look.