"Little ones, are you all ready?"
The Sky-Pacifying Master looked at everyone. His features were kindly, and a smile like that of a friendly old neighbor spread across his face.
Everyone's gazes were firm. No one spoke. Their silence was the best affirmation.
"Haha, then let's go."
The Sky-Pacifying Master opened his mouth with a laugh, and then swallowed everyone into his belly. They vanished from the hall.
Beyond the Dark Continent lay an endless, profound expanse of deep space.
From deep space, one would discover that the Dark Continent, vast and boundless as it was, amounted to no more than a tiny ball of light.
And beyond deep space lay the even more vast and boundless All Heavens and Myriad Realms.
At this moment, in a tiny corner countless tens of thousands of miles from the Dark Continent, dozens of Dominators, over a hundred Immortals, and more than ten thousand Peerless Prodigies had gathered.
Peerless Prodigies were exceedingly rare. Perhaps not even one could emerge among hundreds of millions of people. Yet compared with the vast, boundless worlds, they were not quite so rare. After all, every world could give birth to one, and the worlds were as countless as grains of sand in the Ganges. Time never stopped for anyone, and life continued endlessly. With all these factors intertwined, Peerless Prodigies seemed no longer quite so aloof, nor quite so rare.
Having recognized this, Lu Yuan had set a goal for himself: in every realm, he had to break through to the Supreme of the Cosmos. If he could not achieve that, he would rather remain there for a thousand or ten thousand years than compromise.
The benefit this brought was that among the ten thousand-plus Peerless Prodigies, Lu Yuan was the most eye-catching of them all.
To Lu Yuan, whether he had a powerful background was utterly irrelevant. As long as he was willing, countless major forces would open their doors to him at any time, welcoming him with the highest treatment.
Even hostile forces would be reluctant to kill Lu Yuan. Instead, they would choose to win him over, assimilate him, and offer him countless temptations. Only when all else failed would they reluctantly kill him.
At this moment.
Everyone was looking into the distance. A spatial rift shone brilliantly there, with an extremely strange light leaking from within, resembling a two-dimensional painting.
"Everyone, the old rules still apply. Once you enter the Divine Ruins, life and death are beyond reckoning. If you're afraid, don't send your younger generation in, lest they die and you throw a helpless tantrum there, then turn around and attack the juniors."
A Dominator from the Vast Continent spoke.
"Of course. Once we enter the Divine Ruins, everyone will leave life and death to fate and rely on their own abilities. I also hope that, when the time comes, no one will be unable to accept it if a certain continent suffers heavy casualties."
An old woman from the Bright Continent spoke dryly, her gaze fixed on the Dark Continent's faction the entire time.
As soon as these words fell, the Sky-Pacifying Master sneered. "Ji Yuanyi, if I remember correctly, the heaviest casualties in the last opening of the Divine Ruins were suffered by your Bright Continent. And you were the one who couldn't accept it in the end. What, are you reminding yourself?"
"Hmph! Sword Wine Old Ghost, trading barbs is meaningless. The truth will be decided by our subordinates' strength."
The old woman spoke with a cold, harsh gaze.
"Enough, everyone. Time is pressing. Let the little ones hurry inside. Looking at them, I'd say they can barely hold themselves back."
A Dominator from the Primordial Continent spoke up.
Then, under the watchful eyes of the many Dominators and Immortals, all the prodigies rushed toward the temporal rift.
Among the prodigies of Qingling Star Travel.
Lu Yuan transmitted his voice to everyone. "Once you enter the Divine Ruins, contact one another through the Virtual Realm. Then gather around me at the first opportunity. Ignore everything else."
"Understood."
The twenty-three prodigies of Qingling Star Travel nodded. None of them had any objections.
At this moment, they were very humble.
They had no choice but to be humble.
Back home, they had all been the top prodigies of their respective families, looking down on every fellow disciple.
But here, anyone picked at random was no weaker than them.
Everything they had once been proud of had become insignificant at this moment.
They felt nervous and apprehensive deep down.
Perhaps only by staying beside Lu Yuan could they feel at ease.
After all the prodigies entered the temporal rift,
the many powerful figures were not idle either. Each took out their own dojo and placed it in the void, then began chatting. Yet, faintly, they still divided themselves into five factions, each representing one of the five continents.
Dark, Bright, Vast, Primordial, and Divine Martial.
"The little ones of this generation are of excellent quality. Lu Yuan of the Dark Continent, Nangong Muyue of the Bright Continent, Ye Tian of the Vast Continent, Lin Wuyou of the Primordial Continent, and Ye Gucheng of the Divine Martial Continent are all invincible prodigies who have surpassed the level of Prodigy Supreme. They can be considered to stand in a class of their own.
"The second tier is the Prodigy Supremes. The third tier is the first- and second-level Limit Breaking Prodigies. The fourth tier consists of several Supreme Heavenly Saint little ones hidden among them.
"Hehe, interesting, interesting. I wonder who will come out on top and obtain the title of First Supreme Prodigy."
A Dominator who had survived through immeasurably long years stroked his beard as he spoke.
He had witnessed the opening of the Divine Martial Heavenly Ruins countless times, but only this time had given him such an astonishing feeling.
At this moment, another Dominator spoke.
"Putting everything else aside, if these five little ones—Lu Yuan and the others—grow up, their future achievements will likely surpass ours. With their talents, even the Primordial Heaven Court will fight to recruit them. They could enter the Immortal Court or Divine Court with ease. I hope these five little ones don't perish inside the Divine Ruins. Otherwise, it would be such a pity."
"Oh? Two little ones are about to clash already. As expected of young people—they're prone to getting carried away by their hot blood."
At the center of the five factions was a massive image.
The scene within it was none other than the Divine Martial Heavenly Ruins.
Yellow sand filled the sky, while the Waning Sun and Blood Moon hung in the heavens.
Lu Yuan stood amid the boundless desert, sizing up his surroundings. This was his first time entering the Divine Martial Heavenly Ruins, the renowned battleground where prodigies vied with one another.
But before Lu Yuan could inspect the area for long,
a sinister voice sounded from behind him.
"Lu Yuan, I didn't expect us to meet so soon. Have you thought about how you want to die?"