Beginning

August 15, clear skies.

The newly built venue was already teeming with people.

The Armory Tower dominated the world. It was holding an alliance gathering, and those who submitted would prosper while those who resisted would perish. What power in the martial world would dare not attend?

Several days earlier, scattered martial artists had already begun arriving, swelling into a crowd of tens of thousands.

Most of them, in particular, were martial artists of the middle three ranks or higher, nearly the entire cream of the martial world of Shenzhou!

Some were astonished by the Armory Tower's sudden rise, some were consumed with envy, while others felt nothing but direct, unvarnished hatred.

But whatever their feelings, they could only come to the venue and silently await the Righteous Path's final gamble!

Though the martial world was divided into black and white, most people were fence-sitters.

If the Armory Tower succeeded in rising to the top, those old schemers would bow down and pledge their loyalty. And if the Righteous Path flourished, they wouldn't hesitate to transform themselves into benevolent men of honor.

"This time, Armory Tower Master Nangong Wu Wang is set on making an example of the world. On the day of the alliance gathering, he's going to kill the Celestial Maiden Sect's Saintess as an offering to raise the banner... Sigh, they say she's a peerless beauty. It's a wonder he can bring himself to do it."

"The Celestial Maiden Sect is going to have its face slapped raw this time!"

"Besides the Saintess, there's another woman being made to die alongside her, named Jiang Xiao Die. She's not nearly as well known..."

"But if she stands alongside the Saintess, how could her status be ordinary?" Another well-informed man put on a mysterious air. "As far as I