True Sun Sect's Conditions

Zhu Gang spoke with great humility, but the meaning behind his words was anything but low-key.

Wang Ping studied Zhu Gang carefully for a moment. Rather than anger, he felt keen interest. "Could Fellow Daoist tell me whom your Council of Elders has supported?"

"Many!"

Zhu Gang uttered those two words first, then sat back down in his wicker chair. "Since the Capital City incident ended, we have supported three Third Realm Taiyan cultivators in their attempts to advance. They all received permission, yet not a single one succeeded!"

"So many?"

Yulian was visibly surprised, carrying some of Wang Ping's emotions within her.

Zhu Gang lifted his bowl of wine and poured it into his huge mouth in one gulp. His round red eyes fixed on Yulian. He seemed to be smiling, but the expression looked utterly ferocious. Then his voice rang out. "Those are only the ones we chose. There were also those we did not choose, as well as those who tried to advance in secret."

"How many Third Realm Taiyan cultivators could there be? How could so many attempt advancement all at once?" Yulian's voice was full of doubt.

"Your eyes have always been confined to this little patch of the Southern Cultivation World, so naturally you find it unbelievable. But the world is vast beyond measure. Let me tell you this: in the nearly two hundred years since the Capital City incident, Third Realm Taiyan cultivators have already been reshuffled."

Zhu Gang's scarlet gaze met Wang Ping's as he said, "Things have settled down over these past few decades. At present, the two people universally acknowledged as most likely to advance to the Fourth Realm are True Monarch Changqing—you—and Daoist Priest Cheng Xi of the Southeast Sea Region. By all rights, the two of you should