"Haha! Brother Wanli, golden lotuses keep blooming in the Heavenly Lake. Surely you can't expect to keep them all to yourself?"
Zhong Wanli swaggered with domineering confidence. The aura of the Dragon Opening Realm, combined with his outrageously expensive technology, was enough to make anyone who saw him tremble and hastily give way.
Everyone had assumed no one would dare challenge him. But just as that thought crossed their minds, several more powerful figures emerged around the Heavenly Lake!
"Brother Wu is right, Zhong Wanli. Do you think you can rule the world single-handedly?"
"We can divide the Heavenly Lake's opportunities among ourselves."
"That's exactly what I had in mind. There are plenty of us from the Nine Gates, and every golden lotus in the Heavenly Lake holds an opportunity. We should work together and not let outsiders benefit."
At those words, many lone fighters and leaders of smaller factions darkened their expressions.
What was that supposed to mean?
Were they planning to shut them out?
"Haha! Agreed. Those of us from the Nine Gates should do exactly that!"
More and more martial artists gathered around the Heavenly Lake.
Yet not a single person dared to rush in. They watched in awe as one legendary elder after another appeared—figures who had not shown themselves in years, but whose tales still lived on in the martial world.
"Zhong Wanli of Yin Xu Mountain!"
"Chen Daofeng of Gui Cang Valley!"
"Deng Gang of Green Wood Cliff!"
"Nan Chunshan of Sword Ridge Mountain!"
"Long Xiaotian of Minglong Lake!"
"Xu Qiantao of Gudao Mountain!"
"Guan Feiyan of Lianhua Dock!"
"Dao Yihai of Hulao Gorge!"
"Hua Yingying of Fengling Residence!"
"The ancestral figures of the Nine Great Mountain Gates have all come out of hiding!"
"They're all still alive?!"
"Who do you think is prettier, Hua Yingying or Guan Feiyan?"
"I heard they've all reached the Dragon Opening Realm, just one step away from the legendary Grandmaster realm. Maybe that's exactly why they're determined to seize this opportunity and break through their bottleneck, entering the coveted Grandmaster realm!"
Hearing this, someone asked in surprise, "Wait, I heard years ago that they'd already reached the Dragon Opening Realm. They've been in seclusion for years and still haven't advanced? Maybe one of the nine has already broken through and gotten ahead of the others."
Not everyone was ignorant of the secret to reaching the Grandmaster realm.
"That's impossible. No one in this world can reach the Grandmaster realm through their own efforts!"
"Do you even know what you're saying? No one can reach the Grandmaster realm through their own efforts? Then how did the Grandmasters recorded in ancient books get there?"
"It's been that way since ancient times. To break through to the Grandmaster realm, you need something called the 'Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao'!"
"What is that?"
"No idea."
"..."
"Do you think that golden mist could count as smoke?" someone suddenly asked, leaving everyone present momentarily stunned.
"Now that you mention it, it really does look a bit like smoke."
A ferocious roar shook the Heavenly Lake, drawing everyone's attention.
A huge, jet-black wild boar charged into view!
Someone recognized the beast and cried out, "Holy crap! Isn't that the Boar King, the one that's been rampaging through the mountains of Yunnan in recent years? What's it doing here?"
Before everyone could process the sight, a tiger's roar shook the snowy mountains.
"The Tiger King of Changbai Mountain! It came too!"
"Look, White Snake!"
White Snake wasn't actually the legendary White Snake. It was a massive python with white scales and red eyes, active in the Hengduan Mountains for the past few years. Countless martial artists had fallen prey to it. The name "White Snake" merely described its size and strength!
A shrill cry rang out overhead.
Looking up, they saw the Black Eagle King, which had been roosting above Mongolia, fly more than two thousand kilometers to reach them!
Four of the most powerful mutated beasts of the age had arrived. Undeterred by the might of the Nine Great Mountain Gates' ancestors, they charged straight toward the Heavenly Lake!
Their actions enraged the nine ancestors.
The domineering Zhong Wanli was the first to attack. Striding forward with a tiger's gait, he charged at the nearest beast—the jet-black Boar King!
"Go!"
He used his mind to activate the martial core embedded in his body, sending clear commands to the four Flying Thunder Swords around him.
Bzzzt!
A dazzling flash of lightning formed a blurry, wondrous thunder dragon that tore toward its target!
The Boar King was wild by nature, and with a great opportunity before it, it charged ahead without fear.
It barreled toward the thunder dragon at astonishing speed, its fearsome tusks thrust forward—but there was no earth-shaking collision as everyone had expected!
The thunder dragon formed by the four Flying Thunder Swords scattered. Four streaks of lightning shot upward. The spectators, who had thought Zhong Wanli was losing, sucked in a breath when they saw the Boar King's body sliced apart!
"That's terrifying! It killed the Ironhide King in a single move!"
The Boar King was immensely strong and had incredible defenses. It was said that after rampaging through human settlements, it had been hunted by government forces. It had even survived a missile strike before escaping back into the mountains. Though it had lost, it had earned respect.
And so the title "Ironhide King" had spread.
And a beast like that had just been killed in an instant!
Everyone stared at the four lightning swords as they flew back to Zhong Wanli's side, dumbfounded.
"What kind of technique is that?"
"A Grandmaster! He's definitely a Grandmaster!"
"Grandmaster, my ass! I told you, you need the Divine Smoke of Entering the Dao to become a Grandmaster. That's martial technology. It must be the latest top-tier combat-tech weapon—the Flying Thunder Sword!"
"The Flying Thunder Sword?! I heard those things cost a fortune. That's just obscenely rich!"
Before one wave could settle, another rose.
There were more gasps of shock nearby.
The murderous White Snake reached the edge of the Heavenly Lake, hoping to seize an opportunity. Instead, a terrifying kick sent it flying!
Rumble!
His legs rumbled as terrifying energy seemed to erupt within them, radiating waves of heat.
"Top-tier combat-tech weapon: Missile Leg! Another rich guy!"
"Long Xiaotian's leg techniques were already top-notch. With Missile Leg, he's even more formidable!"
White Snake hissed and turned to fight again.
But no matter how savage it became, it couldn't close the gap between them. In the blink of an eye, a thunderous kick blasted its body to pieces, leaving it dead in a foreign land.
"What incredible speed! I can't even see him!"
"He's like a ghost!"
The Northeast Tiger King roared repeatedly as a ghostly figure flitted around it, moving so quickly that it defied the spectators' comprehension.
"Combat-tech secret art—Ninefold Blood!"
"This technique is complicated. Supposedly, they install some kind of biological pump in the heart and modify the blood vessels. That lets them raise their blood pressure to unleash several times their normal physical strength. It boosts their speed, explosive power, and more!"
The Black Eagle in the sky flapped its wings and changed course. Before it could even land, it shot back into the air, scared out of its wits.
"Haha!"
Their laughter rang out as the ancestors of the Nine Great Mountain Gates strode toward the Heavenly Lake.
The disciples beneath them all held their heads high, regarding everyone else as insignificant ants.
"Damn it, those old-timers used to say technology was no good, but now they've spent more than anyone else. Shameless!"
"They're all peak Dragon Opening Realm experts. Add their technological enhancements, and they're invincible among their peers!"
"Half-step Grandmasters!"
"With these nine old geezers here, getting into the Heavenly Lake to claim an opportunity is probably just a pipe dream..." Someone sighed and considered leaving.
The greater the risk, the greater the reward.
When faced with an enormous opportunity, what did a life matter?
That was the wrong way to think about it!
You dared to risk your life for an opportunity because there was a chance you could win.
But if you knew for certain that you would die, with no chance of survival at all, then even the greatest opportunity was worthless.
Nine half-step Grandmasters who had spent a fortune on enhancements, plus the members of their Nine Great Mountain Gates—who there could take even the tiniest share of the opportunity from them?
"Look, that golden lotus blooming in the middle of the Heavenly Lake has twelve petals. It's dazzling!"
"That's definitely the greatest opportunity. I wonder how the nine ancestors will divide it. I hope they fight~" Someone watched with glee, hoping the waters would get muddied so they could fish in troubled waters.
Zhong Wanli and the others had also spotted the extraordinary Golden Lotus King. As their eyes met, each revealed an unmistakable determination to claim it.
"Everyone, there's only one Golden Lotus King. How should we divide it?"
"How? We'll find out when we fight!"
"Fine. It goes to whoever wins!"
The nine stood around the Heavenly Lake as their auras continued to rise.
Countless people watched, overcome with excitement.
Just then, a voice rang out, carrying an invincible air of supremacy.
"The Golden Lotus King is mine. Anyone who dares come near will die!"