Meanwhile.
Chen Dengming had already entered Ice Wind Forest after receiving word from the Eighteen Shadow Guards. He had learned in advance how many people had come this time.
But as he gazed at the Misty Cliff, which towered from earth to sky like a dragon sucking up water, he was shaken, too—yet he couldn't see a single cultivator anywhere.
"To cause such a tremendous spectacle, was it some ancient Immortal Dao Formation, or was it made by the cultivators who descended? If it was the latter, they're probably no ordinary low-level cultivators."
Chen Dengming's brows furrowed. After pondering for a long while, he remembered the Eighteen Shadow Guards' warning that the Xiantian Grandmasters on the mountain had already begun fighting. He gave a soft laugh and abandoned the idea of approaching the mountain just then.
The Ascension Convention wouldn't officially begin for another half a month, and the so-called immortals hadn't descended yet. Yet people were already fighting. It was all for empty fame and invitations. He had no interest in going over and inviting trouble.
For now, he continued to lie low at a distance and observe, receiving reports each day from the Eighteen Shadow Guards.
On the second day, the Shadow Guards reported that Nangong Shuo, head of the Nangong Aristocratic Clan and first among the Xiantian, had sparred with Yue Kun, ranked sixth. They stopped as soon as a clear winner emerged, and Nangong Shuo had won.
On the fourth day, the Shadow Guards reported that Nangong Shuo had fought Wind-Clear Sword Xu Changqing, ranked third among the Xiantian. They stopped as soon as a clear winner emerged, and Nangong Shuo had won by a single move.
On the sixth day, the Shadow Guards reported that Shao Yu Feng, ranked fourth among the Xiantian, had fought Wang Shiduo, ranked fifth. Shao Yu Feng had won by a narrow margin.
On the ninth day, the Shadow Guards reported that two of them had been tracked by Shao Yu Feng, who had suddenly come down the mountain. The Snake Gu had alerted him to their presence. The two Shadow Guards had committed suicide, and the rest had quickly withdrawn. Their intelligence-gathering work was over.
"Shao Yu Feng, Nangong Shuo..."
Standing in the forest with his hands behind his back, Chen Dengming gazed toward the distant Misty Cliff, still wrapped in an earth-shaking spectacle. A trace of surprise showed in his eyes.
Nangong Shuo and Shao Yu Feng had taken turns sparring with the other Xiantian experts, yet neither had fought in earnest. It seemed they were merely testing their opponents. They didn't appear to be genuinely fighting for the title of Number One Under Heaven in the Martial Dao, nor did it seem they were after the invitation in someone's hands. He couldn't tell what they wanted.
The time wasn't right. He chose to keep lying low.
After living for over eighty years, he was no longer the hot-blooded youth who, just after transmigrating, had fantasized about roaring, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west!" He had plenty of patience and prudence.
By the eleventh day.
Besides the dozens already gathered atop the mountain, even more people had been drawn there by the Misty Cliff's sky-piercing spectacle. But cowed by the Grandmasters' might, they all remained halfway up the mountain, not daring to climb to the summit.
Still, their arrival made it easier for the Shadow Guards to gather intelligence.
At the summit, the atmosphere had grown increasingly tense. The dozens of people there all had their own thoughts. Nangong Shuo and Shao Yu Feng exchanged glances, communicating through their eyes. As their gazes flickered, their impatience grew more and more obvious.
"Things have turned out differently from what we expected. Chen Dengming still hasn't shown himself. Could the person holding the invitation be someone else—some hidden expert?"
"The day before yesterday, I tracked those two men. They were both top-tier Martial World experts, but they took poison and killed themselves before I could catch them. There are only nine powers in the Martial World capable of raising experts like that and making them willingly die. But the only one that hasn't arrived is the Chen Family."
By now, the two were grinding their teeth in frustration. They had never seen anyone so good at lying low.
"That fellow has kept to himself for years and stayed exceedingly discreet. He's cautious and patient to an absurd degree. Let's wait two more days—two days at most. If Chen Dengming still doesn't show, we'll go after Hu Lei. Yesterday's test showed that Hu Lei is the one we can take down most easily."
Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Only three days remained until the Ascension Convention officially began.
The remaining sixteen Shadow Guards mingled with the crowd halfway up the mountain and once again brought Chen Dengming the latest intelligence: Nangong Shuo and Shao Yu Feng had suddenly joined forces to attack Hu Lei, seventh on the Heavenly Ranking. They forced Hu Lei to hand over his invitation, then finally stopped.
"The foxes have bared their fangs. All those days, they'd only been skimming the surface, testing the waters. Turns out they were saving their strength to make a move at the end. Poor Hu Lei."
When Chen Dengming received the report from the Shadow Guards, a faint smile touched his lips.
He knew that compared with Hu Lei, if he, Eighth Under Heaven, showed up, the two old foxes would probably see him as an even softer target.
Though he trusted his hidden trump cards to keep him completely safe, enough to make anyone who schemed against him grit their teeth and swallow their pride, his greatest trump card was meant to guard against immortals. After lying low for more than ten days, he hadn't wasted his time; he had avoided unnecessary trouble.
He flipped his hand, and the Blood Centipede Gu, no longer than a baby's finger, appeared in his palm. He felt an inexplicable connection to it, as though they shared the same blood.
"Go."
Chen Dengming spoke calmly. The blood centipede abruptly spread its wings, thin as a cicada's, and with a buzzing flicker, it followed his will and slipped into his right ear. It curled up inside, and its aura quickly faded.
He would soon be facing immortals. To guard against any means they might have of seeing through people, he had to conceal a trump card as powerful as the Blood Centipede Gu as deeply as possible.
The next moment, he slung a great saber across his back and used his lightness skill to dart through the forest like a soaring bird. Each time he gathered his qi and leaped, he covered more than twenty zhang, drawing closer to Misty Cliff so he could climb the mountain at a moment's notice.
As people gathered on the mountain, no one noticed that deep in the clouds above Misty Cliff, where the mist converged, a massive teleportation formation had already taken shape in a space caught between illusion and reality.
More than a hundred glittering, brilliant crystals shone like stars. Arranged in the formation to correspond with the Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits and the Seventy-two Earthly Fiends, they formed a vast platform in the sky.
Five figures had gathered on the platform.
Three men and two women, each with extraordinary bearing. Their spiritual qi naturally formed a rain of light around them, lending them an air of mystery and Immortal Qi. Any mortal who saw them would know at once that they were immortals and would be unable to resist prostrating themselves in worship.
And yet these five immortals were discussing the matter like prison guards debating which new prisoner was the most amusing. Their words had not an ounce of immortal grace—only vulgarity.
A man wearing a square kerchief pointed at Shao Yu Feng and said with a faint smile, "Look at that mortal. He's over seventy, yet he's gone to such lengths to fight for an invitation to the Ascension Convention. He hasn't even brought any of his family's younger generation along. Could he be planning to attend himself?
"What hope can there be in cultivating the Dao at his age?"
An old man with the bearing of an immortal said with an unhappy smile, "There's nothing wrong with being old, Daoist He. Don't change the subject. We've all placed our bets, so it's your turn to choose someone."
The man in the square kerchief smiled and shook his head. "This little Nanxun Kingdom is new to us. Ever since that Sha Star once emerged from here, our sects have jointly distributed invitations to the Ascension Convention in this place for a hundred years, hoping someone else might prove the Dao through martial prowess and become another powerful Martial Immortal.
"But from what we've seen, the people of this small kingdom lack the aptitude. The so-called eight great Xiantian experts, along with the other old men already nearing the end of their lives, may have exquisite martial skills, but they've all lost their potential. How could they ever become Martial Immortals?
"It seems this time we can only choose people with spiritual roots from among their younger descendants and take them back to our sects. I'll pass on the bet."
"So be it!"
At that moment, a woman in red smiled faintly and said, "Since you won't choose, Daoist He, I'll place a bet on someone. I'll wager that the owner of the tenth invitation, the one who hasn't appeared yet, might be chosen and taken away.
"The owners of the other nine invitations have all shown up. Only the owner of the tenth has yet to appear. Quite mysterious, isn't he? Perhaps there's still hope. I'll wager five Mid-grade Spirit Stones."
A female cultivator with a delicate, oval face covered her mouth in surprise and laughed. "Five Mid-grade Spirit Stones on some unknown mortal? What if the recipient of the tenth invitation doesn't show up at all? Senior Sister Luo, you're certainly betting big. Senior Brother Luo must have given you a generous betrothal gift when he proposed that you become his Dao Companion."
The old man teased with a laugh, "Daoist Luo comes from the Southern Domain Spirit Land. The betrothal gifts there have always been steep. Men in the Southern Domain have to prepare a Cave Mansion and buy a spirit boat and carriage. Some have to prepare a guardian spirit beast as well. What a hardship."
Everyone said immortals were wonderful; who knew immortals had their troubles?
Immortals were people, too. Besides, these so-called immortals in the mouths of Nanxun Kingdom's experts weren't true immortals, but merely cultivators.
The many Grandmasters who had made their names across the Martial World had no idea they'd become racehorses for the immortals to bet on, judged from on high.
To the five cultivators, the experts' red-faced, neck-veined brawling was like fighting roosters squaring off in a pen—quite entertaining.
The editor's on vacation, so the contract status probably won't be updated until next Monday. I hope readers who enjoy the book will leave me some monthly tickets and vote for me next week. Also, for now, updates are scheduled for midnight each night. I'll change the time after the book gets promoted.
Before you continue