Initiation

As Leian's name as a newly risen young ninth-level powerhouse spread, the gates of East Suburb Manor in the eastern outskirts of the imperial capital were clogged with carriages every day.

The visitors were either wealthy merchants or high-ranking nobles. Their eager visits were naturally meant to forge a friendship with Leian.

Ordinary people only knew that Leian had become a ninth-level warrior at the age of thirty, but they knew that he had also received a Goddess Token.

What did that represent?

It represented that Leian would definitely be able to break through to the Saint Realm!

Faced with a future Saint Realm powerhouse, who would not want to establish ties in advance? However, most of them were destined to have their hopes dashed.

Who was Leian? How could he meet just anyone? Apart from his two old acquaintances, Derrick and Andre, he had only met one other person in total: a marquis named Allen.

He had met Marquis Allen because the man was also an ascetic cultivator. Though he was over two hundred years old and still only a ninth-level warrior, Andre said that he had never given up on warrior training.

Leian greatly admired such ascetic cultivators. He had even invited Derrick and Andre to spar with him several times.

After news of this spread, everyone more or less figured out Leian's temperament, and the gates of the manor gradually returned to their former quiet.

However, not long afterward, news spread that Robert, a ninth-level powerhouse from the Beni Empire, had challenged Leian, once again sparking heated discussion about Leian throughout the imperial capital.

It was now early December of Byron Calendar 9984, and less than a month remained until the agreed-upon date of January 1.

After that, large numbers of outsiders entered the imperial capital almost every day, the vast majority of them having come to watch the battle.

As time passed, even some powerhouses from the Beni Empire began arriving one after another.

This made Maple Leaf City increasingly lively.

East Suburb Manor, training stone chamber.

Since moving into the manor, Leian had spent most of his time here.

This was an isolated chamber built at the edge of the training grounds. It was entirely constructed from hard bluestone, with walls a full meter thick, completely blocking out outside disturbances.

At this moment, Leian sat cross-legged in the center of the chamber, his palms facing each other before his chest as though holding an invisible object. Between them floated a spherical mass of purplish-black light that flickered like lightning.

Within the purplish-black light, a strand of brown matter rose and fell. When dispersed, it resembled a mass of liquid; when condensed, it looked like a stone.

That brown matter was nothing else but a clump of earth.

What Leian was doing now was attempting to use his battle aura to break down that clump of earth.

Cultivation was like this. Aside from the occasional stroke of luck and sudden enlightenment, most of the time it consisted of such tedious attempts.

Days passed amid those tedious attempts, and Leian paid no attention whatsoever to the turmoil outside.

On December 28, with the arrival of the challenger Robert, Maple Leaf City, the imperial capital, welcomed an unprecedented spectacle.

Throughout the city, whether in taverns and restaurants or on streets and alleyways, almost everywhere people gathered, they were discussing the upcoming challenge.

"I heard Robert is already one hundred and seven years old, and he became a ninth-level warrior over sixty years ago. At his age, he still came to challenge Lord Leian. How shameless."

"People from the Beni Empire are all like that, aren't they? That Stefan from before had been riding on Lord Kleist's fame all along, hadn't he?"

"You can't put it that way. Although Mr. Kleist is already a Saint Realm powerhouse, he became a ninth-level warrior at the same age as Mr. Stefan—thirty-two. From that alone, who can say Mr. Stefan cannot become a Saint Realm powerhouse at the same age?"

"That sounds reasonable, but breaking through to the Saint Realm isn't that easy!"

"Mr. Robert has acted rather rashly this time. Even if the goddess did not set an age limit for challengers, if he does this, even should he win the Goddess Token, he probably will not earn a good reputation."

"Bullshit. The path of cultivation is about striving. Lord Robert has trained in the Youquan Mountain Range for so many years. With such diligence, why shouldn't he compete for the Goddess Token?"

"Though that makes some sense, as far as I know, over the past century, besides Mr. Leian, there seem to have been three others who received Goddess Tokens, and they were all Saint Realm powerhouses. Even if Mr. Robert wins the token, can he become a Saint Realm powerhouse within fifteen years?"

Clearly, after all this time, the people in the imperial capital had now split into three factions:

The first faction, mainly citizens of the Byron Empire, was practically unanimous in condemning Robert as shameless. It was also the largest faction.

Close behind them was the faction supporting Robert, mainly made up of powerhouses from the Beni Empire. Since it concerned the dignity of a powerhouse from their own empire, most of their arguments focused on the legitimacy of Robert's challenge.

The last group consisted of powerhouses from the Ma'en Empire, one of the three great empires. Since the Ma'en Empire was not involved, not many had come to watch the battle. They had almost no stance at all and merely wanted to enjoy the spectacle.

At this moment, on the imperial capital's main north-south avenue, the challenger Robert was riding a massive ninth-level Blue Dragon forward at an unhurried pace.

Given his strength, almost none of the surrounding discussions could escape his ears. Yet whether it was praise or abuse, his expression never changed.

On both sides of the street, many who witnessed this scene, even if they disapproved of Robert's challenge, could not help but admire his composure and depth.

But they did not know that from beginning to end, Robert had never regarded them as worthy of notice.

When the corner of his eye swept over those questioning and insulting him, Robert sneered inwardly. How could these ants understand his path?

He firmly believed that when he revealed his true strength, the more fiercely these ignorant ants cursed him now, the more swollen their faces would be then!

As for breaking through to the Saint Realm?

If he did not have absolute confidence, why would he have gone out of his way to issue this challenge?

It could only be said that the path of the strong was destined to be lonely!

No one knew what Robert was thinking. Everyone only knew that Robert had taken up residence at Heaven's Night, the best hotel in the imperial capital.

At the same time, another piece of news spread: his battle with Leian would take place in the barren hills west of the imperial capital.

Time quietly flew by. On the evening of the final day of Byron Calendar 9984, outside the manor's training chamber, just as Aili was hesitating over whether she should remind Leian of the time of his appointed battle,

Inside the chamber, Leian's hands suddenly trembled. Within the purplish-black sphere of light, the earth condensed into stone shuddered, then turned into endless dust and spread outward.

Leian let out a soft breath and slowly opened his eyes, a flash of joy swiftly passing through them.

He had not expected to comprehend a trace of Destruction Profundity before the duel.