Initiation

As the name of Leian, the newly emerged young ninth-rank powerhouse, spread far and wide, the gates of his manor in the eastern suburbs of the imperial capital were blocked solid by carriages every single day.

The visitors were either wealthy merchants or high-ranking officials and nobles; their diligent attempts to pay a visit were, naturally, driven by the desire to build a rapport with Leian.

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

What did this represent?

It meant that Leian was absolutely destined to break through to the Saint Realm!

Faced with a future Saint Realm powerhouse, who wouldn't want to establish a connection in advance? However, the vast majority of them were destined to have their wishes go unfulfilled.

Given Leian's status, he wouldn't just see anyone. Aside from his old acquaintances Derrick and Andre, he had only met one person: a marquis named Alan.

The reason he met Marquis Alan was that this man was also a bitter cultivator. Although he was over two hundred years old and still only a ninth-rank warrior, Andre had told him that the man had never given up on his warrior training.

Leian deeply admired such bitter cultivators and even invited Derrick and Andre to join them for a few sparring sessions.

After this news got out, everyone finally grasped Leian's personality, and the manor gates eventually returned to their former tranquility.

However, not long after, as news broke that the Beni Empire's ninth-rank powerhouse Robert was challenging Leian, the entire imperial capital was once again stirred into heated discussions about him.

It was now early December in the year 9984 of the Byron Calendar, and less than a month remained until the scheduled date of January 1st.

Following this, a large number of outsiders entered the imperial capital almost every day, the vast majority of whom had come to watch the battle.

As time passed, even powerhouses from the Beni Empire began to arrive one after another.

This made the entire Maple Leaf City increasingly lively.

Eastern suburb manor, stone training chamber.

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

This was an independent secret chamber built on the edge of the training grounds, constructed entirely of hard bluestone with walls a meter thick, capable of completely isolating him from outside disturbances.

At this moment, Leian was sitting cross-legged in the center of the chamber. His palms were facing each other, held in a hollow embrace before his chest. Between his palms, a spherical mass of purple-black light flickered like lightning.

Inside that purple-black light, a wisp of brown matter floated up and down; when it dispersed, it looked like a liquid, and when it condensed, it resembled a stone.

This brown matter was nothing else but a lump of soil.

What Leian was doing at this moment was attempting to use his battle qi to decompose this lump of soil.

Cultivation was just like this; aside from the occasional stroke of luck leading to an epiphany, the vast majority of the time was spent in such tedious experimentation.

Time passed day by day amidst this monotonous trial, and Leian paid absolutely no attention to the chaos of the outside world.

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

Throughout the city, whether in taverns, restaurants, or the streets and alleys, almost everywhere people gathered, they were discussing this impending challenge.

"I heard Robert is already one hundred and seven years old and has been a ninth-rank warrior for over sixty years. To challenge Lord Leian at such an advanced age, he really is shameless."

"That's just how people from the Beni Empire are, aren't they? Didn't that Stefan fellow keep riding on the coattails of our Lord Kleist's reputation?"

"You can't say it like that. Although Mr. Kleist is already a Saint Realm powerhouse, he was the same age as Mr. Stefan when he became a ninth-rank warrior—thirty-two. From that perspective, who can say for sure that Mr. Stefan won't become a Saint Realm powerhouse at the same age?"

"That sounds reasonable, but breaking through to the Saint Realm is not that simple!"

"Mr. Robert is being a bit reckless this time. Even if the Goddess didn't set an age limit for challengers, doing this means he probably won't have a good reputation, even if he wins the Goddess Token."

"Bullshit. The path of cultivation is about competing. Lord Robert has been training in the Youquan Mountain Range for so many years; with that kind of diligence, why shouldn't he compete for the Goddess Token?"

"That may be true, but as far as I know, in the last hundred years, aside from this Mr. Leian, there seem to have been only three others who obtained the Goddess Token, 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 this period of fermentation, the people in the imperial capital had split into three factions:

The first, consisting mainly of the subjects of the Byron Empire, were mostly cursing Robert for being shameless; this was the largest group.

Following them was the faction supporting Robert, primarily composed of powerhouses from the Beni Empire. Because it concerned the face of their own empire's powerhouses, their conversations mostly focused on the legitimacy of Robert's challenge.

Finally, there were the powerhouses from the Ma'en Empire, one of the three great empires. Since the Ma'en Empire was not a participant, not many people had come to watch, and they had almost no stance, simply wanting to watch the show.

At this moment, on the main north-south street of the imperial capital, the challenger Robert was riding a massive ninth-rank Blue Dragon, moving forward at a leisurely pace.

With his strength, the surrounding discussions could hardly escape his ears. However, whether it was praise or insults, his expression remained unchanged.

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

Yet, they did not know that from beginning to end, Robert had never held them in his eyes.

As his peripheral vision swept over those who were questioning and insulting him, Robert sneered inwardly: How could these ants understand his path?

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

As for breaking through to the Saint Realm?

If he didn't have absolute certainty, he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of issuing a challenge.

One could only say that the path of a powerhouse is destined to be lonely!

No one knew the inner workings of Robert's mind; everyone only knew that Robert had checked into the best hotel in the imperial capital, Heaven's Night.

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

Time slipped away quietly, and on the evening of the final day of the Byron Calendar year 9984, outside the training chamber of the manor, Aili hesitated over whether she should remind Leian of the time for the duel.

Inside the chamber, Leian's arms, held in a hollow embrace, suddenly trembled. Within the purple-black sphere of light, the soil that had condensed into stone shook violently, then transformed into endless dust that filled the air.

Leian exhaled softly and slowly opened his eyes, a flash of joy quickly crossing his face.

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