First Encounter with the Saint Realm

After leaving the people of Raging Flame Mountain behind, the several hundred members of the Bloodhoof Tribe took the elevator from the lowest level and arrived at the summit of the Ancestral Court.

As for what the mountain had originally been called, that was no longer known. Later, it was called Ancestral Spirit Mountain, and after the Ancestral Court was established on this platform, some also called it Ancestral Court Mountain.

Moreover, it was not really a mountain at all, but an enormous platform spanning several hundred square kilometers. It could simply be called the Ancestral Court.

Reaching the platform where the Ancestral Court stood did not mean they could immediately worship the Ancestral Spirits. They first had to register at the Council Hall.

The Council Hall was where the Elder Council was located, and everything was arranged centrally. After all, the Hall of Ancestral Spirits had limited opening times. They had to ensure that every clan could worship there without affecting the Ancestral Spirit's Blessing received by other clans!

Many clans arrived at different times, making things rather complicated and requiring careful planning.

After reaching the summit, Chieftain Leland personally went to register with the Elder Council and visit a few friends. In truth, once one reached the summit, it was impossible to overlook the Hall of Ancestral Spirits.

It was simply too towering, standing a full three hundred meters high. From afar, it looked like a small mountain.

All the other buildings had been constructed around the Hall of Ancestral Spirits, and none exceeded one-third of its height. Even the Council Hall where the Elder Council met was less than a hundred meters tall.

The Hall of Ancestral Spirits was not only tall, but also covered an immense area. Lei Mo felt that even if tens of thousands like him entered, the place would still seem empty.

Three days later, the Bloodhoof Tribe received notice that seven days later would be the first day of the new year, as well as the day the Hall of Ancestral Spirits opened. The Bloodhoof Tribe had arrived relatively early this time and could enter the Hall of Ancestral Spirits with the first group.

It would open for the second time on the eleventh day, and for the third time on the twenty-first day. It would open for the fourth time on the thirty-first day.

Those who entered the Hall of Ancestral Spirits first could stay for a full ten days, leaving when the second group entered. Generally, ten days was enough to determine whether one could obtain the Ancestral Spirit's Blessing.

But they had to leave when it opened on the thirty-first day. Otherwise, they would surely starve to death inside the Hall of Ancestral Spirits.

The Hall of Ancestral Spirits opened once every ten years. The great hall opened once every ten days, for a total of four openings over thirty days.

Lei Mo, Cairne, and the other young companions from the Bloodhoof Tribe were thrilled beyond measure in the little stone courtyard belonging to the Bloodhoof Clan.

The veteran warriors would not be entering again. At the moment, they were explaining the precautions to Lei Mo and the other two hundred or so youngsters.

"The Hall of Ancestral Spirits contains no visible Ancestral Spirits now, nor are there any statues. There are only eight enormous Totem Pillars. The entire hall is incredibly empty. Once inside, you mainly observe the Runes on the Totem Pillars. As for whether you can obtain the Ancestral Spirit's Blessing, that depends entirely on luck."

Even now, the Ancestral Court had not discovered any pattern behind the Ancestral Spirit's Blessing. They only knew that Rune Engravers were more likely to receive it.

But that only helped with engraving Runes; it offered no enhancement to strength or the body. To increase one's power, one still had to rely on the Ancestral Spirit's Blessing meant for ordinary warriors.

Among the more than two hundred greenhorns who had come this time, Lei Mo was the only Rune Engraver. In a world where strength was king, something that could not improve one's strength held little appeal.

As for Rune Engravers, the Bloodhoof Tribe did not lack them for the time being. If they truly ran short, the tribe would send someone here in the next decade.

Lei Mo spent those seven days in a state of nervous excitement. He got up early every morning to train, worked up a sweat, washed up, ate breakfast, and then waited for the notice from the Elder Council Hall.

The more than two hundred Bloodhoof members lined up neatly and followed a Tauren warrior clad in metal armor toward the Hall of Ancestral Spirits.

By the time they reached the plaza before the Hall of Ancestral Spirits, it was already packed with an unknown number of people. Once a crowd exceeded ten thousand, it stretched beyond sight, so there were certainly more than ten thousand young Tauren here.

Lei Mo tried his best to make himself inconspicuous. It was truly uncomfortable. Everyone here was a Tauren brother, and he still stood out a little. There was no helping it—everyone knew why. He did not want people asking about his age.

This year's duty elder stepped onto the plaza before the hall and slowly floated into the air above the crowd, making the youngsters' bovine eyes widen.

In terms of numbers, the Ancestral Court Pilgrimage drew mostly people from small clans and small tribes, and those small clans and tribes had little experience of the world.

Lei Mo was also shocked, not because the elder could fly, but because of what he already knew: the Ancestral Court had immortal experts, there was flight, and there were Gravity Runes, Strength Runes, and more. Countless speculations surfaced in Lei Mo's mind!

Lei Mo did not know what method the elder used, but despite standing amid the crowd, he clearly heard the elder's speech.

"After entering the Hall of Ancestral Spirits, you must not make loud noises. You may approach the Totem Pillars and even touch them, but sitting in meditation beneath the Totem Pillars is forbidden."

"Carefully sense the Runes on the Totem Pillars. Once you find one that suits you, you may meditate, but stay as far from the Totem Pillars as possible. That way, you will not interfere with others or affect the Ancestral Spirit's Blessing."

"According to the experience of the past tens of thousands of years, even if you stand tens of thousands of meters away, it will not affect your chance of receiving the Ancestral Spirit's Blessing."

After saying this, the elder flew away.

Then the Council Hall Guard stepped forward and led the youths in the plaza into the Hall of Ancestral Spirits in orderly lines.

The doors of the Hall of Ancestral Spirits were around one hundred and fifty meters tall and fifty meters wide, but there were eight of them. Thus, although the plaza was crowded, everyone quickly entered the great hall.

After entering, Lei Mo's first impression was emptiness. Yes, even after tens of thousands entered the hall, it still felt empty.

At the center of the hall stood nine Totem Pillars nearly a hundred meters tall, each separated from the next by a thousand meters, rising like stone pillars in a divine temple.

At the very center was an enigmatic Totem Pillar shrouded in hazy purple mist, its colors constantly shifting. No one knew what it was made of; it was neither metal nor wood.

If he had to compare it to something, Lei Mo felt it was more like a pillar of purple jade.

Purple was the first color that came to mind, but upon staring closely, the purple would turn into hazy mist and drift away, ever changing and unreal.

The Purple Totem Pillar was covered in Runes of all shapes and colors. The instant Lei Mo looked at it, his gaze was firmly captured.

Although the other eight pillars were likewise covered in Runes and equally mysterious, he did not know why, but they failed to draw him in at all.

Before he knew it, Lei Mo had already walked to the center of the hall, beside the Purple Totem Pillar. He reached out and touched it. Perhaps it was an illusion, but he felt the Totem Pillar tremble slightly.

Its surface was clearly smooth, yet Lei Mo distinctly felt layer upon layer of scales beneath his hand. Then he began tracing the Runes he could reach.

The Runes appeared to be carved into the Totem Pillar in intaglio, yet when Lei Mo touched them, they were still layers of scales.

It was such a strange sensation. His hand remained pressed against the pillar, but Lei Mo inexplicably closed his eyes. By rights, meditation was forbidden here, but he had not sat down, and the guards seemed not to notice him either.

Within his sea of consciousness, his already liquefied spiritual power began to surge wildly again. Then, as if an eggshell had shattered, an inexplicable transformation suddenly occurred!

Lei Mo slowly floated up, though he was only two or three centimeters off the ground. No one would notice that a two-meter-tall little runt had grown a few centimeters.