"Unaware of the passing years, long cut off from news of the outside world, today I awaken and see such lively bustle in the Sword Garden, and my heart is filled with joy."
There was nothing particularly striking about the way this person spoke, yet the entire hall abruptly plunged into an eerie silence. Most of those seated were well-informed figures; the newcomer's earlier feat of ripping open space with a single hand looked by any measure like the work of someone who had already verified longevity, and the disparity in level was simply too vast. Struck with inward awe, they had only that voice of unguessable meaning echoing in their ears:
"Now, with a modest brew prepared, I invite you all to the Manifestation Hall for a chat, which may also be considered a chance to witness today's up-and-coming heroes of the cultivation world. Everyone, drain this cup to the full!"
Other sounds finally returned to the hall as a hundred-odd cultivators in the room simultaneously picked up the wine goblets prepared beforehand on their tables and drank them down in a single gulp.
The next instant, the faces of more than half the people in the hall turned green.
They had no idea how it happened, but upon hearing the person on the seat utter "drain this cup to the full," their minds had simply gone hazy, and they picked up the drinking vessels on their tables to knock them back in one go, just like falling into a nightmare. Although the taste was indeed quite good—feeling just like an icy thread scouring the stomach and bowels, with an even more ethereal sensation when it dispersed—heaven alone knew what kind of nonsense had been mixed into this so-called "wine"!
However, among these hundred-odd cultivators, some ten-odd merely held