[Can We Win? We Will!]

As soon as the news spread, it was like a magnitude-eight earthquake, shaking the entire Inhuman World and sweeping across the four seas and eight wildernesses like a storm.

The chairman of an Inhuman corporation worth three hundred billion took his private jet; a spirit medium who loved a good spectacle boarded a high-speed train out of Shanhai Pass; an ascetic monk polishing his mind wiped the dust from his face and headed barefoot toward Jiangxi; refined sect leaders and renowned masters were chauffeured by their disciples and grand-disciples.

Countless Inhumans—domestic and foreign, affiliated and unaffiliated—marched toward Mount Longhu at this very moment.

Even wandering martial artists who knew they had no chance at the Eight Extraordinary Skills or the position of Celestial Master, and had not planned to join the excitement, could not help setting out just to witness a legendary battle between immortals.

Half the banners of ten thousand chariots split apart, while wind and rain from all directions converged upon Longhu.

"Croak, a duel between masters like this would be worth the ticket even if I died!"

"Awesome! There aren't many people in the world who can trade blows with the Old Celestial Master!"

"This trip was worth it, damn it!"

At the foot of Mount Longhu, people from every walk of life gathered, forces from all sides converged, and voices rose one after another, forming a roaring sea of noise.

Even the Company had no choice but to send personnel to maintain order on Mount Longhu.

Some had come to settle old scores and cause trouble, some laughed and chatted, some sought pleasure, and some carried heavy hearts. Human joys and sorrows did not necessarily connect; sometimes, all one could feel was that the others were too noisy.

But no matter the occasion, there would never be a shortage of people looking for fun.

Xiao Xiao, an Inhuman from the De Yun Society, sat before the mountain gate, as steady as Mount Tai. Before him stood no one—only a table, a chair, a fan, and a storyteller's clapper.

With a slap of the clapper, he drew attention from every direction.

"Ladies and gentlemen!"

"We traditional Inhumans value four essential arts: swindling, bluffing, stealing, and cheating—ptui, I mean speaking, learning, joking, and singing..."

"Foreign Inhumans are no exception. Look over there—that old gentleman is Old Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts Academy. He wields twin wands with tremendous flair and rode here on a broomstick all the way. Folks call him the Old Bee!"

"Take another look at those wands. He's been twirling them for thirty years now—purple bamboo shafts, beautifully polished with age. One casual wave and hey, guess what? Your tool's gone!"

"Old Dumbledore is no simple man. His academy is first-rate, with outstanding talents gathered beneath him. There's Gryffindor Military Operations Academy, Hufflepuff Transportation and Logistics Academy, Ravenclaw Electronic Information Academy, Slytherin Political Strategy Academy..."

Heroes rose together beneath Mount Longhu, one act ending as another took the stage. Yet Mount Longhu itself was utterly silent. Disciples from every major sect guarded the main routes and watched over secret locations in all directions, preventing outsiders from trespassing.

Unlike previous Luotian Grand Ceremonies, nearly all the Inhumans in the world had come this time—if not all of them, then at least eighty or ninety percent. Mount Longhu was like a boiling vat of oil; the slightest spark would make it explode.

"Sigh..."

These past few days, Old Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei had kept his brows tightly furrowed. He did not know how many times he had sighed. Turning to Lu Jin beside him, he shook his head and said, "We're both over a hundred years old. Why are we still fighting and killing? There are always greater people beyond greater people, and higher heavens beyond higher heavens. How could an ordinary man like me possibly defeat an immortal?"

"Brother Lu, could you pass a message to that Divine Bridge Immortal Venerable? Tell him that I, Heaven-Connecting Daoist, concede defeat and wish to cancel this predetermined match."

"Old Celestial Master." Lu Jin's expression turned solemn as he said in a deep voice, "You do not care about empty fame. Would a master like the Divine Bridge Immortal care about the title of number one in the world?"

"Xiang Zhuang performed the sword dance, but his true target was the Duke of Pei. The drunkard's interest lies not in the wine."

"That man is likely only one step away from the legendary realm. He came here for immortality."

"Immortality?" Old Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei's brows furrowed even more deeply. With a long sigh, he said, "It's all trouble caused by the pursuit of becoming immortal."

"Senior Brother, you're wrong. What is wrong with cultivators seeking immortality and the Dao?"

Tian Jizhong, whose limbs were incomplete, sat in a wheelchair as Xiaoyu pushed him over. He retorted, "What is wrong with immortals? It is merely human hearts causing chaos."

"A leaf before one's eyes hides Mount Tai."

The Old Celestial Master shook his head and said meaningfully, "Things that Perfected Lin and I do not care about may matter greatly to others. I only fear someone might take advantage of the chaos."

"No matter how grand the title of number one in the world may be, it is still not greater than the foundation of Mount Longhu."

"You mean Quanxing?" Lu Jin narrowed his eyes, a hint of killing intent leaking out. Without mercy, he said, "If they dare come, I'll kill every one of them I see."

"I heard Quanxing has appointed an acting leader. Heh, the leader of Quanxing... Don't let me find him. Otherwise, I'll tear him to pieces and grind his bones to ash!"

Xiaoyu, the young Daoist pushing Tian Jizhong, trembled inwardly. He lowered his head even further and stood respectfully in the corner.

"Quanxing is nothing to fear. They failed to accomplish anything decades ago, and they will fail again now."

"Even if they do succeed, that will be the Company's problem. They are the ones who should be anxious."

Tian Jizhong approached the matter from another angle. Narrowing his eyes, he asked in a low voice, "Senior Brother, I have only one question for you now."

"Can we win?"

"So we're really doing this? I'm fighting an immortal? For real?" Even with the Old Celestial Master's century of cultivation, his heart sank at that moment. Videos of Lin Xian's feats had long since been broadcast throughout the entire Inhuman World.

No matter how detached the Old Celestial Master was from worldly affairs, he had watched those videos and reached one conclusion: those were not methods of the mortal world.

No matter how powerful he was, he was ultimately only an ordinary man. How could he contend with an immortal?

It was not a question of whether he could win, but of how badly he would lose.

"Invincible beneath heaven, with an enemy descending from heaven." Lu Jin also let out a long sigh. Patting Zhang Zhiwei on the shoulder, he asked, "Old Celestial Master, are you confident?"

Under his junior brother's expectant gaze and his close friend's encouragement, Zhang Zhiwei had no confidence in his heart, but he still nodded and said in a deep voice, "We will win."

Ordinary methods no longer had any meaning at this point.

A mortal fighting an immortal was a guaranteed death.

Magic had to be defeated with magic. An immortal had to be defeated with an immortal!

On the vast Mount Longhu, the only thing connected to immortals was the Thunder Method passed down by the legendary ancestral Celestial Master, Zhang Daoling, who had ascended into immortality.

Five Thunder Righteous Method, the radiant might of heaven!

No matter which world it was in, lightning tribulation symbolized the majesty of the Heavenly Dao and possessed unimaginable power.

"Old Lu, Junior Brother Tian, I will enter seclusion for three days and see no outsiders."

Zhang Zhiwei took a deep breath and made his decision. The Celestial Master would enter seclusion to cultivate quietly, preparing for the final battle and gambling on that sliver of hope.

Yet even Tian Jizhong did not know that Zhang Zhiwei's place of seclusion was not his own meditation chamber.

Old Celestial Master Zhang Zhiwei went alone to the Patriarch Hall in the back mountain. Facing the memorial tablets of Mount Longhu's Celestial Masters throughout the generations, he sat in meditation for three days and three nights.

Three days later.

Wisps of incense smoke drifted upward into the blue heavens.

Within the Patriarch Hall stood memorial tablets for the patriarchs from the sixty-fourth Celestial Master, Zhang Jingqing, down to the second Celestial Master, Zhang Heng, all receiving offerings of incense. Yet the most important tablet of all was missing—that of the ancestral Celestial Master Zhang Daoling.

"The Dao is learned through the heart, and the heart is conveyed through incense. Incense swallows the jade furnace, while the heart stands before the Emperor. True spirits gaze down, immortal banners arrive at the hall. Let this servant's petition pass directly to the Nine Heavens."

Holding three incense sticks, Zhang Zhiwei bowed to the patriarchs of every generation and said devoutly, "To fight an immortal in a mortal body is to seek death. At a time like this, I must thank the patriarchs for leaving such good things behind for us unworthy descendants."

"I only hope this battle can preserve a little dignity for Mount Longhu."

His great sleeves fluttered, his steps followed the Heavenly Dipper, purple lightning and azure thunder flashed—the Celestial Master emerged from seclusion!