A colossal bronze gate hung in the sky, and hundreds of thousands of people in Suotuo City raised their heads to look at it at once.
The gate was enormous, embedded in the curtain of night as though it had stretched open a gash across the entire sky.
Bluish-gray mist slowly seeped through the gap in the gate, cascading like a waterfall, drifting like smoke. It descended from the heavens and enveloped the whole city.
An old man who sold breakfast had huddled in the city gate passage all night. Awakened by the radiant glow, he rubbed his eyes, then rubbed them again. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees with a thud and kowtowed to the sky.
"The heavenly gate! The heavenly gate has opened! There are immortals! Immortals!"
The streets were filled with kneeling townspeople.
Farther away, a Soul Master stood on a rooftop, trembling all over.
"This is... leaking soul power? No, it isn't soul power. What could possess such abundant vitality?!"
He reached out to catch a strand of blue-green qi flowing through the air. The moment his fingertips touched it, they felt as though they had dipped into warm water, soothing and comfortable.
The next instant, the level thirty-nine bottleneck that had plagued him for years broke with a crack.
"This... this..."
He froze at first, then thrust out both hands, chasing after the qi as he laughed and cried.
"Immortals! There really are immortals!"
The same thing happened all across the city.
An old mercenary who had been bedridden by recurring injuries breathed in the qi and actually managed to brace himself against the wall and sit up.
A wandering Soul Master blind in one eye stood in his courtyard, turning his ruined eye toward the night sky. Half an incense stick later, he suddenly