They had yet to reach Firecloud Divine Mountain.
Yet Wang Yan already sensed that the atmosphere throughout Firecloud Divine Mountain had changed.
A gigantic circular platform resembling an arena had appeared in front of Firecloud Divine Mountain. A full hundred zhang across, it was held in place by more than a dozen enormous iron chains connected to the Iron Chain Bridges between the peaks. Huge Firecloud Boats crowded its surroundings, with plenty of cultivators already aboard them, creating a bustling scene.
Colorful flags hung all along the iron chains, fluttering in the wind. The scale of the event was far grander than Wang Yan had imagined.
Over the past several days, Wang Yan had remained in his Cave Abode refining Immortal Cards without going outside once. He had still been resting and recovering when Venerable Gray Three summoned him.
On the day he spent at Venerable Gray Three's place, the venerable had lectured the selected disciples, offered guidance, and tested them. He had also had the core condensation realm disciples spar with one another to assess their abilities. Wang Yan's performance had pleased Venerable Gray Three greatly, particularly his cunning in combat and the number of magic artifacts he could control.
Of course, those matches stopped short of causing injury. There was no reason to start wearing one another down now.
That was why Wang Yan had been placed first, a sign of Venerable Gray Three's approval.
The other thing he had done was explain the rules of the Four Peaks Competition to everyone.
Each of the Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow Peaks would send ten core condensation realm disciples, all of whom had to have only just entered that realm. This was a public combat competition specially organized by the Firecloud Sect, both to assess the abilities of the