Morning light pierced the clouds. The instant the first golden rays fell upon the jagged ridges of the Dragon Phoenix Mountain Range, the spiritual energy throughout the world began churning like boiling water.
The sounds of figures cutting through the air rang out from every direction, scattered at first, then joining together until they became rolling, muffled thunder.
Figures streaked in from the horizon like migrating flocks of crows, blanketing half the sky in darkness as they converged on the ancient city.
In just one night, news of Dragon Phoenix Heaven's opening had spread like wildfire to every corner of the Northern Realm.
On a rooftop, Mu Chen stood in black robes with his hands behind his back. Nine Nether stood beside him, her fitted purple-black attire accentuating her tall, straight figure.
The two watched the crowds surge toward them like storm clouds bearing down, their expressions calm.
Mu Chen swept his gaze over the sea of heads below. By his rough estimate, nearly all the younger generation with any reputation in the Northern Realm had come.
The morning radiance grew brighter, drawing every gaze toward the sky above the ancient mountain range in the distance.
An indescribable aura of primordial vastness seeped faintly from the distorted void there, spreading throughout the world with the weight and majesty of antiquity.
That was where the entrance lay.
Time crawled beneath countless anxious gazes.
By the time the sun reached its zenith and its fierce light scorched the earth, the crowd gathered in this region had grown to a staggering size.
Humm-
Without warning, the world's spiritual energy erupted into turmoil!
The distortion in that patch of space reached its limit under the impact of the spiritual energy tides.
Riiip! Space tore open!
Boundless light, imbued with an indescribable ancient sanctity, burst