The Crane Clan had already sent an heir into the world, hailed as the strongest of the younger generation, someone who could contend with the Emperor Clans.
He Ziming-they were certain the person before them was not him. Had another heir of the Crane Clan emerged? His boasts were frighteningly bold, challenging the Red King's descendant, Chi Menghong, the moment he stepped into the world.
The young members of the royal clans present all began seriously sizing up this newcomer from the Crane Clan who was making such outrageous claims.
The Crane Clan was, after all, only a Quasi-Emperor Clan. It could not compare with the Red King's lineage.
Under everyone's gaze, He Xian stepped into this ancient land.
"He really went in?"
"Come quickly! Come quickly! A new heir of the Crane Clan wants to challenge the Red King's lineage! You can't miss this!"
The young people present erupted into an uproar. This absolutely qualified as a major event. They hurried to send messages and followed far behind He Xian.
The ancestral lands of the Emperor Clans could also be entered under special circumstances. For instance, when the Desolate Heaven Emperor was trapped in the Foreign Realm and slaughtering enemies on all sides, many royal-clan beings had visited the Emperor Clans' ancestral lands to invite four young lords from different Emperor Clans.
The Red King's ancestral land occupied a vast expanse of mountains and rivers.
He Xian continued onward until he reached the depths of the clan's territory.
A colossal city forged from metal hung in the sky, built from the wreckage of countless stars. An immortal grand formation enveloped it, suppressing the six directions and eight wildernesses, drawing immortal energy toward it.
Red King City, the immortal city of the Red King's lineage.
"Their foundations truly are countless times deeper than our Crane Clan's," He Xian remarked as he looked at the colossal city.
His father had been in secluded cultivation all this time, yearning to ascend to the King Realm as soon as possible. Clearly, he had no time to build an immortal city like this to anchor their ancestral land.
At the city gates, supremely powerful soldiers stood guard, wielding great halberds and immortal swords, their expressions stern, solemn, and dignified.
Even the weakest were great cultivators of the Escape One Realm, with Supremes serving as commanders.
"Halt." The commander at their head, clad in black battle armor, raised one hand.
Seeing this, the old servant behind He Xian stepped forward and produced a token without the slightest change in expression.
"The Crane Clan?" The Supreme guarding the city gates paused in surprise.
"Open the gates," he then ordered.
The gates opened, radiating light for ten thousand lengths, incomparably sacred. The open gateway resembled the Heavenly Abyss.
He Xian strode inside. Red King City was truly enormous, containing a small world of its own. The others did not have his right of entry and could only wait quietly outside the gates.
Carriages and horses streamed through the streets, and ancient trees had become spirits. The ancient city was divided into many districts, with all manner of goods and marketplaces.
All kinds of beings filled the streets: some human in form, some half-human and half-beast, and others not humanoid at all.
He Xian chose a passerby at random and asked, "Fellow Daoist, do you know where Chi Menghong cultivates in seclusion?"
The one he had stopped was a mighty demonic bull spirit, big and burly, with thick brows, large eyes, and a pair of fearsome horns growing from his forehead.
"Moo." He instinctively let out a bovine cry.
"Just keep going straight down this street. The residence right in the center is the Red King's manor," the bull spirit said casually.
He was about to leave when he suddenly stopped. "Chi Menghong? You mean that lord of the Emperor Clan, Chi Menghong?"
In the Foreign Realm, no one dared disrespect an Emperor Clan by addressing its members directly by their names.
"There shouldn't be a second person named Chi Menghong, so yes, that's him." He Xian drifted away.
"What do you want with that young lord of the Emperor Clan?"
"A fight." He Xian left without looking back.
At the heart of Red King City stood a manor that truly gathered the essence of the sun and moon. The undying substance between heaven and earth was so dense it was almost condensing into water.
He had reached the Red King's manor.
He Xian came before the manor and told his servant to knock on the gates.
Before long, a Supreme of the Red King's lineage emerged.
"Honored guests, please come in!" He welcomed the two inside.
As an immortal Emperor Clan, the Red King's lineage clearly knew many secrets hidden from others. The Crane Clan was far stronger than most imagined, poised to forge the supreme legend of two kings in a single clan.
The Crane Clan's progenitor, He Wushuang, would ascend to the King Realm in this era. Several progenitors shared this judgment.
"May I ask what brings you here, fellow Daoist?" the Emperor Clan Supreme said slowly from the seat of honor, his gaze casually sweeping over the young man to his left, who was drinking tea with his head lowered.
An excellent seedling. It seemed another monstrous talent of the Crane Clan was about to emerge. No, something is wrong. Why is his bloodline power so strange? It is no weaker than Hong'er's-if anything, it is stronger.
Could he be the Crane Clan progenitor's own son? the Supreme of the Red King's lineage thought from his seat of honor.
"Our clan's young ancestor recently achieved mastery of an ancient scripture. Now that he has emerged into the world, he wishes to test the fruits of his cultivation. After some consideration, since our two clans' ancestral lands are closest to each other, we came expressly to seek instruction." This time, the old servant accompanying He Xian no longer seemed like an ordinary man. He fully unleashed his aura, revealing a faint Supreme pressure.
"Hmph!" The Supreme of the Red King's lineage struck the leg of the table from his seat of honor.
"Insolence!" He rose directly to his feet, his gaze icy. As a member of an Emperor Clan, he had always taken a hard line.
They called it seeking instruction, but weren't they simply trying to use the Red King's lineage as a stepping stone? How arrogant. He was nothing but a greenhorn who had only just emerged into the world.
So what if he was He Wushuang's own son? Hadn't He Wushuang yet to become a king?
"Aren't you afraid you'll return alone, fellow Daoist, with no way to explain yourself to your progenitor?" The Emperor Clan Supreme's eyes were cold.
"There is no need for you to worry about that, fellow Daoist." The old servant laughed heartily.
"Heh. Summon Hong'er." Chi Menghong was the leading figure among the younger generation of the Red King's lineage.
He Xian continued drinking tea with his head lowered. They were not of the same generation, so it was not his place to speak.
Before long, a robust young man walked in. His crimson eyes were red as rubies, like blood-colored suns, gripping the soul.
His long hair hung loose. He was very young and strikingly heroic, carrying the air of one who believed himself invincible, composed and conceited.
Chi Menghong was unquestionably powerful, capable of looking down upon all beings of his generation.
"What is it, Uncle?" Chi Menghong asked.
"The Crane Clan has brought someone of your generation here expressly to challenge you!"
Chi Menghong swept his gaze over him and said, "You are not He Ziming."
He Xian was also studying this outstanding talent of the Red King's lineage. He spoke slowly, with an air of looking down from above. "You are quite impressive. You live up to the name of an Emperor Clan's king among your peers."
At those words, Chi Menghong's gaze turned cold. "Are you insulting the dignity of the Red King's lineage?"
"The Crane Progenitor's son."
The Foreign Realm valued bloodlines, and the bloodlines of the Emperor Clans resonated with one another.
Chi Menghong approached step by step. His footsteps were light, yet the entire palace resonated with him. An invisible, overwhelming force pressed forward like toppling mountains and surging seas.
"No. On the contrary, I have long heard of the Red King's lineage's mighty reputation and have come expressly to seek instruction." He Xian set down his teacup and sat quietly, like an insurmountable primordial demonic mountain, a smile on his face.
Boom!
The two overwhelming forces collided, evenly matched.
"Enough. Both of you, stop. Choose a day to duel in the Supreme Martial Arena!" With a casual wave of his hand, the Supreme of the Red King's lineage dispersed the collision of their auras like a passing breeze.
The stage was set for an opening act.
The Foreign Realm loved battle and prized honor. Every colossal city was certain to have a large public martial arena where people could compete.