The Nine Veins Summit, watched by all in the Chu Kingdom's cultivation world, had finally resumed in Lichuan under the Xuanyuan Sect's impetus, nearly fifty years later.
It had opened three days earlier.
As the first gathering since the calamity of the Demon Ruins had interrupted it, it was truly an unprecedented spectacle rarely seen in a thousand years.
Flying boats threaded through the sea of clouds, and the radiance of flying swords lit the sky.
Within the cultivation grounds and ritual altars, discussions and sparring, pill and artifact exhibitions, and spirit beast races offered one dazzling sight after another.
Across the Chu Kingdom, cultivators in market wards and sects large and small could watch everything happening in Lichuan through image-projecting Law Techniques such as cloud-and-mist water mirrors.
Yet anyone with even the slightest understanding of the current situation in the Chu Kingdom's cultivation world could sense the undercurrents beneath this bustle.
Lichuan, the Martial Practice Ground on Yuelong Mountain.
Among the attendees, quite a few impatient Nine Veins cultivators were sparring here, treating it as a warm-up.
Several Dongyuan Sect cultivators were present as well, but they only watched, never participating, and most looked deeply troubled.
On the Xuanyuan Sect's side, a young man in luxurious white robes stood with his hands at his sides, calmly watching the matches.
He was exceptionally handsome and composed. Though the Xuanyuan Sect disciples around him were also good-looking, beside him they seemed mere adornments.
"Senior Brother Zhao, after watching all this, who do you think will distinguish themselves among the Nine Veins cultivators this time?"
"Junior Brother, in my view, our fellow cultivators of the Nine Veins are all dragons and phoenixes among men, with boundless futures on the immortal path. Unfortunately... speaking of the present, our Xuanyuan Sect's Senior Brother Lu