In the far north, a city stood amid ten thousand miles of icy mountains. Three large characters on its walls read "Invincible City." The Demon Sect had built this city a year ago for the ascension passage inside it. A year ago, Zhou Qiong had exchanged for energy stones and reopened the passage.
Energy stones were a common currency in the upper realm, as well as the best items for cultivation. Ten low-grade energy stones could be exchanged for one mid-grade energy stone, ten mid-grade energy stones for one high-grade energy stone, and ten high-grade energy stones for one supreme-grade energy stone.
Unfortunately, Zhou Qiong had scoured the continent without finding a single energy stone. Breaking through to Profound Understanding required a supply of pure Spiritual Qi. Had Zhou Qiong not obtained the Ten Thousand Demons Pool through the system, the Demon Sect could never have had so many Profound Understanding experts now.
Inside Invincible City, a stone stele stood in a vast square, radiating green light. Several thousand black-robed figures stood beside the square, each exuding a terrifying presence. Anyone else who saw this scene would have been scared to death, for not a single person present was below the Martial Emperor Realm.
Above the square, a Demon Dragon Flying Carriage hovered in the air. Zhou Qiong, hailed by the world as invincible under heaven, stood upon it, his presence terrifyingly powerful, like an ancient demon god. A voice came from the carriage.
"Liansheng, how are the preparations?"
Clad in red robes, Liansheng stood before the black-robed figures and bowed to Zhou Qiong on the carriage. "Reporting to the Sect Master, everything is ready. For our sect's ascension, we have two at the fifth level of the Profound Understanding Realm, eight at the fourth level of the Profound Understanding Realm, five hundred below the third level of the Profound Understanding Realm, and five thousand in the peak Martial Sovereign Realm."
"Good. This ascension will be fraught with extraordinary danger. Are you willing to brave it with me?"
"We swear to follow the Sect Master unto death!"
"We swear to follow the Sect Master unto death!"
"We swear to follow the Sect Master unto death!"
Below, the Demon Sect members dropped to one knee and shouted, their faces filled with excitement. Their cries filled all of Invincible City.
"Good. Li Changsheng!"
"Your subordinate is here!" The blue-robed Hall Master of Azure Dragon Hall answered from the side, looking thoroughly unhappy.
"Guard the Demon Sect well. After I ascend, close the passage for three years. Open it again after three years, and everyone will be able to ascend then."
"Yes!"
"Ascend!" Zhou Qiong roared. The black-robed figures began lining up and walking toward the stele, vanishing from the square the instant their hands touched it.
In Black King City in the upper realm, the various teleportation arrays continued operating in an orderly fashion in a square hundreds of times larger than Invincible City's square. A group of armored guards watched over it, still led by a member of the Blue Rain Clan who resembled an oversized Smurf. People from other factions stood outside the square, waiting to receive ascenders from their own factions.
Among them, a handsome man with sword-like brows and a longsword on his back stood beside an old man. A young woman also stood beside the old man. The man was none other than Ximen Di, who had accidentally ascended back then. He had been lucky. Originally destined to spend five years as a slave in the Blue Rain Clan's mines, he had encountered this human elder on the way there. The elder's name was Ye Tian.
Ye Tian had taken a fancy to his aptitude for the sword, paid a large sum of energy stones for his freedom, and accepted him as a disciple. The woman was Ye Tian's daughter, Ye Qing, and also his senior sister. Ye Tian was a disciple of the Sword Sect in Black King City, and his cultivation was said to have reached the fifth level of Profound Understanding. In recent years, Ximen Di had occasionally accompanied Ye Tian to the square to receive ascenders affiliated with the Sword Sect.
Ximen Di looked toward a stone stele in a corner of the square. Its glow proved it was a functioning teleportation stele. He knew it was the stele for the Cangwu Continent-he himself had emerged from it. The stele had begun glowing a year ago.
When he had suddenly noticed the stele light up a year ago, he had guessed that Zhou Qiong of the Demon Sect might be about to ascend. After all, Zhou Qiong had already been a peak Martial Sovereign when Ximen Di came to the upper realm. By now, he was probably approaching early-stage Martial God-no, it should be the first level of Profound Understanding.
Just as Ximen Di was wondering why Zhou Qiong still had not ascended after a year, the stele suddenly blazed with light. A black-robed figure stepped out, his cultivation at peak Martial Sovereign.
"Huh? That's not right!" Ximen Di exclaimed in surprise as he watched the man emerge from the stele. He did not recognize this person. He was not Zhou Qiong, a senior member of the Demon Sect, or an expert from any other sect. Could he be a hidden expert of the Cangwu Continent?
Ximen Di's startled cry drew Ye Tian's and Ye Qing's attention. Ye Qing asked curiously, "What is it, Junior Brother?"
With Ye Tian and Ye Qing looking at him, Ximen Di dared not conceal anything and told them the situation.
Ye Tian looked at Ximen Di and said, "He may be a hidden expert from your continent. You can go ask him about it before they take him away."
"All right." Ximen Di nodded.
An armored guard nearby saw the black-robed man emerge from the stele and was about to lead him away, only to notice that the man stepped aside after coming out. The stele continued to glow, and one black-robed figure after another emerged.
Before the armored guards could react, more than a hundred black-robed figures had emerged from the stele. More kept coming, and every one of them had the cultivation of a peak Martial Sovereign.
The armored commander realized something was wrong. He immediately walked toward the stele and questioned the black-robed figures emerging from it.
"Which faction do you belong to? Why are you ascending together?"
The black-robed figures did not answer. They simply kept moving aside to make room for those coming out. The commotion drew the attention of everyone inside and outside the square. Even those receiving people from their own factions stopped and looked toward the black-robed figures. More than a hundred people ascending at once was simply too rare a sight.
No, it should no longer have been called a hundred. While everyone was still wondering, no fewer than five hundred people had emerged from the stele, every one of them a peak Martial Sovereign. Though that amounted to little in Black King City, this was the lower realm! Five hundred peak Martial Sovereigns-how powerful must that continent be?
Even Ye Qing was left speechless with astonishment. She looked at Ximen Di and asked, "Is this really the continent you ascended from? Your continent was actually this powerful!"
Ximen Di was more astonished than anyone else in the square. He knew that the Cangwu Continent had not had a single peak Martial Sovereign in all those years. Only later had Zhou Qiong barely broken through to peak Martial Sovereign, while the other two had not even reached late-stage Martial Sovereign. So where had these five hundred-odd peak Martial Sovereign cultivators sprung from?
Seeing that the black-robed figures would not answer him and that people were still streaming out of the stele, the armored commander struck at them directly. A gigantic palm descended from the sky toward the black-robed figures, bearing boundless pressure. He intended to kill a few to establish his authority. Only then might these people obediently answer him!
Just as the gigantic palm was about to strike the black-robed figures, a furious shout suddenly rang out from within the stele. "You dare!"
A ray of sword light shot skyward from within the stele, slashing toward the gigantic palm.