It's Han Xuanji.
The blue-haired youth's companion looked away and lowered his voice, saying:
"I saw that disciple whom the Nine Mysteries Holy Lord accepted five hundred years ago from afar at the disciple-acceptance ceremony; I can't mistake him."
The blue-haired youth raised an eyebrow slightly, then quickly regained his composure, simply repeating the name in a soft voice:
" Han Xuanji... it was him."
His tone was rather flat, even carrying a hint of "nothing special".
After all, Lan Miao was also a direct disciple of the Holy Lord; how could he be inferior to the other party?
Back then, the Nine Mysteries Holy Lord sent out invitations widely, and the disciple-acceptance ceremony was a great sensation. Everyone in the Sacred Radiance Domain knew about it. His master, the Cloud Wasteland Holy Lord, even made a special trip to attend the ceremony. After returning, he praised Han Xuanji highly, saying that Mo Chenxiao had accepted a good seedling, and even compared him to him.
Lan Miao didn't take it to heart at the time, but she did remember Han Xuanji's name.
Although the Cloud Wasteland Holy Lord had far more disciples than the Nine Mysteries Holy Lord, he treated each disciple like family, providing them with ample resources and thorough guidance.
Those who make such a grand announcement to the world as Mo Chenxiao either have disciples who are extremely rare and cherish them to the core, or they are intentionally paving the way for their disciples to gain fame.
Han Xuanji probably possessed both qualities.
"Disciple of the Holy Lord against disciple of the Holy Lord?"
"That's interesting."
The group around the blue-haired youth watched with amusement, clearly aware that this was a covert contest between the two.
"I won't lose."
Lan Miao's lips curled up slightly, and a hint of excitement flashed in her deep blue eyes.
He didn't harbor any hostility towards Han Xuanji. The Cloud Wasteland Holy Lord and Mo Chenxiao were old friends for many years, and their disciples had to politely address each other as senior brother and junior brother when they met.
However, the absence of hostility does not mean the absence of competitiveness.
Both being direct disciples of the Holy Lord and possessing similar cultivation levels, if Lan Miao could surpass Han Xuanji in the Ten Directions Sacred Domain and report back to his master, the Cloud Wasteland Holy Lord would undoubtedly be overjoyed, even if he didn't say it aloud.
The Cloud Wasteland Holy Lord suffered repeated defeats against Mo Chenxiao in the past. If he, as his disciple, could turn the tide for his master in another area, wouldn't he certainly be rewarded handsomely?
In addition, he also intended to clear the Ten Directions Sacred Domain.
It's a win-win situation, so why not?
Lan Miao didn't say much, but strode towards the Spirit of the Saint Realm and placed her palm on the end of the light thread.
[Trial participant Lan applies to enter the Ten Directions Sacred Domain -- Application approved, consuming 10,000 points.]
The voice of the Spirit of the Saint Realm resounded throughout the hall once more.
In a short period of time, two people applied to enter the Ten Directions Sacred Domain, which is quite news and adds a unique touch to the somewhat dull and monotonous environment of the Nine Mysteries Saint Realm.
Before long, the news that " Mystic Heaven is Han Xuanji " spread.
"So this Mystic Heaven is the personal disciple of the Nine Mysteries Holy Lord! No wonder he could produce ten thousand points."
"So what if he's a disciple of the Holy Lord? The disciples of the Saint King have all come before. What trouble can Han Xuanji possibly cause?"
" Lan Miao has a solid background, and being from the Lan Household of the Sacred Court, he has impeccable credentials. He has high hopes for him."
For a while, people discussed it back and forth, and most people still believed that neither of them would be able to pass the level.
After all, the reputation of the Ten Directions Sacred Domain is well-deserved. Countless geniuses have failed over the endless years, including more than one disciple of Saint King, yet none of them have managed to claim the prestigious title of "First in History to Pass".
Although the two were disciples of the Holy Lord and possessed exceptional talent, everyone who had entered before was a person of extraordinary talent, yet they all ended up suffering heavy losses.
To most people, this is just adding two more names to the list of losers.
As the wave of pressure dissipated, Han Xuanji stood firmly on the ground and immediately spread out his Divine Sense.
As expected, the moment his Divine Sense left his body, it seemed to hit an invisible barrier and was compressed to a range of several miles around him.
This distance is extremely far for mortals, but for cultivators at the level of Eternal True Lord, it is almost equivalent to being blindfolded.
Han Xuanji remained calm; he had anticipated this situation before even entering the Ten Directions Sacred Domain.
After all, once you enter the Nine Mysteries Saint Realm, your divine soul power will be restricted.
Han Xuanji slowly turned her gaze, taking in the entire surrounding environment.
This is a vast and ancient land of mountains and rivers. In the distance, the mountains rise and fall like the spine of a giant dragon, with steep and precipitous slopes. The peaks are covered with snow that never melts all year round, while below the snow line, there are vast expanses of dark green primeval forests.
A magnificent river rushes out between two giant peaks, its waters surging like a silver river cascading down from the sky. From afar, the river is over a thousand feet wide, and the white foam splashed up when the rapids crash against the cliffs refracts a rainbow of colors in the sunlight.
On both sides of the river, ancient trees rise into the sky, their thick trunks like giant towers supporting the heavens, their canopies intertwined in layers, shrouding the entire land in a dark and mysterious green shade.
Thick vines coiled around the tree trunk like giant pythons, their surface covered with a pale blue glow that flickered in the shadows, as if some living thing was slowly wriggling inside the vines.
The bushes beneath his feet were also unusually tall; even the nearest clump of ferns was taller than his shoulders.
But all of this was eerily quiet.
There were no birdsong, no insect chirping, and even the rushing river seemed to have its sound filtered by some kind of rule, leaving only a dull and distant murmur when it reached your ears.
The wind blew through the tree canopy, causing the branches and leaves to sway, but without making the expected rustling sound.
The entire world seemed to be encased in a giant glass dome; beneath the vibrant surface lay a profound, bone-deep stillness.
Han Xuanji withdrew his gaze and circulated his spiritual energy within his body for a short while.
In stark contrast to this deathly silence, the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi here is exceptionally rich.
Moreover, the Spiritual Qi energy is extremely pure, with almost no impurities, and after being inhaled, it resonates significantly with one's own Eternal Spiritual Power.
That's good news, as the resources available here are actually greater than those elsewhere.
To pass the level, the first step is...
Han Xuanji raised her head and looked up at the sky.
At the edge of that vast and desolate landscape, where the sky meets the earth, an incredibly majestic divine tree rises from the ground, piercing the clouds.
Its trunk is as thick as a mountain range, and its surface shimmers with a faint golden light, casting a soft, warm golden glow over half the sky.
Countless branches spread out from the trunk, each one large enough to support a mountain peak.
And among the branches of this divine tree, a magnificent palace complex is built against the terrain, with layer upon layer of pavilions and celestial palaces spiraling upwards along the trunk, with flying eaves and brackets layered upon each other, and carved railings and jade steps arranged in a well-ordered manner.
The golden glazed tiles gleamed in the sunlight, and the white jade-like steps meandered down the branches, cascading like a waterfall into the clouds.
The highest hall was shrouded in a pale blue halo, and ten Tongtian pillars could be faintly seen standing in front of it. Each pillar was engraved with dense patterns of Principle, and even from such a great distance, Han Xuanji could feel the immense pressure emanating from those ten pillars.
The Ten Directions Immortal Hall.
This is the core of the Ten Directions Sacred Domain, and also the location for passing through the trial.