When the song ended, the people were gone; on the river, several peaks stood green.
As the selection settled like dust, the Heavenly Domain, once blazing like wildfire, returned to calm once more.
The top heavenly talents of the various dao lineages mostly chose to enter seclusion, staying within blessed lands to burn incense and bathe, temper their divine abilities, and quietly gather strength for the finals.
Yet that tranquility was limited only to the uppermost level.
Those mid-sized and small sects, along with wandering cultivators, seized the chance to pour into the outskirts of the Ancient Immortal Realm. They fought amid broken walls and ruined ramparts, schemed at the edges of forbidden grounds, and stirred up no small commotion, becoming gossip for the world after meals and over tea.
"Hey, have you heard? Lately, a black-clad kid appeared in the Ancient Immortal Realm. He really must belong to the locusts—wherever he passed, not a blade of grass survived. Quite a few famous blessed lands suffered his poisonous hands."
"You mean that [Secret Realm Terminator]? That kid really is ruthless enough. Even the Mystic Sha Sect fell into his hands. The screams that night could be heard clear as day from ten thousand li away."
"If you ask me, Blood Sha Old Devil was muddle-headed too, insisting on fighting Shen Qiu to the bitter end. In the end, he was lured into Thunder Fire Purgatory and surrounded and killed by several Mystic Immortal-level demons and monsters. Nearly the entire sect was wiped out... tsk, tsk, that scene was truly too wretched to look at."
"That's not even the most ridiculous part! I heard several demonesses from the Joyful Union Sect joined hands, planning to take him down with seduction arts. In the end, not only did they fail to do