***
At the waterfall.
In a tone betraying his astonishment and disbelief, Zhao Lun asked, “Even the entire Western Institution could not stop him?”
The second follower of his men, Bai Yuansi, respectfully said, “In reply to Young Master, that guy’s battle prowess is suspected to have already reached 23 Stars. Without the support of power of the nation, it is reckoned there are none among Shattering Void Tier that could defeat him.”
Zhao Lun’s expression darkened suddenly; when he had been in the Shattering Void Tier, he had only reached the battle prowess of 20 Stars, yet now there was someone whose battle prowess surpassed his by a good three Stars. He found it somewhat displeasing.
“With his battle prowess, this time he would surely be able to lead our empire to win the first place in the competition among the three empires. Her Imperial Majesty the empress is fair and just in meting out punishments and granting rewards where it’s warranted, so probably she would bestow upon him a chance to enter into the Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm,” Bai Yuansi added.
“Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm!” Zhao Lun’s eyes gleamed. The reason why he had been able to become a four-star genius had an inseparable relation with his entering into the Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm in the past, which allowed him to attain a special ability.
“If he were to enter into the Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm, then don’t let him out ever again,” he said coldly. Though he knew Shui Yanyu’s temperament like the back of his hand, the fact remained that the recent rumors still made him utterly displeased.
“Yes!” Bai Yuansi promptly half knelt.
***
Time flew by quickly. Ling Han had been very low-key, and remained within the Academy, not giving the Dark Night Hall a chance to assassinate him. On Zhao Lun’s side, he had also become rather peaceful, and did not wreak havoc anymore.
Day by day, the competition among the three empires approached closer and closer. On this day, Ling Han was summoned over by the Left Minister. Tomorrow was the day of the competition among the three empires; thus, he was to stay at the Left Minister’s Residence today, and enter the Imperial Palace with the Left Minister tomorrow.
The competition between the three empires was held once every 10 years, and the chosen venue was rotated between the three of them. This year, it happened to be the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire’s turn. Otherwise, they would have had to set out at least half a month in advance.
“Ling Han, if you perform well this time, you should be able to obtain the opportunity to enter into the Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm,” the Left Minister suddenly mentioned.
Ling Han stared blankly, and asked, “Milord, what’s Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm?”
“How dare you!! Are you qualified to ask questions in front of the Left Minister?” Xiang Chengyun berated him at once.
The Left Minister smiled subtly, his hand moving in a waving gesture as he said, “No matter, no matter.” He seemed to be enthusiastically engaged in the conversation as he elaborated, “Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm opens once every 10 years. Within the Mystery Realm, there is a type of stone, which can help Shattering Void Tier cultivators form mountains and rivers, infinitely shortening the time needed to break through and also greatly heightening the rate of success.
“Given it having such an effect, we all termed it as Mountain River Stone. It is the speciality of the Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm. As to why it is so, and why it’s not found in other places, that no one knows.
“Some unique Mountain River Stones even have extraordinary effects. For instance, the Heavy Origin Stone can make the mountains and rivers that you form possess an exceedingly heavy effect. Drawing it out when in combat will cause your opponent to be weighed down by your mountains and rivers.
“Meanwhile, Flame Stone will let your mountains and rivers possess an extreme fiery power; there’s no object that will not melt away!
“However, the Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm has specific restrictions on a cultivator’s cultivation level, and only allows the maximum cultivation level of the lower levels of the Mountain River Tier to enter. Hence, there are many of those in your Academy who purposely suppress their cultivation just for the sake of entering into the Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm a few more times.”
The Left Minister has spoken a great deal in one breath, a nostalgic expression playing on his face. “When I was younger, I did not have much of a background; therefore, I did not have the chance to enter. Otherwise, if I could possess certain secret powers of the Mountain River Tier, perhaps my battle prowess could already attain the level of five-star genius.”
Ling Han was astonished. If even the Left Minister had such deep emotions towards it, then this Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm was really a place worth going to.
Chapter 937 - The Stage Battles Begin
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The Left Minister merely sighed, but did not further elaborate on the situation of the Heavenly Sea Mystery Realm.
Since the Left Minister did not say anything, Ling Han naturally did not probe for more information; he intended to find out more about it from Shui Yanyu upon his return.
They were taking a ride on the Left Minister’s carriage; its speed was amazing, and they arrived outside the imperial palace in a short span of time.
When they reached this point, even the Left Minister couldn’t bring in his carriage. After they had gotten down from the carriage, the guards checked the trio’s identities before letting them pass.
“While we are here, you mustn’t speak rashly!” the Left Minister warned severely.
“Yes!” Ling Han and Xiang Chengyun acknowledged.
This was the central authority of the entire Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire, and one of the three central administrations of the Joint Peace Planet. The main color theme of the palace was pink—it was quite feminine, but there was no helping it, since the sovereign here was an empress with the reputation of the world’s number one beauty. Even the monarchs of the other two Majestic Empires were willing to give up their territory and throne for her.
If she wasn’t full of feminine charms, who would be?
Ling Han was somewhat expectant. He was finally able to meet Her Imperial Majesty, the legendary empress, and see for himself how enticing and enchanting she was that even the other two great monarchs would be willing to become her subjects.
Xiang Chengyun also wasn’t able to stop himself from hyperventilating. It wasn’t that he had never seen the empress before, but her beauty was too alluring, so much so that the thought of meeting her made his heart beat faster and his breathing ragged.
It could be said that anyone who had seen Her Imperial Majesty, the empress, would no longer see another person as a beauty, and could only have eyes for such a stunning character with capability of causing chaos amongst the common folk. Compared to the empress, the other so-called beauties would totally dim in comparison, and be considered dregs among dregs.
Entering deep into the palace, the guards here were substituted with females. It was probably for fear of men being unreliable; if they were the guards here, the possibility of embezzlement would be higher, and in turn, it would be unsafe.
The venue for the martial arts competition had been set up in the Imperial Training Field. Not only was the venue of the competition massive, the seating area for the audience was also very large.
There were four spectators’ grandstands towering above like overhanging cliffs; the one located in the south was by far the largest, like a monarch among them. This was naturally the exclusive seat of the empress; usually, only the Nine Kings were allowed to go up there.
The other three grandstands were much smaller. The one located in the east had been assigned to the emperor of the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire, the one in the west assigned to the Jade Drop Majestic Empire, and the one in the north would be shared by top officials such as the Left and Right Ministers and Seven Great Generals.
Whenever the three Majestic Empires held this competition, given that this would involve the pride of an entire nation, the standards were extremely high. The other two Majestic Empires had each sent a crown prince to lead their respective teams. Leading the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire’s team was the brother of its current emperor, while the Jade Drop Majestic Empire’s team was led by their emperor’s fourth uncle. They were all powerful bigwigs that stood above all levels of society, and their cultivation levels had already reached the Heavenly Body Tier.
Of course, Ling Han wasn’t qualified to sit in any of the four grandstands. As for Xiang Chengyun, he was only able to stand in the north grandstand thanks to the Left Minister.
Naturally, being at the bottom meant that Ling Han couldn’t see the situation at the grandstand high above, which made him find it somewhat regrettable as he wouldn’t be able to see the empress of Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire even if she had come.
… It wasn’t that he harbored any special feelings for Her Imperial Majesty, the empress. It was just that he had heard so much about her exquisite beauty being beyond comparison that it made him curious, and he wanted to see her with his own eyes.
The contestants of the three Majestic Empires stood on the Imperial Training Field; a stage had been erected in the middle.
This was a stage battle. Naturally, there would be rules for a stage battle—any contestant that fell off the stage would be considered defeated. Otherwise, if one could run away and the other gave chase, then when would the competition be concluded? With the kind of powerful bigwigs present here, how could they spend so much time watching the show of Shattering Void Tier cultivators?
“Brother Ling, I’ve just gotten some news: there’s trouble this time.” Xiang Chengyun suddenly ran over, waved to the other eight people, and said, “Everyone, come and listen.”
“What kind of trouble?” Ma Xing said off-handedly. “WIth Brother Ling here, we will definitely take first place.”
“That’s right!” The others nodded one by one; Ling Han’s performance had completely won them over.
Xiang Chengyun actually shook his head to that as he said, “That’s precisely it—I’ve just received some information, and done my research on the background of the contestants from the other two Majestic Empires. They also have two exceptional contestants.”
“Can they be more exceptional than Brother Ling?” Ma Xing said while putting up his hands, seemingly not bothered.
Xiang Chengyun shook his head, and said, “The contestant from the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire is said to be the descendant of the Peacock Flame King, while the one from Jade Drop Majestic Empire is known as the Big Turtle King, and was speculated to be the descendant of the Divine Beast, Black Tortoise 1 .”
At this time, everyone was a little convinced. Once things involved a Divine Beast, the battle prowess could not be ascertained using common sense.
As Ling Han was somewhat intrigued, he said, “That I would like to see.” He was so strong that he always had an overwhelming advantage over other Shattering Void Tier cultivators. On the contrary, having another person who could challenge him was actually a pleasant surprise.
Being invincible was f*cking lonely.
Seeing that Ling Han was so confident, everyone’s heart somewhat settled down. Although Ling Han did not possess any bloodline advantage, he was also exceptional indeed.
“Her Imperial Majesty arrives!” a female official shouted loudly, and her voice reverberated above the training ground.
Shua , everyone stood up to welcome the arrival of the empress.
Ling Han looked up towards the southern grandstand, yet he could not see anything. He could not help but be disappointed.
There was a commotion in the grandstands above. The empress of the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire was not only renowned throughout the world for her formidable strength; her exquisite beauty had even won over the hearts of the other two emperors. Who wouldn’t want to take another look at her? It was a pity that due to location, only the people on the other three grandstands were able to view the true face of the empress.
“Let… let’s start!” said a somewhat stuttering voice—it was precisely the Ninth King’s.
Sure enough, the Ninth King and the empress were like sisters, and this voice was transmitted from the southern grandstand above.
“The winner for first place in the previous competition was Eternity Sky Majestic Empire, so they will be defending. The second place for the previous competition was Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire, so they would take the lead in attacking first, while Jade Drop Majestic Empire will be the second to attack.”
The Ninth King had adjusted her emotions, and no longer stuttered in her next sentence.
The three Majestic Empires apparently had already arranged the order of appearance for each of their respective contestants. Therefore, when the voice of the Ninth King fell, one contestant from the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire had jumped onto the stage; on the other side, a contestant of the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire by the name of Mo Xiang had taken the lead to attack.
Ling Han didn’t pay much attention to it. He would be the last to battle, being the strongest. There was still a lot of time to spare until his turn. He wasn’t concerned with how many people would be left on either side.
He was searching around in the ordinary stands, and soon caught sight of Shui Yanyu. She had come with other people from the Academy. After discovering Ling Han’s gaze, several female companions around her suddenly laughed and made fun of Shui Yanyu, causing the beauty to flush red with embarrassment.
Ling Han saw Luo Lie again. He sat behind several middle-aged and old men. After discovering Ling Han’s gaze, his own gaze became somewhat strange—it was filled with anger, but he also appeared somewhat pleased with himself.
However, those middle-aged and elderly people cast a cold gaze towards Ling Han, and did not conceal their killing intent in the slightest.
They were all members of the Luo Clan.
‘So that’s the reason why they hate me so much,’ Ling Han thought to himself.
‘Then you all had better wait and watch me make a sweeping victory, helping you resent me even more.’
Chapter 938 - Invincible Defense?
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The fight progressed very quickly.
Being confined to a small platform left no room for movement techniques to be brought forth. In a matter of a few moves, contestants were already locked in combat at close quarters. It was but a little over half an hour, yet only three people were left on the Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire’s side, and there was not much difference on the two other sides, either.
Facts proved that apart from Ling Han, this kind of monster that emerged occasionally, the three Majestic Empires’ reserves of top-rate talents were more or less the same.
When Ma Xing was also defeated, Ye Chengyun stepped forth to fight. He picked four opponents from the two Majestic Empires to firstly force the leader of the team from the Eternity Sky Majestic Empire out.
It was a woman.
She was of a slender frame, with features so beautiful they were like art and long hair that fell straight down, touching her rear. Her style of dressing was also very refreshing: her top was extremely short, and actually exposed a small stretch of her waist, which was fair as ivory and smooth as fine jade.
Her bottom, on the other hand, was clad in a pair of leather pants, which were cut off below the knee, revealing a pair of flawless porcelain-like calves, forming a stark contrast with the black color of the leather pants, which made them even more prominently snowy.
Her figure was really too perfect—she had a curvaceous plump rear the shape of ripened peaches, so tempting that one just wanted to take a bite off it. The light reflected off her pants made her **** appear even more profoundly stirring.
“Eternity Sky Majestic Empire, Yue Rong’er.” She cupped her fists in greeting.
Ye Chengyun revealed traces of a stunned expression as he reciprocated the gesture, and in return greeted, “Chaotic Stars Majestic Empire, Ye Chengyun.”
“Please!”
“Please!”
As soon as the formalities were over, Yue Rong’er immediately launched an attack, her figure leaping forth while giving rise to a stream of light. Her speed was extremely swift, appearing in front of Ye Chengyun in a fraction of a second as she pressed her palm forward.
Ye Chengyun was taken aback—this speed was beyond anything he’d expected. Nevertheless, she was the leader guarding the frontier of the opposing party, and he had expected that her strength would be formidable. In any case, he was also someone with battle prowess of 21 Stars of Shattering Void Tier, and his strength was astonishingly powerful. He immediately clenched his fist and slammed it towards his opponent.
Peng!
The fist and palm strongly collided, however, Ye Chengyun was immediately sent flying by the force from the impact, and landed outside the platform.
Unexpectedly, he was not on par with his opponent at all!
Ling Han’s eyes brightened. The battle prowess that this woman displayed was only of 21 Stars and slightly above, not even 22 Stars yet. However, she also did not draw on any secret techniques at all, which showed that her battle prowess had definitely surpassed 22 Stars, or had even possibly already reached 23 Stars.
With Ye Chengyun’s defeat, it was the Jade Drop Majestic Empire’s turn to send forth their leader.
“Jade Drop Majestic Empire, Zhong Hai.” He was a man with an extremely odd figure—his stature was not short, yet he had a stooped back, and his back was akin to a tortoise’s. Not only was it flat, but it was also carrying a semi-circular form.
A descendant of the Black Tortoise… It could indeed possibly not be just mere hearsay.
The two then engaged in a fierce battle. From the offense aspect, Yue Rong’er had the upper hand, but Zhong Hai had also inherited the tortoise’s defensive capabilities. No matter how strong the offense that came his way, he only needed to turn his back around, and that tortoise-like back could easily receive any strike.
Alchemy Emperor of the Divine Dao c1-1294 Page 480