Chapter 483: All the Stars Have Arrived |
"He's here..." Yan Yan suddenly spoke. Everyone followed the voice and looked over, seeing Zhong Yue rushing over in a hurry.
"What were you doing? Everyone has been waiting for you until now!" Yan Xing rebuked.
"Something came up temporarily and delayed me." Zhong Yue quickly explained, then looked around, "My apologies, everyone."
"It's no matter." Tong Zhuo naturally spoke up, but Zhong Yue ignored him and didn't respond.
"Since everyone is here, let's depart." Yan Xing waved his large hand. Su Chen only felt a wave of dizziness. When he recovered his senses again, his surroundings were already enveloped by a patch of mist, flowing past at an extremely fast speed.
"This is..." He looked down, his eyelids twitching slightly. At this moment, he was standing on a massive cyan scale.
"This is Heavenly Lord Yan's Azure Dragon," Tan Qingzhu whispered from the side.
"An Azure Dragon..." Su Chen clicked his tongue. This speed was simply too fast, who knows how many times faster than the Flash-Shadow Body.
"How is it? How long until you reach Morning Star?" The one speaking was Zhong Yue. Su Chen couldn't help but feel surprised, not expecting the other party to strike up a conversation with him.
"I don't believe it. I heard you've already achieved Spirit-Flesh Unity." Zhong Yue shook his head. Su Chen and he were both from the Outer Heavens, and he had casually shown goodwill towards the other party before. Although he was defeated by him, it didn't mean they had to be enemies.
"I only achieved Spirit-Flesh Unity by a stroke of luck. There are still many areas that need to be consolidated." Su Chen spoke evasively.
Zhong Yue seemed to just be making small talk. After a couple of sentences, he shifted to the matter at hand, shaking his head and saying: "I must say, this Taixuan Hong is also interesting. He could have just directly dragged those few Radiant Moons to perish with him. Why must he insist on issuing a Grand Challenge?"
"Zhong Yue!" Yan Xing's rebuke came from afar.
Zhong Yue shrugged, "I just hope the order of battle then won't be drawn by lots, otherwise defeating him would become a matter of luck."
"Senior Brother Zhong Yue seems very confident," Su Chen couldn't help but say.
Zhong Yue didn't mind at all and said: "The Taixuan House has been in exile for so long after all. Even fighting Kong Ming earlier took him quite a bit of time, let alone all of us..."
"I estimate we'll still have to wait a while. You all can rest inside here for now." Yan Xing's voice came from behind.
Only then did Su Chen look back, discovering that at some point, a continuous palace complex had appeared behind them.
"Yes..." Naturally, the crowd agreed and found their respective places.
The rooms inside were all very plain, and there was no cutting-edge auxiliary equipment. Under these circumstances, there was naturally no way to develop his Profession progress.
Su Chen sat cross-legged on the bed, deducing the things that might happen next and his own thoughts, occasionally projecting his consciousness to the clone's side.
"Still haven't found Zhou Lin?"
On one side of the Great Void Realm, a group of people stood before Yuan Luofan and Luo Cheng. They were precisely the group previously deployed by Zhou Lin.
"No." Hearing this, everyone shook their heads.
"Nine times out of ten, he met with a mishap."
Yuan Luofan's expression was very unsightly. Confirming this point was actually very simple; they just needed to see if the Morning Star Spirit had any reaction. But right now, it was inconvenient for them to go back, so they could only leave it for later verification.
Luo Cheng's eyes flickered. He had learned quite a few things from the group of people before him. He could roughly guess that Zhou Lin probably wanted to swallow this place all for himself, so naturally, he wouldn't feel any emotion over his demise.
"The Machine Domain has arrived..." Luo Cheng suddenly spoke, watching the Metal Warship flying out from the mist in the distance, gradually drifting over to another platform.
After it parked steadily, quite a few people successively disembarked and merged into the platform. That was a temporary platform built from massive black stones. There were already many people on it, divided into various sections, with several Nuo Vessels parked around.
"A Grand Challenge to the Five Pillars. Can this Taixuan Hong really defeat all these guys?" Luo Cheng pondered. They were outsiders and hadn't left yet just because they wanted to see the result.
Yuan Luofan shook his head: "It is said that this person defeated Kong Ming previously. However, although Kong Ming has extraordinary potential, he is still far from reaching his limit at the 8th-Tier. It's hard to say."
"If he's only at the level of barely defeating Kong Ming, I'm afraid he won't be able to last very long." Luo Cheng sighed, "What a pity... Taixuan is already in the past, he has no time left."
"Indeed." The two nodded, inevitably falling silent. It wasn't out of pity for Taixuan Hong, but rather thinking about how the Taixuan House was once a Pillar of the Abyssal Domain, yet had fallen to such a state today. How long could their Tower of Storms carry on their legacy?
"High Firmament has also arrived, what a coincidence..." Yuan Luofan composed his emotions, his gaze turning to the other side. An Azure Dragon burst out of the Nether Mist. Its massive body stretched for an unknown number of miles, and a terrifying Vital Aura rushed toward them.
"A Radiant Moon level Azure Dragon..." Envy was not lacking in the eyes of both Yuan Luofan and Luo Cheng.
"Using an Azure Dragon as a mount, it's the Eternal Dragon Heaven Lord..." On the platform, someone looked up. His complexion was pale, as if he hadn't seen the sun for a long time. His eyes were deeply sunken into their sockets, the edges a bluish-gray.
His figure was tall and thin, and his entire person exuded a gloomy and treacherous aura. There were a few other people around him, whose auras were not much different from his.
"I heard that Su Chen of the Bronze Sect swept through the top ten in one go not long after arriving, defeating Tong Zhuo and the others. His momentum is like a rainbow!"
"Moreover, he is very young. Chang Geming..."
His tone shifted, and he looked towards a certain corner of the platform. There was a person gazing at the Great Void Realm. His figure was imposing and majestic, entirely out of tune with his surroundings.
"Some people are already saying that he might be able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with you." His voice was sharp and clear to everyone. Chang Geming gave a faint glance but didn't respond.
Being ignored, this person didn't care. His gaze turned elsewhere, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly: "Kong Ye, didn't Kong Ming come? Here, he's the only one who has fought with that Taixuan Hong. I still wanted to gather some intelligence."
The group from the Buddha Lands was at that location. Hearing this, their expressions turned somewhat unpleasant.
The guy named Kong Ye wore a cold expression, "Xu Yingshen, Junior Brother Kong Ming is in secluded cultivation. Since you aren't confident in dealing with Taixuan Hong, I can very well tell you."
"Taixuan Hong has a formidable physical body, extremely high mental resilience, and possesses both a Fire-element Divine Class and a Speed-element Divine Class."
"Nonsense, doesn't everyone have this setup? You fought a battle and only got this little bit of information?" Xu Yingshen mocked unceremoniously.
The expressions of the Buddha Lands crowd were ugly, but Kong Ming's defeat was indeed an indisputable fact. Arguing with a guy like Xu Yingshen would only be asking for trouble.
Roar!
The muffled roar gradually drew near, accompanied by a heart-palpitating Vital Aura. That Azure Dragon gradually shrank and parked around this platform like a spaceship.
The Eternal Dragon Heaven Lord, Yan Xing, had already converged with the other Radiant Moons outside the Guixu Abyss, seemingly discussing something.
Figures leaped down from the Azure Dragon one after another. As the final faction to arrive, the people from High Firmament naturally attracted the gazes of many.
But after sweeping past those familiar faces one by one, most of their gazes landed on that somewhat unfamiliar young face.
The combat recordings of High Firmament's Martial Proof Hall were considered classified information that was not allowed to be circulated outside.
However, since it was open to the entirety of High Firmament after all, there were always ways to get it out. The people present had more or less some understanding of Su Chen.
Upon noticing those gazes sweeping over him one by one, Tong Zhuo's expression became noticeably somewhat unpleasant.
Especially upon noticing that the figure standing isolated from the crowd in the distance had also cast his gaze over, his mentality inevitably lost its balance.
That was Chang Geming. Possessing the Longevity Root, he was practically a synonym for invincibility. Kong Ming of the Buddha Lands from this generation, who possessed the Seven-Branch Wondrous Tree, had not yet grown up.
The ones from the previous generation had long since advanced to Morning Star.
In the past, almost only Xu Yingshen and Xuan Kai could make him pay a little attention. Tong Zhuo previously hadn't even had the qualifications.
Although he restrained his expression extremely quickly, it was still seen by someone.
"Tsk tsk tsk..." the corners of Xu Yingshen's mouth curled up. "What a strong fragrance. The scent of jealousy, resentment, and unwillingness intertwined together smells so good. Tong Zhuo, your skill in maintaining composure is lacking. Even if you're dissatisfied with this little junior brother of yours, you should hide it a bit better."
Tong Zhuo's expression collapsed, and he said angrily: "Xu Yingshen, cease your sowing discord!"
"Exasperated and frantic." Xu Yingshen's piercing and sharp laughter made everyone frown, but they couldn't help repeatedly sizing up Tong Zhuo.
"Little guy, be careful of this senior brother of yours." Xu Yingshen's gaze looked straight at Su Chen, "And the Bronze Sect, don't get cleaned out completely."
This guy is so bizarre... Su Chen also looked at the other party. He was completely different from the Xu Yingshen that Tong Zhuo had manifested using Three Skies Mountain. That kind of treacherous feeling wasn't something a person could fake.
Tan Qingzhu's expression changed slightly. Tong Zhuo being a hypocrite wasn't a matter of a day or two, but Su Chen might not necessarily know. Now that it was exposed by Xu Yingshen, if he couldn't hold back, he would probably be laughed at.
Zhong Yue also frowned. He didn't want outsiders to see them as a joke. Just as he was about to speak, he heard Su Chen say indifferently: "The Lingxiao Nine Heavens are one entity, helping each other. Your Excellency should use these petty schemes to suppress the backlash of the Nether Realm Creatures, lest you end up eating the few people beside you one day."
The surrounding crowd was more or less quite surprised. Xu Yingshen had devoured an unknown number of Nether Realm Creatures in his body, making him the most sensitive to human hearts, emotions, and mental fluctuations.
What he said was definitely not as simple as sowing discord. Precisely because it wasn't pure mockery or ridicule, his words would make people fly into a rage out of humiliation.
But this Su Chen's mindset was not ordinarily steady. He seemed completely unaffected and could even mention the Lingxiao Nine Heavens.
He didn't seem like the impulsive type of person who could do something like sweeping the top ten in one go.
Tong Zhuo let out a sigh of relief, but for some reason, a sense of pent-up frustration arose within him. Why couldn't he just hold back?
Xu Yingshen's expression stagnated slightly, his smile instantly fading away. His eyes took on a somewhat cold glint, "An interesting little guy. I hope you live a little longer."
"High Firmament really got a good seedling," up above, Huang Pan retracted his gaze and praised.
Yan Xing chuckled lightly, "His background isn't very good, so he's experienced a bit more tempering. It's nothing worth mentioning."
"This matter must have a set of rules..." On the other side, the Old Buddha lowered his hands and eyebrows, "If it is simply to defeat him, we just need to let Chang Geming take the field."
"No." Another round-faced middle-aged man directly refused. Although defeating Taixuan Hong might secure a certain advantage, there was also a hidden risk.
If the battle lost control, would Taixuan Hong directly trigger his methods and drag his opponent down to perish together?
Although there were external clan members involved, nothing could be said for certain. Although he wanted Chang Geming to obtain this advantage, it had to be under the condition of ensuring there was no mortal danger.
"Correct..." Yan Xing spoke, "Today is not just about simply defeating him. We must avoid accidents and also ensure that the several Radiant Moons all withdraw safely, reducing the potential losses to the minimum."
On the platform, Xu Yingshen didn't engage in a verbal dispute, withdrawing his gaze from Su Chen: "Since everyone is here, let's begin early."
He licked his lips, "Taixuan Hong... I wonder how the blood of a Radiant Sun Elect differs from the blood of those clansmen of his."
"What is the order? Who goes first and who goes later?" Xuan Kai spoke, his voice muffled, carrying a unique electromagnetic sound.
As a Mechanically Augmented Being who had not yet reached Morning Star, his body still had extremely obvious characteristics, like metallic armor-like skin, a bionic face without any change in expression, and the glow of gears deep within his pupils.
"If the entire process ends as long as he is defeated, doesn't that mean only one person can defeat him?" someone from the Buddha Lands spoke up.
Those who aspired to become the Chosen of the Sovereign of the Purple Zenith all wanted to defeat the previous Chosen, thereby gaining a certain advantage in the subsequent competition.
They all had Azure God Talent, and the gap between them was extremely small. This kind of external advantage was highly likely to play a crucial role.
"Consider first whether he will drag his opponent to perish with him after he is defeated," Tong Zhuo said indifferently.
"If you're afraid, go back to bed and lie down. I'll go first..." Xu Yingshen mocked as he scanned the surroundings. He immediately prepared to leap up, but was forcefully suppressed by an invisible power.
In the distance, Huang Pan's gaze cast down, "Wait."
Xu Yingshen didn't show any respect at all, merely snorting coldly, "It hasn't reached the point where we have to fight each other to determine an order before fighting that guy, right?"
The several Radiant Moons descended, seemingly having reached an agreement. Yan Xing said loudly: "The order will be based on the ranking on the Star Potential Ranking, battling in sequence from lowest to highest."
The reason for going from lowest to highest was because the higher-ranked ones were all good seedlings. If their estimation wasn't wrong, the one ranked around tenth should be able to defeat Taixuan Hong.
For a person at that ranking, regardless of which faction they belonged to, even if they were lost, it would be acceptable.
Of course, there was another layer. There could inevitably be only one person who defeats Taixuan Hong. If that advantage was truly seized by those few Azure Gods, they would have an advantage over the others.
Those ranked past tenth, or even eighth or ninth, only had True Brilliance Talent. Even with these advantages, it would be difficult for them to overtake the Azure Gods in the subsequent competition for the Mystic Command, so the various factions could also accept it.
If that Taixuan Hong truly lasted until the Azure Gods took the stage before being defeated, and someone took advantage of it, then the other Pillars could only accept it.
"Battling in sequence?" The surroundings immediately became noisy. Xu Yingshen was quite dissatisfied, "Doesn't that mean he will be defeated before it's even our turn?"
"I wonder who will have such good luck to pick up this cheap advantage."
"Boring." Chang Geming shook his head, "It's just bullying someone."
He jumped straight back into his faction's spaceship, seemingly too lazy to watch further.
"Battling in sequence..." Su Chen's eyes flickered. Didn't that mean the clone had to persist until it was his turn to take the stage?
"Heavenly Lord..." He suddenly spoke, asking: "What should I do?"
The crowd's gazes successively turned over. A group of Radiant Moons also sized him up. Some knew of Su Chen, while others were quite unfamiliar with him.
Yan Xing pondered for a moment and said: "You haven't yet climbed the Abyssless Star Potential Ranking, but since you are ranked above Tong Zhuo, you shall be placed after Tong Zhuo."
He then looked at the other Radiant Moons, "How about it?"
"As it should be." The several Radiant Moons nodded one after another. Only Tong Zhuo's expression looked unsightly for a moment.
"Then I'm afraid it won't be my turn to take the stage." Su Chen chuckled and said: "Heavenly Lord, the journey here was tiring, I will go rest for a while first."
Yan Xing waved his hand uncaringly. Su Chen bowed to the Radiant Moons and also leaped back onto the Azure Dragon. Xu Yingshen indifferently retracted his gaze, and everyone heard Heavenly Lord Yan say: "Who is the first?"