Immortal Footprint Peak.
Na Shan had his head lowered, seemingly in thought.
Hei Yan jumped over in front of Na Shan like a monkey and grinned. "Big Brother Na Shan, are you still worried about that old Hemos guy? I'm sure we'll think of a way to deal with him when the time comes, so why be afraid of him?"
Na Shan snorted. "Kid, what do you know?"
He turned toward that distant red figure with an extremely gloomy look on his face.
In the end, what should come had finally come.
He hadn't imagined that even hiding in the Treasure Paradise wasn't enough to evade the pursuit of this ancestor.
But that was only right. After all, even the Celestial Flame Pagoda had to show some respect to the name of the Blood River.
But since he was here, why was he waiting for the Hall of Three Immortals instead of looking for Tang Jie?
Guarding the garden to wait for the rabbit?
Or did he have another plan?
Na Shan was baffled.
Even though he couldn't understand the Blood River Lord's goal, Na Shan understood that Tang Jie wouldn't appear while this guy was around, and they had practiced the Minor Five Elements Combat Formation in vain.
Not only that, Na Shan had to worry about whether the Blood River Lord still held a grudge over that previous incident. If he was still angry about how they had killed that avatar, then they would be in trouble.
As the leader of the representatives, Na Shan had to consider all future possibilities, which left him with many worries.
Hei Yan and the others had a much more simple idea: since that old man wasn't dead, they would just kill him again.
Crude and violent.
Na Shan wanted to cry and tell them who the old man really was, but he decided that this would only make things worse and opted instead to wait and see how things developed.
As time passed, the sword light around the Hall of Three Immortals continued to recede.
That blinding light gradually became the last rays of a setting sun.
More and more people gathered around the Hall of Three Immortals.
The thirteen members of the Eastern Heavenly King's group added four to their number, making seventeen. Upon Drifting Peak, eighteen members from the Southern Heavenly King had gathered. As for Na Shan's side, two others besides Tang Jie had not come. The one with the fewest representatives was the Northern Heavenly King's faction, only thirteen out of twenty coming. Seven had yet to come, five of them having died in Holy Fire Valley. The withered old man who led them turned green in the face at this result.
Finally, as the last light began to fade from the Hall of Three Immortals, everyone moved out.
As they flew toward the Hall of Three Immortals, the Blood River Lord remained motionless.
The four factions gathered in front of the Hall of Three Immortals, maintaining a safe distance from each other, silent and vigilant.
In the end, Na Shan laughed and said, "The Hall of Three Immortals is about to open. Everyone, what are your plans?"
Although the sword light had retreated, that didn't mean that it didn't exist. If the people who entered were too strong, the sword light might come back.
Thus, there had to be an order for entering the hall, people going in one by one rather than rushing in as a crowd.
Considering that the people who went in first had an advantage, the four factions would always quarrel with each other over the order, sometimes even fighting. Usually, the Northern Heavenly King's faction won, as they had the highest cultivation level, but their harvest was always the lowest.
Liu Qianyi smiled and said, "What else? I propose that we draw straws."
Young Master Hua said, "It seems fine to me. It's the simplest and also prevents any grudges from forming. But what does Sir Xuan Gui (Black Turtle) think?"
In the past, the Northern Heavenly King's faction would definitely have objected. They had always favored handling things with their fists.
But a moment later, that withered old man actually nodded. "Agreed!"
Liu Qianyi covered her mouth and chuckled. "It's rare to see Reverend Xuan Gui in such good temper. Everyone thought that Sir Xuan Gui would disagree and start fighting without a word. That would be a problem."
A representative next to her scoffed, "He wants to, but he has too few people."
The Northern Heavenly King's faction, because of their higher cultivation levels, were more aggressive and combative. But this time, they had lost seven people before even entering the Hall of Three Immortals, including that Soul Transformation tiger fiend. Seeing how poor the situation was, Reverend Xuan Gui had no choice but to yield.
His eyes flashed with murder upon hearing that representative's words. "Seeking death!"
Cold energy enveloped that representative.
Liu Qianyi waved a handkerchief, and a gentle breeze blew away the chill. "Reverend, is there any need to care about such a trifle?"
She then turned to that representative and said, "Luo Hong, you were rude to the reverend. As punishment, you won't participate in the straw drawing and will be the last to enter the Hall of Three Immortals."
"What?" That Luo Hong paled. "You…"
"Daring to talk back!" Liu Qianyi grabbed Luo Hong and threw him into the distance.
That Luo Hong was thrown such a great distance that he vanished into the clouds.
This was enough to pacify Reverend Xuan Gui's anger.
Young Master Hua then took out a bunch of bamboo straws. "There are 65 straws here, each one carrying a number. Everyone will take one and then go inside according to the number. Of course, as the one providing the straws, I won't participate, and the very last one remaining will be mine."
He tossed the bamboo straws into the air, and everyone grabbed at them.
These were cultivators, all of them with sharp eyes, so they instantly saw the number they wanted and reached out for it.
Na Shan grabbed for the straw with "1" on it, but just when he was about to grab it, a gust of wind blew it aside, making Na Shan miss it. Another representative had pushed it away and reached out to take it for himself. But just when he was about to grab it, he was knocked away by another representative.
Numerous people began to vie for the bamboo straws.
This was the law of the cultivation world. Even a drawing of straws had a place to show off one's strength.
Young Master Hua had made these bamboo straws from Coldbrow Bamboo from the Western Mountains, and they were able to endure the beating of spell arts. As everyone lashed out, the skies filled with brilliant flames.
The bamboo straws with the smaller numbers were the most fiercely competed for, with Reverend Xuan Gui, Liu Qianyi, Na Shan, and Hei Yan all competing for them. Although it was only for a place in line, they still went all-out, and the vicious streams of energy tearing through the space in front of the Hall of Three Immortals made it difficult to approach.
That Reverend Xuan Gui lived up to his Soul Transformation cultivation, and as he unleashed his full power, the surrounding area was sealed in ice, and even Na Shan found it hard to move. He rushed up and grabbed the No.1 straw, saying with a laugh, "It's mine!"
With No.1 gone, everyone else turned to No.2, but it was another fiend Soul Transformation cultivator who got it.
Na Shan got No.3 through his divine strength, pushing aside all opposition. Liu Qianyi took No.4. While she wasn't the strongest, her charming arts made everyone waver, with some people even being willing to fight for her. In the middle of this chaotic battle, Liu Qianyi easily took No.4.
Young Master Hua took No.5. For some reason, nobody paid any attention to this one, and it fell from the sky and right at his feet. Young Master Hua hadn't done a thing, yet his placing wasn't low in the slightest.
Although everyone knew that this was definitely because he had meddled with the straws somehow, since nobody could actually tell what he had done, there was nothing they could say. If he had chosen No.1, nobody would be willing, but if it was No.5, given Young Master Hua's strength, it was nothing too excessive.
Of course, they forgot about something else: if the No.5 straw had been messed with, it was possible that the other straws had also been messed with.
Zuo Quanming saw a straw and grabbed it, but when he saw that it was "32", he felt unlucky. Just when he was about to throw it away, the number changed from "32" to "16". After a momentary daze, he grew delighted.
For his strength, 16 was an extremely good place, so he decided to put away the straw and withdraw. Turning to look back at Young Master Hua, he saw that he was just standing there and smiling to himself as if none of this had anything to do with him.
The battle over the straws quickly came to an end, with everyone getting a number.
The Northern Heavenly King side had No.1 and No.2, the Western Heavenly King's Na Shan had No.3, the Southern Heavenly King's side had No.4, and the Eastern Heavenly King had No.5. It appeared that the biggest winner was the Northern Heavenly King and the loser was the Eastern Heavenly King.
But if one looked carefully, one would find that the Eastern Heavenly King's people had most of the upper ranks. No.6, No.8, No.10, No.12… the Eastern Heavenly King's people had almost every other number.
The distribution of 65 straws ended like this, with the last one ending up with Liu Qianyi. There was no one to take up the place of No.65, but this was because it belonged to the person that Liu Qianyi had thrown out, Luo Hong.
Liu Qianyi let out a gasp of surprise. "I forgot about that despicable scoundrel. I restrained Luo Hong so that he can't move, so he won't be coming back on his own. And I threw him too far, so I don't even know where he is. Reverend, look. Because of you, I even threw away one of my own people."
She spoke these last words with a very gentle and charming tone that made Reverend Xuan Gui's heart waver. He said with a smile, "Lady Liu, is this really necessary? These old bones can't take those bone-eating charming arts of yours. Ah, forget it. Hei He (Black Crane), you go and find that person back for the lady."
A black-clothed man opened his arms and turned into a black crane that took to the skies.
A few moments later, the black-clothed man returned with Luo Hong, throwing him to the ground before going back to behind Reverend Xuan Gui. Liu Qianyi kicked Luo Hong, which undid the seals. "Get up."
Luo Hong embarrassedly stood up. Probably too ashamed to be around the others, he immediately moved to the back of the crowd.
Everyone laughed together as they waited for the Hall of Three Immortals to open.
―――――――――
The Blood River Lord saw everything that happened in front of the Hall of Three Immortals.
Smirking, he scoffed and said, "A pointless act."
He turned to gaze into the distance.
Several clouds drifted about, everything appearing quiet and peaceful.
There was no sign of the person he expected to see, nor was there any sort of fierce torrent. Everything was calm.
Tang Jie probably wasn't coming.
The Blood River Lord sighed as he thought to himself.
Tang Jie was no fool. He had been able to use Holy Fire Valley to destroy four of his avatars, but this didn't shrink the massive gap in strength in any meaningful way. Tang Jie had probably realized that he was facing too much opposition this time, and it wasn't something that he could digest.
So he had given up.
Giving up on the Hall of Three Immortals was probably his best option.
Even though the Blood River Lord hoped that Tang Jie would be a little more courageous, it seemed that he hoped in vain.
"Nothing more than a cowardly scoundrel," the Blood River Lord grumbled.
But that was fine. He could focus his energy on the matter before him first.
He hadn't come here for Tang Jie, who was just an excuse to get into the Treasure Paradise. The Hall of Three Immortals was his true goal. As for Tang Jie, once this matter was done, he still had time to clean him up, so he would let him struggle on for a little longer.
As the Blood River Lord looked back at the Hall of Three Immortals, his eyes glowed with greed.
Meanwhile, the light around the Hall of Three Immortals was growing weaker and weaker.
The time of opening was drawing closer.
Everyone began to tense up.
Finally, as that sword light dwindled, a beam of sword energy suddenly shot into the sky.
As it did, the Hall of Three Immortals erupted with light.
Before this, the barrier around the Hall of Three Immortals could be described like a porcupine, but now, all of the spikes had been removed, leaving only a harmonious aura.
"It's open!" someone shouted.
The large doors to the Hall of Three Immortals boomed open, revealing a long corridor.
Reverend Xuan Gui's eyes shone as he moved toward the Hall of Three Immortals.
Just when he was about to go in, someone roared, "Stand aside!"
A large hand reached for Reverend Xuan Gui's neck.
"Who said that?" Reverend Xuan Gui angrily struck back, icy energy surging out, but this was instantly dispersed by a rush of crimson energy, blasted apart until nothing was left.
A hand of blood appeared, striking Reverend Xuan Gui in the back. A large turtle shell appeared on his back, but the hand ignored it, easily piercing through it and making impact, causing the reverend to throw up blood.
A moment later, the blood hand grabbed Xuan Gui by the back of the neck and threw him aside.
Everyone was stunned to see the person who had drawn the No.1 straw so easily cast aside.
When they turned to look, they saw that the Blood River Lord had appeared in the clearing in front of the Hall of Three Immortals.
It was a Soul Transformation avatar.
As this avatar appeared, more and more avatars began to come forward. In a flash, there were twenty-some avatars, all of them cloaked in a crimson aura.
After coldly glancing at everyone, the Blood River Lord avatar that had thrown aside Reverend Xuan Gui strode into the Hall of Three Immortals.
His other avatars followed, disappearing into the Hall of Three Immortals.
All of the representatives were too intimidated to stop them.
Only then did they realize just how strong were these people who had suddenly barged into the Treasure Paradise.
It was no wonder he hadn't participated in the drawing of straws, because this was nothing but a children's game to him. In the Blood River Lord's eyes, no matter how they ordered themselves, he was going in first! Everyone had to stand aside until then!
It was a very unpleasant realization.
Finally, all of the Blood River Lord's avatars had entered the Hall of Three Immortals.
The representatives all looked at each other, after which Na Shan sighed and said, "Let's also go in. Reverend, you first."
As Na Shan knew who this man really was, he found the fact easier to accept.
Reverend Xuan Gui took a deep breath and strode forward once more.
The Blood River Lord wasn't there to stop him this time, but Reverend Xuan Gui didn't seem as energetic or bold anymore.
Once the last representative had gone through the doors, this place finally became peaceful and quiet once more.
After some time, a crimson figure suddenly emerged from space.
It was another Blood River avatar.
He looked around and muttered, "It seems like he really doesn't plan to come. Forget it. I'll let that little beast go for now. Once this is done, I'll come back to find you."
He shot through the doors.
Meanwhile, ten thousand meters away, high up in the clouds, Tang Jie had witnessed everything.
He muttered, "He really did have another goal. That's good. Only if one has a goal can there be conflict!"
He paused for a moment, and then he added, "And what I need is… to add fuel to the fire!"
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