Outside the realm of Qingming, a furious Phantom shouted, “What an arrogant youngling! I’m going to teach him a lesson right now!”

The Great Warlock standing next to her said coldly, “I would advise you not to.”

“Are you suggesting I just stand by and ignore the youngling’s nonsense?”

“If you fight him, then it won’t be mere nonsense anymore.”

Phantom exploded, “Do you really think I would—”

Before she could finish, the Great Warlock cut in. “Yes.”

Phantom was speechless for a moment. After a pause, she finally said, “Fine. Maybe I’m not up to the task. But surely you can defeat him, Lord Yanlong?”

Yanlong replied calmly, “I should be able to handle him outside his realm, but inside? I can’t guarantee anything.”

Phantom was stunned. She hadn’t expected Yanlong to hold Wei Yuan in such high regard.

Yanlong was a standout among the Great Warlocks of the entire Shaman race. He was someone with the potential to become a Sky Warlock. Yet now, despite the vast gap between their cultivation levels, he still felt he had no guarantee of winning against Wei Yuan?

Phantom simply couldn’t fathom it. Homefield advantage was just an advantage—how much of a boost could it truly provide?

Yanlong added, “Besides, I couldn’t even if I wanted to. After all, someone is challenging me to a game.”

Phantom suddenly felt the temperature around her soar, as if she were inside a furnace. It was indescribably uncomfortable. Then, flames suddenly ignited on her outer robe. Caught off guard, she hurriedly unleashed a wave of mystic energy to shield her whole body. Only then did she extinguish the flames.

At the moment, their surrounding space was filled with an intensely scorching Dao energy. It was so tyrannical and overwhelming that it had even ignited Phantom’s outer robe, a mystic treasure.

She spun around abruptly and saw an old Daoist standing behind her. When had he arrived? He was smiling with remarkable warmth and kindness.

Stroking his beard, the old Daoist introduced himself, “This humble Daoist is Fen Hai. I have long heard of your boundless mystic energy and unique insights into the Dao of heaven and earth, Great Warlock Long. Now that we have met, how about we play a game of Go[1]?”

Yanlong asked, “Are your disciples and grand-disciples inside the realm?”

Fen Hai replied frankly, “Indeed they are. Young people, you see, love speaking the truth, and the truth is sometimes hard to hear. Since the two of you have nothing to do, why not play a game with this old Daoist and show me how well you understand the Dao of heaven and earth? Of course, if you insist on fighting, then this old Daoist will gladly oblige as well. However, I must warn you that quite a few of us humans have arrived. Should a fight break out, you’ll have to forgive us for outnumbering you.”

Yanlong smiled and said, “You’re quite the lucky one. Very well, let’s play a game. But there’s no need for my comrade to join in. I alone will suffice.”

He swept his sleeve after saying that, and both he and Fen Hai vanished.

Phantom remained where she stood, gazing at Wei Yuan on the high platform from afar. She felt a strong urge to go after the young man, but recalling Yanlong’s words, she hesitated repeatedly and ultimately stayed put.

At the same time, in the dungeon beneath the central peak, a beautiful woman had appeared beside Tianyu. She had several thin wings that resembled flower petals unfolding from her shoulders. She looked so beautiful it was like a dream.

Tianyu was looking in the direction of the battlefield with a look of deep admiration, saying, “Is there any Great Warlock who dares to fight me? Heh... What spirit! As expected of the man who defeated me! If only I was the one standing there and saying those words!”

The woman replied coldly, “If that was the case, then I would be collecting your dead body right now. Stop dithering and get moving!”

But Tianyu shook his head. “No, I can’t just leave like this. He possesses such spirit, and I was only narrowly defeated earlier. If I leave now, wouldn’t that be deserting the battlefield? I must negotiate a ransom with him first, then leave with my head held high. Only then will I have the face to return, challenge him again, and make him a stepping stone on my path to ascension.”

The woman said impatiently, “Your ransom is meager to say the least. Why not pay your own ransom? Just leave him a couple of your mystic artifacts, and he’ll happily accept it!”

Tianyu sneered, “Do you think I, Tianyu, am that cheap?”

The woman sighed in exasperation. “How much do you think you’re worth? You only made it onto the Strength Warlock Ranking because a couple of them were promoted to Great Warlock this year!”

Tianyu sneered disdainfully. “When that man came to me, he asked if he could exchange for the Shamans’ withdrawal!”

The woman stared at him in shock. “Is he out of his mind?”

Displeased with her remark, Tianyu said, “As the sages of the human race once said, ‘A man will die for a soulmate’! How could I slip away quietly when this man holds me in such high regard?”

The woman gave him a long look and remarked, “You’re quite out of your mind yourself. Your younger sister paid a hefty price to have me save you, but I only agreed to intervene once. If you don’t come with me now, you won’t get another chance.”

Tianyu declared firmly, “I’m not leaving.”

A slender beam of light suddenly shot out of the woman’s eyes and settled on Tianyu.

“What did you do to me?”

“Nothing. I was just taking a look at your fate for the next few days. I’ll ask you one more time: are you coming or not? If you don’t, you’ll regret it.”

Tianyu shook his head.

The woman waved her hand and shattered all the mystic chains binding Tianyu. She then said, “The decision to leave or not is yours. I’m off to seize the realm stone.”

High in the sky, atop a wisp of faint cloud, two elderly men were playing a game of Go. Both men were moving their stones quickly, but one man had already fallen into a disadvantage.

The elder man holding the upper hand stroked his beard and laughed, “It would appear that your family has been blessed with yet another prodigy, Brother Wang. It is a joyous occasion, is it not? It is only natural that you should lose this game of Go to me.”

On the battlefield below, Wang Yu’s eyes were tightly shut as blood-stained tears streamed down the corners of his eyes. However, as if endowed with the eye of Heaven, the spear in his hands was moving so swiftly it vanished from sight. His Dao energy was concentrated on the spear to the utmost degree; radiating no more than a finger’s width from the blade. His attacks were also remarkably concise—all he was doing was thrusting and withdrawing his spear repeatedly, yet a soul met its end with every thrust. Undoubtedly, his spear technique had already borne the shadow of the Great Dao’s ultimate simplicity.

Regardless of Wang Yu’s Dao Foundation, his spear technique alone coupled with his mastery of Dao energy far surpassed that of ordinary scions. Even with a Human-tier Dao Foundation, he would be highly valued.

The elderly man who was losing wore a grim look as he replied in a cold voice, “Isn’t that one from the Cui Clan even better? Otherwise, why would you bother watching from the heavens?”

The elderly man winning the game laughed heartily. “The boy, Cui Yu, is showing signs of returning to his natural state. In the future, he might have a sliver of a chance to become a True Lord, not to mention that he is quite capable of leading troops and governing cities. It is only right that I came to keep an eye on him. Such a fine young man cannot truly be lost here after all.”

Suddenly a massive sun rose slowly on the battlefield below. Its surface was enveloped in streaks of brilliant sword light, and it cut down every Shaman who dared to come near it.

Cui Yu, wielding an immortal sword, was leading 1,500 Dao Foundation stage cultivators in a fierce flanking maneuver against the main force of the Shamans. Both the point of entry and the timing of the maneuver were flawless.

Not only that, his troops were bolstered by the presence of two experts, Xiao Yu and Feng Tingyu. The Shamans’ Dao Foundation stage elites simply did not have what it takes to stop their combined power. A force of 1,500 Dao Foundation stage cultivators was terrifying, and it took them just the blink of an eye to cut down swathes of Shamans.

However, although the Shamans’ commanding general had fled into the files of his personal guards, the army had not collapsed as Wei Yuan thought it would. Suddenly, five Shaman officers surged with power, their cultivation levels soaring, and multiple military banners were raised around them. In the blink of an eye, ten military banners had been raised between the two armies, with one of them standing notably taller than the others, assuming command authority.

This Shaman force had acted as a single, cohesive unit from the beginning. Even after dividing itself into ten separate units, it remained as unified as ever, with only the commanding generals having changed. The transition was so smooth that, had Wei Yuan not been standing on the high platform, he would have thought that the commanding generals had never changed at all.

The Shamans were powerful, but the humans were no slouches either. Cui Yu commanded with confidence and composure, methodically directing his troops to crush the enemy. He was already displaying the bearing of a great general.

The elderly man from the Wang Clan remarked, “That child, Xiao Yu, is quite remarkable as well. Is there truly no one from the Xiao Clan?”

An icy woman dressed in court attire stepped out of thin air and replied indifferently, “You knew I was here all along. Why say such things?”

The elderly man from the Cui Clan stroked his beard and laughed. “We old friends haven’t seen each other in many years, have we not? It is rare for all of us to be gathered in one place, so of course we should greet each other properly. The one from the Bao Clan is also an old acquaintance, but alas, that fellow dislikes crowds. If he enjoys watching from above by his lonesome, then so be it.

“I do have a question, though: How come the Xu Can and the Li Clan have sent representatives as well?”

A middle-aged man slowly stepped out of the void and replied calmly, “I heard there is a boy here who’s worthy of being matched with Yi’er[2], so I came to take a look. As for why Brother Li is here, I have no idea.”

The elderly man from the Cui Clan nodded. “Wei Yuan, is it? That boy already possesses the bearing of a great master, and Hsu Yi seems to have undergone a complete transformation. The two of them are indeed a good match.”

The woman in court attire suddenly asked, “Could that lad have anticipated our presence here and deliberately put the children in danger; to lure us into action?”

The question caused everyone’s faces to turn grim and looked down together.

Wei Yuan was currently locked in a fierce battle, yet he still managed to spare a hand to bestow a wisp of fortune upon Xiao Yu, Cui Yu, and Feng Tingyu. He also added each young master and lady of the sixteen noble clans another wisp of fortune.

In that split second of distraction, Wei Yuan was struck two consecutive blows that could not immediately heal on their own.

Someone remarked with astonishment, “Is it just me, or was Wei Yuan sharing his fortune just now?”

1. Ugh, I so do not want to use the word Go... but I don’t really have a choice. Just because it sounds wrong doesn’t mean it’s wrong, and besides this is one novel where translating to Go or even Chinese chess would be perfectly fine, considering the setting. ☜

2. He’s talking about Hsu Yi. ☜