Immortal of the Nine Realms

Everyone bellowed in unison. "Understood!"

Fang Qianxue nodded and waved her hand, opening a Xie Zhi gate before the procession. She was the first to walk inside.

"Let's enter, everyone!" someone shouted, and followed closely behind.

The procession entered one after another, quickly vanishing from the front of the Saint Palace.

Once the gate closed, Fang Cangyou appeared, wheeling himself over. He glanced at Fang Lie and curiously said, "That brat Fang Chen is only at the sixth transformation, Old Master. How are you willing to let him leave for the Saint Tower Battle? He is a Third Generation Ancestor. If something happens to him, it will be a massive loss for the clan."

Fang Lie smiled faintly. "If you aren't willing to risk the child, you won't catch the wolf."

Fang Cangyou spoke with a strange expression, "That is true in principle, but Fang Chen's strength... should be fairly mediocre, right? Even if you sacrifice him, can you truly catch a wolf?"

"His strength is mediocre?" Fang Lie glanced at Fang Cangyou. "The Reincarnation Immortal Sect is so miraculous. Do you think they would look for a mediocre fellow to be their disciple?"

Fang Cangyou frowned. "But when he was inside the Saint Tower, he stayed in there for a hundred years but still couldn't break through...."

"You don't understand. It is precisely because he hasn't broken through his bottleneck for over a hundred years that it proves his methods are far from simple," explained Fang Lie. "Faced with those exotic beasts that are vastly stronger than peers of the same rank, he managed to hold out for so long. Thus, he will naturally display a dazzling performance in the Saint Tower Battle. The human race has participated in countless iterations of the Saint Tower Battle over the years. Only a handful of participants have ever broken into the top 100,000. What ultimately became of those individuals?"

"They all became Saints..." Fang Cangyou muttered to himself, glancing at Fang Lie.

Fang Lie had also participated in the Saint Tower Battle before, successfully breaking into the top 100,000. As for his exact ranking, no one knew. Back then, they hadn't yet possessed Inner Domains, so they couldn't witness the battle's details.

Then let us see whether this kid can give us a pleasant surprise, Fang Cangyou thought to himself.

With a casual flick of his hand, the space in front of Fang Lie rippled like water. Countless Inner Domains could vaguely be seen. The Xie Zhi gate was merely one of many, like stars in the sky, surrounding the magnificent central gate whose aura was the most mysterious of all.

Looking upward, Fang Cangyou faintly sensed numerous gazes passing through those Inner Domain gates and settling upon the Xie Zhi gate. There weren't many gazes. Most merely glanced over briefly before losing interest.

Fang Cangyou couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Behind every one of those Inner Domains stood a Saint possessing methods that could rival the heavens. Any one of them might well be vastly stronger than the Old Master.

Once Saint Longsheng's Inner Domain in the center opened, they would be able to connect with it through their own Inner Domain and view the detailed occurrences inside the Saint Tower.

***

Passing through the Xie Zhi gate, Fang Chen found himself upon a levitating immortal mountain. Below lay a boundless, vast ocean. Within the dark, deep sea, waves surged furiously. Massive sea beasts could occasionally be seen thrashing through the surface, sending towering walls of water crashing into the sky. The auras of some of these sea beasts were not weaker than the ninth transformation!

By now, Fang Qianxue was conversing warmly with an elderly man. They had all seen him before. Back when Fang Lie became a Saint, it was this very elder who had brought a group of Limit Breaking experts from the Wandao Alliance to the Chaoxian Tower to observe the ceremony.

Just like Fang Qianxue, this elderly man, Qin Baichuan, was also a Third Step Limit Breaking expert!

At that moment, Qin Baichuan glanced over at Fang Chen and the others. "Daoist, does it not seem that the number of participants from the Fang Clan is particularly large in this Saint Tower Battle?

Nearly every single realm had a dozen or so people attending. Compared to the previous Saint Tower Battle, the numbers this time were over twice as large.

Fang Qianxue smiled calmly. "Whether Ancestor Lie has become a Saint or not naturally changes our attitude toward the Saint Tower Battle. This is the first time we are participating in the Saint Tower Battle since Ancestor Lie became a Saint. We also hope someone can secure a ranking."

Hearing this, Qin Baichuan could not help but nod. "That is indeed true."

By securing a ranking, she meant entering the top 100,000. With enough effort, that wasn't entirely impossible.

As the two sides conversed, the divine ability users of the Wandao Alliance arrived one after another. Their numbers were comparable to the Fang Clan's side, with over a dozen people arriving for each realm. The difference was that aside from Qin Baichuan, the Wandao Alliance had also sent two more Limit Breaking experts, who were at the first and second steps respectively.

Fang Qianxue's expression stirred. "This time, the Wandao Alliance intends to have three Limit Breaking experts participate in the Saint Tower Battle?"

"I will not be going. I went twice in the past, and my defeats were quite miserable." Qin Baichuan shook his head with a smile. "I am merely responsible for handling some miscellaneous chores along the way. These two, however, stand a chance to fight for it."

He pointed toward the two Limit Breaking experts, who both stepped forward to greet Fang Qianxue, showing no arrogance despite the Fang Clan being a newly ascended Saint Clan. After all, the strength Fang Lie had displayed when pushing back two Saints with a single sword strike a hundred years ago had long since spread throughout the Nether Ruins, and even the Flame Race's side was discussing the matter.

Standing among the crowd, Fang Chen silently observed this batch of divinity users from the Wandao Alliance. There should still be a Half Saint making an appearance to lead the way. If it's just Limit Breaking experts leading the team, the margin for error would be far too low should we encounter danger along the journey.

He had already sensed a few rather familiar auras from this group of people. The divine abilities they mastered were highly likely related to the Three Thousand Dao Art.

"The aura of this one seems like the Three Heads and Six Arms Technique."

"The aura of that one feels like the Mist Walking and Fire Spitting Technique."

"This one..."

About half a quarter of an hour later, a white figure pierced through the sky and arrived.

Upon spotting the newcomer, the divine ability users of the Wandao Alliance all cupped their hands and bowed. "Half Saint Zangling."

Fang Chen was immediately startled. "The Spiritual Attachment Technique?"

The newcomer was dressed entirely in snow-white, with only two distinct dots of crimson on the cheeks.

That was clearly a paper doll!

Many people in the Fang Clan had never seen the Spiritual Attachment Technique. Consequently, upon seeing this paper doll being addressed as a Half Saint, looks of shock surfaced on their faces one after another.

This paper doll looked exactly like the ones burned for ancestors! How could a paper doll become a Half Saint?

Fang Qianxue bowed respectfully. "Half Saint Zangling."

The crowd hurriedly suppressed their shock and bowed toward Half Saint Zangling too.

"I will be the one leading you to Longsheng City. The journey will take roughly ten years," said Half Saint Zangling, her voice pleasant and melodious to the ear. When listened to, the image of an exquisitely beautiful woman would instantly spring to mind. It was entirely unimaginable that she was a paper doll.

Fang Qianxue nodded respectfully. "We will need to trouble you then."

The corners of Half Saint Zangling's mouth twitched slightly, as if she were smiling. "There is no need to be so polite. The Fang Clan has been on good terms with our Wandao Alliance for many years. We are allies."

Having said that, she waved her sleeve, and a large gateway made of paper slowly opened before everyone.

"This is my Inner Domain. Step inside."