Chapter 1870: A Young Race
As time progressed, the Saint Tower Battle slowly drew to its close.
Because of the differences in cultivation realms and participant numbers, the progress across different levels varied. The Third Step of Limit Breaking was the earliest to produce its final results, and the undisputed first place holder was a divine ability expert from the God Race. Following closely behind were the results for Second Step and First Step. Without exception, those sitting at the absolute top were all divine ability experts of the God Race.
Within the Saint Tower, there stood a specialized tower building. Those gathered here were the Saints of various powerful races, currently numbering more than a hundred. From that vantage point, they only needed to look downward to command a completely unobstructed view of every corner of the Saint Tower Battle.
A Saint possessing three heads and six arms glanced downward. "This time, the God Race might very well achieve a clean sweep.
"He wore a detached smile, appearing as though he didn't care much about the Saint Tower Battle. But the Saints around all knew that this was a facade. This Saint was from one of the twelve most powerful races, and he definitely wasn't as calm as he displayed.
Every single powerful race yearned to win first place in the Saint Tower Battle. As long as one secured first place three consecutive times, they stood a chance of being selected by the Supreme Qingming Alliance to enter a Saint Land that even these Saints envied and longed for. From then on, their future prospects would be limitless.
Take the current Realm Lord of the Divine Realm, or the master of Longsheng City, as an example. They were both legendary existences who had broken through and stood out from the Saint Tower Battle.
With such precedents before them, which race wouldn't want to contest the Saint Tower Battle?
"Your Southern God Race isn't too bad either. Although you've lost out on three first-place finishes, you still have hope of securing one or two of the remaining twelve. For our God Race to achieve a clean sweep is far from being that simple," a Saint who closely resembled a human, save for his slightly darker complexion, said with a smile.
His standing position was at the absolute center. Right next to him stood an elegant youth clad in white robes. The youth possessed a slender build, and a pair of bright red dragon horns grew from his forehead. This individual was the master of this domain, the supreme expert stationed here by the Supreme Qingming Alliance, Saint Long.
Hearing the conversation between the two, Saint Long wore a faint smile. "I heard that the two of you made a wager?"
The God Race Saint and the Southern God Race Saint exchanged a glance. The former smiled without speaking, while the latter nodded.
"Reporting to you, we did indeed make a wager."
The surrounding Saints instantly shifted their attention toward the two. Before the Saint Tower Battle had even commenced, they had already heard rumors regarding the bet between the two races.
"Informing you, our Southern God Race and the God Race have been engaged in frequent warfare recently. Although it has mostly been the subordinate races beneath us fighting, it has inevitably stoked some tempers."
The Southern God Race Saint smiled faintly and continued, "Since neither side can truly overcome the other down below, we settled on a wager. If the God Race can successfully pull off a clean sweep in this Saint Tower Battle in Longsheng City, my race will hand over three divisions of slave soldiers to them as compensation. The opposite holds true as well."
"Three divisions of slave soldiers. For the twelve powerful races, that was indeed merely a small wager for a bit of mild entertainment," a Saint murmured softly under his breath.
Saint Long smiled. "An occasional small wager can indeed cultivate one's temperament; there is nothing improper about it. Just ensure that the bet doesn't end up stoking real animosity between you two."
Hearing that, both the God Race Saint and Southern God Race Saint felt a slight chill in their hearts. They both hastened to voice their assurances that it would not lead to any genuine friction.
In truth, if it weren't for the ten Saints stationed here by the Supreme Qingming Alliance keeping the peace within the Divine Realm, the fighting would have reached a fever pitch long ago. It would hardly be like the current state of affairs, where only the subordinate factions clashed continuously down below while the higher-ups could still sit together, sipping tea and discussing the Dao.
"Taking advantage of this moment today, I shall inform you all once more. We of the Supreme Qingming Alliance do not appreciate excessive noise. These past few years, the commotions caused by those beneath you have grown somewhat too loud. Every one of you here is a Saint hailing from the one hundred powerful races, so you should naturally focus your energy on nurturing your younger generation. If you can cultivate a true talent for the Supreme Qingming Alliance, it would far outweigh winning ten consecutive grand wars. Is that not so?" Saint Long asked with a gentle smile.
The crowd cupped their hands in unison. "You speak with absolute wisdom."
"It's just that for every Saint Tower Battle, the top spot is practically monopolized by the God Race, and whatever remains is merely held in rotation by the rest of the twelve powerful races. When will it ever be the turn for those of us among the one hundred powerful races?" remarked a Saint, his tone thoroughly laced with sour jealousy.
This Saint's strength was formidable, and he had a powerful background. Even his race's foundation as a whole was close to matching that of the twelve powerful races. Even so, it had been many years since his race had produced a genuine genius capable of seizing a single first-place finish in the Saint Tower Battle.
The moment he spoke up, it immediately drew a chorus of agreement from several other Saints.
"Just look at the current state of affairs. Among those who have yet to be eliminated from the Saint Tower Battle, which one of them does not hail from the twelve powerful races?"
"Actually, there really is one who doesn't..." remarked a Saint thoughtfully.
"Oh?"
Everyone turned their gazes toward this Saint. That individual simply flicked his sleeve, causing the air currents in the void to billow and churn as a projection gradually manifested before everyone's eyes.
Within the projection, an entity who bore a striking resemblance to the God Race was currently locked in a fierce clash with a powerhouse from the Southern God Race. The battle between the two sides was exceptionally intense. However, after exchanging over a hundred moves, the sixth-transformation divine ability expert of the Southern God Race was clearly running low on stamina. His recovery rate couldn't keep pace with his sheer consumption, and signs of decline began to show.
After several dozen more exchanges, that Southern God Race expert was ruthlessly suppressed and slaughtered on the spot by his opponent. And the halos floating behind that opponent's back already numbered as many as twenty-three!
"This is the sixth transformation battle zone," remarked a Saint with a strange expression.
Seeing that scene, the brow of the Southern God Race Saint furrowed slightly.
Conversely, the God Race Saint let out a gleeful, mocking laugh. "My apologies, but it seems my race..."
Saint Long suddenly interjected, "This child does not belong to the God Race."
Not from the God Race?
The God Race Saint stiffened. Taking a closer look, he was surprised. "He really doesn't seem to be from the God Race. He completely lacks that foundation of natural-born Supreme Bones found throughout the God Race. He looks a bit strange. He shares quite a few similarities with the God Race. Could they perhaps share a common ancestor?"
The moment those words were uttered, the entire area fell into a dead silence for a few breaths.
The God Race Saint smiled faintly. "You must be joking. The God Race is the God Race, devoid of any offshoots or branches. Where could any talk of a shared ancestor possibly come from?"
With that, he turned to Saint Long and cupped his hands. "You possess boundless knowledge regarding the various races within this realm. Do you happen to know which race this child hails from? He doesn't quite look like he belongs to the one hundred powerful races."
Quite a few Saints whose races ranked lower among the one hundred powerful races displayed a look of deep wariness. If a race were truly to catch up from behind, it would impact them the most.
Saint Long said with a gentle smile, "This race is known as the human race. It is a very young race. Back when the human race first produced a Saint, it was I who personally registered them into the official annals. I simply hadn't expected that in a mere span of several hundred thousand years, a human divine ability expert would actually be capable of storming his way into what is practically the top one hundred. It is truly a rare feat."
"The human race?"
The hundred-plus Saints exchanged bewildered glances. Even the Saints belonging to the twelve powerful races had never heard of the human race. There were simply far too many races within the Divine Realm. The only ones worthy of their notice were the one hundred powerful races. As for the rest, how did they differ from mere slave soldiers in their eyes? They simply never bothered to learn about them.
Saint Long smiled. "Since the human race has a divine ability expert who has achieved such an exceptional result, I shall make an exception today and allow the Saints of the human race to enter this place to spectate the battle. Perhaps some years from now, they will possess the qualifications to stand alongside all of you here."