Immortal of the Nine Realms

The atmosphere turned increasingly tense.

"Are those the other five Saints of our Human Race?"

"All nine Saints have gathered today."

"A single Half Saint attempting ascension has actually drawn out all nine supreme arbiters..."

Many Limit Breaking experts began to dimly realize that ascending to a full Saint required more than peerless talent and a deep cultivation base. There were countless other considerations involved. The process was far more difficult than they had imagined, filled with danger and obstruction.

Saint Wandao looked toward the five shifting silhouettes behind the curtain, a half-smile playing on his lips. "Why aren't the five of you willing to show your faces? Are you planning to deliberate this matter from such a massive distance away?"

Fang Chen realized something. So those five aren't actually physically present here....

Right then, an androgynous voice echoed from behind the veil. "If we are to deliberate this matter, let us do so with the utmost speed. Set this issue in stone, and let us speak no further of other variables."

Saint Wandao smiled. "Then it's quite simple. Do you five agree to let Fang Lie ascend to the Saint seat?"

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

All five voices voiced their consent in unison.

Zanglong City began to subtly boil with excitement, joy coloring the eyes of every member of the Fang Clan. With five neutral Saints agreeing, combined with the explicit backing of both the Saint Wandao and Saint Wanqing, they already had a solid seven-vote majority passing the motion! What kind of storm could the remaining Saint Jinyang and Saint Luoxue possibly whip up now?

The hidden experts of the various factions within the surrounding mist exchanged bewildered glances, their hearts beating erratically. Almost simultaneously, their sights locked firmly onto Saint Jinyang and Luoxue.

"Saint Jinyang, you see this?" Saint Wandao chuckled. "The other five have all greenlit Fang Lie's ascension. What remaining qualifications do you and Saint Luoxue possess to obstruct him?"

Saint Jinyang remained silent for a few breaths. Then, a slow smile spread across his face. "There is a single variable that none of you are yet aware of. Allow me to state it clearly. If Fang Lie does not become a Saint today... our race will gain two new Saints in return."

The moment those words left his mouth, a collective shock rippled through the entire audience!

The five blurry figures behind the curtain immediately fell into heavy whisperings amongst themselves.

Saint Wandao's brow twitched upward. "What kind of nonsense are you spouting?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Saint Jinyang pointed a finger toward Fang Lie. "If Fang Lie relinquishes his breakthrough today, our race will instantly gain two additional Saints."

"Explain yourself. What possible correlation exists between these two matters? How does Fang Lie's ascension actively prevent the birth of two other Saints? And who exactly are these two individuals you speak of?" asked Saint Wandao flatly.

Saint Luoxue suddenly let out a soft laugh and beckoned with her hand toward Half Saint Zhangxue. With a sharp crack of displaced air, Zhangxue tore through the void and positioned herself half a step behind the Luoxue Saint.

Simultaneously, another figure materialized half a step behind Saint Jinyang. This individual possessed eyes like roaring furnaces, and even the hair across his body resembled living embers, continuously burning with brilliant heat.

"Half Saint Jinwu?"

Someone instantly recognized his identity, sending a jolt of surprise through the crowd. Half Saint Jinwu was indisputably the single strongest Half Saint within the entire Jinyang Alliance, bar none. Rumors had circulated for ages that he possessed an innate opportunity to one day become a Saint, though no one across the realm could ever guarantee the exact timing.

In a hidden corner of Zanglong City, Pu Xun, a ninth-transformation expert of the Demonic Beast, watched the grand spectacle with a gaze filled with envy, awe, and a lingering trace of jealousy.

The Human Race started as mere slave-soldiers in the ancient days, yet their current structural foundation is already vastly superior to my Demonic Beast Race. When will my people ever possess a baseline of power this immense...

Saint Wandao swept his gaze over Half Saint Jinwu and Half Saint Zhangxue. Then, he couldn't resist bursting into a loud laugh.

"You claim these two can ascend to the Saint seat? They are still a literal hundred thousand miles away from even touching the threshold of a Saint's domain!"

Seeing themselves so thoroughly belittled by the Saint Wandao, Half Saint Jinwu's eyes flared with an even greater furnace-like heat, indicating his rising anger. Half Saint Zhangxue, on the other hand, maintained an entirely expressionless face, revealing absolutely nothing of her inner thoughts.

Saint Jinyang nodded in smooth agreement. "If they progressed normally, they would indeed be extremely far away."

He turned to the five experts behind the curtain.

"But what if they each consumed a single Saint Blood Bodhi?"

"Saint Blood Bodhi!?"

Those who understood the weight of that name felt a deep, instinctive shock rattle their souls. Even Saint Wandao and Saint Wanqing registered a subtle, sudden shift in their expressions.

Noticing their immediate reaction, Fang Chen immediately looked over at Wang Chongsong. As expected, Wang Chongsong wore an astonished expression, clearly familiar with the Saint Blood Bodhi.

"Old Wang, what exactly is a Saint Blood Bodhi?"

"The Saint Blood Bodhi... it makes absolutely no sense..." Wang Chongsong murmured, completely absentminded for a brief moment before recovering his focus.

"That is the absolute saint herb of the Flame Race, bearing fruit only once every hundred thousand years! This supreme herb gives a Half Saint an extremely high chance of bypassing countless years of accumulation and ascending into a full Saint! But... according to all the intelligence the Inspection Division has gathered, it is completely impossible for the Flame Race to have any spare Saint Blood Bodhi in storage. Every time one matures, they immediately use it to create a new Saint for their race. If they didn't, how could the Flame Race possibly boast a terrifying baseline of nearly fifteen Supreme Bones?!"

Fang Chen's eyes narrowed. So that's how it is... Saint Jinyang and Saint Luoxue have actively chosen to collaborate with the Flame Race to suppress Ancestor Lie. Or perhaps suppression isn't even their primary objective... it's all a play for the Eighteen Heavens Prison Tower!

He could clearly feel that this matter had transcended a simple personal grudge between lineages. It had officially escalated into a high-stakes geopolitical chess game played between the upper echelons of two entirely different cosmic races.

"Why would Saint Jinyang say something like that? Does he truly possess the Saint Blood Bodhi!?"

"The Saint Blood Bodhi is the lifeforce herb of the Flame Race. How could they ever allow such a prize to fall into the hands of our Human Race?"

Confused murmurs began to bounce across every corner of Zanglong City. Even the powerful Limit Breaking experts hidden within the mist were entirely at a loss.

Another voice demanded from behind the massive veil, "Are your words genuine? If you truly hold two Saint Blood Bodhis, you are naturally free to bestow them upon those two. But what does that have to do with Fang Lie's ascension?"

"My terms are precisely this. If Fang Lie willingly relinquishes his ascension today, Half Saint Jinwu and Half Saint Zhangxue will immediately consume the Saint Blood Bodhi and ascend to become a full Saint right here," explained Saint Jinyang with a calm, measured smile.

"This is a direct one-for-two exchange. I am entirely confident that everyone present can calculate which path yields a better return for our people. Agree to my request, and the total number of Human Saints will instantly skyrocket from nine to eleven, adding two brand-new Supreme Bones to our race's total strength. Deny it, and you allow a single Fang Lie to ascend. If you pass on this, who knows how many millennia must bleed away before our race ever sees the birth of another Saint?"

One sharp, interrogative question after another boomed from behind the curtain.

"The Saint Blood Bodhi is clearly not in your hands."

"Who exactly demanded that you execute this play?"

"Which Saint of the Flame Race have you entered into an alliance with, and what is the underlying motive for this arrangement?"

"Honored peers, let us refrain from wasting any further breath on meaningless questions. The moment the five of you nod your heads and order Fang Lie to return to his place as a mere Half Saint, I shall immediately hand over the two Saint Blood Bodhis to Saint Jingyang."

Suddenly, a brand-new figure materialized not far away in the empty air. He released the exact same terrifying, suffocating pressure characteristic of a true Saint. His anatomical structure and burning features left absolutely no room for doubt. That was a genuine Saint of the Flame Race!

The moment he manifested in the sky, a faint, deeply subtle smile unexpectedly graced the eyes of Saint Wandao.