"Again, another Celestial Pride in the Middle Stage of Void Refining. This Immortal Martial Hall really is a sacred ground for nurturing geniuses!"
"Of course, the Immortal Martial Hall has the very best resources in the entire Immortal Realm. Its ability to cultivate Celestial Prides goes without saying!"
"I wonder what the last Celestial Prideâs cultivation is? From the look of things, not weak either!"
The nearby crowd was left utterly dumbstruck by the two top geniuses from Immortal Martial Hall.
Even Lin Changâsheng, standing not far away, was a bit surprisedâclearly, this Immortal Martial Hall was exceptional.
Just the first two who stepped out were already in the Middle Stage of Void Refining; the last one, who knows, maybe even stronger.
"Senior Brother Yang, itâs your turn!"
The female disciple of Immortal Martial Hall looked back at Senior Brother Yang, smiling as she called him forward.
Senior Brother Yang nodded, then stepped forward.
What they wanted was for everyone to witness the true potential of Immortal Martial Hall, so that those wavering would flock under their banner.
Roarâ
Only to see Senior Brother Yang strike out with a punch, fist aura bursting out, morphing into a fierce tiger that smashed into the copper bell.
"Dong, dong, dongâ"
The copper bell thundered under the blow of the Fierce Tiger Fist aura, shaking so violently that everyoneâs eardrums trembled.
When the ringing finally ended, it had sounded twelve timesâits echo still lingering in their minds, refusing to fade.
"T-Twelve strikes... Is that Late Stage of Void Refining?"
"Amazing! Immortal Martial Hall actually gave birth to another Quasi-Immortal Cultivator!"
"Yeah! To make it into Late Stage of Void Refining before thirtyâheâs not far from stepping into the Immortal Realm!"
"I wanna throw myself into Immortal Martial Hall on the spotâtheir nurturing ability is insane!"
"You? Please. Even if you join, itâs pointless. Without enough talent, whoâs gonna invest in you?"
"Looks like this yearâs Celestial Pride ListâImmortal Martial Hall is about to take first place again?"
...
The three disciples of Immortal Martial Hall left, under countless envious gazes from the other disciples.
Lin Changâsheng watched them go, but his heart blazed with fighting spirit.
Their strongest was only Late Stage of Void Refiningâwho would really take the top spot, that was anyoneâs guess.
"Letâs go!"
Lin Changâsheng spoke, finally snapping Hou Shaojie and the others out of their trance.
Hou Shaojie saw himself as a Celestial Pride too. But after witnessing the genius of Immortal Martial Hallâs disciples, he immediately felt his own talent look kind of dull in comparison.
"Seems the Celestial Pride List is crawling with hidden dragons and crouching tigers!"
Hou Shaojie let out a sigh.
Back at their quarters, Lin Changâsheng wasted no timeâhe immersed himself in researching the Grand Array of the Refining God Sect.
As for the disappearance of Vajra Sectâs elderâapparently, it hadnât caused much of a stir, and that matter quietly faded away.
"Entry Level in Celestial Vault Refining God Array!"
On a certain late night, Lin Changâsheng finally studied the Refining God Sectâs Grand Array to entry level.
"What a profound array! It can actually form with the Celestial Vaultâs star constellationsâunbelievable!"
Lin Changâsheng had just gained insight into the basics of the array, but already sensed its sheer intricacy.
So far, his own array formation was limited to array foundations, array plates, and array hubs.
But true Array Masters could harness the Celestial Vaultâs star constellations themselvesâthe subtlety of such arrays was far beyond ordinary means.
"This array can utilize Star Power to temper the Divine Soulâwithout even deliberately cultivating, your Divine Soul gets refined constantly!"
Lin Changâsheng thought to himself.
As long as youâre inside this array, your Divine Soul keeps getting strengthened.
One day here equals three days of cultivation elsewhere; after a hundred years, the gap would be immense, never mind a thousand.
[Detected Celestial Vault Refining God Array. Spend 5000 Immortal Crystals to Simplify?]
The next moment, the panel popped out a prompt.
"Simplify!"
Lin Changâsheng chose simplification without hesitation.
[Great Dao Is Simple: Celestial Vault Refining God Array simplification beginning... simplifying... simplification complete! Celestial Vault Refining God Array == Release Divine Sense!]
"Release Divine Sense?"
Lin Changâsheng thoughtâwell, thatâs easy!
Lin Changâsheng then released his Divine Sense, probing everything around Refining God Sect.
But as Lin Changâshengâs Divine Sense expanded across certain spots in the sect, he found it couldnât penetrate inside at all.
Those places seemed to be guarded by powerful restrictions.
This meant something serious was hidden thereâlikely the forbidden zones of Refining God Sect.
Celestial Vault Refining God Array Experience Points +1!
Celestial Vault Refining God Array Experience Points +1!
...
As Lin Changâsheng kept releasing Divine Sense, the arrayâs Experience Points skyrocketed like mad.
[Celestial Vault Refining God Array: Perfection!]
Four hours later, Lin Changâsheng finally trained the array to Perfection.
[Detected Celestial Vault Refining God Array (Perfection), Thunder Fire Heaven-Burning World-Destroying Array (Perfection). Fuse the two arrays?]
Just as he perfected Celestial Vault Refining God Array, the panel prompted again.
"Fuse!"
Lin Changâsheng naturally chose fusion.
The fused Grand Array would be monstrously powerful.
[Celestial Vault Refining God Array (Perfection), Thunder Fire Heaven-Burning World-Destroying Array (Perfection) fusion beginning... fusing... fusion complete! Acquired new array: Thunder Fire Divine Burning Array!]
"Thunder Fire Divine Burning Array?"
Lin Changâsheng wondered to himself.
Could this new Grand Array truly withstand the might of the heavens?
[Detected Thunder Fire Divine Burning Array Entry Level. Spend 6000 Immortal Crystals to Simplify?]
As Lin Changâsheng marveled, the panel popped up again.
"Simplify!"
Lin Changâsheng selected simplification again.
[Great Dao Is Simple: Thunder Fire Divine Burning Array simplification beginning... simplifying... simplification complete! Thunder Fire Divine Burning Array == Play with Thunder and Fire!]
"Play with Thunder and Fire?"
Seeing the simplified result, Lin Changâsheng couldnât help but grin.
This was just too easy.
Lin Changâsheng controlled his internal Celestial Thunder and Undying Divine Flame, making them circle around him.
Thunder Fire Divine Burning Array Experience Points +1!
Thunder Fire Divine Burning Array Experience Points +1!
...
Soon, the Grand Arrayâs Experience Points skyrocketed wildly again.
[Thunder Fire Divine Burning Array: Perfection!]
When the sky turned hazy at dawn, Lin Changâsheng had maxed out Thunder Fire Divine Burning Array to Perfection.
Countless pieces of information about array formation flooded his mind like crazy.
After absorbing all those memories, at this moment, Lin Changâsheng felt just like an Array Master whoâd been setting up Thunder Fire Divine Burning Arrays for centuries.
"This array is truly ingenious! It can harness heaven and earthâs might to wipe out enemies! The power gets a huge boost, and inside the array, you can cultivate your Divine Soul while invaders get blasted by Celestial Thunder! Just beyond brilliant!"
Lin Changâsheng couldnât be more satisfied with this array.
He planned to lay it down in Refining God Sect first; if things got rough, he could borrow the Grand Arrayâs force to smash his opponents.
A Grand Array is part of your strength, right?
A little extra insurance never hurts.
Time flew, and soon two days had passed.
This day marked the opening of the Celestial Pride List.
For now, all the powers of the Immortal Realm had gathered, making Refining God Sect packed to burstingâ"sea of humanity" was hardly an exaggeration.
The tournament was to be held at the Sectâs central Divine Mountain.
There was a vast open ground here, and at its heart, an imposing arena had already been erected.
Rows of seats were arranged all around.
The Sect Leader of Refining God Sect sat at the head.
He was a middle-aged man, bald atop but sporting a thick beard.
Yet the Primordial Power in his body was intensely powerful; Lin Changâsheng hardly dared probe it, lest he suffer backlash.
Arrayed around him sat the Sect Elders of Refining God Sect.
"Piaomiao Sectâs Elder Wu arrives with his disciples!"
"Celestial Nether Sword Sectâs Elder Liu arrives with his disciples!"
"Qilin Sectâs Elder Wang arrives with his disciples!"
...
With each loud announcement, every Major Sect elder brought their pride disciples and gathered under one roof.
But when Lin Changâsheng saw Qilin Sect, something suddenly clicked for him.
Back in the Eastern Wilderness, in the Abandoned Landâs Demon Race restricted Grotto Heaven Blessed Land, he had once met an old man.
That old man had deep ties to Qilin Sect.
He had revealed that heâd once belonged to the Immortal Realmâs Qilin Sect, and had been part of a talented couple with the Sect Leaderâs daughter.
But heâd been betrayed by his own junior brother, poisoned with vile toxins, and while unconscious, got framed for defiling a sect elderâs daughterâeven someone died. In the end, he was thrown out of the sect, had his arm cut off, and was chased by his junior until he escaped to the Abandoned Land to barely survive.
But the toxins proved too strong, and ultimately he died in the Abandoned Land.
His greatest wish was to explain things to the Sect Leaderâs daughter of Qilin Sect.
And, if possible, have Lin Changâsheng avenge himâkill that treacherous junior brother.
"Could that woman be the former Qilin Sect Sect Leaderâs daughter?"
Lin Changâsheng eyed Elder Wang of Qilin Sect, pondering.
The woman had a dignified bearing, looked in her early thirties, and had a certain poise.
But in reality, her age far exceeded that.
If she really was the former Qilin Sect Sect Leaderâs daughter, then things just got a whole lot simpler.