Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation
chapter-2114

Chapter 2114 (Raw 2219): Catching a Core Doyen’s Fancy

The first stage had ended!

In Secret Realm 97, Xiao Chen took a look at his ranking; he was now ranked ninety-eighth.

The top-ranked Gong Liangyu was still at the top of the ranking. He now had four million Faux God Spirit Jades.

He’s not dead yet?

Xiao Chen looked at the massive pile of shattered rocks and entered deep thought. Of the elemental Great Dao—gold, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, lightning, and others—the Earth Great Dao was the most resilient. The so-called “as solid as a boulder” or “as steady as Mount Tai” were both phrases used to describe Earth Great Dao cultivators.

Furthermore, earth was the foundation for many elemental Great Dao. Many Great Dao in the world sprang from the Earth Great Dao.

The elemental Great Dao were equally matched. However, many times, one had to acknowledge that the cultivators who grasped the Earth Great Dao were more troublesome.

Among the elemental Great Dao, the Earth Great Dao was relatively harder to cultivate.

Gong Liangyu was extremely incredible for pushing his Earth Great Dao to a Dao Domain.

“Crumble…!”

The pile of rocks in front spilled like water, and Gong Liangyu slowly emerged from it.

“Participant Gong Liangyu, congratulations. You are ranked thirteenth overall in the first stage!”

Ranked thirteenth overall. This meant that Gong Liangyu would not be seeded in the second stage. This was a significant blow to him; he had been determined to make it into the top ten.

“You should celebrate your good luck. The stage is over.”

Gong Liangyu looked coldly at Xiao Chen. It’s all because of this person. If not for Xiao Chen, I would likely have made it into the top ten.

Indeed, when Xiao Chen’s Great Desolate Eon bloodline deactivated, the stage came to an end.

“You are overthinking. Luck is a part of strength. No matter how lucky I got, I obtained this result by doing my best and persisting.”

Xiao Chen’s luck was undeniable. However, his persistence was also crucial for this result.

Xiao Chen was very accepting of this. He did not feel dissatisfied or upset like Gong Liangyu did.

Xiao Chen found successfully entering the next stage a pretty good result already.

This was a super-high-level test for Sovereign Personages under five hundred years old, gathering more than one million Sovereign Personages from all over the Great Thousand Realms.

The first stage eliminated more than nine hundred thousand participants. Xiao Chen already felt satisfied with not being eliminated.

As for blaming things on luck, that would be somewhat childish behavior.

Without perseverance and effort, even if Xiao Chen were lucky, he would not get to enjoy his luck.

“Humph! You’d better not run into me during the next stage!” Gong Liangyu snorted coldly as a murderous intent flashed in his eyes.

Xiao Chen smiled faintly. Now, he no longer found Gong Liangyu to be that scary.

If Gong Liangyu truly thought that Xiao Chen passed the stage by pure luck, then he might not be able to reduce Xiao Chen to such a sorry state again if they ran into each other during the second stage.

The remaining one hundred people in the secret realm started to immaterialize due to the Realm Spirit sending them out.

“Whoosh!”

Xiao Chen’s figure flashed as he appeared on Desolate City’s Starry Heavens Dao Platform. The moment he appeared, he suddenly discovered that his surroundings were empty.

The participants eliminated earlier had taken the initiative to vacate the area for Xiao Chen and the other participants who passed.

Aside from Xiao Chen, only one other person passed the first stage in the entire Desolate City test zone.

The others all had to go through the loser’s arena to obtain a limited slot after surviving many rounds of cruel battles.

“Nangong Feng, a follower and a disciple of Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge.” A person at the side greeted Xiao Chen and reported his name.

Xiao Chen nodded slightly and said, “Xiao Chen, a follower of the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor.”

At the mention of the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor, a strange look flashed in Nangong Feng’s eyes.

Xiao Chen discovered that only Nangong Feng and he had passed the first stage. He found this slightly strange. This Desolate City test zone is too weak.

Nangong Feng looked at Xiao Chen and said indifferently, “Desolate City is only a hub. There are not many experts here, and it is only considered average in the first place. This time, the polarization of this test is rather severe. The test zones in the three dynasties occupied sixty percent of the slots. The special test zones occupied twenty percent. Most of the other test zones were completely wiped out.”

The Heavenly Alliance was a super faction that spanned the entire Great Thousand Realms. However, the true experts were mostly in the three dynasties that occupied most of the Luck.

The so-called special zones were far away from the Central Great Realm. However, for various reasons, the natural Spiritual Energy of these outer regions was not much inferior to that of the Central Great Realm. They even gave rise to special secret realms and could nurture many experts.

“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!”

The purple-haired old man flew over to the two, together with the Sovereign Emperors on the thrones. City Lord Shangguan revealed a smile and said, “The two of you, congratulations on passing the first stage. The Heavenly Alliance changed the rules at the last minute. I thought that the Desolate City test zone would wipe out.

“Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge, Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor.”

“Present.”

The Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor and Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge stood up and arrived before the purple-haired old man. Then, they bowed respectfully.

“The followers of the two of you helped my Desolate City test zone gain glory. I have to reward the two of you appropriately. Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge, I reward you with one hundred million Primeval Heavenly Pills, one hundred Sub-Divine Crystals, and one ten-thousand-year-old herb king, which you may choose at your leisure in the Treasure Pavilion.”

Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge revealed joy on his face. Sub-Divine Crystals, also known as Peak Spirit Jades, were extremely rare. Being able to obtain one hundred of them equated to great wealth for Sovereign Emperors.

As for Primeval Heavenly Pills, they usually could be ignored. However, a sum of one hundred million was completely different.

The so-called ten-thousand-year-old herb king referred to a natural treasure above the age of ten thousand years old. This was a treasure that could extend one’s lifespan.

The other Sovereign Emperors all revealed envious expressions. The rewards for this round were much more generous than before.

However, this made sense after thinking about it. There were more than one million participants, and the Heavenly Alliance changed the rules at the last minute. No amount of rewards would be too exaggerated for bringing a follower that could pass the first stage.

Otherwise, if the Desolate City test zone had wiped out, City Lord Shangguan would have been considerably embarrassed.

“As for the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor…haha! I have no idea how to reward you this time. To think that you brought over a powerful demonic genius. He is only forty-seven years old, yet he already grasped Martial and Soul as One. To think that he even managed to pass the first stage. You have given me a wonderful surprise.”

As the purple-haired old man looked at the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor, he naturally smiled.

“Lord Shangguan, you exaggerate,” the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor replied politely.

The purple-haired old man guffawed, “I am not exaggerating. Earlier, several of the Heavenly Alliance’s core Doyens asked me about Xiao Chen. One indicated that he was willing to take Xiao Chen directly into the Heavenly Alliance. That really shocked me. This had never happened in the more than ten thousand years I have ruled Desolate City. Hahaha!”

The many Sovereign Emperors broke out in noisy discussions, all of them feeling shocked.

People like the purple-haired old man were only Doyens, not even core Doyens.

However, the purple-haired old man held a rather special position; he ruled Desolate City. Although he was just a Doyen, in reality, his status and authority were no lesser than a core Doyen’s.

The Doyens of the other regions were mostly Nine Vein Sovereign Emperors. Back then, the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor had had the opportunity to become a Doyen, as well.

However, the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor did not care too much about authority, so he retired.

The current Sovereign Emperor Xing De was doing his best to climb the ranks, wanting to become a Heavenly Alliance Doyen.

Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge and his disciple Nangong Feng showed envy and shock on their faces. To think that there were core Doyens who thought highly of Xiao Chen.

That was a stroke of luck that one could not come by even in several lifetimes. Nangong Feng did not even dare to dream about it.

Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge felt extremely depressed. If Xiao Chen were his disciple, this contribution could make him a Doyen.

To think that such a good thing happened to the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor. No matter how Sovereign Emperor Xing Ge thought about it, he could not feel happy.

The Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor felt slightly startled. He had not expected the core Doyens to take note of Xiao Chen.

In the past, the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor had been only one step away from becoming a Doyen. Hence, he was well aware of the horrifying strength of the core Doyens, who were above the regular Doyens.

The core Doyens had the authority to bring the disciples that caught their eye into the Heavenly Alliance directly.

However, such authority could be used only once or twice.

The Heavenly Alliance was a super faction made up of many peak merchant associations. For the sake of ensuring its continued survival, strict rules were necessary. The Heavenly Alliance’s test was one of its strictest major concerns. Nothing could go wrong with it.

Even the core Doyens could use such special authority twice at most.

A core Doyen’s willingness to use this limited special authority on Xiao Chen proved that he thought very highly of Xiao Chen.

Xiao Chen might not understand the value behind this, but these Sovereign Emperors did.

“Xiao Chen, what do you want? If you are willing, you do not need to participate in the second stage to formally enter the Heavenly Alliance,” the purple-haired old man said in a neutral tone as he looked at Xiao Chen.

Before Xiao Chen spoke, the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor quickly asked, “Lord Shangguan, may we discuss this first before coming to a decision?”

The purple-haired old man thought for a while before nodding. “Alright. Afterward, I will privately give you the information of that core Doyen.”

“Thank you, Lord Shangguan.”

With the Peach Blossom Sovereign Emperor’s cue, Xiao Chen performed a cupped-fist salute and bowed as well, thanking the purple-haired old man.

The purple-haired old man looked at the other participants and said, “The second stage will take place ten days later. If you want to take part in the loser’s arena, make your preparations. That is ten days later as well. If you are not willing to do that and still have Faux God Spirit Jades on you, you can exchange them for resources that you need in Desolate City.”

“Many thanks, Lord Shangguan.”