Chapter 83: Prelude to the Outer Realm Battlefield

Within the entire State of Zhao, the few existing Nascent Soul Stage experts all flew toward the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda immediately.

Ye Zizai, deep within the cave of the Corpse Yin Sect, flashed his eyes brightly, instantly disappeared from his spot, teleported out, and fled far away. Before leaving, he used a blue Jade Slip to issue a command to all Corpse Yin Sect Disciples.

"This Old Man will be gone for several days, the grand formation is sealed. Anyone who attempts to trespass shall be executed without mercy!"

Teng Huayuan, the Old Ancestor of the Teng Family, was meditating in the Teng Family ancestral house when the seven-colored heavenly might appeared. He suddenly opened his eyes, looked up at the sky in alarm, and after a slight hesitation, left a voice transmission Jade Slip and fled.

The same scene unfolded simultaneously among the Demonic Path Sects like the Heavenly Dao School, the Joyful Union Sect, and Edgeless Valley, and the Righteous Path Sects like the Misty Sect, the Yuantian School, and the Nirvana Sect.

long rainbows flying out from several locations within the State of Zhao gathered at the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda at the fastest speed.

The Heaven-Connecting Pagoda is the symbolic structure for joining the Cultivation Alliance. After every member state joins the Alliance, the Alliance takes the lead in its construction. An envoy of the Cultivation Alliance is stationed inside the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda year-round. The envoy does not interfere with any disputes within the host country, only stepping in to resolve major incidents.

Piao Nanzi was the first Nascent Soul Stage expert to arrive at the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda. After all, he was the only surviving person in the State of Zhao who formed a Nascent Soul 500 years ago, and his cultivation had reached the peak of the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, allowing him to enter the Late Stage at any time.

Coupled with the tempering he received on the Outer Realm Battlefield, he currently held the undisputed position as the number one person in the State of Zhao's Cultivation World.

Wearing a set of gray cloth robes, he appeared out of thin air beneath the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda. Looking up at the pagoda, its octagonal body soared straight into the clouds, emitting bursts of shimmering light, appearing mysterious and unpredictable.

After Piao Nanzi appeared, he looked at the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda with lingering fear on his face. This was his second time here. The first time was 500 years ago, when all twenty-three Nascent Soul Stage experts in the State of Zhao, under pressure from the Level Four Cultivation Country, braced themselves and stepped onto the Outer Realm Battlefield.

500 years later, he was the only one who returned.

Piao Nanzi didn't know how he had managed to survive these 500 years. There were battles several times every day, and life and death were decided in an instant.

During these 500 years, he had seen countless powerful cultivators. Those powerful cultivators could even kill him just by moving a finger.

Regarding the other Nascent Soul Stage experts from the State of Zhao, such as one of the founders of the Hengyue School, Piao Nanzi personally witnessed him being swallowed whole, skin and bone, by a seemingly ordinary cultivator.

The more he saw, the more frightened Piao Nanzi became, and the more frightened he was, the more unwilling he felt. He was unwilling to spend his entire life in the Nascent Soul Stage. The 500 years of battle in the Outer Realm made him realize that beyond the Nascent Soul Stage and the Soul Transformation Stage, there was also the Nascent Soul Transformation Stage.

With complicated feelings, he bowed respectfully toward the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda and said, "Envoy, Piao Nanzi of the Xuandao Sect requests an audience."

"Piao Nanzi, you and I are old acquaintances; there's no need to be reserved." A cheerful voice came from within the pagoda, followed immediately by an old man stepping out. This old man was slightly round and looked unremarkable, with nothing extraordinary about him. He wore a long gown made of blue satin, which accentuated his prominently bulging belly, making him look quite comical.

However, Piao Nanzi dared not show the slightest disrespect. He flipped his right hand, took out a Storage Pouch, handed it to the other party with both hands, and said, "Esteemed Envoy, these are some Materials I collected after returning. Several items among them were specifically designated by you."

The fat envoy squinted his eyes, laughed heartily, took the pouch without looking, and tucked it into his robes. He smiled and said, "Piao Nanzi, you are the first Nascent Soul Stage cultivator to walk back from the Outer Realm Battlefield since I became the envoy in the State of Zhao. I have already reported all information concerning you to my Sect. They passed down a message: if you can enter the Nascent Soul Late Stage within a hundred years, they will make an exception and accept you as a Named Disciple."

Piao Nanzi's face showed wild joy. He took a deep breath and nodded heavily.

As the two were speaking, two long rainbows streaked through the air and, upon landing, revealed two figures, one male and one female. The man looked about thirty years old, with a wicked handsomeness to his face. Seeing the fat envoy, he immediately said respectfully, "Chen Huan of the Joyful Union Sect, greets the Esteemed Envoy."

The woman was dressed like a young married woman, still charming and with a flirtatious gaze. Looking at the fat envoy, she respectfully said, "Chen Yan of the Joyful Union Sect, greets the Esteemed Envoy."

The fat envoy nodded slightly, then ignored the two of them and continued chatting intermittently with Piao Nanzi. In his opinion, throughout the entire State of Zhao, only Piao Nanzi was barely qualified for him to speak a few words to.

Before long, more than ten people arrived successively, including Teng Huayuan. The last person to arrive was Ye Zizai. As soon as he entered the thousand-mile radius of the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda, the fat envoy immediately let out a soft exclamation, looked up into the distance, and the corner of his mouth twitched, revealing a strange smile.

After all the Nascent Soul Stage cultivators of the State of Zhao had gathered, the seven-colored clouds in the sky became even denser. The fat envoy's expression turned serious. He formed Hand Seals with his right hand and struck several Dharma Seals toward the sky.

Immediately afterward, the clouds in the sky began to churn. A red light descended from the sky and shone upon the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda, followed by six beams of light—orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and purple—which descended sequentially. In this instant, the entire world flashed with intense, brilliant, seven-colored light.

After absorbing the seven beams of light, the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda shook violently, and a massive, rotating pillar of light, dozens of yards thick, erupted from the spire, shooting straight into the sky, forming a gigantic black hole overhead. Rings of white lightning circled the perimeter of the black hole.

Looking up, rings of ripples could be seen spreading outward from the center point of the light pillar. The clouds surrounding the light pillar dissipated at a visible speed, like hot water poured onto snow.

Gusts of hurricane-force wind emanated from the rotating light pillar rising into the sky, causing everyone's robes to flap loudly. Most of the people here were in the Nascent Soul Early Stage, and under this hurricane, they involuntarily retreated several steps. Only four people remained standing still in their original positions.

These four people were Piao Nanzi, Ye Zizai, a white-haired Daoist from the Misty Sect, and finally, the skinny old man from the Heavenly Dao School.

The fat envoy's expression was unprecedentedly solemn at this moment. His body moved, and he appeared in mid-air, speaking loudly and respectfully, "Lin Yi, Inspector of the Level Three Cultivation Country, respectfully welcomes the arrival of the Alliance Envoy."

A gigantic head emerged from within the black hole and coldly swept its gaze over the crowd on the ground.

All the Nascent Soul Stage experts of the State of Zhao, including Piao Nanzi and the other three, felt their hearts pound with terror under the giant's single glance, and their Nascent Souls nearly collapsed. They had no doubt that if the opponent stared for another moment, their own Nascent Souls would be unable to withstand the immense pressure and would spontaneously explode.

Piao Nanzi was the first to recover. His face was pale. He was very familiar with the appearance of this giant; it was an expert of the Giant Demon Race from the Outer Realm Battlefield. The cultivators of this race relied entirely on devouring others to increase their cultivation. The founder of the Hengyue School had been devoured by a Giant Demon Race expert before the latter revealed his true form.

The giant finally focused its gaze on Lin Yi, its expression softening slightly, but still showing a hint of impatience. It spoke, "The Spiritual Qi in this wretched place is weak as hell. If it weren't for the restrictions of that damned covenant, I could suck this small country dry in one breath… Listen up, the passage to the Outer Realm Battlefield will open in five months. Your State of Zhao is responsible for clearing the 100,000-mile battlefield area at Fifty-Eight Degrees North Position. Here are seven tokens. The rules are the same: at least four of the seven tokens must be shattered. After five months, a maximum of three Schools will be allowed to enter the Outer Realm Battlefield. If more than three tokens remain intact by then, the State of Zhao's qualification for clearing the battlefield will be revoked."

Having spoken, the giant opened its massive mouth, and seven streaks of electric light flashed, landing on the ground and revealing seven ancient tokens. After completing this, the giant withdrew its head and disappeared into the black hole. But immediately afterward, it poked its head out again and shouted, "If a bead like this is found within the Outer Realm Battlefield, it must be surrendered immediately. The person who surrenders it will be rewarded with one Nascent Soul Transformation Stage Magic Treasure, their Sect will be rewarded with ten Refined Corpses equivalent in cultivation to the Soul Transformation Stage, and their Cultivation Country's rank will be raised by one level.

But if anyone dares to keep it for themselves, their entire Cultivation Country will be massacred. Lin Yi, this is a message jointly issued by the high-level nations of the Alliance; you will receive notice in a few days." As he spoke, his eyes flashed, and the clouds in the sky shimmered, transforming into an image. The image contained only one item: a round Stone Bead, engraved with several clouds.

If Wang Lin were here, he would definitely recognize that this bead was currently stored in his chest.

After speaking, the giant muttered a few words, and a massive arm reached out from the black hole, grabbing the stone pillar erupting from the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda's spire. It roared, "Lin Yi, I'm taking this seven-colored Magical Artifact; I can't come all this way for nothing."

Amidst a violent tremor, the light pillar was forcibly dragged into the black hole by the giant, and along with the black hole, it instantly vanished without a trace. The seven-colored clouds in the sky dispersed, and in the blink of an eye, the entire sky returned to normal, and the immense pressure that had permeated the State of Zhao disappeared.

The fat envoy Lin Yi's expression was somewhat unpleasant. He let out a cold snort, flicked his sleeve, and flew into the pagoda. His gloomy voice drifted out from within the tower:

"The old rules apply. Core Formation and Nascent Soul Stage cultivators must not participate. Send out the Foundation Establishment Stage Disciples from your respective Sects; they are the main force for contesting the tokens. All of you return now. In three days, the great battle begins."

The seven Sects, both Righteous and Demonic, stepped forward to pick up the tokens. They glanced at each other, then leaped up and departed without a word. Interestingly, the Nascent Soul Stage experts of the three Righteous Schools, led by Piao Nanzi and the white-haired Daoist from the Misty Sect, all headed in the same direction.

The skinny old man from the Heavenly Dao School, a cold light flashing in his eyes, turned around and said to the remaining people, "Fellow Daoists, how about coming to my place for a talk?"