Chapter 27: Heaven Shroud Island

Chapter 27: Heaven Shroud Island The three heavens in the Three Heavens Connection Meeting did not refer to the three continents, otherwise meeting would have been termed the Three Continents Connection Meeting. Instead three heavens referred to the three hegemonic powers of the three continents when the meeting was first created.

Buzhou Immortal Sect of Heaven Continent.

Eight Pillar Sect of Earth Continent.

The Cultivators’ Alliance of the Mortal Continent.

Buzhou Immortal Sect and Eight Pillar Sect still existed while the Cultivators’ Alliance had been disbanded and replaced by the Saint Scholar School in the Mortal Continent.

The remnants of the Cultivators’ Alliance were now the Loose Cultivators’ Alliance which had many headquarters on numerous islands in the endless seas.

But even with the fall of the Cultivators’ Alliance, the Three Heavens Connection Meeting still continued on Heaven Shroud Island. It was a stationary island that floated above a hole in the endless sea, without the coordinates and special methods, seeking the Heaven Shroud Island would be near impossible even for those at the immortal realm.

The island itself only consisted of flat ground and various formations engraved upon it. With just one look, it could be inferred that the Island was either man made or heavily modified.

At the same time as if on agreement three enormous immortal boats began to appear from three different directions.

One boat seemed to be the color of white one moment but suddenly became black the next moment. Not only that the existence of the boat drifted between false and truth, illusionary one moment but real the next.

Another boat seemed simple and ordinary. It sailed though the sky like it sailed on the water. It appeared to be extremely plain without any embellishment but the more one looked the more profound the boat would appear.

And the third could be described in one word; grand. The boat was made of the finest spiritual wood with a jade dragon carved at the front and rather than the boat flying through the air, it seemed that the world was moving instead of the boat.

This last boat was the immortal boat that the members of the Heaven Continent traveled on.

When Tianyi disembarked with the other passengers of the boat he stared curiously at the other passengers of the boats from the Earth and Mortal Continents.

He looked towards the crowd from the Earth Continent, they were the ones who had the black and white boat and just by looking at the boat, Tianyi felt himself comprehend something yet nothing.

The crowd from the Earth Continent consisted only about a third of people wearing black and white robes, the uniforms of the Eight Pillar Sect. It was sad that the hegemonic sect of the Earth Continent only made up a third of the participants from their own continent.

Tianyi could see the members of the other sects that also came from the Earth Continent standing neither too far nor too close to the Eight Pillar Sect members.

In contrast, the participants from the Mortal Continent all wore light green robes and had a scholarly air about them. Rather than cultivators they seemed more like scholarly students on a school trip. The participants from the Mortal Continent were all part of the Saint Scholar School.

Hmmm, I wonder if this world has the saying of wearing a green hat? Probably, none of the disciples are wearing green hats, after all* Tianyi held his chin as he instantly pictured every one from the Saint Scholar School wearing green hats at once.

“Cough, cough” Tianyi agitated himself and started coughing again before he could even laugh, but he did not regret it one bit.

As the lower realm cultivators disembarked first, it was only after all of the mortal cultivators that had left the ship did the immortal realm elders appear.

Each of these immortal realm elders were famous in their own continents and just uttering their names could send tremors through the continent, but here at the gathering of the most powerful forces of the Huang Realm, although it did not consist of the strongest lineup but only those with fame that traveled out of the continent would be noticed.

Some average immortal realm elders might not even get as much attention than the disciples during the competition depending on their performance.

The most eye-catching immortal realm elder was a white haired old man with a long beard wearing azure robes. Although he seemed ordinary at first glance but like the immortal boat he disembarked, the more you looked at him the more you would notice the inordinariness he had.

You would even gain a sense of empathy and goodwill towards him.

In contrast the immortal realm elders of the Earth Continent were far more…explosive in announcing their arrival.

The first to disembark was a man wearing black and white robes, with black hair and white sidelocks. He seemed to be disconnected with the world around him and like a black hole seemed to suck everything into him.

Next was a dark blue robed man with bright blue hair, with each step he took the observers heard a thunderous roar. The immortal was like lightning incarnate.

“Monarch Dong, you know more matters of the world than I, which one is the Sword Empress’ son?” The blue haired man asked the elder beside him.

“Monarch Evernight, I don’t believe you can’t tell. With one look you will be able to tell.” Monarch Dong, the man in the black and white robes said, too lazy to even bother with saying anymore.

To say the relationships between the Eternal Night Sect and Eight Pillars Sect was tense was an understatement.

“Oh?” Monarch Evernight looked at the disembarked passengers of the Heaven Continent and his eyes narrowed as he spotted Tianyi. “Indeed, those eyes are very similar to hers. But that face…hehehe”

Monarch Evernight chuckled strangely. “Say Monarch Dong, no one expected the infamous Sword Empress to have a child. What do you think will happen to her if her son died?”

“Seeking death!” Monarch Dong sneered at Monarch Evernight and with a swish of his sleeve moved towards the Eight Pillar Sect disciples.

Monarch Evernight snorted before he directed his eyes back at Tianyi, a sense of ill intent seemingly not even hidden in his eyes but at this moment everyone’s’ gaze focused on the immortal that stepped down from the immortal boat from Heaven Continent.

It was a woman of ethereal beauty, her clean white robes and pristine snow colored hair and eyes that were like pearls. Each movement was like something out of a painting, each step a picture was formed.

It seemed as if the world was a canvas and she was the beauty in the painting, everything was colorless in comparison to her.

“Empress Voidink!”

“It’s Empress Voidink!”

“To think Empress Voidink would come for a mere Three Heavens Connection Meeting!”

“There were rumors that she had long perished after the battle with the Dragon Emperor, but it seems that is false.”

For the cultivators who had not attained immortality, all they felt was that Grand Elder Zhang was unspeakably beautiful even though they could not see her face clearly, but it was different for the immortal realm cultivators. All of the immortals were greatly pressured from the appearance of Grand Elder Zhang.

This was especially the case for Monarch Evernight, although not once did Grand Elder Zhang direct her sight onto him, but he felt that Grand Elder Zhang had him locked in her sight.

He felt cold sweat appearing on his back even though he was an immortal and he no longer had the need to sweat. He was like a rat that stared into the eyes of a snake.

Finally the pressure disappeared when Grand Elder Zhang’s feet touched the ground of the island.

There was an awkward silence but soon Headmaster Ren along with a few immortals from the Saint Scholar School made their way towards Grand Elder Zhang.

“Senior Zhang, I did not think I would have the honor of seeing your esteemed self once more.” Headmaster Ren was incredibly respectful as he spoke.

With Headmaster Ren breaking the ice, the other immortals followed the lead and came to greet Grand Elder Zhang. Naturally only the outstanding immortal came up and the ordinary ones stayed behind, not daring to go up.

Just as there was a difference between a Foundation Establishment Disciple and a Unity Venerable so too were there differences between immortals.

“I never expected an esteemed senior to attend a minor event like this.” An immortal elder said.

“Indeed. These juniors aren’t worth an elder like Empress Voidink’s time.” Monarch Evernight added.

“That is not true. These juniors are the future of our sects. Although some may fall, those that survive will become the pillars that support the sect.” Monarch Evernight kept his facial expression calm although inside he was anything but. He was famous for his explosive temper, but he dare not display it in front of this legendary immortal.

“What Empress Voidink says is true. Empress is kind towards your juniors.” Another immortal added.

“But who knows if even one of these juniors will ascend to become a True Immortal, the chance of one ascending is simply too hard. And how many will transcend the barrier and become Seamless Immortals. Many immortals can only reach the True Immortal Realm.” Monarch Evernight said, his tone prideful.

“That may not be so, there is always a sliver of chance. The Heavenly Dao always leaves a chance.” Grand Elder Zhang said.

“…” Monarch Evernight felt that Grand Elder Zhang was countering at every moment, like she had something against him. But looking at her rippleless eyes, he felt that was not the case. Perhaps his views were truly not compatible with hers?

All the immortals were wondering why this old monster had come to this Three Heavens Connection Meeting. Perhaps the Buzhou Immortal Sect had insider information concerning the remnant of the Immortal Court?

The Buzhou Immortal Sect inherited the orthodoxy of the Immortal Court and having insider information was not outside the realm of possibility.

Although the immortals greeted Grand Elder Zhang, they did not forget the most important matters.

Very soon the formerly flat island began to change and a ninety-nine pillars rose into the sky and on top each of the pillars were individual arenas. Each one of them had a difference in elevation, none of them were of the same height.

“I will now explain the rules to the Three Heavens Connection Meeting!”

The speaker was an Elder from the Buzhou Immortal Sect, Monarch Fiendblood. His red hair shone devilishly under the sun and his snow white robes only served to enhance the blood aura on him.

The rules were simple, only two people were allowed on the platform on the same time. The winner would stay on the platform and would have a hour of rest after each battle.

There would be no deliberate killings or maiming or crippling in any way. Should such a thing happen, then they would lose the qualifications to enter.

The condition to be qualified was for the cultivator to win a certain number of consecutive victories. Each of the arenas were numbered one to ninety-nine with one being the tallest. The higher the number the greater the number of victories needed to pass. Of course if you were lucky and you were the last one standing when the time ended, you would also pass.

Disciples could challenge more than one time so even if they lost, they still had a chance to pass.

This not only tested a cultivator’s combat prowess but also their judgement, as choosing the most opportune time to step onto the arena was also crucial.

“I will now announce the start of the Core Formation Assessment round!”

With those words many Core Formation Masters used various means to reach the platforms. As they had not formed a Nascent Soul, they did not have the ability to walk on air and had to use various techniques or artifacts in order to reach the arenas.

Tianyi watched the first fights with interest but soon he lost interest, the fights did not seem too different from the spars he had witnessed back at the sect. Although there were standout disciples and some variations but there was nothing out of the norm.

Spells from spiritual cultivators and martial arts from martial cultivators. Tianyi looked around to see many of the disciples with extraordinary auras waiting calmly. Tianyi also forced himself to calm down like them, but soon he began to frown.

He simply felt bored, he had thought that there would have been more exciting battles but he was wrong. Or perhaps it was simply too early.

But Tianyi felt that he was never a patient man and so he searched the platforms and his sight landed on arena number nine. Tianyi really liked the number nine and five.

Nine-Five, the number associated with an emperor.

Without waiting anymore Tianyi leapt onto his flying sword towards arena number nine causing those who knew of his status as the son of Sword Empress Xi to pay more attention to him.

The disciple on arena nine was a cultivator from the Earth Continent but not of the Eight Pillars Sect so Tianyi did not recognize him.

The red robed disciple frowned when he saw Tianyi cough into a handkerchief before smiling at him.

“Buzhou Immortal Sect Disciple Xi Tianyi, please advise.”

“Paradise Earth Sect Disciple Meng Tuguo, likewise.”

Tianyi kept smiling as he walked towards Meng Tuguo, not even bothering to unsheathe the sword at his side.

Meng Tuguo snorted. “You look down on me too much, even if I’m not from a hegemonic sect I’m still a disciple of a first rate sect!” Saying so, he charged forward with a halberd. The halberd was encased in orange flames like a coat of armor, enhancing its destructive power. But Tianyi simply reached out and as if Meng Tuguo was snatched by an invisible hand, he froze midair and suddenly flew out of the arena.

Monarch Dong who was observing at the side, narrowed his eyes as he looked at Tianyi.

When Meng Tuguo broke out of his stupor, he gazed dazedly at the arena where he was thrown out with one move. His thoughts were written on his face and he was clearly questioning his life right now. But aside from a few close friends no one was paying attention to him, the ease of Tianyi winning sent a ripple through the Core Formation and even the Nascent Soul realm cultivators watching.

But Tianyi wasn’t concerned as he stood near the center waiting for his next opponent.

After his hour of rest passed, a new challenger immediately stepped into the arena..

It was a cultivator with long black hair and red hairpins in their hair. The cultivator had a beautiful and mesmerizing face and wore loose inner white robes with a red gauze outer robes hiding the figure.

“Fellow daoist, I fell in love with you at first sight. Would you consider becoming my, Nanfang Wubai’s, dao companion?” Nanfang Wubai said with a falsetto tone and a charming smile.

Tianyi instantly felt goosebumps cover his entire body.