Jiang Ke’er was so moved that she didn’t know what to say.
Becoming a disciple of the Taiming Sect was perhaps one of the luckiest things to happen in her life.
The members of the Bagpipe Squad watched the interaction between Jiang Ke’er and Yiqin with a hint of envy, but they were also sincerely happy for her.
However, before they could even react, Yiqin suddenly faced them and said, “All of your aptitudes have met the entry standards of the Taiming Sect. If you are interested in joining a sect to study together, then… welcome to the Taiming Sect.”
The Little Demons were somewhat stunned by this sudden piece of good news.
“If I survive, I’m definitely going!” the outspoken Jie Shui said decisively.
“I’d regret it for a lifetime if I missed out on such an interesting sect!”
“Won’t we be a burden to you?” Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn, who was usually fearless, acted a bit bashful now.
“No matter how much trouble you can cause, could it be more than Qing Yi?” Yiqin blinked.
“That’s definitely not possible… We’re nowhere near that level!” Jie Shui shouted.
“…”
Well, congratulations to Jie Shui for honorably making it onto this month’s “To-Be-Beaten List” once again.
He had held his spot on the list for more than six months consecutively; he truly lived up to his reputation.
“Alright, alright, get ready for the match.”
After escorting Jiang Ke’er and the others to the entrance of the competition grounds, Yiqin ruffled Jiang Ke’er’s hair and left decisively, lest Jiang Ke’er’s focus be affected by this moment of tenderness.
The blockade of reporters was merely an insignificant hurdle; the main event was what followed.
Jiang Ke’er looked around and found that this year’s arena entrance was exceptionally unique.
The first thing that caught her eye was a massive circular curtain that covered half the size of the arena, shielding a gargantuan building.
‘Is this year’s Resurrection Match taking place inside that building?’
The surrounding contestants were buzzing with discussion, sharing the same suspicion as Jiang Ke’er.
A few well-informed groups, such as the Battlewaste Team and the Deity Team, were eager and ready. Excitement frequently flashed across their faces as their gazes repeatedly drifted toward a specific direction in the stands.
Jiang Ke’er followed their line of sight.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t find any clues.
The stands were far too vast, with a dense, swaying crowd of heads. How could she find anything specific in there?
However, as she continued to shift her gaze upward, the truth seemed to reveal itself.
Seated on a golden supreme chair in the second-floor space, independent of the stands, a towering and cold gaze was projected from afar, happening to meet Jiang Ke’er’s searching eyes.
Jiang Ke’er felt a sense of doubt.
‘Is that person…?’
Although he was dressed in the attire of a wandering scholar, the man’s arrogant positioning practically announced his identity.
“This commentator looks very professional,” Jiang Ke’er leaned into Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn’s ear and whispered while pointing at the man.
Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn looked up for a moment, then lowered her head and stared blankly at Jiang Ke’er. “Are you playing dumb or just acting cute? This way of livening up the atmosphere is terrible.”
“What?” Jiang Ke’er felt innocent. “I really haven’t seen him before.”
“He’s all over the newspapers and news. Haven’t you seen him when passing by a newsstand? Even if you haven’t eaten pork, you’ve seen a pig run, right? Even if you’ve never been an emperor, you should at least know what the Emperor looks like.” Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn looked at her as if she were a monster.
Jiang Ke’er was startled. “That’s the Emperor? The one from the Kingdom of Dasi… Emperor Jing?”
“You really just found out?”
“Uh, I really did. I never pay attention to trash news.” Jiang Ke’er stuck out her tongue.
“Trash news? You call news about the Emperor’s appearance trash news? My god…”
Jiang Ke’er thought her voice was very low while chatting, but it was clear enough to the ears of a powerful expert.
“Your team member is quite interesting.”
Emperor Jing leaned back against his chair and spoke to the person behind him with a forced smile.
Behind the wide dragon chair stood a large, person-sized box, hidden by the backrest.
A few small holes were carved into the box, allowing the person inside to see the situation outside.
A calm and steady sound of breathing came from the box, followed by Si Lian’s laughter. “She isn’t lying; she really doesn’t recognize you.”
“In all the world, there is actually a commoner who doesn’t recognize Us? Could this be a village woman who just crawled out of some mountain ravine?” Emperor Jing also laughed; it was the first time he had encountered something so rare.
“As long as Qing Yi wishes, she can see only the things she cares about,” Si Lian said in admiration.
“I have never seen anyone who can allocate and concentrate all their attention on a single point like she does, reaching the highest level of utilization… Under that kind of focus, ‘trash news’ related to you simply isn’t worthy of entering her vision.”
“Unfortunately, she cannot run away for a lifetime,” Emperor Jing snorted coldly.
He stood up and said proudly, “This time, she will have to recognize Us. The Four Great Continents, the Nine Provinces… even beyond the Nine Heavens! All of The Jade Heavens will hear Our voice and remember Our name! And then, they shall submit to Us!”
“You,” Si Lian said in shock, as if she had thought of something.
“Could it be…”
Emperor Jing did not answer her. Instead, he raised his hands to everything around him, as if embracing the air.
“We declare that starting today, the iron hooves of the Kingdom of Dasi shall no longer stop at the borders of Shenzhou!”
Emperor Jing spoke in a loud voice, and the entire venue fell silent.
As he raised his hands higher, the massive curtain was slowly pulled open.
The gargantuan, sky-reaching complex—which everyone had assumed was the competition arena—gradually revealed its true form.
It appeared to be a Power-Enhancing Artifact.
It was the size of a city, something unimaginable even in dreams—a Power-Enhancing Artifact that gathered the essence of all the wisdom and wealth in Shenzhou.
The earth roared.
Just as everyone thought they were seeing the full extent of the artifact, it acted like a thriving, giant tree, its tip piercing straight toward the sky!
It pierced the clouds, aiming for the sun.
Then, the tip split open into a fork, like a blade split down the middle.
Between the blades, a dazzling ball of purple light gathered at high speed.
Deep purple, profound Runes rapidly spread from deep within the earth toward the sphere of light.
Only then did people realize that what they had just witnessed was merely the tip of the iceberg.
Most of it was hidden underground.
Those dense, mysterious purple Runes surged from the depths, flowing from every small crack and line in the earth toward the sphere of light at the tip of the artifact.
The sphere grew larger and larger. Its violent energy caused the surrounding space to distort into illusions.
In those distortions, Jiang Ke’er saw Beiju Luzhou, the Realm of Novice Cultivator, and even the Underworld Province, though most of it consisted of places she couldn’t recognize at all.
As the energy gathered, the spatial illusions displayed around the sphere seemed to become more distant.
Jiang Ke’er and the surrounding Shenzhou Cultivators began to see many strange worlds they couldn’t understand.
It was as if a giant eye was monitoring the heavens, staring at everything that exceeded the imagination of the Nine Provinces’ Cultivators.
“The Celestial Monitoring Instrument.” Emperor Jing swallowed his excitement and spoke the name of the artifact with a trembling voice.
In Emperor Jing’s grand plan, it was the end for the Demon Race and the beginning of the Great Sima Nation’s imperial hegemony.
To have all of this begin with the blood sacrifice of the Bagpipe Squad was truly wonderful.
Emperor Jing did not introduce the Celestial Monitoring Instrument further; any intelligent person understood the significance of its appearance.
He raised his hand and pointed at the purple sphere of light on the Celestial Monitoring Instrument.
“The Shenzhou Cup, Resurrection Match, begins.”
No one could have imagined that the arena for this competition would not be in Jiangdu, nor in Shenzhou.
It was in a place where perhaps no one had ever set foot.
In that completely unknown environment, all opportunities for trickery were eliminated, and all excuses were destroyed. Only true strength reigned supreme.
The team that survived would possess a level of prestige several times higher than any team before them.