Back in the Chi You Cave, Wang Can told me that the Mang Mountain's Zhang family was one of the 72 Blessed Lands.
With Zhang Kunlun's talent and Northern Mang Mountain's background, it was normal for him to become a Heaven Master or an expert in the Glory of Knowledge realm. That was why I was prepared to meet Zhang Kunlun at the Heavenly Grand Ritual.
However, after carefully searching, I didn't see Zhang Kunlun. Instead, I saw Chen Yadong, who I had fought against during the Metaphysics Society's competition for the Bright Stone!
Other than him, I also noticed two other people from the Metaphysics Society. One of them was Xu Kun from the Xu family of Jin Ling. I don't remember the other's name, but I do remember that he was from the Lai family of Lu Liang Mountain!
Seeing three old friends from the Metaphysics Society, I felt a bit emotional. However, what shocked me the most wasn't them, but a woman who was also standing on the side of the Lu Liang Mountain Grotto.
She had a beautiful face and a cold expression. She was wearing a white veil … She was the cheap teacher I had met when I was disguised as Wang Lin in the Corpse Sect, Lin Xue!
Back in the Corpse Sect, the old president's disciples all betrayed him and killed the other elders. Lin Xue took advantage of the chaos and escaped under the protection of Zi Chen. I originally thought that we would go our separate ways, but I didn't expect to meet her here today.
Looking at where she was standing, she had a special relationship with the Lai family of Lu Liang Mountain. However, from her surname, she wasn't a member of the Lai family.
Due to the distance, I couldn't see through their cultivation levels, so I turned to Wang Can and asked, "Do you know the cultivation levels of these people?"
Wang Can shook his head. "Although the Wangwu Grotto is hosting the Heavenly Grand Ritual, the grotto-heavens aren't bound by the rules. They can choose their own people as long as their cultivation levels meet the rules. That's why there was no name list, so I don't know their cultivation levels."
I nodded, but I was secretly a bit shocked.
"Back at the Young Phoenix Gathering, my talent could be said to have far surpassed that of the other metaphysical families. But now, I've only just become a Heavenly Master not long ago. Since these people can participate in the Allheaven Competition, they should be at least at the great circle of Glorious Knowledge.
It seemed that while I was working hard to cultivate, the others didn't fall behind.
As I looked at these people, their eyes were focused on me.
I was surprised, but they were obviously more surprised than me. They all looked at me with disbelief in their eyes.
Of course, Lin Xue's expression was calm. After all, I had used Mo Yi Bead to change my appearance back then, so she had yet to recognize me.
When I agreed to participate in the Allheaven Competition with Wang Can, I was already prepared to be recognized by the people of the Metaphysics world.
Because I'm cultivating Wizard Qi, I'm still the target of everyone's hatred in the metaphysics world.
But firstly, I already had the strength not inferior to Yang Shen Celestial Master. Secondly, I was currently in Wangwu Grotto-Heaven, so I didn't have to worry about my face being discovered by these people.
In fact, I had asked Wang Can about the people who cultivated Wizard Qi. According to Wang Can, in the Metaphysics world, those who cultivated Taoist Qi did regard those who cultivated Wizard Qi as enemies. But in fact, it was just a habit that had been passed down from generation to generation since ancient times.
In the Blessed Enclave, only the Wang family cultivated Wizard Qi. However, the Wang family had been the top of the Ten Heavens for thousands of years. Every generation, there were strong people in charge. For example, Wang Can's father even had the cultivation of Xiaju. For many years, they had been standing at the peak of the Blessed Enclave. Even if the people of the other Blessed Enclave regarded them as enemies, they couldn't do anything to the Wang family. Over time, no one pursued this matter anymore.
Now that the Wang family had declined, the other Blessed Enclave also had some dangerous ideas.
However, Wang Can had once said that in the Wang family, he still had two uncles who cultivated in seclusion. Although they never participated in daily affairs, if there was a disaster, they would take action no matter what. Therefore, no one in the other Blessed Enclave dared to use Wizard Qi to cause trouble.
After all, the battle of the Witchcraft Path was a battle of the Origin. Once the conflict intensified, it would be a life-or-death situation. No one was willing to face the anger of two Yang Spirit experts.
From this, it could be seen that power was the fundamental principle in this world.
As long as one had enough power, even if it was a battle of the Witchcraft Path, others could only turn a blind eye to it.
With my current power, it was impossible for others to give up on pursuing this matter. However, in the secular world of metaphysics, if anyone wanted to use this matter against me again, they would have to think about whether they could bear the consequences or not.
Therefore, I wasn't afraid of them.
At this moment, Wang Can suddenly said to me, "This time, Lu Zhenyang isn't among the people sent by the Blessed Mountain …"
When I heard Lu Zhenyang's name, I was startled. Then, I remembered that Wang Can had mentioned this matter to Lu Zhenyang the last time they had met.
The Blessed Mountain … I glanced around and saw an area in the arena marked with the words "Spiritual Mountain." However, it was strange that there were only two people standing there, and I didn't know either of them.
Judging from the number of people, the two of them must be from families without a Yang Spirit Celestial Master. However, Lu Zhenyang had condensed his Yang Spirit. Why didn't he represent his family to participate in this competition?
With his strength, even if he was in the Yang Spirit Realm, he could still compete with others.
The Allheaven Grand Competition was extremely important to the families of the Blessed Mountain Abode. If the Lu family had other Yang Spirit Celestial Masters to participate, it would have been fine. However, the Lu family didn't have any other Yang Spirit Celestial Masters, and Lu Zhenyang had given up on participating. This was somewhat puzzling.
I slightly frowned. After thinking for a while, I didn't say anything. Instead, I turned to look at the area below the arena.
Below the arena, the Blessed Mountain Abode was also divided into fixed areas.
After glancing around for a while, I found the area where the Lu family was located.
I still didn't find Lu Zhenyang in this area, but I unexpectedly saw Lu Zining!
This person … was the one who had killed my parents!
After killing Lu Ziyang in the Royal Tomb of the Shang Dynasty, I had slightly let go of my obsession to avenge my parents.
After that, I also wanted to go to the capital to finish off Lu Zining.
However, after I killed Lu Ziyang, the Lu family's defenses would definitely be tighter. Secondly, so many Celestial Masters had died in the Royal Tomb of the Shang Dynasty. All the other forces had focused their attention on me. Once I appeared, I wouldn't just have to deal with the Lu family, but all the other families.
Thus, after careful consideration, I didn't go to the capital for the time being.
Who would've thought that Lu Zining would also come here?
The corners of my mouth slightly rose, revealing a cold smile. Since he was here, I didn't have to go to the capital.
After making up my mind, on the arena, the battle numbers of the families had already been assigned.
The unrelated families retreated below the arena, leaving the people of their families to fight in order.
As the arena was very wide, it was divided into many areas.
Thus, the first round of the competition wasn't carried out one by one. It was divided into three large areas and ten small areas. The ten families would start at the same time according to their numbers.
In the first round, the thirty-six small paradises and seventy-two blessed lands would fight according to the order of first place. There was a huge disparity in strength. Among the three, there was Xuande paradise, which was ranked first among the thirty-six small paradises. Zhao Hao wasn't among the three that they sent, but three unfamiliar people that I had never seen before.
In these ten battles, the last ten families of the seventy-two blessed lands didn't even have a single Yang God Celestial Master. All of them sent out two people.
Moreover, they were just going through the motions. The twenty of them walked one round on the arena, and before they even fought, they all surrendered. It was a clean defeat.
Their actions weren't strange. The only thing that made me feel strange was that the blessed land ranked third from the bottom of the seventy-two blessed lands was called Beiming Blessed Land.
Luoyang's Mount Mang was also called Beiming Mountain because only its northern part was in the Ancient Luoyang. This Beiming Blessed Land seemed to be where Zhang Kunlun's family was located.
During the Metaphysics Association, Zhang Kunlun's innate talent wasn't bad. Moreover, I felt that Zhang Kunlun was a more mysterious and powerful existence than Lu Zhenyang and Han Wennan. Logically speaking, the family behind him should be even more powerful. I didn't expect that Beiming Blessed Land's ranking would be so low. Moreover, they didn't even fight and directly surrendered. They didn't even have the slightest desire to fight for a higher position.
However, Beiming Blessed Land's strength was so weak. Zhang Kunlun must be one of the best among them. Why didn't he participate in this competition?
I asked Officer Wang suspiciously. "I remember that you previously told me that Beiming Blessed Land and Wangwu Blessed Land have a close relationship due to their geographical location.
According to what I know, Mount Mang has been a Daoist blessed land since ancient times. There's also the Shangqing Palace where I used to refine pills. It has a deep foundation, so why is it ranked so low in the blessed land's ranking? "
Officer Wang smiled. "Sage, you misunderstood. Mount Mang is indeed called Beiming Blessed Land, but in our blessed land, the two are different.
There's a proverb in the secular world that says, 'Born in Suhang, buried in Beiming'. In fact, Beiming Blessed Land isn't above Mount Mang. It's below Mount Mang … It's the blessed land where the corpse cultivators live.
A group of people who only know how to play with corpses are already considered to be extraordinary to be ranked in the seventy-two blessed lands. How can you expect them to have a high ranking? "
After saying that, he chuckled and added, "Because Mount Mang's tombs are located in the extreme north, this blessed land is called Beiming.
The real Mount Mang covers a vast area and is connected to Mang Mountain. That's why it's called Mount Mang. Sometimes, it's also called Mang Mountain to differentiate it. "
I nodded as I understood.
Then, I asked, "What's the real Mount Mang's ranking among the blessed lands?"
Officer Wang smiled, but his eyes turned solemn. He answered, "The real Mount Mang isn't a blessed land, but a Heavenly Grotto.
It's called the Shangqing Heavenly Grotto, and it's ranked sixth among the ten great Heavenly Grottoes. "