Rays of seven-colored radiance rose from the city and melded into the rainbow bridge.

  “So it’s like this… no wonder the Champion Duke didn’t want to charge a protection fee. He probably knew this was how the assembly would commence.” Qing Ting looked on regretfully as a ball of radiance wrapped around her and she vanished on the spot.

  The kings observing the proceedings sighed with relief. They really had been worried that the Champion Duke and Qing Ting would go back on their word and take back the identity tokens or demand more purple crystals.

  “It’s a pity that the venerated enforcer didn’t come, or that the Purpleclad and Bloodclade Dukes haven’t come,” the Azure Scaled-Dragon King said with some regret. “I would’ve loved to see what makes the venerated enforcer so strong that he is hailed as the first beneath titled kings. Is he stronger, or is the Champion Duke or Qing Ting stronger?”
“The venerated enforcer, Purpleclad Duke, and Bloodclade Duke traveled to Dragonhollow Mountain a while ago,” the Dragonsea city lord commented faintly. “Geniuses ranked in the top one hundred of the realm have the right to bypass this meaningless qualification round and enter the assembly proper.”
“The top hundred geniuses of the Hongmeng?” Some high level kings in the crowd blinked.

  “The ancestral soul of the azure dragon has awoken,” the city lord said meaningfully. “Dragonhollow Mountain set a Dragonling Ranking for this time’s assembly, incorporating all of the realm’s strongest geniuses beneath titled kinghood.

  “After the azure dragon’s ancestral soul made preliminary calculations, anyone who can be listed in the top one hundred of the Hongmeng was directly invited to Dragonhollow Mountain.”
“The ancestral soul of the azure dragon has awoken?” Qing Yu and the little fox looked at each other. They knew why Lu Yun was headed to the mountain—he was going to help Dragon Butterfly retrieve the ancestral blood! Now that the azure dragon’s ancestral soul had awoken, it seemed drastic changes were in store for his trip.

  The Dragonsea city lord frowned faintly at them upon noting their reaction. She had a rough idea of the Intrance King and unknown girl’s background, but the two weren’t displaying strong energy ripples. The Intrance King seemed to possess only three dao rules, so she was a third step king.

  Making titled kinghood as a third step king made her a rare genius, but in the city lord’s eyes, she was only a genius and not yet a powerhouse. As strong as her potential was, it was yet to be fully excavated.

  Though the city lord couldn’t see through the other woman, she wasn’t concerned by that. It was their reactions and current expressions that raised her guard. Cultivators at their level showed visible emotion only when they encountered something they cared so much about that they couldn’t help themselves.

  “What about the Immortal King?” Miao suddenly sneered. “When you sent an invitation to the Immortal Pagoda, you didn’t mention anything about the top one hundred of the Dragonling Ranking.”
The city lord blinked—she understood the reason for their noticeable reaction.

  “The Dragonling Ranking evaluates battle strength. While the Immortal King is a king, he is only a supplemental king. To be frank, Dragonhollow Mountain doesn’t think much of the Immortal King’s true battle strength. His invitation was a courtesy due to him being a titan of the realm,” chuckled the city lord.

  Supplemental kings usually focused on their supplemental dao and battle through the supplemental arts. They didn’t care much about their own battle strength, so it was understandable that Dragonhollow Mountain hadn’t listed him in the top one hundred.

  “Do you really think that the Immortal King has no battle strength to speak of?” the little fox snorted with laughter.

  “If he attends the Dragonling Assembly, he will naturally be able to prove himself.” The city lord remained indifferent in the face of Miao’s questioning. “Geniuses in the Hongmeng are as numerous as fish in the river. Even the generally acclaimed Azureclad and Crimsonclad Dukes are not in the top one hundred.

  “Take the Bloodclad and Purpleclad Dukes instead. One was defeated by an ordinary half step king and another weathered the extermination of his master’s faction. Thus tempered by the trials of life, they all vaulted forward into the top one hundred after that.

  “On the other hand, nothing else needs to be said for the venerated enforcer. He is the Purple King’s disciple, and while he may not be number one beneath titled kings as the realm makes him out to be, he is absolutely a stunning genius well deserving of a spot in the top ten.”
The city lord rather sounded like she was imparting knowledge to the naive.

  “The Purple King?” Merriment appeared in the little fox’s eyes. That was her son! But she’d learned from her earlier mistake and kept her emotions tightly in check.

  “Correct, the Purple King,” the city lord continued to wax eloquent. “His era is too far in the past, which makes him a legendary character now. Of course, he is a legend to begin with since he defeated a seventh step king as a sixth step king.

  “When the chaos erupted with disorder a while back, the Enforcer Alliance sent three sixth step kings to suppress him. If it wasn’t for their venerated enforcer being his disciple, he would’ve crushed them all with a finger. Back in his day, he could already kill a seventh step king. How much stronger must he be now?”
The Redbud King’s assessment of the Purple King had been that though he was a sixth step king, he nearly had the battle strength of a seventh step king.

  That was just her guess—in reality, he was much stronger than that.

  The venerated enforcer being the Purple King’s disciple was a secret to all but the strongest personages and the Enforcer Alliance. To those in the know, this relationship was an open secret that no one haphazardly exposed to the public. The alliance was also happy to be connected to the Purple King through their leader.

  The Purple King had left the Hongmeng due to pursuit from the Immortal Region. He was a denizen of the mythological realm and the Immortal Region was responsible for its destruction.

  “Everyone in attendance here is a heavyweight of the realm and thus has the right to observe the proceedings from Dragonhollow Mountain. This way, please.” The city lord raised a hand and summoned a tuft of rainbow clouds beneath their feet, gently conveying the group forward.

  “The rainbow bridge is actually another test, one that not everyone can pass,” she continued to explain. “All beings are equal in the Hongmeng, apart from ghosts. Arcane beasts are also part of our realm, so they will be fighting the cultivators on the bridge. Only three thousand souls have the right to set foot on the mountain.”
Faces darkened as conversation petered out. The three thousand on the bridge weren’t there because of strength; they were there because of wealth! Many of them were, in fact, good-for-nothing spoiled scions.

  ……
On the rainbow bridge.

  Lu Yun frowned slightly. “Strange, there’s more than three thousand living souls here… there’s also arcane beasts?”
He looked around to see many cultivators peering around blankly.

  “Congratulations on obtaining the right to participate in the Dragonling Assembly,” sounded a resonant voice. “However, this is only the start. You must pass through the rainbow bridge if you wish to set foot on Dragonhollow Mountain.

  “Not only do you have to face those by your side, but you must also face the countless beasts on the bridge. The assembly isn’t open to just cultivators—arcane beasts may participate as well.

  “Only three thousand may be left alive on the bridge. Either you can jump down, be thrown down, or die!

  “When only three thousand living remain on the bridge, you will reach the true Dragonhollow Mountain.”
etvolare's Thoughts

  This city lord is so pretentious I want to smack her.

  Finally back in a semi-regular time zone. I travel back to Taiwan in less than two weeks and this madness will be over!