Immortal Realm
In the ascension dimension, where lower realm cultivators appear after ascending the Immortal Realm, a massive fight occurred as a group of one thousand newly ascended masked cultivators battled against tens of thousands of Immortal Realm cultivators. The scene was chaotic as multiple cultivation skills and techniques flew all over the scene, causing the space to tremble and the surrounding Qi to distort.
"How dare you disregard the rules of the Immortal Realm!?"
A female cultivator raged as she fought one of the thousand ascended masked cultivators; she launched thousands of small Qi-coated knives at her enemy as they launched at fast speeds. But then, the female cultivator watched as the man casually stretched his left hand at the incoming knives; he then clenched into a fist as all the knives instantly clustered into one bunch. The man then sent the bunch of clustered knives to the side as he instantly flashed next to the female cultivator. He spoke.
"I will ask again; where is the portal gate to the Central Continent?"
The man spoke impassively as he stared directly into the woman with deadly eyes. He was over six feet tall and had a slim but aesthetic physique. The man and his group wore long black cultivation robes with cool designs; they each wore masks that shone with white eyes.
The female cultivator had a terrified expression as she stared at the man with fear. She couldn't even answer the question as her thoughts were in disarray.
'How is this possible!? We are all at least Celestial Immortals, with me even being a Celestial; we should be powerful over any newly ascended cultivator. So how are we losing in a fight against them? This breaks the universal rule of the cultiva-'
"Answer me!?"
Before the woman could finish her thought, the masked man interrupted as he choked her mid-air by raising two fingers; the woman struggled as she felt her neck choked. Gasping for air, the female cultivator raised her hands in a surrendering stance; seeing this, the masked male cultivator ceased his attack and allowed the woman to fall to the ground. The woman then inhaled deeply as her face became even more terrified; beads of sweat dripped from her face as she fearfully spoke.
"There is no portal gate to the Central continent because only the Immortal Gate wields that authority. You will be wasting your time trying even to find the direction of the Central mainland, let alone how to get there."
The woman spoke with a scornful face as she mocked the masked men. But contrary to her efforts, the masked cultivator remained unfazed as he stared at the woman impassively. He stretched his hands again as the woman got drawn into his hold; he spoke with his heavy voice as he touched the woman's forehead.
"Why waste time finding the direction when I can simply take it from you?"
The woman screamed in terror as she knew what the man meant; she could feel her entire memory being searched. The masked man searched every experience, knowledge, and secret she held. Soon after, the man dropped the woman's unconscious body.
Suddenly, another masked cultivator flashed next to the man as they spoke; this person had a female voice.
"They have all been knocked unconscious."
"Good, leaving them unconscious will suffice; after all, they were the ones who dared attack first. I have information on the Central continent; it will take us a few minutes of space travel to reach there."
"The energy in the Immortal Realm is quite polluted, compared to the 'First Realm,' it's outwardly trash; how disappointing."
The cold female-voiced masked being spoke as she held her hand as if examining the surrounding.
The masked man spoke as the thousand masked cultivators vanished from the scene.
"We leave for the Central continent, although it would feel like home since the 'All Absolute One' must have conquered it already."
____
It has been three days since the invitations to Athos were spread around the Immortal Realm; many powerhouses and ancient figures had begun preparing as they gathered their strongest forces and readied their most sacred artifacts and weapons. Some even planned for the unexpected, as everyone was invited, which meant their enemies would also be there. Although most were eager to see Athos, some were extremely vigilant. One of these vigilant groups was the Start Commerce Alliance.
Among a group of over three hundred million cultivators flying towards Athos and in a grand chariot led by six unicorn beasts, the Head Manager of the Star Commerce Alliance drank from a big chalice as he spoke to his sister.
"I'm still baffled; how was Athos able to dash out such astronomical amounts of Time Spirit stones? Perhaps they have discovered a currency mine in their realm, which could explain why. Then, if that's the case, we must find a way to secure a deal with this One Above; even if it's a 10:0 distribution ratio, we would at least be living in the realm. What do you think, little sister?"
"... First, there is no way there is a currency mine in Athos; know that it used to be the ancient Jian family's sacred realm, so if that were the case, the Jian family should have been ruling the Immortal Realm or at least, be the leading Ancient family. But no, they were even overthrown in their domain. And if they had recently discovered a currency mine, it would be extremely foolish to advertise it like this. So I don't think it's either."
"Then, are you implying that everything leads back to the One Above?"
"Yes, but not only that, rumors of a silver-haired man were spreading after the disappearance of the Infinite Treasures Mountain. It was also rumored that the late Gong family's Gong Tieshan offended this person, which led to the eradication of the Gong family and allies. But there's more; some also say they saw the daughter of the Jun family patriarch leaving with a silver-haired man during the crumbling of the Infinite Treasures Mountain. Which meat the involvement of the ancient Jun family."
"C'mon, you can't be saying the Jun family is the mastermind behind all this, are you?"
"No, quite the opposite; I think the One Above orchestrated everything from the beginning; it's like it was all a game to him. With his power to eradicate seven ancient families simultaneously, what use is the ancient Jun family to him other than pawns? And why gather billions of middle regional leaders? If not to cause commotion in the Immortal Realm or for fun.
From my perspective, this invitation might even be a trap; gather all the powerhouses and easily annihilate them, granting you easy domination over the Immortal Realm; that doesn't sound unrealistic for someone like the One Above."
Hearing his sister's words, the Head Manager assumed a serious face as he dropped the cup. His sister's words made sense; what if they were gathered at the slaughterhouse? But among all else, one must first applaud the woman for having such a calculating intellect; although not entirely true, her words had some truth in them.
This cautionary thought also permeated the minds of some significant powers as they contemplated going to Athos. But then again, if a being such as the One Above could wipe out seven ancient families and causally dash out significant amounts of spirit stones, why would he waste giving away such crazy amounts when he could take over the Immortal Realm with his army of unkillable cultivators? Some made sense of the situation as they made their realistic conclusions.
Some decided not to come, fearing the Central continent's pressure might kill them. Other took the Time Spirit stones and went on with their lives, not needing to worry about being poor for at least the next ten thousand cycles.
Over ten billion cultivators floated outside the realm barrier of Athos as they marvelously gazed at the blue-colored realm barrier. Some could sense the impatience from the other cultivators as they expressed desperate faces. Most of the cultivators present were from higher powers in the Immortal Realm; some came with loads of their strongest warriors to establish dominance among their peers. While some only needed to release their Qi.
The scene was extremely overwhelming as billions of high-level cultivators hovered, waiting for the opening of the Athos Realm. The news of this Athos Realm being abundant in pure Qi left all these ancient powers impatient; as Qi was the fundamental source of cultivation, with abundant amounts of pure Qi, one could easily rise in cultivation and break through realms.
Suddenly, as the cultivators' were expecting, the space trembled, and soon after, an enormous double-door gate-like portal materialized from the void; the two massive green doors stood millions of feet tall and tens of millions of miles wide. The instant the door materialized, a huge gush of Athos realm Qi washed over the cultivators like a tide; the refreshing wave of energy made the cultivators feel alive.
Some cultivators couldn't help but express disbelief after experiencing abundant pure energy.
But then, the massive wave of energy began forming into letters as soon after; they assembled and formed the sentence,
"Welcome to Athos!"
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