The realm gates of Athos opened as the billions of cultivators got refreshed by the abundant heavenly energy gushing from within the realm. Some looked at the energy-formed words floating at the gate as they assumed disbelieving expressions. Soon after, ten thousand Athosians, all wearing their Athosian tech battle suits, emerged from the portal-like gate; they formed a two-row formation. Five thousand Athosians warriors stood on each row with a blue-energy rifle gun.
Seeing the ten thousand warriors hovering with serious attitudes in unknown uniforms, the billions of guest cultivators expressed suspicion and skepticism as they frowned bafflingly. Seeing these Athosians warriors wearing other-worldly items and holding some blue-energy-radiating objects was far from ordinary. But despite their suspicion, the cultivators couldn't sense a tinge of Qi essence from these warriors; it was as if they weren't even cultivators but mundane mortals.
"Is it just me, or are these people not even exuding a faint of cultivation Qi? And what's with their uniform and those blue-radiating things in their arms?"
Suddenly, a cultivator from among the billions of cultivators spoke, drawing the attention of the other cultivators. Some leading powerhouses who floated in the skies had cautious faces as they stared at the ten thousand warriors; none of these warriors exuded a faint of Qi, and they couldn't even be scanned through using Qi sense. This realization left some powerhouses in torment as they hadn't even entered the Athos realm, yet they were already being greeted with unknown earth-shattering items.
Not long after, the previous five Jian Saint ancestors emerged from the gate as they drifted orderly towards the cultivators; seeing five Saint Ancestor realm cultivators suddenly emerge from the gate instantly sent the cultivators into cautious modes as they assumed serious faces and stances. Some even subtly activated their Daos as they cautiously stared at the five approaching Saint Ancestors. The five Saint Ancestors also wore the same battle suits, except they left their heads uncovered, making the cultivators easily decern their identities.
Seeing the cautious stances of the cultivators, one of the Jian ancestors spoke.
"You need not be cautious; you were invited by the One Above; I assure you; no one would dare annoy you as his guests. If you don't mind, please enter; you are welcome to Athos."
Done speaking, the five Jian ancestors cleared the way as they gave way to the cultivators to enter.
Seeing this, the guest cultivators calmed their cautious attitudes as they returned to normal, but one could sense a tinge of apprehension on their faces as they stared at the five Saint Ancestor realm cultivators with disbelief. Only one thought went through their minds; how powerful is Athos for it to send literal Saint Ancestors as escorts? Powerful enough were none of them would dare offend them, that's for certain.
Even after hearing the welcoming speech of the Jian ancestor, the cultivators remained hesitant as they refused to be the first to enter the realm; some exchanged gazes as they saw the doubt in each other's faces. The Jian ancestors couldn't help but sigh with understanding. Even they would have been afraid if they saw five Saint Ancestors welcoming them as their escorts.
"If that's the case, I will be entering first!"
Suddenly, a male voice sounded from within the crowd, drawing the attention of many; slowly clearing the way, a young man with a bun of hairstyle was revealed; this young man was fair-skinned and handsome. He portrayed a mysterious attitude as he slowly drifted from among the crowd of cultivators. Behind him were six other youths, four males and two females.
The crowd expressed bafflement as they stared at the confident group of seven, slowly drifting towards the five Jian ancestors. The Jian ancestors expressed impassively as they stared at the approaching group, especially the fair-skinned youth that spoke. But then, a voice sounded from the crowd, drawing the crowd's attention.
"Aren't those Dao Children?! So even they came for the ceremony?!"
Hearing this, the crowd instantly went silent as they allowed the group of seven to pass through; some even held respectable faces and demeanors while staring at the Dao Children as they understood how feared these Dao Children were. As they are also directly nurtured since birth under the guidance of the Immortal Gate, they can be said to be the future leaders of the Immortal Realm, making them as feared as the Immortal Gate itself.
"Well, isn't that surprising to see the presence of Dao Children?"
"Surprising indeed."
The Jian ancestors spoke as they watched the approaching group of Dao Children.
The seven Dao Children finally reached the Jian ancestors as they hovered on equal elevation; the fair-skinned man with the bun hairstyle led with hands behind him, carrying a serious attitude and demeanor. He nodded to the Jian ancestors as he spoke.
"I must say, I'm already mesmerized with Athos, and I haven't even seen inside yet; just how shocked will I be after?"
"That's for you to find out, Dao Child."
The Jian ancestor replied as he directed the man to the portal-like gate.
Soon after, the group of seven Dao Children flew past the Jian ancestors as they entered the massive portal. Seeing this, the remaining cultivators also became less hesitant as they approached the gate; soon after, the scene became empty as all the arrived cultivators entered the portal.
The Jian ancestors and the ten thousand Athosian warriors remained outside the gate. Suddenly, as if noticing something, one of the Jian ancestors looked up as he spoke.
"It seems there are those who are skeptical about the One Above's invitations; since they are choosing to remain in the space void to spectate."
____
The hundreds of billions of cultivators entered the portal as they appeared in this heavenly realm they had eagerly awaited to see, Athos.
Shock, disbelief, stupefaction, and bewilderment; all these words can be used to describe the faces of the cultivators as they surveyed the environment of Athos. Some even forgot they were reputable powerhouses, expressing with widened eyes and agape mouths. But they can't be blamed for their honest reactions; after all, seeing the current Athos was nothing less than reality-shattering.
The present Athos was like a technological utopia. Everything about Athos was still the same, except advanced technological facilities and infrastructures were floating around the Athos tree. These infrastructures were like platforms where massive spaceships and technological vehicles could dock, and there were long interconnected pathways connecting the infrastructures from which citizens could travel from one facility to another.
Athos's magnitude and magnificence left the cultivators speechless and dumbfounded. Some even felt their cultivation realms and potentials unclogging as they hovered in the presence of abundant pure energy. The fair-skinned man made a shocked expression as if realizing something, but suddenly, fairy Marine's voice sounded not far from the cultivators, bringing them from their stupors.
"Welcome to Athos; I will be your host. As your welcoming gesture, you can have these."
Fairy Marine spoke, simultaneously waving her hand, as numerous glasses of energy-made drinks appeared in the hands of the billions of cultivators, leaving them in shock. Although skeptical about the drinks, the cultivators could feel the abundance of pure essence oozing from the drinks, even tempting them to drink. Some couldn't hesitate any longer as they gulped the drinks in one go.
VOOSH! VOOSH!
Massive waves of energy erupted from the bodies of the cultivators that drank as they felt their Qi's instantly replenishing, their bodies forcefully cleansed, and even better, their cultivation realms breaking through. These sudden events caused the remaining cultivators to be unhesitant as they also gulped the drinks. Soon after, the space trembled a little as the bodies of billions of cultivators exploded with rigorous energies.
Some cultivators fearfully stared at the extremely beautiful fairy-like lady as they couldn't believe the reality-shattering effects of the drinks. A drink that can cause one to break through another realm instantly, that's something not even found in the Immortal Realm, and yet this lady just made billions of it with a mere wave of her hand. These realizations instilled fear and respect in the cultivators' hearts as they assumed respectful faces while staring at fairy Marine. Their impression of this woman was that of respect and reverence.
"Very well, since that's taken care of, here are your visiting badges; with these, you can enter any facility while you are here, and you can also use them to acquire items or objects, which you can later transfer into your storage rings."
Fairy Marine spoke as she waved again, with billions of square-shaped badges appearing on the chests of the cultivators after; some cultivators inspected their badges as they saw that they were different from the one's the Athosian warriors outside had. Among the group of seven Dao Children, the burly one with the arrogant attitude spoke.
"Pardon, but what's the difference between the ones we have and the ones those warriors outside had? They also had blue uniforms; where can we get those?"
The cultivators expressed disappointment as they saw the arrogant and undermining attitude of the Dao Child. Even though it was normal for Dao Children to behave like this, it was still disappointing seeing how carefree and informal he was speaking to this beautiful and generous woman. Some watched to see fairy Marine's reaction. But contrary to their expectations, fairy Marine remained unfazed as she continued with a smile.
"The pentagon-shaped badges are for citizens of Athos, and what you thought was their uniform are the attires worn by Athosians. One must be a citizen of Athos before being qualified to wear Athosian suits. Are there any more questions?"
"...Well, if I need to be a citizen, how do I become one?"
This time although the cultivators disagreed with the Dao Child's arrogant approach, they were also curious about the last question. If those suits can completely hide a person's identity and cultivation realm, it would be very useful when engaging in battle against humans and beasts. But then, fairy Marine's answer shocked everyone.
"You can't!"
Hearing this answer made the cultivators panic as they gazed at fairy Marine worriedly, hoping she said something encouraging. But fairy Marine ignored the expecting faces of the cultivators as she spoke.
"Now, if there are no more questions, you can use your badges to travel anywhere within Athos, there is somewhere that's forbidden, but you need not worry about that since your badges aren't programmed to reach that place and many others. You can lodge at any city on the Athos tree and use any facility here.
And finally, I would advise you to refrain from causing trouble or any form of disturbance in Athos. It will be seen as disrespectful to the One Above, and your departure would be the least of your worries when that happens. It would be unpleasant to offend one in his domain; now, I leave you all to have a pleasant stay."
Fairy Marine spoke as she vanished from the scene, leaving the billions of cultivators for themselves.
Some cultivators had exuberant faces and moods as they bathed in the abundant presence of godly energy in the atmosphere; some even began cultivating as they sat mid-air with crossed legs and closed eyes. Some tested the badges' traveling feature as they flashed instantly from one location to another. Some left the scene as they headed for the Athosian cities.
More than eighty percent of the cultivators had left the scene and headed for the cities to lodge at their residences. Those that remained either cultivated in mediation or were with their groups.
One of the remaining groups was the seven Dao Children; many cultivators cupped their hands in respect to the seven beings as they left the scene. One must know how feared the Dao Children are when they are even respected in another realm.
The fair-skinned Dao Child hovered with hands behind him as he spectated the wonderous environment of Athos; he couldn't help but be amazed. Suddenly, the burly man with an arrogant attitude approached him as he spoke.
"Elder martial brother, I did as you told me; but it seems the lady wasn't that offended."
"Hmm, it seems she has quite the thick skin for tolerance. For now, let's find a city to lodge at; we just arrive after all; we will have plenty of time to see how tolerating Athos is-"
The man spoke as he murmured with a smirk.
"Especially you, so-called One Above."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺