1228 New Comers
There was only about a day or two until the event started. Since he had all the information he needed, Ryu didn't feel the need to hang around and gather anything more. As for gathering intel on the contestants, he didn't think it was necessary. Whether they were powerful or not, nothing he could do in a day would meaningfully change his chances. Rather, it was best that he rest and accumulate his Focus Qi to its highest possible peak.
Everyone seemed to be at a pinnacle Cosmic Seed Grade standard. In reality, it was more complex than this. Rather, everything was timed such that the geniuses at the pinnacle of the World Sea Realm once the Complete Heavenly Path opened. Given the time left between then and now, most participants just so happened to be at this level.
From Ryu's understanding, only about half of the geniuses were participating now, though. Zovaes, Iroh and Juno, along with one other, were the favorites, and he had already met them.
Only half the geniuses of the Sixth Heaven were participating since the Heavenly Dew Pavilion was only one of the two prominent alchemy pavilions of the Middle Heavens. The Tranquil Hand Pavilion was holding their event at the same time, accumulating the other half of geniuses.
Ryu strolled into an inn, looking for a room. But even as he made his way to the counter, his eyes narrowed, sensing that something was off. The way the receptionist looked at him was peculiar.
Ryu stood in silence without saying anything for a long time. The receptionist, who had seemingly been waiting for him to speak first, very quickly began to feel uncomfortable. At first, he was quite confident and even had a hint of a sneer on the corner of his lips. However, the longer Ryu stood, not saying a word, the more oppressive the atmosphere seemed to become.
The lounging area of the inn wasn't empty by any stretch of the imagination. With such a popular event on the way, the city was filled to the brim. As such, there were many talking and jeering, enjoying their expensive meals. Not many noticed Ryu's entry at all.
In truth, when Ryu had entered, he had already expected that he would have difficulty finding a place to rest. Most of these regions would have been booked long ago. The only reason he didn't find a large crowd of people heading to the city was one because he had been in a remote region to begin with while most who could have afforded it would directly use the teleportation formation, and second because he was technically late. For events like this, unless you appeared a month in advance, you were already late.
However, the gaze of the receptionist painted a different tale. It wasn't that there were no rooms, this person had been primed and prepared to humiliate him. Ryu's gaze was too sharp. Even without actively using Dividing Karma, his ability to read people, especially weaklings like this, was unmatched. With just a glance, he could peer into this person's very soul.
There was obviously only one person who could do this, and that was, without a doubt, that senior Ronelis. Ryu doubted he could find a place to stay even if he went to every inn in this enormous city.
Suddenly, the atmosphere shifted and the sound of fireworks echoed in the distance. Ryu gave the receptionist another indifferent glance before turning and leaving.
With the pressure of Ryu's gaze gone, the receptionist almost fell to his knees. He gasped for breath, his sweat falling like pearl beads. It was as though he hadn't even dared to sweat until Ryu had vanished. He could only fall back on his stool, gasping for breath.
Ryu walked out of the inn along with a huge crowd of young geniuses who had entered along with him and looked into the skies. But when he saw what it was, he couldn't help but narrow his eyes.
"Is that a list? The Heavenly Dew Pavilion has never done that before."
"I hear that these are the geniuses that are going to enter the Complete Heavenly Path this time. I don't know the details, but apparently it's a really big deal this time."
"Yeah, but usually they want to remain neutral. If they release a list like this ahead of time, won't they offend some of the big Sects? If you start ranking their disciples now, you're bound to alienate a few. At that point, it's not worth it."
"They won't be so petty. Plus, it only matters if the list is inaccurate, right?"
"Hm? Battle achievements? That's so interesting! Oh, it's not ranked, it looks like I was wrong."
Ryu didn't need to see the rest. The moment he saw this, a grin spread across his face. Despite this, the smile didn't seem to reach his eyes, the coldness within them only deepening. Wisps of black flames danced in his eyes beside himself. Without their suppression, his Bloodlines seemed to react on their own all the time now, the dense darkness within him overflowing.
The list continued to scroll until it reached the top. The list separated into a new category titled "Most Intriguing New Comers". After reading about geniuses they had heard about for all of their lives already, seeing the title of this list, the crowd seemed to come alive once again. Everyone loved a good underdog story, who knew, maybe one of these newcomers could grasp their attention and claim victory in the end.
Didn't something like that happen before, too? Though, most of them didn't quite know of the details, their parents and others suppressed this information for some reason.
However, everyone seemed to fall into silence when the list scrolled to the top.
Unknown - Disciple of Radiant Star Sect - Peak Dao Pedestal Realm.
Battle Achievements: Not much is known about this young rising star, and even less is known about his Sect. However, there is one thing that is quite well known, a bold quote from the young man that just may echo through the firmaments.
"There's no need to probe me and my Sect. If I do not claim first place, let the Heavens strike me down!"
The city was speechless reading these words. When they saw the picture matching the battle achievements, several who were already standing around Ryu almost snapped their necks looking toward him.
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