Time continued to pass until finally, the day for the Heavenly Competition arrived. Krune and all the other participants had to move to the extreme north of the Planet, which was thousands of kilometers away from any city. Well, with everyone's understanding of Space Laws, they all simply opened spatial gates and appeared there a few seconds later.
The region was an ice territory, but as one can expect, cultivators and demon beasts at the Divine Path Realm couldn't care less about it... or so they thought.
Krune felt the cold hitting his body and could tell that it wasn't just normal coldness.
"It seems like this place is under some kind of formation effect."
Erzato nodded.
"Yes. At my level, this can't affect me, but Divine Path Realm cultivators and demon beasts will have a hard time defending against it. Well, this is just one of the things you will need to pay attention to."
As more and more participants appeared, some famous ones began to be recognized. But there was one in particular that caught more attention than anyone else.
"Hey, Iem Turo. He's the Dalin Universe's representative."
"Isn't Dalin controlled by the Universe powerhouses? Can they participate in the Heavenly Competition?"
"You don't know this, it seems. The Dalin Universe is indeed controlled, but they still can give birth to a Heavenly Divine Soul owner. They were given permission to try to vie for one of the Slots. That being said, if they get one, their Universe members will be able to have some authority. Of course, they won't take the Dalin Universe back, but they can at least participate in the decisions made for it."
"I see... they have quite the advantage since they were born here to start with."
"That's true, and according to the records, the Dalin Universe participants got one of the five slots quite a few times. Unfortunately for them, it is still very hard. After all, everyone can only go to the Peak of the Divine Path Realm. There is plenty of adversaries at this level when the Heavenly Competition stars. Well, they have got a slot more times than anyone else, though. In general, Dalin Universe always wins a slot in every five or so Heavenly Competitions."
Krune heard all of that and couldn't help but think about the Frunkan Clan.
'I wonder what they would think if they knew that there is a chance of Dalin Universe being permanently blocked a few years later.'
Krune shook his head and moved in another direction. He could see Laka with his Divine Sense, so he went to talk with him.
"Hey, you are here."
Krune nodded.
"How is it, did you find what will happen during the Heavenly Competition?"
Laka shook his head.
"No idea. Dalin Universe always hides the competition contents until the last second. They are pretty good at it as well since not even Destiny Divine Soul owners can predict it. Well, you can at least expect something brutal. I heard that at least half o the competitors don't go back alive."
Krune nodded.
"I wonder what the Universes who lost their Heavenly Divine Soul Owners would do. After all, the Universes like to use them during their negotiations and disputes, no?"
Laka shrugged his shoulder.
"It depends on each Universe. Still, most would generally create alliances with nearby Universes who also lost their Heavenly Divine Soul Owners to resist outsiders. In the end, it is not like they will be at that much of a risk. Situations, where a Universe is conquered, are very rare. Let alone being destroyed. The hatred between both sides must be very deep for a Universe to be destroyed in the process."
Krune nodded and remembered about the Destroyed Universe Heavenly Fragment he acquired.
"Oh, right. You probably know that I got another Heavenly Fragment already, right?"
Laka nodded. He was in one of the special booths at that time, so he saw Krune buying it.
"In that case, you know which Universe was destroyed for this Heavenly Fragment to lose its bound?"
Laka pondered a bit and then looked at his protector.
"Uncle Tranfan, do you know which one it was?"
Tranfan shook his head.
"How many Universes you think there are outside? Unless it is some influent Universe, it would be too hard to receive any news about it. Of course, we can find out if we investigate, but is there any reason for that?"
Laka then looked at Krune with the same expression as Tranfan.
Krune didn't mind, though.
"It's okay, I was just curious."
Krune and Laka continued their talk as more and more Heavenly Competition participants arrived with their protectors. A few hours later, the Dalin Universe Management appeared as well. Several Peak Divinity Realm cultivators and demon beasts appeared one after another. A lot of them were just spectators who came to watch as well.
Obviously, Norzulun Odgas, the Dalin Universe Management Supervisor, was there as well. He was also the one who would do the talk on its behalf.
He stepped forward and used his Divine Sense to speak with everyone.
"Welcome. Another Heavenly Competition is about to start. I can see that we have a lot more participants than the records of the last time says. Still, only five slots are available to become one of the Dalin Universe's managers."
The cultivators and demon beasts present weren't the only ones seeing it. The entire thing was being transmitted to all the Universes outside who had participants. Luvile Universe included. The Sacred Lands, Divine Path Sect, and Wang Clan were watching it together with a few other powers.
Norzulun then waves his hand and an enormous formation that covered the entire north in what seemed to be a giant bubble. Immediately, everyone's Divine Sense was affected. It was so restricted that even Krune couldn't spread it more than two kilometers. Let alone the majority that can't hold a candle to Krune's Soul Strength.
"First, I would like to ask the protectors to exit the protection formation. You don't need to worry, Divine Sense originated inside is affected, but the ones that come from outside aren't. You can still observe your participants with your Divine Senses without a problem."
Erzato and Tranfan then exchanged a few words with Krune and Laka before leaving together with all the others. Once they were outside, they used their Divine Senses to see what was happening inside. Sure enough, they could watch Krune and Laka without a problem. Of course, they could also tune their communicators into the broadcast to see what was happening as well, just like the outside Universes.
As the protectors left, someone approached Krune and Laka. They just needed one glance to see who it was.
"Hey, aren't you that Hanan guy? Oh, you are also a Heavenly Divine Soul owner, so I guess it is to be expected that you are here."
Hanan nodded.
"Correct. I also noticed you, that's why I came here. I wanted to ask Krune something too."
Krune's interest was picked.
"Krune, that promise is still valid, right?"
Krune understood what he meant.
"Yes, Little Arty will not go back on his words. I can guarantee that he really wishes for the same thing as your clan, so there is no need for you to be worried. Of course, you will need to prove to him that you can do what you said."
Hanan nodded.
"Then, that's not a problem."
Hanan then continued with a Divine Sense Message. Divine Sense is restricted at the moment, but since he is very close to Krune and Laka, he can still reach them.
"By the way, part of the plan relies on me acquiring one of the Dalin Universe's slots. In the case, would you like to make an alliance?"
Krune was taken aback for a second. But after thinking about it, he had to admit that having a Dalin Slot would make a lot of things easier for the Frunkan Clan and their plan of closing off Dalin.
Laka, however, didn't know what they were talking about.
Krune nodded in the end.
"Sure. Both your Frunkan Clan and my Wisp Race have a lot to gain from it."
He then looked at Laka.
"What you say, Laka? It would be good if we stay together first. Since the Heavenly Competition contents always change, there is a big chance that an alliance will be beneficial in the first stages."
Laka didn't know what the plan they were talking about was, but he knew Krune's real power. Joining the same side as Krune at first would indeed be better depending on the rules of the first phase.
"Sure. Of course, it will also depend on what we need to do when it starts."
Krune and Hanan nodded. They also understood this logic very well.
They weren't the only ones to do that. Almost all the Heavenly Competition participants also had their own clicks. Some were simply trying to create the strongest team as others gathered together because of their lower cultivation. Whatever the reason, it was quite hard to see anyone alone at this point.
Once all the protectors were gone, Norzulun continued.
"Alright. Now we will start the first phase of the Heavenly Competition."
Suddenly, the entire dome shined. Krune's group immediately noticed that the Space Laws began to act on them.
"Not good, hold each other, we are going to be teleported."
Laka, Hanan, and Krune grabbed each other's arms just a second before everyone was teleported away.
But that wasn't all. The entire northland began to change, as well. Blue walls with several inscriptions started to rise in the skies, all the way to the formation ceiling. In a matter of seconds, tens of thousands of kilometers became a big maze with several levels!
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