A resonant sound echoed through the universe, and a vast region of distorted space emerged. It was a place known to all divine sects, simply called the arena of challenges.
When it appeared, the dark and distant region, physically isolated from any galaxy, was illuminated. The arena looked like a massive golden cosmic ring, almost the size of a sun.
As it appeared, a golden energy spread everywhere like a sacred mist. In that instant, millions of spatial formations were activated in all the divine worlds of the universe.
Each formation created a channel connecting to this place; the spatial laws there allowed any place in the universe to connect easily. However, the costs to create this connection were exorbitant.
Even smaller and mid-sized sects opened the channel so their disciples could pass through; despite the high cost, the cosmic distance made the investment worthwhile.
But opening and closing the channel, and then reopening it to bring the disciples back, would double the costs. However, if the channel stayed open for up to a day, the disciples could return at a lower cost than reopening it.
Though maintaining it was more economical, it was still wasteful. Smaller and mid-sized sects couldn’t afford to waste resources like that. So, once the disciples crossed over, the channel was closed, and for their return, they had to take the longer route to save costs.
Every second, billions of young cultivators arrived, their eyes filled with excitement. They were very close to the golden mist, and with each breath, they felt rejuvenated.
"They say that every time the convention appears, it brings new changes to the world. The winners of the generation become the most powerful cultivators below the universe’s heroes; they naturally become the heroes’ companions," someone commented excitedly.
Everyone had read and heard about the last convention in which their ancestors participated; it had been over sixty thousand years since the last one. Being part of this one was a great blessing, a grand event that left everyone thrilled.
With the emergence of the arena of challenges, the arrogant heroic disciples of the main forces were also ready to fight. The older generation of powerful cultivators could only watch the arena of challenges and sigh, regretting being born too early to qualify to participate.
Quickly, a wave of young disciples waited, looking at the arena of challenges so excited that their blood boiled in their veins. But these were the lower-level cultivators.
The arena was immense, and inside it, spatial distortion created an area several times larger. Each place someone entered led disciples to a different region of the arena. Saving energy and avoiding unnecessary fights was crucial to winning in this convention; therefore, each of the twenty largest sects in the universe chose in advance to enter a separate region to avoid immediate confrontations.
*Rumble!*
At that moment, the large golden ring trembled. Countless runes emerged from it, solidifying around it and forming huge steps on the edge of the arena of challenges.
As soon as the steps appeared, countless disciples rushed toward them. At the same time, the various channels belonging to the most powerful sects began to release their cultivators.
From one of these channels, a huge, robust figure emerged. Beside it was a humanoid figure that seemed to be wearing full armor, covering even its face. Right behind, billions of small, dense humanoids appeared. They were the dwarves, all with serious expressions.
Thea had been spotted and marked after the events between the four nations; she was with Ruri’s group at the time, so it was dangerous to show her face. The whale brought her because Thea could change her physical structure and hide her appearance easily; besides, she didn’t need time to cultivate like the others. They had already learned that they should bring competent allies since new doors could always open.
Alm and Bruno felt something through the array and smiled slightly. Then they turned to the dwarves, and two figures approached. They were Nebai and Zaimo, side by side, holding war hammers and wearing light armor.
Quickly, the dwarves split up. Behind the couple, a group of a hundred thousand young dwarves formed, all with cultivation at the Divine Origin Realm, which was the limit allowed in the place. Only those who had mastered the basics of Zaimo’s techniques were selected.
The other dwarves, more powerful ones from the galaxy, looked at the whale, who nodded and said, "Stay calm until the right moment. Everything must be done together to prevent them from escaping."
"We’ll await your command, sir," replied King Nival, gripping his war axe firmly.
The whale turned to his army of dwarves. "Let’s go. Today is the day that will be forever marked in the universe. Let’s show the world the power of the dwarves and end those bastards once and for all."
The dwarves roared, raising their weapons high. That roar reverberated everywhere, causing the disciples who were running toward the steps to stop and turn curiously.
The whale sighed and moved. All hundred thousand followed him closely to the steps.
The area where the dwarves chose to enter was in a straight line that would take them back to their galaxy. They asked the whale if he wanted the channel to take them elsewhere, but he chose that location because it was the most obvious.
When the dwarf army arrived, they drew the attention of disciples from other sects. Each mid-sized or small sect sent at least half a million cultivators. Only the largest ones sent a hundred thousand or even fewer.
The reason was clear: numbers wouldn’t necessarily help. Depending on the amount, they could even be a hindrance. The goal was for the heroic disciples to make it into the top 100 and win the prize. So, these disciples were the focus, and the others were brought along to support them. Coordinating too many at once, with young and inexperienced disciples, could easily turn into chaos.
The whale and his group had just stepped onto the first stair when a sarcastic laugh echoed beside them.
"Finally decided to show up!"
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The whale turned to the side of the stairs and saw a human with long red hair. Next to him were a hundred thousand disciples, all wearing clothes with the same symbol: they were from the Three Sovereign Gods Sect, proudly displaying the Warlock God’s mark on their chests.
Alm and Bruno chose this path because it was the safest. The Three Realms Galaxy was next to the Cyan Hammer Galaxy, so running into this old "friend" and his sect here was expected. Choosing other paths might mean encountering a major sect with unknown powers, while with this one, they knew two-thirds of its power.
The human continued, "Hehehe... there wasn’t a day I didn’t think about how..."
"How disgusting, I’m not into your fantasies. Nothing against it, but I’m married, so it’s not happening. Stop dreaming about me," the whale quickly responded with a tone of disgust, his face contorting in revulsion.
The human froze, confused, not immediately understanding what he meant. All the human disciples widened their eyes and slowly turned to their leader, shocked.
"Humans are so weird..." Nebai commented with a disapproving look. "Well, a Young Master shouldn’t have to worry about anything, especially reproducing. Living free isn’t bad... but you can’t just go around flirting with anyone, or it seems really gross."
With those words, the human finally understood what was going on. His face turned as red as his hair, and a wave of fury exploded within him.
"You’re in such a hurry to reincarnate? If you can’t wait, I’ll help you out right now!"
All the human disciples immediately drew their weapons, and a bloody combat aura erupted in an instant.
"You dare challenge my master!" Zaimo suddenly roared, and a golden mark appeared on his forehead. Instantly, the entire atmosphere became heavy.
The human’s eyes widened. "An Empyrean Ancestral dwarf?" he murmured, surprised.
In the past, Empyreans could only elevate once or twice naturally in their lifetime, becoming Conquerors. But nowadays, with luck and talent, it was discovered that it was possible to reach the Ancestral level, breaking the old rules.
Few sects had any idea how to achieve this, but the Three Sovereign Gods Sect was one of them. All their heroic disciples had already reached the Ancestral level; however, they would hardly advance beyond that without karmic blessings.
The human took a deep breath and calmed down. He knew he wasn’t a match for the whale, but he had made many preparations to defeat him. Now, seeing that dwarf at the same level as him, he realized that alone, he couldn’t handle them both. But that was only for now.
Seeing that the Young Master stopped and didn’t intend to attack, the whale snorted. "Let’s go." He moved, too lazy to kill those people right now.
"YOU’RE RUNNING AWAY?!" mocked a random human.
However, the whale paid them no attention. The dwarves frowned but followed their leader without saying a word.
They all climbed the stairs and quickly felt that it was like every other convention. There was a powerful and suppressive Qi coming from the formation for the stairs, which increased the difficulty of moving forward.
However, for the whale and the others, this kind of power wasn’t bad; it was a gift. They moved calmly, and soon their light armor began pulsing with lit runes. If someone more experienced saw these runes, they would be astonished—they were storage runic seals. The dwarf army was storing a vast amount of energy inside. They were siphoning off the power that was meant to test them.
Minutes passed, and the convention participants had already begun climbing the stairs.
Until...
*BOOM!*
Suddenly, the entire staircase pulsed radiantly. A curtain of golden runes emerged, forming a shield that covered the entire arena of challenges, completely isolating the interior from the outside world.
As the curtain of golden runes enveloped everything, the whale’s expression shifted slightly. ’Interesting... heroes, no matter the place, your sinister methods are always the same,’ Alm murmured coldly.