Chapter 142: Chapter 140: The Teleportation Altar Opens
The Ancient Stone Battle Platform in Fenggu Town stood before the Teleportation Altar of the Ancient Ruined City.
The ancient Teleportation Altar, of course, had not yet opened, and no one could set foot upon it.
A crowd had gathered before the battle platform, but they were divided into many distinct, clearly separated factions.
Only those from the Sealed Ancient Land needed to compete on the platform for a spot. The people who had come from the various countries of the Southern Continent, of course, had no need to participate; they were merely spectators enjoying the show from below.
The arrivals from the Southern Continent’s nations were naturally led by the Seven Great Families and Three Major Sects of the Southern Continent.
Of course, the Seven Great Families and Three Major Sects were further divided along the lines of the four major powers.
For instance, the contingent from Beiyue Country, led by the Cang Family, numbered several hundred. The weakest among them was at the Innate Sixth Layer Perfect Realm. They were clearly geniuses from the great families and major sects of various nations. The group was centered around a young man and woman whose cultivation was unfathomable despite their youth. They were definitely above the Grandmaster Level and even exuded a faint aura of the Foundation Establishment Realm.
The other three great powers—Piaoyun, Quicksand, and Thousand Lakes—were in a similar situation.
However, a few powers were clearly a cut above the rest: Lingxu Temple, the Blood Refining Alliance, and Flowing Cloud Sect. These were the Three Major Sects of the Southern Continent, and their standing was even higher than that of the Seven Great Families.
Of course, besides these powerful factions, there was another category of Trainee: Loose Cultivators.
All told, these groups numbered in the thousands.
And this wasn’t even everyone. Once the Teleportation Altar to the Ancient Ruined City truly opened, even more people would arrive.
There was a reason these people had arrived early.
It was to select people from the one hundred slots allotted to the Sealed Ancient Land.
Of course, only the Seven Great Families and the Three Major Sects were qualified to do the selecting.
Although the hundred people from the Sealed Ancient Land who would enter the Ancient Ruined City did not have high cultivation, they were highly sought after by all the Trainees.
This was because many of the ownerless treasures within the Ancient Ruined City were protected by Restrictions. These Trainees couldn’t touch them at all. So, even if they found a treasure, they couldn’t retrieve it.
However, the people from the Sealed Ancient Land possessed a mysterious bloodline that allowed them to ignore these Restrictions and claim the treasures within the Ancient Ruined City.
Therefore, the hundred slots for the Sealed Ancient Land became a prize fiercely contested by the Seven Great Families and the Three Major Sects.
As for why there were only a hundred slots for the Sealed Ancient Land, it was because the Teleportation Altar of the Ancient Training Realm was truly mysterious. Each time it activated, it could only transport a hundred people from the Sealed Ancient Land. Anyone extra who stepped onto the Teleportation Array would be instantly refined into a bloody mist.
In previous years, the Seven Great Families and the Three Major Sects would each claim ten people from the hundred-slot quota.
One day later, the hundred slots had been decided and allocated.
For example, Fenggu Town’s Lin Family had over a dozen people, led by Lin Qing, who ultimately took ten of them to follow the Beiyue Cang Family. The Lie Family of Heavenly Hunting Mountain also had ten people, led by Lie Xiaoyu, who followed Lingxu Temple. And the Hua Family, naturally led by Hua Xiaoling, also had ten people, who were to follow the Piaoyun Nangong Family...
Just then, the space suddenly trembled. Everyone watched as a pattern of light shot toward the sky, connecting to the endless void beyond.
"The Teleportation Altar is activating!"
Everyone cried out in alarm and rushed toward the Teleportation Altar.
Nangong Jinjie was the leader of the Nangong Family’s contingent for this expedition. He was one of the top five geniuses in the Nangong Family, having already reached the Grandmaster Realm at age twenty. Now, at twenty-five, his cultivation was immeasurable.
His gaze swept over the ten disciples of the Hua Family before finally landing on Hua Xiaoling, a flash of burning desire in his eyes.
A woman of Hua Xiaoling’s beauty and temperament was a rare sight even in Piaoyun Country, and he was naturally stunned by her.
He spoke in a gentle tone, "Miss Hua, it’s time for us to depart."
However, Hua Xiaoling was feeling incredibly anxious, her eyes darting back toward the Hua Family’s location.
The Teleportation Altar was already activating. If Jiang Jichen didn’t show up today, he might miss it.
"Young Master Nangong, could we please wait? A friend of mine hasn’t arrived yet!"
Hua Xiaoling wanted to wait for Jiang Jichen so they could look out for one another. ’After all,’ she thought, ’the Nangong Family is incredibly powerful, and they have so many affiliated experts with them. They shouldn’t refuse to let one more person like Jichen join.’
The moment her words fell, a voice rang out. "Sister Xiaoling, no need to wait. I’m here!"
Jiang Jichen emerged from the crowd with a smile and walked over to Hua Xiaoling’s side.
Seeing that Jiang Jichen was unharmed, both the Hua Family Patriarch and Hua Xiaoling breathed a silent sigh of relief.
"Little Chen, you’re out! That’s wonderful! I was so worried you wouldn’t make it in time. You had me waiting forever!"
Hua Xiaoling chirped, her voice filled with unconcealed joy.
Nangong Jinjie watched from the side, his expression cold. A sinister glint flashed in his eyes. He had seen how distracted Hua Xiaoling was when speaking to him, and now he saw her genuine delight at the sight of this strange boy. The contrast caused the flames of jealousy to roar to life within him.
’I refuse to believe that I, the esteemed Young Master of the Nangong Family, could lose out to some low-level boy!’
Besides, as far as he was concerned, Hua Xiaoling was a woman he had claimed for himself—a prize already within his grasp.
The training period would be long. Although there were many female cultivators in their contingent, none could compare to Hua Xiaoling in beauty.
In his eyes, Hua Xiaoling was just from some minor family in Fenggu Town. Obtaining her should be an effortless task.
Yet now, some boy had suddenly appeared and was acting so familiar with her!
Nangong Jinjie already considered Hua Xiaoling his private possession. Therefore, in his eyes, this strange boy was already a dead man.
Once they were inside the Ancient Refining Illusion Realm, he would have plenty of ways to kill him.
The two followers beside Nangong Jinjie were adept at reading expressions. How could they fail to understand their master’s intentions?
Back in Piaoyun Country, Nangong Jinjie was a well-known womanizer. Seeing a peerless beauty like Hua Xiaoling, who also lacked any powerful backing, he would undoubtedly use any means necessary to make her his.
This strange boy who had just appeared was clearly an obstacle. They didn’t need an order from Nangong Jinjie to know what to do.
Jiang Jichen’s perception was incredibly sharp. He noticed every subtle change in the expressions of Nangong Jinjie and his lackeys, and he could sense their malicious intent.
But he wasn’t concerned. As long as they didn’t provoke him, he couldn’t be bothered to deal with them.
He smiled at Hua Xiaoling and said, "See? Everything’s fine now. You don’t need to worry about me."
Their intimate conversation only served to further displease the watching Nangong Jinjie.
Hua Xiaoling then turned to Nangong Jinjie. "Young Master Nangong, this is the friend I mentioned. Can he come with us?"
From Hua Xiaoling’s perspective, the Nangong Family’s contingent numbered in the hundreds. Adding one more person like Jiang Jichen should be no big deal.
However, one of Nangong Jinjie’s followers, Nangong Zhao, spoke up coolly, "What’s his background?"
"Just a Loose Cultivator," Jiang Jichen replied. He hadn’t wanted to answer, much less get involved with these people, but he could see Hua Xiaoling meant well, so he offered a response.
"Apologies, but we don’t accept Loose Cultivators," Nangong Zhao said mockingly. "And if you *are* a Loose Cultivator, please have the decency to go to the back of the line. Your kind can only enter last."
He hadn’t expected Jiang Jichen to be a mere Loose Cultivator. Killing him would be no different than crushing an ant.
