Chapter 1133: 君无名,剑无名(上)

The world was pale, the sky and earth blending into a single hue. Only a spatial profound formation, its origin unknown, rotated slowly. Though it didn't emit a strong profound light, it was still remarkably conspicuous.

Yun Che, along with Mu Bingyun and others, landed in front of the profound formation. He looked around and asked, puzzled, "Master said that all nearby star realms would pass through this spatial profound formation to reach the Eternal Heaven Realm. Why is no one here?"

"That's because they already left early," Mu Huanzhi said with a wry smile. "The Profound God Convention is just three days away. For such a major event, neither the young profound practitioners participating nor the invited star realms would wait until now to depart."

"This spatial profound formation was set up three months ago. Other star realms must have already gone; even leaving a month in advance wouldn't be considered early. Other sects in the Snow Song Realm with qualified participants also left for the Eternal Heaven Realm long ago. For us to be departing only now, we're probably the latest among the lower and middle star realms," Mu Tanzhi said with a chuckle.

"I see." The reason they waited until now was, of course, because of Yun Che.

"Don't worry," Mu Bingyun whispered to Yun Che. "After all, your true purpose isn't really... oh?"

Before she could finish, Mu Bingyun's brows suddenly twitched, and she turned around. Mu Huanzhi and the others also sensed something, turning almost simultaneously to look at the sky behind them.

"This aura, could it be..."

Soon, a blurry red silhouette appeared high in the distant sky. The silhouette rapidly expanded in view, revealing a rather large crimson profound ark as it drew closer. To their surprise, it stirred up an increasingly intense heatwave even amidst the extreme cold of the Snow Song Realm.

"It's the Phoenix Wing Divine Ark from the Phoenix Sect of the Flame God Realm!"

The crimson profound ark flew directly above the spatial profound formation, circled once, then flew away in the opposite direction. At the same time, thousands of figures descended from the sky. Most of them were clad in red, and each emanated an incredibly pure and intense aura of flame. As they descended, the falling snow thinned considerably, and the biting cold was pushed back layer by layer.

The two leading figures who descended first were none other than Yan Juehai, the Phoenix Sect Master, and Huo Rulie, the Golden Crow Sect Master!

"Sect Master Yan, Sect Master Huo? You..." Seeing Yan Juehai and Huo Rulie, as well as the people from the three Flame God Sects behind them, Mu Huanzhi and the others were all momentarily stunned.

Yan Juehai and Huo Rulie also looked surprised. After they exchanged greetings, Yan Juehai glanced at the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect members and asked, "Your sect is only departing for the Profound God Convention now? The spatial profound formation is right here in the Snow Song Realm; I assumed you would have left much earlier."

"What a coincidence, then," Mu Huanzhi said. He was equally puzzled why the Flame God Realm had also delayed their departure until now.

"Yun boy!?" Huo Rulie spotted Yun Che at a glance, his face immediately lighting up with excitement. He burst into laughter, completely ignoring everyone else from the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect, and strode directly towards Yun Che. "I heard you were 'caught'... brought back by your Master, and I was quite worried. If I hadn't been held up by Poyun's matter, I would have come to find you long ago. Well, seeing that you haven't lost a single hair and are looking so energetic, I can finally relax."

"Sect Master Huo," Yun Che greeted with a smile.

"By the way, what are you doing here, boy? Don't tell me you're also..." Huo Rulie's voice suddenly trailed off. His eyes, fixed on Yun Che, widened several fold. "Divine Tribulation Realm!?"

"Oh?" Yan Juehai's gaze also sharpened.

The attention of the Flame God Realm's elders and core disciples had already fallen on Yun Che, overtly or covertly. Those who had witnessed the battle in the God Burying Inferno in the past could never forget the sight of Yun Che, single-handedly charging at the ancient flood dragon to save Mu Xuanyin, and flipping it over with a single sword strike.

Everyone clearly remembered that Yun Che's profound strength back then was only at the initial Divine Origin Realm. Yet, in just over two years, he had actually reached the Divine Tribulation Realm!?

"Boy, you're incredible, truly incredible," Huo Rulie exclaimed.

Yun Che, however, was calm. "Everything is thanks to my Master. This junior only just completed my breakthrough, barely qualifying to enter the Eternal Heaven Realm, and also causing our sect to depart only now. Sect Master Huo, Sect Master Yan, why did you also delay until now?"

Yan Juehai smiled without speaking, but Huo Rulie couldn't help but burst out laughing, his face filled with deep pride. "Hahaha, of course, it's because of that boy Poyun. What a coincidence, he also just completed his final breakthrough."

"Brother Yun!"

As Huo Rulie laughed, Huo Poyun also stepped forward, coming before Yun Che. He appeared unchanged, except his eyes seemed to subtly reflect a reddish-gold light. His face showed heartfelt joy and excitement. "It's truly wonderful to see you again and to go to the Profound God Convention together."

Yun Che sized up Huo Poyun, and just as he was about to speak, he suddenly sensed that the atmosphere was off. He quickly glanced sideways and saw, to his astonishment, that all the elders and palace masters of the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect, including Mu Huanzhi and Mu Bingyun, had faces etched with shock. The astonishment in their eyes was so profound it was as if they had seen a ghost or a god—at least ten times more intense than the surprise Huo Rulie and Yan Juehai had shown upon realizing Yun Che's achievement of the Divine Tribulation Realm.

And their gazes were all directed at Huo Poyun.

Yun Che's heart stirred violently, and he looked deeply at Huo Poyun. He couldn't perceive the exact strength of Huo Poyun's cultivation, but the faint aura was completely different from when they last met, as if he were a changed person. "I've barely entered the Divine Tribulation Realm, and I'll be at the bottom of the Profound God Convention; I won't even pass the preliminaries. But Brother Poyun... you will surely shine brilliantly."

"Hehehe," Huo Poyun didn't act modest; instead, he laughed. "My achievements today are all thanks to Brother Yun's benevolence. If I hadn't been unable to leave the sect during this time, I would have visited the Snow Song Realm long ago to thank you and your Master."

Huo Rulie's laughter, Mu Bingyun's and the others' reactions, and Huo Poyun's own words all strongly indicated that Huo Poyun had made immense progress. Clearly, the method the three Flame God Sect Masters spoke of back then had succeeded, and perhaps even more successfully than anticipated. And the premise for that success was hunting the ancient flood dragon.

Yun Che, however, shook his head. "As for kindness, Sect Master Huo already repaid it. If Sect Master Huo hadn't risked his life to help back then, I wouldn't have been able to save my Master, let alone obtain the ancient flood dragon's body. So, Brother Poyun, you really don't need to dwell on it."

Huo Poyun sighed. "Brother Yun's magnanimity is something Poyun deeply admires. What Brother Yun gave was a kindness that remade me. I sincerely hope that one day I can repay Brother Yun, otherwise my heart will never be at peace."

In this regard, Huo Poyun was very much like Huo Rulie.

Mu Bingyun's gaze withdrew from Huo Poyun. She said indifferently, "Congratulations, Sect Master Huo. It seems the history of the Flame God Realm is about to be rewritten."

"No, it has already been rewritten," Mu Huanzhi said, the astonishment in his eyes still lingering.

"Hahahaha," Huo Rulie laughed again. "Your Snow Song Realm has its own 'Yun boy,' so there's no need to envy us. The spatial formation hasn't activated yet, and this is your Snow Song Realm's territory after all. Since you arrived first, you naturally go first."

"Flame God disciples, heed my command, all of you step back!"

Of the three Flame God Sect Masters, Huo Rulie and Yan Juehai were present, but Vermilion Bird Sect Master Yan Wancang was absent. Yun Che could roughly guess why he hadn't arrived... he likely felt too ashamed to step into the Snow Song Realm again, let alone face Mu Xuanyin.

After all, it was his selfish stubbornness back then, his disregard for Yun Che's desperate pleas, that ultimately led Mu Xuanyin into a desperate situation. Yet, Yun Che still gave half of the ancient flood dragon's corpse—obtained by him and his master at great risk—to the Flame God Realm. This act, while filling Yan Wancang with gratitude, must have also left him profoundly ashamed.

Among the disciples, besides Huo Poyun, Yan Mingxuan (Yan Juehai's grandson), and Yan Zhuo (Yan Wancang's son) were also present. Looking further back, the Flame God disciples heading to the Eternal Heaven Realm for the Profound God Convention numbered over six thousand.

In terms of numbers, it was nearly ten times that of the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect!

This was only the Vermilion Bird, Phoenix, and Golden Crow Sects. Besides these three dominant sects, the Flame God Realm had many other forces rumored to be no weaker than the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect. If all were added together, the number might be far more than ten times that of the Snow Song Realm.

The comprehensive strength gap between the Snow Song Realm and the Flame God Realm was clear at a glance.

"If not for Master's immense power, the Snow Song Realm probably wouldn't even qualify to speak as equals with the Flame God Realm," Yun Che sighed inwardly.

All the Flame God Realm disciples stepped back and arrayed themselves neatly behind the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect.

Yun Che glanced at the spatial profound formation and said thoughtfully, "Is this profound formation not always active?"

"Of course," Mu Bingyun replied. "The spatial profound formations set up by these King Realms connect the entire Eastern Divine Region. The consumption of energy is immense; if continuously active, even the four King Realms would struggle to bear the cost. Therefore, it activates once every hour, and each activation lasts for a hundred breaths of time. Once the Profound God Convention concludes, its power will also be exhausted, and it will disappear on its own."

"All spatial profound formations set up for this Profound God Convention operate this way."

"I see."

After silently comparing the scale of participants from the three Flame God Sects and the Divine Ice Phoenix Sect once more, Yun Che asked, "Palace Master Bingyun, approximately how many people from the entire Eastern Divine Region will qualify to participate in this Profound God Convention?"

Mu Bingyun replied, "The age limit for the Profound God Convention has always been under sixty years. However, in previous conventions, the profound strength limit was the Divine Soul Realm. This time, it's the Divine Tribulation Realm. Although it's only a difference of one realm, the scale of participation will be reduced by nearly ten thousand times."

"In the past, each Profound God Convention would have hundreds of billions of young profound practitioners participating. This time, there will be no more than fifty million at most."

Yun Che was speechless for a long time.

"This profound strength limit, in particular, is extremely cruel, even deadly, for young profound practitioners from lower star realms. Among all the lower star realms in the Eastern Divine Region, only a handful can produce more than a hundred qualified individuals, and many weaker star realms won't even have one."

"As for middle star realms, like the Flame God Realm, the entire realm might produce up to ten thousand qualified individuals. However, not many middle star realms can reach this scale. As for our Snow Song Realm..." Mu Bingyun's voice paused, then she sighed slightly, "We are at the lower end of the scale among middle star realms."

"What about upper star realms?" Yun Che asked.

"Of the forty thousand star realms in the God Realm, the Eastern Divine Region alone accounts for nine thousand. Among these nine thousand, there are barely five hundred upper star realms. Yet, at least seventy percent of the participants in this Profound God Convention will come from these mere five hundred upper star realms!"

"And profound practitioners from the remaining eighty-five hundred middle and lower star realms will not exceed thirty percent!"

"The disparity is that huge?" Yun Che's face showed shock.

"Perhaps even greater than you imagine," Mu Bingyun said softly. "In the past, the Profound God Convention was held every three thousand years. This time, only seven hundred years have passed since the last one. The preparation time was short, the scale has been greatly compressed, and the venue is completely different. Everyone clearly understands that the primary purpose of this Profound God Convention is different from before; at least, its main goal is to select the one thousand young profound practitioners to be sent into the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm."

"Therefore, if it weren't to save some face for the middle and lower star realms, the Eternal Heaven Realm could have entirely limited the qualifications to the higher Divine Spirit Realm. In that case, it would essentially be a stage exclusively for the upper star realms, with no relevance to us."

Yun Che: "..."

"Yun Che, after all, you haven't been in the God Realm for very long, nor have you ever had contact with upper star realms. This trip to the Eternal Heaven Realm will at least broaden your horizons and allow you to truly understand what kind of existence the God Realm really is."