Chapter 970: The Only Choice

The registration requirements for the Profound God Convention... age under 60 years. This was the same as previous conventions and surprised no one.

However, a profound strength of no less than the Divine Tribulation Realm came as a bolt from the blue for countless young profound practitioners who had just become enthusiastic.

In previous Profound God Conventions, the profound strength limit had always been the Divine Soul Realm. Back then, every convention was a grand celebration for young profound practitioners. Through their competition, one could easily foresee the comprehensive strength and future of their respective star realms.

This time, however, the registration threshold had suddenly risen by an entire major realm!

And this was under the premise that the 60-year age limit remained unchanged.

What did it mean to reach the Divine Tribulation Realm before the age of 60? The Snow Song Realm ranked in the upper echelons of middle star realms, with the Ice Phoenix Divine Sect as its core sect. Here, if one could reach the Divine Tribulation Realm before the age of 60, they would qualify to enter the Ice Phoenix Divine Hall, which was used to cultivate the highest-level disciples!

Even in the immensely powerful upper star realms, those who could achieve the Divine Tribulation Realm before the age of 60 were considered geniuses.

This "Divine Tribulation Realm" restriction directly reduced the scale of the Profound God Convention by more than a thousand times compared to previous years! What was once a grand event for young profound practitioners became a stage where only genius profound practitioners were qualified to compete.

Yun Che was originally unconcerned about the registration restrictions for the Profound God Convention, as he had never intended to participate, nor did he think he would qualify. However, this "Divine Tribulation Realm" restriction was not only for those registering for the convention but clearly for "everyone entering the Eternal Heaven Realm"!

If one's profound strength did not reach the Divine Tribulation Realm, they would not only be ineligible to register for the Profound God Convention but also unable to enter the Eternal Heaven Realm to watch the battles! Moreover, when this voice spoke, it specifically emphasized the words "by any means."

This meant that the plan for the Snow Song Realm King to bring him into the venue during the Profound God Convention had directly become an unachievable pipe dream!

Unless... he could cultivate to the Divine Tribulation Realm before then. In that case, he could simply register for the Profound God Convention directly, and there would be no need for the Snow Song Realm King to specially bring him into the Eternal Heaven Realm.

But, thirty months, a mere two and a half years, to go from the Sovereign Profound Realm to the Divine Tribulation Realm...

Even for him, who had experienced too many miracles, it was still pure delusion.

"...Those who ranked among the top four in the Profound God Convention would receive supreme rewards bestowed by the Four King Realms: Brahma Heaven, Eternal Heaven, Moon God, and Star God. The top one thousand would be specially permitted to cultivate in the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm for three thousand years..."

The aura, vast as the cosmos, finally dispersed at this moment. The last words before it faded, the shock brought by "specially permitted to cultivate in the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm for three thousand years," nearly turned the entire Eastern Divine Region upside down. Yet, Yun Che remained unresponsive, still dazed by the words "Divine Tribulation Realm."

At this moment, a voice as gentle as water resonated in his ears and soul: "Yun Che, may Little Lan and I come in?"

This was Mu Bingyun's voice. Yun Che immediately composed himself, quickly stood up, and opened the stone door of the cultivation chamber.

Mu Bingyun and Mu Xiaolan walked in. Mu Bingyun's gaze was like water, while a hint of schadenfreude was evident on Mu Xiaolan's small face.

Mu Bingyun looked at Yun Che's visibly stiff expression and softly said, "Just now, that was the 'Voice of Eternal Heaven' from the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. Every corner of the Eastern Divine Region, even independent spaces, could hear it clearly. Previous Profound God Conventions were also announced to profound practitioners across all realms in this manner."

"The preparations for this Profound God Convention began more than seven years ago, and the convening time had already secretly spread. The publicly announced time wasn't much different from the rumors. It was just unexpected that this time, not only was the gap a mere seven hundred years, but the registration conditions and competition format underwent such significant changes, even utilizing the power of the Eternal Heaven Pearl. Even the rewards this time are quite astonishing... Everything about it is highly unusual."

Yun Che remained silent.

"Master, if the age limit remains unchanged, but profound strength is restricted to the Divine Tribulation Realm, then far fewer people will be qualified to participate in the Profound God Convention this time, right?" Mu Xiaolan asked.

"Far more than just 'many,'" Mu Bingyun said quietly. "The scale will be reduced by at least several thousand times compared to previous conventions. This time, the entire Eastern Divine Region will likely only have twenty to thirty million people qualified to enter the Profound God Convention."

"That's truly very few," Mu Xiaolan whispered. "I remember in previous Profound God Conventions, the preliminary rounds alone would eliminate over a hundred billion people, while this time, only a few tens of millions are qualified for the preliminaries."

On average, across the nine thousand star realms of the Eastern Divine Region, only a mere few thousand people from each realm would qualify to participate in this Profound God Convention. Of course, this was just an average. The vast majority of this number would undoubtedly be concentrated in the upper star realms, followed by the middle star realms. Although the lower star realms were the most numerous, they would have the fewest qualified participants.

Thus, one could imagine what level of young profound practitioners in the Eastern Divine Region would qualify for the Profound God Convention.

Even the weakest among them would be an absolute elite among the younger generation at the level of the God Realm.

"Although the restrictions are unprecedentedly strict, the allure is equally immense. Simply setting the preliminary rounds inside the Eternal Heaven Pearl, allowing participants to bathe in its divine power, is enough to make it irresistible. Those who already qualify must be eagerly anticipating it, and those on the edge of qualification will undoubtedly cultivate with all their might for the next thirty months, hoping to meet the registration requirements."

Looking at the silent Yun Che, Mu Bingyun's eyes flickered slightly, and she hesitated to speak.

The sudden restrictions from the Eternal Heaven Realm not only stunned Yun Che but also caught her off guard. The most direct consequence was that she was forced to break her promise to Yun Che.

Mu Xiaolan, however, was full of enthusiasm: "Master, is it true that the top one thousand in this Profound God Convention can enter the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm to cultivate for three thousand years? I remember Master saying that the Eternal Heaven Realm rarely allows outsiders into the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm."

"Although it's highly unbelievable, this is the Voice of Eternal Heaven addressed to the entire Eastern Divine Region; how could it be false?" Mu Bingyun said.

"The Eternal Heaven Divine Realm... what kind of place is that?" Yun Che suddenly asked.

"The Eternal Heaven Divine Realm is the core world within the Eternal Heaven Pearl. The Eternal Heaven Pearl is one of the Seven Great Profound Sky Treasures from the era of the Ancient Gods, and currently the only Profound Sky Treasure manifested in the God Realm..." At this point, she gave Yun Che a deep look, because the second manifested Profound Sky Treasure had already appeared: the Sky Poison Pearl on Yun Che.

She did not know that Yun Che possessed another Profound Sky Treasure as well... the Samsara Mirror.

The vast God Realm only had one Profound Sky Treasure, yet Yun Che himself had two!

"Among the Seven Great Profound Sky Treasures, the Eternal Heaven Pearl ranks fourth, after the Heaven Punishing Ancestral Sword, the Evil Infant's Wheel of Myriad Tribulations, and the Hongmeng Life-Death Seal. The Eternal Heaven Realm originally had mediocre strength and lacked supreme inheritances like the Moon God Realm and Star God Realm. However, by acquiring the Eternal Heaven Pearl, it became one of the Four King Realms of the Eastern Divine Region, and its comprehensive strength and prestige surpassed both the Star God Realm and Moon God Realm."

"The power of the Eternal Heaven Pearl lies in its self-contained space-time, possessing an almost entirely independent law of time. The Eternal Heaven Divine Realm is its core world, which has independent time laws. Cultivating for three years in the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm means only one day has passed in the outside world!"

"What?" Yun Che was deeply astonished. "Three years in the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm is equivalent to one day outside? The rate of time flow... is a thousand times different? That's too exaggerated... No wonder the Eternal Heaven Realm is so powerful. If their people always cultivate within the Eternal Heaven Pearl, then wouldn't their cultivation time, or rather efficiency, be a thousand times that of ordinary people!?"

"Of course, it's not without limitations." Mu Bingyun gently shook her head. "The Eternal Heaven Pearl's divine power is not infinite. It requires immense power to maintain the independent space-time of the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm. Moreover, the current God Realm is not the God Realm of yesteryear; its self-recovery capabilities naturally cannot compare to the era of the Ancient Gods. Therefore, the Eternal Heaven Realm has always been extremely cautious in using the Eternal Heaven Pearl's divine power, never attempting to overdraw its limits, and rarely allowing outsiders into the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm."

"Yet this time, they announced to the entire Eastern Divine Region that they would actively send the top one thousand participants of the Profound God Convention into the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm to cultivate for a full three thousand years... This might be approaching the limits of the Eternal Heaven Pearl's divine power. Such generosity has never been seen in the history of the Eternal Heaven Realm."

Mu Bingyun's moon-like brows furrowed slightly as she murmured, "Those who can make it into the top one thousand of the Profound God Convention, which covers the entire Eastern Divine Region, are undoubtedly future overlords of the Divine Region, possessing immense talent and limitless futures. Sending them into the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm to cultivate for three thousand years will certainly create a thousand peerless experts... and when they emerge from the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm, only a short three years will have passed in the outside world."

Yun Che: "..."

"Such a hasty and unusual Profound God Convention, and at such a cost to create a batch of powerful experts for the Eastern Divine Region." Mu Bingyun sighed, "It seems something truly earth-shattering is about to happen in the God Realm... and it's a major event that concerns not just one star realm, but requires the entire God Realm to face it together."

"However, entering the Eternal Heaven Divine Realm is entirely unrelated to our Snow Song Realm." Mu Bingyun's meaning was clear: it was virtually impossible for anyone from the Snow Song Realm to enter the top one thousand... In fact, let alone the top one thousand, even the top ten thousand was nearly impossible. "But the message from the Eternal Heaven Realm this time forces us to be prepared. As for now... regarding bringing you into the Eternal Heaven Realm, I will try to find another way."

"Palace Master, if..." Yun Che clenched his jaw slightly. "I mean, if the Great Realm King could personally request it, would the Eternal Heaven Realm perhaps make an exception?"

Mu Bingyun gently closed her eyes. "The Snow Song Realm is only a middle star realm. Although the Great Realm King's prestige in the Eastern Divine Region is comparable to that of an Upper Realm King, it is ultimately insignificant before a powerful King Realm."

Although Mu Bingyun didn't shake her head, the meaning of her words was exceptionally clear.

"The Great Realm King will soon enter seclusion. I will go discuss this matter with her as soon as possible." Mu Bingyun turned to the side. "Given the Great Realm King's nature, since she has already agreed to your matter, she will absolutely not go back on her word. But this time, it is ultimately a restriction set by the Four King Realms, something no one can contend with... I'm afraid it truly will be difficult."

"Don't worry, if there's ultimately nothing that can be done, we will certainly give you adequate compensation."

With a helpless sigh, Mu Bingyun's ethereal figure turned, preparing to leave. Her words were equivalent to telling Yun Che: there was simply no need to hold any more hope for this matter.

"Wait!"

Yun Che suddenly spoke out. His hands slowly clenched tighter and tighter, his knuckles cracking with "clack" sounds.

"So, there's only one way to enter the Eternal Heaven Realm," Yun Che slowly raised his head. When his gaze leveled, his eyes had transformed from their previous confusion to determination... even revealing a deep ruthlessness.

"Before the Profound God Convention... cultivate to the Divine Tribulation Realm!" He gritted his teeth, speaking slowly, word by word, with almost all his strength and will.

Mu Bingyun's figure paused, her beautiful eyes momentarily still.

"Ah!?" Mu Xiaolan exclaimed softly. She turned and looked at Yun Che's serious face, which showed no hint of jest, and widened her eyes. "Are you crazy? There are only two and a half years left until the Profound God Convention, not two hundred years, not twenty years, but two and a half! And you're only in the mid-stage Sovereign Profound Realm now. Even if you ate a legendary divine pill, it would be absolutely impossible to break through to the Divine Tribulation Realm in such a short time... Oh, it's completely, utterly impossible to even reach the Divine Soul Realm. Whether you can even reach the Divine Origin Realm is questionable."