The Northern Nether Region is an area located in the northern part of the Cangming Realm.
Countless mystic realms are hidden within it, but the most famous among them is the Beiming Haotian mystic realm. Just a short while ago, this mystic realm manifested, causing a sensation across the entire Cangming Realm. Prodigies from the Cangming Rankings and countless elite factions rushed toward it.
Those who seize this stroke of fortune will ascend to the heavens in a single bound.
By this time, the Northern Nether Region was already a sea of people. Xiantian and Golden Core cultivators were as common as dirt, though Early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators were somewhat scarcer; after all, even a peak Nascent Soul cultivator served as the backbone of a clan in the Tiannan Star Province.
In the Northern Nether Region.
A middle-of-the-road man in cyan robes stood with a longsword strapped to his back. He had sword-like brows, starry eyes, and slender, fair fingers.
His gaze was cold and detached, and as he sat quietly, he seemed like the center of the entire great hall and even the cosmos itself. Anyone who met his eyes felt as though they were staring straight at a sharp divine sword piercing the nine heavens. That razor-sharp edge was fierce enough to wound a person's very soul. Though the man looked unfamiliar, everyone gazed at him with a reverence akin to worship, a hundred times more respectful than they were toward their own masters.
The cyan-robed man held many illustrious titles: the Second Prince of the Solar Divine Dynasty, the least favored son of the Great Emperor Golden Crow, and a dissolute scion known for unrestrained dissipation and an obsession with wine—he was dubbed the "Ruined Imperial Scion."
Yet, more people respectfully addressed him by a single title: "Sword Saint"!
Sword Saint Qin Shang!
He was a peerless existence who had once relied on a single man and a single sword to force an immortal sect to bow its head. Even looking across the Cangming Rankings among numerous powerhouses, he could rank in the top two. His terror was plain to see!
Song Yufeng, the "Lone Wanderer of the Star Sea," was like a firefly competing with the bright moon when compared to his sword intent.
"Look, that is Sword Saint Qin Shang. You must never make eye contact with him," Luo Zhan whispered to Chen Fan.
Chen Fan stood below, expressionless as he watched Qin Shang. "Sword Saint Qin Shang? We meet again in this lifetime. I hope you can bring me some surprises."
Sensing a pair of eyes fixed on him, Qin Shang cast a sharp glance toward Luo Zhan and his companion. Seeing that Luo Zhan was merely an Early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, he dismissed him from his mind.
"Hmm? Yet why did I sense a trace of threat from him?" Qin Shang looked toward Chen Fan standing beside Luo Zhan. This was a sensation he had only ever experienced from that person holding the number one spot on the Cangming Rankings.
"An ant with Nascent Soul cultivation. How amusing."
Qin Shang stood proudly in the void, his sharp sword radiance radiating an overwhelming sense of pressure, resembling an ancient emperor looking down upon the masses.
"Is this the might of the 'Sword Saint'?" the crowd below trembled, feeling like mere ants under this terrifying pressure. Among them were many proud scions of various sects.
Suddenly, the entire Haotian mystic realm blazed with a brilliant, boundless light. A flash of blinding white swept past, and everyone felt as though their eyes had been seared blind for an instant. Those with lower cultivation clamped their hands over their eyes and wailed bitterly.
"Qin Shang, you carry quite the arrogant might!"
The newcomer was none of other than Guangming Zi, his entire body radiating a dazzling, blinding light. However, the brilliance quickly subsided, leaving his eyes flashing with a sharp luminescence.
"Guangming Zi, are you dissatisfied? Do you wish to fight another match with this Qin?" Qin Shang said calmly, his sword intent surging straight into the firmament!
The crowd watched anxiously. If these two Deity Transformation powerhouses disagreed even slightly and broke into a brawl, the slightest mishap would catch them in the crossfire.
"Let's fight, then." The moment Guangming Zi's voice fell, a melodious tune drifted out, at times soothing, at times urgent. Ripples of energy undulated through the void, drifting outward to a very, very distant place.
A sudden gust of wind swept across the world, ruffling Qin Shang's white hair and making him look like an immortal sword cultivator possessed of transcendent bones and ethereal grace.
A figure with skin like congealed lard, a face like white jade, and cyan hair draped over her shoulders stepped forward. Her delicate fingers plucked at a zither—and this zither was unmistakably a quasi-divine treasure.
The newcomer was none other than the fifth-ranked figure on the Cangming Rankings, the "Goddess Mu Qing." The melody she had just played was none other than the Sound of Heaven and Earth, capable of stirring the seven primary human emotions, healing injuries, or taking lives with its notes alone.
Right behind her stood the fourth-ranked figure on the Cangming Rankings, "Yang Yang," who hailed from an immortal grand teaching.
"Good heavens, the top four of the Cangming Rankings have all arrived. Only that one is missing," Luo Zhan said in terror.
Goddess Mu Qing said softly, "Everyone, the Haotian mystic realm has not yet fully opened. What is the point of waging a great battle here?" Her voice was crisp, gentle, and pleasing to the ear, bringing a sense of comfort to all who heard it.
"Since the Goddess has spoken, I, Qin Shang, will grant Goddess Mu Qing this face. Guangming Zi, we shall settle our scores inside the mystic realm. Don't go shrinking behind a woman when that time comes," Qin Shang said, folding his arms around his sword as he closed his eyes to rest.
"Hah, who wins and who loses is still far from certain," Guangming Zi scoffed coldly.
Soon after, geniuses from the Cangming Rankings arrived one after another. Nearly half of the top one hundred had gathered, including prodigies from other domains, candidate divine sons of grand teachings, and core scions of ancient clans.
"This is the prelude to a changing of the heavens," an old-timer in the Nascent Soul realm muttered tremblingly.
"Since when do even Golden Core stage cultivators come to tread upon mystic realms?" Yang Yang declared, instantly unleashing his Deity Transformation domain. A sea of blood enshrouded the entire area. For three full breaths of time, countless Golden Core stage cultivators on the ground died without a single survivor. The remaining Nascent Soul cultivators felt a fury rising straight to their crowns, yet they dared not retaliate.
This person was none other than the Crown Prince of the Great Jin Immortal Dynasty, Yang Yang—an Early-stage Deity Transformation powerhouse!
Golden Core stage cultivators possessed no qualifications to participate. Such was the rule of the Cangming Realm, and the rule of the cosmos: only the strong could rule the universe.