Before Zhang Xuan knew it, he was already standing before a vast and boundless ocean. He could feel a great amount of divine energy pulsating within the ocean, and he could see innumerable surges of golden Aura of Divinity swimming freely within the water.
For some reason, he had to concentrate really hard in order to move his hand. He wanted to reach out to grab a surge of Aura of Divinity from the water, but as his body moved, his surroundings suddenly receded from him like an ebbing tide, plunging him into darkness.
When he opened his eyes once more, he found himself seated back in his room.
It was as if what he had just seen was nothing more than a dream.
“Was it a hallucination?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
He had never encountered any inner demons of his own ever since he started cultivating, and the inner demons that dared to appear before him ended up becoming his students. As a result, he had never seen experienced any hallucinations before. Why would he suddenly start facing such a problem now?
Did this mean that the cultivation technique he comprehended was flawed?
With such a thought in mind, Zhang Xuan quickly took out an empty book and began writing his comprehension of the Pathos of Heaven down on it.
But before he could even finish jotting it down, the book suddenly dissipated into ashes.
This shocked Zhang Xuan.
He had not used any cultivation technique, and he did not exert much strength. He was simply writing as he usually did, but the book abruptly dissipated, as if its pages were unable to harness the knowledge of the Pathos of Heaven.
Zhang Xuan looked at the ashes before him in bewilderment for a while before he took out a resilient alloy from his storage ring.
Judging from its quality, it should be possible to forge a middle-tier God artifact using it. Even with Zhang Xuan’s strength, it would be difficult for him to leave a dent in it.
With a brush in hand, he began writing down the Pathos of Heaven on it.
Hu!
Once again, before he could even finish jotting down his cultivation technique, the alloy suddenly disintegrated into dust. It looked as if it was also unable to harness the knowledge of the Pathos of Heaven…
“The Pathos of Heaven is a cultivation technique that is beyond the understanding of the heavens. This is a sign that the heavens of the Firmament forbid its existence here…” Zhang Xuan sighed deeply.
He knew the strength of the Pathos of Heaven. Even though it was free and unrestrained, it was far stronger than the perfect Heaven’s Path Divine Art that he had cultivated thus far. This meant that it was a cultivation technique that had surpassed the heavens.
How could the heavens permit the continued existence of something even stronger than itself in the world?
“This explains why I was unable to summon the God Ordeal back when I was still in the Azure…” Zhang Xuan widened his eyes in realization.
Cultivation ordeals were the manifestation of the heavens’ rage toward the cultivators who dared get too close to them.
Yet, when he summoned his cultivation ordeal, the latter had completely disregarded him, choosing to strike Little Chick instead. That bizarre occurrence had left him baffled for a long while, but thinking about it, he might have unwittingly stepped out of the heavens’ jurisdiction, becoming an existence that even the heavens dared not punish.
“Even if I can somehow find a way to write down the Pathos of Heaven, there’s no guarantee that the Library of Heaven’s Path will be able to evaluate it. It seems like I can only count on myself!”
All along, Zhang Xuan had relied on the Library of Heaven’s Path in order to perfect all the techniques he had practiced, thus ensuring that he was on the right path. However, it seemed like he had finally reached a stage where he could not rely on his trusty golden finger anymore.
He only had himself to count on. He would have to slowly figure things out through trial and error and take a step forward at a time.
Fortunately, the sheer amount of knowledge he had accumulated through reading millions upon millions of books provided him with the foundation and intuition he needed for this daunting task.
With a helpless sigh, he quickly reviewed his understanding of the Pathos of Heaven, and so far, he was unable to find any incongruencies in his comprehension. So, he took out the God Essence Pills in the jade bottle and continued swallowing them one after another.
Some time later…
Pilipala!
A series of cracking sounds could be heard from Zhang Xuan’s body as he rose to his feet. Somehow, he looked much taller than before.
Vaguely, one could feel a stupendous amount of divine energy circulating within his body. Judging just from the quantity of energy, he was at least two times stronger than before.
“I have reached low-tier God realm pinnacle,” Zhang Xuan murmured as he stretched his body to loosen up his stiff joints.
The last few hours had been rather fruitful. He had managed to raise his cultivation from low-tier God realm primary stage to pinnacle, and he was not too far off from making a breakthrough.
If not for the fact that he did not have sufficient God Essence Pills, he might have already become a middle-tier God.
“But again, it wouldn’t be wise for me to force a breakthrough right now…”
Having read through the books that Streak of Gray had left behind, he had been able to gain some understanding of the various cultivation realms of godhood.
Given his current condition, it would be possible for him to become a middle-tier God as long as he had sufficient spiritual energy.
However, he had only managed to bulk up his divine energy thus far. His physical body and soul had not grown correspondingly stronger.
If he forced a breakthrough, his body and soul would be placed under great pressure from the immense divine energy flowing through his meridians.
Once that happened, not only would he be unable to exert his full strength, it would also be equivalent to having a ticking time bomb within him. He would be taking on unnecessary risks.
Looking out the window, he saw that the sun had already risen high in the sky. It was probably around noon.
Barely after Zhang Xuan walked out of the room, Sun Qiang immediately approached him.
“Young Master, I have managed to gather some information regarding the Aura of Divinity! Just like Mo Yuan mentioned previously, the Aura of Divinity is a carefully controlled resource, and the only way one can acquire it is through scaling the Celestial Mountains. However, the Celestial Mountains are not places where a cultivator can visit anytime he likes. They only open once every half a year, and only those who are deemed qualified are granted entry to the region.”
“Deemed qualified?” Zhang Xuan frowned.
“That’s right. Only a thousand cultivators are allowed to enter the Celestial Mountain at a time, which means that one must find a way to get onto the name list in order to be granted an opportunity!” Sun Qiang replied.
“I see… How long do we have before the Celestial Mountain opens once more?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“We have less than one day. The Celestial Mountain opens tomorrow,” Sun Qiang replied with an awkward smile.
This abrupt news left Zhang Xuan slightly stunned. He did not think that time would be so tight. Taking in a deep breath, he asked, “How can we make it onto the list of candidates?”
“Those who are beneath thirty-years-old and possess cultivation beneath the God realm are qualified to apply for the candidacy to enter the Celestial Mountain, but the results of the selection are already out… The only way we can get onto the list now is by challenging those on the name list and defeating them. We’ll be able to replace them.”
Sun Qiang paused a moment here before continuing. “It’s just that the presence of this rule has led to those who are on the list going into hiding. There’s no way they will risk losing their chance to enter the Celestial Mountain. Furthermore, most of the candidates are from major powers, so it won’t be easy to replace them!”
There was a good chance that they could become a god after entering the Celestial Mountain tomorrow, so who would be so foolish as to stake their future on a duel?
There was a huge difference between a god and a non-god. If they missed this opportunity, they would lose their right to continue cultivating.
“Is there no other way to go about this?” Zhang Xuan asked with a deep frown.
Given the capabilities of him and his students, he was confident that he would be able to acquire the required slots by tomorrow. That did not pose a problem at all.
However, he felt uncomfortable doing that. He would be robbing others of the hope for a better future, and that would weigh down on him.
He knew that the Firmament was a place where the powerful could do whatever they pleased, but that was not the kind of person he wanted to be. If possible, he did not want to resort to that.
Sun Qiang pondered for a brief moment before replying, “Based on what I have heard, there is another way. Perhaps because the Sky of Drifting Specters felt that giving a thousand slots to Twilight City is too little and would risk major chaos, it bestowed another two hundred slots to the City Lord Manor, otherwise known as Netherworld Palace. Netherworld Palace placed these slots on sale, and those who successfully acquire these slots are also able to enter the Celestial Mountain.”
Twilight City was governed by rules, and those who flouted the rules would be severely punished. But when a person was completely deprived of hope, they would not hesitate to take risks to achieve what they wanted.
It was to avoid such a situation from happening that the Sky of Drifting Specters prepared such a hand.
“On sale? So, the slots go to the highest bidder?” Zhang Xuan frowned in confusion.
If that was the case, a person who had enough money would potentially be able to take all the slots. This was no different from open bribery!
“That isn’t it. The price of the slots isn’t too expensive. The key to acquiring the slots is not money but luck!” Sun Qiang replied.
“Luck?” Zhang Xuan repeated in bewilderment.
How did luck find its way into the equation?
Nodding earnestly, Sun Qiang explained, “These slots aren’t sold directly to the cultivators but through a system similar to dice rolling. Netherworld Palace put a hundred numbers on sale for each slot, and a cultivator can choose to buy any of the numbers. Once all hundred numbers have been bought, the results will be announced right after. The person who bought the right number will acquire the slot, and the rest can only try again next time.
“To prevent abuse of the system, there are certain rules put in place. A person can only purchase one number a day, and each number can only be bought by one cultivator.”
“This…” Zhang Xuan was taken aback.
This sounded no different from gambling!
With a doubtful look on his face, he asked, “How much does it cost to buy a number?”
“I wouldn’t say that it’s really expensive, but it isn’t cheap either. Each number costs a Divine Coin!” Sun Qiang replied.
Zhang Xuan nodded slowly.
A Divine Coin was expensive to the common populace, but it was not a completely unreachable goal. In a sense, they still stood a chance even though it was extremely slim.
At the same time, it was not cheap enough for the rich to abuse the system. It was true that they had an advantage in terms of money, but given a probability of one percent, they would have to spend dozens or even hundreds of Divine Coins before they were guaranteed a slot…
That was one hell of a lot of money, and even those from wealthy clans could not afford to squander their fortune like that!
While it was practically gambling, Zhang Xuan had to agree that it was a fairly good idea in order to placate the various parties within the city.
“Where is Netherworld Palace? I want to take a look at it myself,” Zhang Xuan said as he began walking over to the entrance.
After taking a few steps, a thought suddenly passed through his mind, and he instructed, “Bring Zhao Ya and the others over.”
Naturally, they should be present too since it concerned their chances of entering the Celestial Mountain. Furthermore, since a person could only buy a single slot each day, they would need as many people as possible to maximize their chances.
“Alright. However, Netherworld Palace seems to be quite far from here, so it might take seven to eight hours in order to get there,” Sun Qiang said.
“It’s fine. We can ride the horses there,” Zhang Xuan replied with a smile.
They still had the Semi-Divinity realm horses that they had taken from the bandits. Riding on horseback, they should be able to get there in an hour’s time.
Without further ado, Sun Qiang quickly moved around the residence to gather Zhao Ya and the others in the courtyard.
Judging from the thrilled looks on their faces, it seemed like Sun Qiang had already filled them in on the details.
“Let’s set off!”
Zhang Xuan and the direct disciples quickly climbed onto their horses and set off.
Just as he had estimated, they arrived before Netherworld Palace in around an hour’s time.
The group quickly found a place to dismount from their steeds before heading in.
The so-called Netherworld Palace was rather spacious, but it lacked the magnificence of the Ethereal Hall. Rather than a palace, it might be more accurate to call it a marketplace.
The area was flooded with people when they entered.
“I managed to acquire a slot! Is there anyone who wants to buy it? It’s on sale for fifty Divine Coins! I only accept full payment on the spot!”
“I want it!”
“Sell it to me instead. I’ll offer 51!”
“Hah! I’ll offer 52!”
A group of people immediately gathered around the person who had acquired the slot to make offers.
“A single Divine Coin is sufficient to buy a sliver of hope, so there are quite a few people who come in hopes of trying their luck. If they succeed, they will be able to sell the slot to others. As long as the price is beneath one hundred Divine Coins, there’s bound to be buyers. After all, even if you have one hundred Divine Coins, it would still be troublesome to gather trustworthy people to buy up every number of a certain slot, and that’s assuming that others haven’t taken up the other numbers…”
A probability of one percent didn’t mean that one would succeed just by buying a hundred numbers. Unless one found a way up to buy up all one hundred numbers of a certain slot, there was no guarantee that one would be able to obtain a slot.
“As time went by, people began making a business out of this. There are quite a few people that are trying to spot a trend in the numbers, hoping to make a killing out of this,” Sun Qiang remarked.
“Spot a trend in the numbers?” Zhang Xuan shook his head.
This was similar to the lottery in his previous life, so what kind of trend could there possibly be?
One would be better off living a down-to-earth life. The chances of making it big through working hard were much higher than winning the lottery!
Of course, there were many people who could not understand that, so there were still many people who lived day after day groggily, hoping that Lady Luck would favor them eventually.
He had seen too much of that in his previous life.
