“Young lord, the two have reached the stone stele.” In a building on the other side of the plaza, the silver-armored disciple of the city lord sat cross-legged in meditation. Seemingly resting for the moment, he opened his eyes and looked out a window at the stele, his gaze resting on Lu Yun and Qing Han.

“The Blood Ganoderma is a matchless spirit herb recorded in books dating before the ancient times,” murmured the disciple. “If I can obtain it and refine it as my replica, it will complement my true body and shore up any gaps. I will then absolutely triumph over the heirs of those old farts who refuse to die, and become the champion of the Sovereign Meet!”

The truest use of a supreme natural material wasn’t in consumption or refinement into a pill, but to refine a replica for oneself. In that way, the material would be in perfect harmony with the refiner, allowing its strength and essence to fully meld into their body.

However, the process of refining a replica was quite arduous, making it so that very few since the ancient times had found success. But for someone on the level of a disciple of Destiny’s city lord, it’d be a very easy task.

“Send someone to watch over those two and create some appropriate trouble for them. Force them out of Destiny City!”

……

Countless names covered the surface of the stone stele. Despite looking like there was no more space, it could remarkably still accept new names without the additions looking shoehorned in.

“Hahahahaha!!” Brays of laughter echoed around the plaza.

A boy had failed to carve his name into the stone and furiously demanded why this was so. The stele… had actually given him a response!

“Over-reliance on pills during cultivation, making for a weak foundation. Rejected.”

The boy flushed beet red.

“He seems… to be the grandson of an ancient grandmaster.” Someone recognized the irate requester.

“Ah, the descendent of a pill grandmaster huh? No wonder.”

Humiliation increasing at the sounds of discussion around him, the boy covered his face and fled. This was but a small interlude in the vicinity of the stone stele and didn’t affect too many.

“So we have to carve our names into the stone… does it have to be our real name?” Qing Han wondered out loud as she scanned the stone.

“No, it doesn’t have to be,” a teenager nearby answered kindly. “The names are just a moniker. You can write whatever you want, as long as you leave a mark on the stone. I don’t know which braggart started it, but someone started the practice of actually etching their entire name on the surface to prove how strong he was.

“Take me for instance, my moniker on the stele is ‘Future Immortal Emperor’.” The teenager grinned sheepishly.

“Future Immortal Emperor…” Snickers spread throughout the crowd when people heard the name. Wasn’t this guy calling someone else out for being over the top? He was the true braggart here!

“What are you all laughing about! Isn’t the ultimate goal of us cultivators to ascend to the heights of an immortal emperor and reign over the nine heavens?” ‘Future Immortal Emperor’ defended himself hotly.

Snickers grew into guffaws, but many peered at the stone to find that, yes indeed, there really was a ‘Future Immortal Emperor’ carved into it.

“Future Immortal Emperor, is it? And what’s that worth huh? Watch me, I’m going to be the Future Demon Sovereign!” A loud voice boomed out as a tall, stocky man strode up and firmly carved ‘Future Demon Sovereign’ into the stone.

Faintly golden splendor flashed over the stele’s surface as a Life Glyph flew out of the stone, landing in the hands of ‘Future Demon Sovereign’. He raised his head high and puffed out his chest, proudly scanning the crowd.

“He’s a devil from the Star Demon Sect!” Someone recognized the newcomer, but there were no further comments of censure.

All beings were equal during the Sovereign Meet being held in Destiny City, regardless of sect, clan, faction, or race. The city lord had just warned everyone not too long ago that no fighting would be tolerated in the city for the duration of the tournament, an area which included the satellite cities around the main city.

Apparently, two dao immortals had disregarded the order and clashed with each other in one of the satellite cities anyway. Their disagreement was quickly ended when the city lord smacked them both to death at the same time with his two hands.

“His cultivation is at the void realm! Pity, though, he only got there after the Dao Flower disappeared, so he didn’t receive its blessings.”

“Not a pity, a boon! Thank goodness a devil from the Star Demon Sect didn’t get the Dao Flower’s blessings!”

“Right right right, a huge boon! Thank the heavens!”

The natural scowl on ‘Future Demon Sovereign’s’ face darkened when he heard the strains of conversation around him.

“Me next!” Amused by Future Immortal Emperor and Future Demon Sovereign, Qing Han bounded up to the stone stele.

After some thought, he quickly wrote two words down on the stone.

Qing Yu.

Hum.

A pillar of rainbow light shot into the sky and dyed the stele all colors of the rainbow. The name ‘Qing Yu’ glittered with sparkling radiance, eye-catching in the extreme.

Everyone quieted down and stared at the sparkling characters.

“Qing Yu.” A smile flitted across Lu Yun’s face as he looked at the slightly frail figure in front of the stone stele. Meanwhile, the other cultivators stared in a daze.

“Qing Yu? A Qing surname? Is he part of the Qing Clan? But I’ve never heard of a genius called Qing Yu from that clan… though Dao Sovereign Qing Han comes from them.”

“The world of immortals is vast, who says someone with a Qing surname has to come from that clan?” snorted an onlooker. “Look at that stele, there’s at least a thousand Lu Yuns on it. Are all of them the lord of Dusk Province?”

Wordless exasperation descended on Lu Yun when he heard that. Upon taking a closer look at the stone, he found that yes, there were indeed roughly a thousand Lu Yuns in a certain portion of the stele.

Of course, not all of them were called Lu Yun. A great deal of them were like the Deaf Prince, people who viewed him as their idol. In short, they were a bunch of fanboys.

“But that Qing Yu is obviously a tremendous genius to be able to elicit this kind of phenomena from the stele. Although he’s only spirit realm, he’s on par with those void realm cultivators, or even stronger.”

“Not even void realm cultivators got this kind of response…”

“It’s a pity that the Dao Flower’s disappeared so he won’t be getting the flower’s blessings or creating his own void realm method.”

“Not at all. It’s a good thing he wasn’t born in the Qing Clan, or the clan would think he’s a traitor because of his potential and hunt him throughout the world.

“Hahahahaha, that’s so true. The Qings are such a weird clan. The more of a genius you are, the more they ostracize you. The weaker and more idiotic you are, the more they protect you. Apparently, their young master Qing Buyi is a heckuva cultivator who can casually slice up dao immortals, but his personality underwent a huge shift because they hated on him since he was young.”

The expressions on the Qing cultivators in the immediate surroundings were forebodingly dark. Qing Han… the first Dao Sovereign beneath the Dao Flower had once been from the Qing Clan, but the clan had viewed him as a traitor and exiled him.

They were now an incredible joke in all parts of the world.

“That Qing Yu’s potential is extraordinary. Since his surname is Qing, he must have something to do with our clan. We need to think of a way to pull him to our side,” murmured a Qing immortal.

“Your turn!” Hands behind his back, Qing Han skipped back to Lu Yun, but then suddenly seemed to think better of this stance. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and grinned merrily at Lu Yun.

Lu Yun smiled back, then walked up and carved in a few characters: Qing Yu’s Sidekick.

Wham!

The stone stele shook again as bolts of golden light converged on the three words, then shot into the air.

“Void realm!!”

“He’s a void realm powerhouse, and one that’s been blessed by the Dao Flower!” 

Shrieks of surprise and shock erupted in the crowd.

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