Southern Continent, Dao Yi Sect.
This sect was the number one sect in the Southern Continent; it was even famous across the entire celestial clan. This was because a Grand Empyrean named Dao Yi was from this sect!
In the back mountain, there was a waterfall where the sound of water falling could be heard. There was a pond next to the waterfall, and a young man in a daoist robe was quietly sitting there. He held a willow branch in his hand and was hanging it over the pool as if he was fishing.
The moment Wang Lin passed through the eighth palace, the young man in the daoist robe opened his eyes. He raised his head to look at the blue sky and white clouds. He was calm.
“Passed the eighth palace…” The young man in the daoist robe smiled. He moved the willow in his hand and a ripple was set off in the pond. The scene of the Empyrean Trial appeared.
Most of the Northern Continent was covered in ice and snow year-round. The wind that caused the snow to dance howled like the cries of ghosts. This caused the hearts of most cultivators who came to the Southern Continent for the first time to tremble.
There was a mountain range in the northernmost part of the Northern Continent. The mountain was a huge glacier that hadn’t melted for tens of thousand of years. It was irregular and looked like swords piercing into the sky. The ice shined brightly under the sun and gave off a cold intent.
This place was the Northern Continent’s Grand Empyrean Wu Feng’s cave.
Under one of the glaciers sat a bald, middle-aged man who was extremely tall. The sun refracted off the glacier, and there was an illusion in the refraction. It showed the scenes inside the Empyrean Trial.
The tall, bald cultivator was calm and looked at the figure rushing toward the ninth palace. His eyes gradually lit up.
Once a cultivator passed through the eighth palace, the Grand Empyreans would know. At this moment, far away, on Mount Emperor on the Central Continent, a beautiful woman was standing among the falling, autumn leaves. One of the leaves was not moving and revealed the scenes of the Empyrean Trial.
Beside the beautiful woman sat an old man. The old man looked lazy as if he had no energy. Even though he looked over, he had no spirit. It was as if what was happening inside the Empyrean Trial couldn’t attract his interest.
The beautiful woman looked at the autumn leaf before her and softly said, “Teacher, if he passes the ninth palace, will you recruit him?”
The old man beside her opened his eyes and his gaze swept the autumn leaf.
“If Teacher recruited everyone that passes through the ninth palace, wouldn’t Mount Emperor become very noisy? The ninth palace is enough to attract the attention of Dao Yi and Wu Feng because they became Grand Empyreans later on and are eager to expand their power. Aside from cultivating the sixth Grand Empyrean, they also need to find someone to guard their reincarnation.
“But to Teacher, passing the ninth palace is like the ants on the ground. So what if one ant is slightly larger than the others? Only if he could pass the 15th palace like Ming Dao would teacher consider recruiting him,” the old man slowly said.
The beautiful woman silently pondered and bit her lower lip. She looked at the autumn leaf and didn’t speak.
Also in the Central Continent, in the imperial city, there was a rather luxurious palace. There was no one inside the palace, but there was a water curtain clearly revealing the scene of Wang Lin inside the Empyrean Trial.
Eastern Continent, the number one sect among the nine sects and thirteen factions. The Purple Yang Sect.
In the forbidden land of the Purple Yang Sect, in a stone room, a middle-aged man was looking intently at a huge mirror that showed the scene inside the Empyrean Trial. However, the golden light filled the mirror and the figure was a blur.
Beside the middle-aged man were two little girls, one wearing red and one wearing purple. Both were around seven or eight year old girls. Both looked like little jade dolls and their eyes shined brightly. They both looked lovely. At this moment, the little girl wearing red held her chin in her hand while playing with her hair and looked at the mirror. But in truth, she was thinking about going out to play. She looked at the girl in purple and the two winked at each other.
There was a cultivator beside the girl in purple. This cultivator had a bitter face and was crouched there with a chain around his neck. It looked like tears were about to flow out from his eyes. This came from years of depression, and he was in a sorry state.
“Eh, Little Wolf, what kind of expression is that? Little Wolf, be good, don’t be disobedient.” The girl in purple looked at the bitter-looking cultivator and raised her hand to pat his head. Every pat caused the cultivator to lower his head even more, and more tears built up in his eyes.
“Two little ancestors, ah… Don’t always think of playing… Alas, look at this person. I have investigated this person - he also came from the Eastern Continent. Whether or not he can pass the ninth palace, he needs to be recruited.” The middle-aged man was filled with bitterness as he spoke softly to the two little girls beside him.
“Ah, you deal with it as yourself. Han Han, you have to teach this disobedient Little Wolf. We should throw him into the Nine Yin Pool like the last time he was disobedient. After a few days, he became honest and even found a fun bell for us to play with.” The little girl in red smiled at the middle-aged man but walked next to the bitter-looking cultivator. She mercilessly patted the cultivator’s head with the girl in purple.
The middle-aged man watched this dumbfoundedly and smiled bitterly. He got up and bowed at the two little girls that were playing around, his expression very serious.
“Grand Empyrean Gemini!!”
The two little girls were still patting the head of the cultivator named Little Wolf. The cultivator’s tears finally began to flow.
“Ah, Wa Wa, is he crying?”
“He’s faking it. This Little Wolf is being disobedient, he must be faking it!”
The middle-aged man felt like he was going to become crazy and roared at the two little girls, “Grand Empyrean Gemini!!!” His voice was like thunder and the world trembled. The two little girls finally turned and looked at him.
“Little Gu Ya, are you also being disobedient?” The little girl named Wa Wa frowned and looked at the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man ignored her as he took a deep breath and said with a serious tone, “Grand Empyrean Gemini, this person needs to be recruited!”
“Then go recruit him. You can go, bring him back, and let us see him.” The little girl named Han Han waved her hand and grabbed the cultivator named Little Wolf. Then she disappeared into the stone chamber with the other little girl.
The middle-aged man was left there. He mercilessly grabbed his own hair and smiled bitterly.
As the golden light from the eighth palace shined in the Empyrean Trial, Wang Lin flew toward the ninth palace under the gazes of all the cultivators below. After a moment, he stepped inside without hesitation.
The moment he entered, all the cultivators held their breaths and stared at the ninth palace!
“The seventh palace has 63 planets, but the eighth palace has 81 planets! The ninth palace is considered the peak of Empyrean Exalt and therefore likely contains 99 planets!” Wang Lin stepped into the ninth palace and stared at the star system before him.
In the star system, 99 planets suddenly changed trajectories and flew toward Wang Lin. Nine of them released a bright, golden glow.
Wang Lin’s eyes narrowed and he didn’t hesitate to use not only his five-element true body and thunder essence true body, but also his three ethereal essences. He could fuse up to 23 spells into his body, so, with the help of his true bodies and essences, the total now was 92 spells!
This was Wang Lin’s limit before wearing the the soul armor. Just one punch or finger contained 92 spells. This made him infinitely close to an Ascendant Empyrean.
He raised his right hand and his eyes shined brightly. A sharp pain came from his right arm as it turned into the Yin Blade and he chopped down on the 99 planets in the simplest way possible!
This chop created 92 blade shadows, and they fused into one before sweeping across the star system.
Thunderous rumbles echoed and 92 of the 99 planets suddenly exploded. Before they completely collapsed, two shadows overlapped with Wang Lin’s body and then his five-element true body and thunder essence true body walked out. They flew toward the remaining seven golden planets.
The five-element true body flickered and turned into the water essence true body, fire essence true body, and the earth essence true body. Each of them charged toward a planet. Not far away, Wang Lin’s thunder essence true body released a powerful roar that shrouded the remaining four planets. Destructive thunder descended on the four planets and then they collapsed.
Although there was a gap between the destruction of the 99 planets, Wang Lin had done his best to reduce that gap greatly. From afar, it looked like the 99 planets had exploded at the same time.
The moment they exploded, a golden light spread out like a golden wave!
Before the gazes of many people, the ninth palace that had not shined for many years erupted with golden light to the shock and disbelief of the cultivators below!!
“He has passed the ninth palace!! After today, Wang Lin’s name will definitely shock the five major continents!”
“The ninth palace… The ninth palace!! Passing the ninth palace means the peak of Empyrean Exalt and only one step away from Ascendant Empyrean. Could it be that today I will see the birth of the 49th Ascendant Empyrean?!”
“I fear that all the Grand Empyreans are watching this place!!”
The cultivators below all gasped. Empyrean Exalt Zhu Lin bitterly lowered his head.
“Fellow Cultivator Wang Lin, congratulations on passing the ninth palace!” It was unknown who started it, but all the cultivators below clasped their hands at the sky.