Longzang

Chapter 1032 The Greatest Dharma Assembly Under Heaven (Part 1 & 2)
After the six immortal manifestations appeared, it was time for a break to allow all the cultivators to relax a bit.

At this moment, inside and outside the arena, in the heavens and under the earth, countless immortals are watching. Not only does no one dare to act recklessly, but many people also feel that they must try their best to perform, just in case they catch the eye of some immortal. If an immortal doesn't like them, then an immortal's daughter will also do.

Many female cultivators pray to be chosen by the descendants of immortals. If the descendants don't like them, they don't mind becoming a stepmother to the descendants of immortals.

Above the stands were rows of VIP boxes. These boxes were equipped with arrays to shield divine sense, so ordinary cultivators in the stands couldn't see them or even know they existed. This was also Wei Yuan's doing; keeping the elders from seeing the lives of high-ranking cultivators would make them much happier.

Wei Yuan naturally reserved a private room for himself as well. He was standing by the window, looking down at the six celestial images in the venue, and said, "The floor-to-ceiling windows of the outer world are still the best. They offer an unobstructed view and give the illusion of being able to control the human world."

Zhang Sheng sat casually by the window, resting his chin on the back of his hand, and said, "I feel like something's not right. It seems like something has infiltrated. There are many immortals in the arena, but precisely because there are so many, they are wary of and restrain each other, which gives certain guys an opportunity to take advantage."

A cold glint flashed in Wei Yuan's eyes, and he said in a deep voice, "Don't worry, I've been prepared for this for a long time. Those guys would never imagine that I've gathered the fortune of fifty million people in less than a year! Now, I'm in the Azure Netherworld, wielding the power of these ten thousand people. Once activated, I will become the force of heaven and earth!"
If they don't make a move, fine. But if they dare, let me lock onto them, and I'll suppress them with overwhelming force! Even immortals will have their cultivation levels reduced! I want to see how many immortals they can outlast!

Zhang Sheng smiled again and said, "You're angry again. That won't do."

Wei Yuan took a deep breath to calm himself down and said, "There's no way around it. I can't help it when I think about your calamity. Besides, there's no room for negotiation. We have to fight until one side is wiped out!"

Zhang Sheng pointed to the twelve dueling platforms below and said, "I sense that the fortunes of heaven and earth are converging on these platforms. It seems the real variable will emerge there. Shall we prepare in advance?"

Wei Yuan nodded in agreement: "Okay, then I'll go out for a walk."

"Go ahead, I'll stay here and watch."

Wei Yuan instinctively moved closer to her, but remembering the presence of the immortals, he held back. Zhang Sheng chuckled, "Go ahead! We can just show our sect elders some dog food; there's no need to let outsiders see."

"Dog food??"

Zhang Sheng said, "Haven't you read the latest storybook? For single people, this is what we call feeding dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection)."

Wei Yuan suddenly realized: "I see! Then feed them a few more bites!"

Zhang Sheng raised his hand, stopping Wei Yuan with his finger, and said seriously, "If it were just the two of us, there would be nothing wrong with it. But now that the Bao family's immortal ancestor is here, your several romantic encounters, now that they have occurred, must be taken seriously. In this kind of situation, you and I should keep our distance as a sign of respect. Otherwise, they will feel inferior for no reason."

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "Okay, then I'll get back to business."

Seeing Wei Yuan push open the door and disappear into the vast crowd, Zhang Sheng sat for a moment and then also disappeared from the room.

In another private room not far away, Princess Ningguo had removed all her clothes and was standing naked. The Sixth Princess was holding a handful of snow-white balm and applying it to her body.

"Ugh! Apply two more layers here, I absolutely can't let the dark skin underneath show! Thank goodness for this 'Concealer Fairy Jade Cream,' otherwise I wouldn't be able to go out... I need to apply it to the soles of my feet too! Don't be lazy!"

The sixth princess was busy and sweating profusely, but she managed to paint Princess Ningguo into a white jade doll before the deadline.

The intermission had arrived, and Princess Ningguo changed into a new outfit—a pale yellow ensemble. The multi-layered skirt, like flower petals, enveloped her, a yellow tinged with pink. Her face, like a tender bud, radiated a delicate charm, while her outstretched arms were as slender as willow branches, her fingertips sparkling with light. She descended slowly amidst a shower of petals and starlight, her flowing skirt fluttering past a flawless, porcelain-white face. Her eyes, both innocent and alluring, sparkled with captivating charm. This sweet and adorable appearance delivered another powerful blow to the hearts of countless naive young men!
Ning Guo was previously so beautiful and ethereal that she was so stunning that she left no room for imagination. But now, she is like a girl next door who has just come of age. With every glance she casts, everyone feels as if she is looking directly at them. How could anyone not be moved? At this moment, countless passionate young men feel that she is the moonlight of their youth, shining deeply into their hearts.

As Ningguo announced the start of the conference, the seventh immortal appeared.

On the jade platform appeared a thatched hut, inside which a scholar was reading aloud. The hut was small but exquisite, and a beautiful woman was there to add fragrance and grind ink for him.

A knowledgeable cultivator immediately recognized that the writing implements and the beautiful maidservant in the thatched hut were extraordinary. But in fact, this Dharma image had been famous throughout the world for a hundred years; the key was actually the scroll held in the scholar's hands.

That was a manuscript left by the sage, containing great cause and effect, great merit, while other scenery, including the scholar himself, was merely embellishment.

Upon seeing this image, those in the know understood that it must be a direct disciple of the Duke Yansheng. Before Li Zhi's birth, the Four Saints Academy relied on this image to maintain its prestige.

The eighth manifestation is a floating immortal sword, moving freely through the clouds. Although this manifestation appears simple, the immortal sword possesses its own spirituality and is actually a top-tier swordsman.

After witnessing the ferocious appearances in the first half, these two appearances seemed rather bland.

But then suddenly the sky darkened! A gigantic mountain descended from the heavens!

Many spectators were so shocked that their faces turned pale, and they all wanted to get up and run away. Fortunately, at this moment, the giant mountain quickly shrank and finally landed on the jade platform. Only then did everyone see that there was a small ape below the mountain, which was the Mountain-Moving Ancient Ape.

Following the Wasteland Nether Dragon, another divine beast has appeared. The tenth Dharma Form is somewhat strange; under the watchful eyes of everyone, a green sprout the size of a finger emerges from the jade platform, and then nothing more.

The time to test their knowledge had come again. The cultivators in the arena all said that they had seen such a Dharma form in an ancient book, that it was the seed of ancient immortals and gods, and they even brought up Qingdi, Gou Mang, and Jianmu.

Just as the cultivators were endlessly speculating, a giant fiery red bird descended from the sky and landed on the jade platform; it was a pure-blooded phoenix.

The last thing to appear was an exquisite nine-tiered pagoda, which looked rather ordinary.

At this point, all twelve candidates for the Immortal Avatars had made their appearance, including three ancient sacred beasts, a star lord, a ferocious creature, and an ancient saint, among others. Apart from that inexplicable green sprout, they still left the assembled cultivators utterly shocked.

Only then did the group of old masters in the mountains realize that there was no sun or moon in the mountains, and they never expected that such earth-shattering changes had already taken place outside.

Not to mention the old patriarch in the mountains, even the private rooms where the Sword Palace disciples were located were completely silent, everyone's expression solemn. They often went down the mountain to travel, so how could the outside world have suddenly become so brutal? How could anyone cultivate an invincible heart under such circumstances?
Some disciples even looked pale, suspecting that the two Dharma Aspects selected by the Sword Palace were actually favored by the Palace Master. After all, in terms of appearance and rank, they were clearly inferior to the other Dharma Aspects. In this conference, failing to be dazzling and impressive would be a failure.

After all twelve candidates for the position of Immortal Minister were revealed, twelve more enormous dueling platforms rose from the ground. Such a massive undertaking immediately drew the attention of even the immortals.

The competition emphasizes simplicity and brute force, with the strong being respected; therefore, the format is kept as simple as possible.

Each registered contestant can freely choose a dueling platform to fight. Losing two matches results in elimination, while winning three matches advances to the winners' bracket, where they can choose to rest until the final round, when they can choose another platform to challenge. The final person standing on one of the twelve dueling platforms can then fight against one of the twelve celestial candidates.

The rules for the magic duel are also very simple. The main taboos are that you must not curse someone's parents, children, or make someone grow grass on their head. You must not use people other than your own blood relatives as bargaining chips for casting curses. For example, true brothers can use curses, but good brothers cannot.

Immediately, a hotheaded youth jumped onto the dueling platform and roared, "A cloud in the Northwest Mysterious Heaven, I..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was kicked away and lost the first match decisively.

Following closely behind, people continued to take the stage, all with the same idea: those with real talent would likely observe first before stepping onto the stage, so why not take advantage of the chaos now and snag a couple of victories?

The contest of magical powers was the part that all cultivators enjoyed the most. Afterwards, light screens rose up in each audience seat, and the formation was activated.

The audience could place bets directly through the large array in real time. Wei Yuan provided each person with ten Qingyuan in original chips, which were given away as a gift.

If you don't have Qingyuan on hand, Qingming also offers mortgage loan services, which can be completed right here in your seat. Simply click the call bell, and a waiter will come to provide the loan service.

Thus, battles raged back and forth on the twelve dueling platforms like a revolving lantern, and the accumulated chips on the field grew ever higher, surpassing the ten million Qingyuan mark in the blink of an eye. But this was just the beginning; the climax would come when the twelve dueling platforms faced off against the candidates for Immortal Minister. The hundred thousand or so Qingyuan chips that Wei Yuan offered to the audience for free were merely bait to lure them into the game.

At this moment, a group of ordinary cultivators appeared outside the passage leading to the waiting area for the dueling battle. They presented their identification documents, and the guarding cultivators called out their names one by one: "Jun Weizhi, Han Li, Fuyao, Lei Ling, Tai... Taiyin??"

Each time a name was called, the cultivators would compare it with the registration information, and if everything was correct, they would let the person in. This group of people arrived very late, but many of the high-level cultivators had eccentric temperaments, so the Qingming working cultivators only needed to do their jobs.

After these people passed through, one of the working cultivators suddenly exclaimed "Eh!" with a strange expression. The other working cultivators gathered around and saw that this cultivator was holding an identity document. On the page where the array automatically detected and generated various data about the physical body, the physical body's age was clearly written as: one day.

The staff looked at each other, puzzled. The system couldn't be wrong, so where did it go wrong? However, this wasn't within their job scope, so they had no choice but to report the matter.

The complaint handling area was now bustling with noise, crowded with people complaining of unfairness and demanding transparency in the standards. They all felt they deserved to be among the candidates for the Twelve Immortals, and that not being selected was an injustice, a cover-up!
Li Zhi of Yanzhou finally managed to squeeze to the front of the crowd, slammed his fist on the worktable, and angrily shouted at the staff: "How am I not one of the Twelve Immortals? Are those two swords on the stage as powerful as mine? And that inexplicable monk, trying to compare Buddhist intent with me? Is he alright? If you don't give me an explanation today, I'm not leaving!"

The staff member, unfazed, said, "The table is 300 yuan. You'll have to pay for any damage. Thank you. Oh, you're not going to bid? Please wait a moment, I'll check for you..."

The result is in. According to the charter of this conference, candidates for Immortal Prime are limited to cultivators under the age of 229. Your spiritual age is 231, exceeding the age limit.

Li Zhi of Yanzhou stared in disbelief, snatched the regulations, and saw a staff member point to a background pattern between the lines. If this thin line were magnified a hundred times, it would be the age restriction clause.

Li Zhi laughed instead of getting angry. These two hundred and twenty-nine numbers seemed to have a magical quality to them, and were quite addictive.

At this moment, in the candidate area, a man slowly opened his eyes, sighed softly, and said, "I never thought that I, 'Western Sword Saint' Li Tai, would one day become famous throughout the world."

He suddenly reached out and pressed down on the old man beside him, saying, "Brother, calm down, there's no need for you to make your appearance yet."

(End of this chapter)