Immortal Refiner

“His Highness Prince An has arrived!”

Accompanying the eunuch's shout, everyone in the Dao discussion arena looked over.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A giant elephant was seen slowly approaching, each step shaking the ground, its size quite enormous.

On the back of this gray giant elephant, an old man with white hair and beard was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, not distracted by the outside world.

Prince An was the fifth prince of the Great Yu Imperial Family, whose fiefdom was in the Jingtian and Yeshou commanderies in the southeast.

These two commanderies were not rich, but their territory was quite vast, with many alien races living within the fiefdom.

“The Elephant-Camel Clan of Yeshou Commandery is a powerful alien race. Is this the candidate recommended by Prince An for the competition? To allow an alien race to participate in the palace competition, is this appropriate…”

“The Imperial Grandfather did not say that this palace competition prohibits the participation of foreigners. Uncle Prince An's actions are reasonable and compliant.”

The speakers were two quite young members of the imperial family, whose cultivation was the weakest among those participating in the competition, only at the early stage of Divine Transformation.

But no one would underestimate them, because these were two Imperial Grandsons, highly favored by the Emperor.

The Great Yu Emperor had asserted that both of them had the potential to be crowned princes, and their hope of advancing to the Integration stage in the future was not small.

Even their future fiefdoms had already been chosen, one commandery each, adjacent to each other, both in the heartland of the Great Yu Kingdom, quite prosperous and wealthy.

After the giant elephant arrived at the edge of the arena, it voluntarily reduced its size, extending its long nose behind it to receive Prince An.

“Haha, I have kept you waiting. This Prince was delayed for some time on the road, I hope you will understand.” Prince An had an approachable attitude, his smile quite amiable and kind.

The giant elephant behind him slowly transformed into a human form, becoming an elephant-headed human, but a section of its long nose still drooped to the ground.

This was an Elephant-Camel Clan member in the late stage of Void Refinement, with a high status in his clan and a quite extraordinary bloodline. Being recommended by Prince An naturally meant he had extraordinary qualities.

“I didn't expect Fifth Brother to even invite the Elephant-Camel Clan. It seems you are determined to obtain this Xuan Iron Shield.” Prince Huai said with a light smile.

As he spoke, a refined young man with a scholarly air slowly walked out from beside Prince Huai. He bowed and cupped his hands, his etiquette very proper, and said: “If His Highness Prince Huai commands, Yan will naturally do his best.”

Earlier, few people had paid attention to this refined young man named Yan Huizhi, but as he appeared, everyone subconsciously narrowed their eyes.

“A member of the Yan family… I didn't notice it earlier.”

“Haha, this person must be proficient in the Yan family's 'Book of Changes'. Once cultivated to great success, it will cause people to unconsciously ignore this person's existence.”

“It seems he is indeed a member of the Yan family of Jinghe Commandery. I didn't expect Prince Huai to recommend him.”

In the Great Yu Kingdom, there were naturally some aristocratic families. Although they were not as powerful as the imperial family, they still held an extraordinary position, all of whom had fought alongside the founding Great Ancestor of the Great Yu Kingdom.

And this Yan family was one of them, with an unusually prominent status.

Now seeing the Yan family member walking so close to Prince Huai, many people revealed meaningful expressions.

Not long after, two more high-pitched shouts from eunuchs came from outside the arena:

“His Highness Prince Liyang has arrived!”

“His Highness Prince Louheng has arrived!”

One prince, one imperial grandson!

Li Qing, who had heard the relevant information from the eunuch yesterday, also looked sideways at this moment.

A young man in armor, riding a dark red unicorn horse, slowly entered the arena, possessing the temperament of a veteran soldier, obviously someone who had been on the battlefield for a long time.

The young man was wearing a black mysterious armor, his face as if carved with a knife, with distinct edges and corners.

At the first glance, Li Qing remembered the cavalry he encountered when he first came to the Canglan Continent.

The Thirteen Heavenly Cavalry Divisions of the Great Yu Kingdom were an extremely important military force in the entire dynasty, and Li Qing's eyes became much more solemn.

This Prince Liyang was definitely not simple, he should be a general in the Thirteen Heavenly Cavalry Divisions.

A prince who held military power, constantly fighting and killing outside, tempered by the battlefield, was by no means an ordinary person.

“No wonder the eunuch said yesterday that this Prince Liyang was very competitive, he is indeed not simple…” Li Qing muttered in his heart.

After Prince Liyang entered the arena, he nimbly dismounted and cupped his hands towards the crowd, saying: “Greetings, Imperial Brothers!”

Although he was higher in seniority than Prince Ning, he was much younger, but because of Prince Ning's cultivation, he still respectfully cupped his fists towards Prince Ning.

With his arrival, twenty-six people had already arrived for the palace competition, leaving only two people who had not yet arrived.

Just as some people frowned impatiently, wanting to know who had not yet arrived, the sky suddenly changed color.

A shimmering red carpet was seen unrolling, and at the other end of this red carpet, a luxurious phoenix palanquin was pulled out by two phoenix birds.

In the phoenix palanquin, a woman with a dignified air sat upright, her posture elegant, the phoenix crown on her head dazzling and radiant, echoing the phoenix robe on her body.

Behind this graceful and beautiful woman in palace attire sat two youthful and beautiful women, one lively and playful, one quiet and gentle, each with their own unique temperament.

When everyone saw the people in this phoenix palanquin, they all bowed and paid their respects:

“Greetings, Empress Mother.”

“Greetings, Empress.”

“…”

The woman in the phoenix crown revealed a gentle smile, gently stroking the phoenix palanquin, and said softly: “You may all rise.”

“Jianing, Jinhua, you two may also step down.”

The two women behind her immediately got up and stepped down from the phoenix palanquin: “As you command, Empress!”

She was the current Empress of the Great Yu Kingdom. No matter which prince or imperial grandson, even if their cultivation was strong and their status high, they could not help but call her Empress Mother at this moment.

The Empress slowly took out a Xuan Iron shield about the size of a palm. The moment this shield appeared, many people present were shocked.

Xuan Iron token!

“This Xuan Heavenly Divine Palace, this Empress has also heard of it for a long time. I didn't expect you to compete so fiercely for such a small shield, it's really outrageous.”

“If His Majesty hadn't been unable to bear it, I'm afraid the imperial family's face would have been completely lost by you.”

“Today's competition, frankly speaking, is for this so-called Xuan Iron token, but I still hope that you will not harm the harmony and let outsiders laugh at you.”

As she spoke, the graceful and noble Empress put away the Xuan Iron Shield in her hand, then slowly stood up and said, "Alright, the martial arts competition can begin. Whoever wins in the end will receive this Xuan Iron Shield."

"If any of you want it, then rely on your own abilities."

No one expected that the Empress would personally come to watch the battle.

However, upon further thought, the crowd realized that this Xuan Iron Shield was originally found by a palace maid in the harem, so this Xuan Iron token would naturally fall into the Empress's hands, after all, she was the master of the harem.

As the Empress announced the start of the martial arts competition, the atmosphere of the Dao Discussion Arena suddenly became solemn and tense.

Boom!

Several cultivators in the Void Refinement Stage simultaneously released their auras, causing the weather in the sky to change dramatically.

"Hehe, young people are full of vigor, but let's draw lots to determine the groups first. It's impossible for twenty-eight people to fight together in a free-for-all, that would be too chaotic."

Prince Huai chuckled and waved his hand, immediately calming the aura stirred up by so many Void Refinement Stage cultivators present.

His magic power was extremely profound, probably only one step away from the mid-stage of the Fusion Realm, and he easily accomplished this.

As soon as he finished speaking, a black lottery tube appeared in the air.

"You all inject your own magic power into it, and then draw lots separately."

Soon, everyone did as they were told, and they all shot out a magic power representing their identity into the black lottery tube.

Before long, twenty-eight magic powers flew out of the lottery tube again.

Li Qing looked up at his own magic power, which read 'C-6', meaning he was the sixth in Group C.

The twenty-eight people present were divided into four groups: A, B, C, and D. Seven people in each group would fight each other, and the seventh in each group would get a bye in the first round.

After the four groups had produced a final winner, two more rounds of fighting would be held to determine the ownership of this Xuan Iron token.

Interestingly, the three strongest cultivators in the late stage of Void Refinement present were assigned to three different groups, and all of them were the seventh in their respective groups, getting a bye in the first round.

No one expressed any opinion on this lottery result. Even if they knew that there was some manipulation involved, they could only accept it.

In this kind of competition, there is only one winner, so there is no possibility of luck.

If you want to win the Xuan Iron token, you can only defeat all the competitors.

Li Qing looked at his Group B. He was lucky, he was not assigned to the same group as the other three powerhouses in the late stage of Void Refinement.

But the competition in his group was equally fierce, because Li Yu, the direct grandson of the Prime Minister's Mansion, and His Highness, the Fifth Imperial Grandson, Lou Heng, were both assigned to Group B. Both of them were in the mid-stage of Void Refinement.

As for the other four people, they were ordinary. There were two Imperial Grandchildren with promising futures, whose cultivation was only in the early stage of Spirit Transformation, an Imperial Grandson in the early stage of Void Refinement, and a Princess named Qinghe.

Li Qing's luck was not bad. His first-round opponent was an Imperial Grandson with a handsome face and golden soft armor, holding a silver spear.

"Although I know that my cultivation is far inferior to yours, don't say anything stupid like asking me to admit defeat."

Li Qing heard this, cupped his fist, and said, "Then I'll have to offend you, Your Highness Huainan!"

Boom!

As soon as he finished speaking, this Imperial Grandson named Huainan immediately activated his strongest Dao technique.

A phantom of a fire unicorn leaped out from behind him, charging towards Li Qing with considerable momentum.

"I didn't expect to be able to see the Qilin Treasure Technique so soon, but this person's cultivation is too low to unleash too much power." Li Qing commented in his heart, his expression unchanged.

He pointed out a finger, and a wisp of dark flame flowed out, quickly turning into a wall of black flames.

Soul-Devouring Demonic Flame!

To deal with a cultivator whose realm was far lower than his own, even if the opponent possessed a True Spirit Treasure Technique, it was impossible for Li Qing to directly use his trump card.

He only activated one of his Heaven and Earth Spiritual Flames to entangle with it.

The Soul-Devouring Demonic Flame can now transform into various demonic beasts in his hands, lifelike.

From the black flame wall transformed by the Soul-Devouring Demonic Flame, one demonic beast after another burning with black flames rushed out.

Among them were Flood Dragons, fierce tigers, flying birds, and bears, all looking lifelike, not at all like they were condensed from flames.

This battle could not be said to have any suspense. Under Li Qing's exquisite flame control, the fire unicorn activated by His Highness Huainan was quickly defeated.

"Huff, the gap in cultivation is still too big, I admit defeat!" This Imperial Grandson, who was greatly favored, admitted defeat very readily, without any hesitation or struggle.

To this, Li Qing also cupped his fist and said, "Thank you for the concession, Your Highness Huainan!"

The rest of the royal family members were not too surprised by the result of this battle, and they all nodded and praised, "His Highness Huainan's understanding of the Qilin Treasure Technique is very thorough. If his cultivation can take a step further, the outcome of this battle should still be unknown."

"Yes, His Highness Huainan is still young. In the future, when his magic power is deep, the Qilin Treasure Technique will show its due brilliance in his hands."

"..."

After the battle, Li Qing returned to the stage again.

Fighting a cultivator in the early stage of Spirit Transformation, he basically did not even suffer any loss of magic power. Relying on the circulation of the five elements spiritual roots in his body, he made up for it in a short time.

The others didn't even pay much attention to him. If he hadn't been the person recommended by Prince Ning, I'm afraid no one would have even looked at him.

Now, the impression he left on everyone was just a Void Refinement Stage cultivator who was slightly proficient in the Fire Dao, and he was far from worthy of special attention.

On the other hand, the appearance of the next few people on stage left a deep impression on everyone.

Soon, the second round of competition began, and Li Qing looked at his next opponent.

Princess Qinghe!

"An Array Master..."