Nearly 1,500 people stood in a huge courtyard inside a massive underground cavern, all facing a thirty-foot-tall circular gate. Surrounding them were the dilapidated remains of what must once have been a sprawling underground city, now mostly reclaimed by time. What had likely been a bustling trade center—an outer face of the Thousand Life Pavillion Sect—was now a dark, collapsed ruin, heavy with the damp, musty smell of decay.

  Each organization present had brought close to 500 disciples for the opening of the Life and Death Divine Realm. Cade stood near the front with Aria, positioned just behind Grandmaster Erendriel and three other Sword Saints. Behind them stretched a line of several top Sword Dao disciples. All the Saints wore their official robes, richly embroidered in red and gold.

  King, Reeve, and Jade were somewhere amid the small sea of black robes along the courtyard’s outer edges, while all inner court disciples stood behind a group of several dozen white-robed core disciples. Everyone—except Cade. He was aware that his inner court robe attracted curious glances.

  The same formation repeated for Shadow Dao Palace and the Tower of Arts. Their elders stood at the front, facing the gate, wearing the official colors of their stations: dark gray and midnight blue for Shadow Dao Palace, and three distinct colors representing the main schools within the Tower of Arts. All the peak figures kept their auras restrained, but Cade’s life sense gave him enough information to gauge their cultivations. Truly powerful experts had gathered here, with their personal and named disciples standing close behind.

  While the elders discussed the opening of the Divine Realm through their soul sense, Cade observed the crowd with keen interest. It wasn’t often he saw so many geniuses and ancient monsters gathered in one place.

  The bald assassin elder with orange spectacles was present, and when their eyes met, the Asura cupped his fist and bowed his head. The man responded with a small, tight-lipped smile. However, the young blond woman standing behind him gave Cade a thunderous glare.

  What did I do to her?

  He couldn’t recall ever meeting this woman before—and he’d definitely remember if he had. Besides the venomous look in her cold blue eyes, she was very attractive. Her face might even be called beautiful, if not for the malicious gleam in her eyes. Though her cultivation was only in the early Muscular Enhancement stage—roughly equivalent to early True Core—her physique was slim and graceful, lacking the overdeveloped musculature typical to body refiners. She wasn’t quite on Aria’s level of charm, but few female disciples present could match her good looks.

  Cade’s knowledge of assassins wasn’t deep, but he understood they relied on more than brute force. They developed many auxiliary skills that helped them claim their targets’ lives. He figured being pretty didn’t hurt when it came to manipulation—a tool this woman doubtlessly wielded without hesitation.

  All the assassins wore scarves around their necks and martial robes with hoods—though both were currently lowered. Unlike the Sword Dao and Tower of Arts, all their outfits were identical; even the elders dressed as plainly as their disciples.

  “Martial Sister, do you know anything about these people?” Cade whispered to Aria.

  The beautiful fey nodded, following his gaze toward Shadow Dao Palace’s side of the courtyard.

  “You seem to know the bald elder—Master Salizar. He’s one of the most powerful assassins in the Shadow Dao Palace, even though other elders have higher cultivation. The woman behind him is Cara Long, his personal disciple—a high noble from the south and very talented. She doesn’t seem to like you for some reason. I’m curious why,” Aria replied softly, a slight smile tugging at her lips.

  “I have no idea. I’ve never even seen her before, let alone met her. Though maybe…” Cade tilted his head, studying Cara’s face. Something about it tugged at his memory, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t place the similarity.

  Their eyes met, and she scowled, making a quick throat-cutting gesture with her thumb. He shrugged, offering a wide grin in response. If Cara Long wanted to scare him, she’d need more than empty gestures.

  Even though Cade didn’t remember seeing her anywhere, someone was always trying to kill him—and he was getting used to it. At his current strength, he wasn’t worried about anyone below the middle stage of the third tier, whether assassin, sect elder, or ghost.

  “She certainly seems to know you well enough,” Aria chuckled softly, throwing him an amused glance.

  “Yeah, it appears so,” Cade grimaced. “And the grim-faced elf beside her?” he asked, shifting his gaze to a tall, brooding figure standing next to Cara. He was surprisingly muscular for an elf, pale-skinned with dark circles under his eyes. His long black hair was tied into a topknot.

  “That’s Elanis. Poisoning is his specialty. Don’t be misled by his middle Skeletal Reinforcement cultivation—his poisons are what make him truly dangerous,” the fey warned quietly.

  “Thanks. I’ll keep that in mind. What about the Tower of Arts?” Cade asked, turning his attention to the other side of the courtyard.

  “Their elders represent three schools—fire, water, and lightning. They come from ancient inheritances and wield extremely powerful spiritual qi arts,” Aria whispered. “The tall fey wearing white with orange trim, standing behind the orange-robed woman, is Malon. He’s a prodigy of the Voidwalker clan, and his specialty is fire arts, as you’ve probably noticed. His master is second only to the Tower Patriarch.”

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  “Oh? I see you both have silver hair—is he family?” Cade asked, curious. Malon was handsome, and his cultivation was at the great circle of Foundation Establishment. Only then did Cade realize the orange-robed female elder in front was at the great circle of Soul Avatar, essentially halfway into the Divine Transformation realm.

  “Maybe long ago all Voidwalkers were closely related, but now… the clan is more like a huge sect with its own rules. I belong to the main family branch, and most of us don’t know each other,” Aria sighed. “However, I’ve met Malon many times.” Her voice hardened. “My family and his aren’t on good terms, though it wasn’t always that way. We often end up at the same events.”

  Malon glanced their way, scoffed, then looked away as if they were dirt.

  “I see.” Cade didn’t know what else to say. Clearly, there was history between Aria and Malon, but it wasn’t his business. “What about the other Tower disciples?” His eyes landed on a young female elf with pale skin and black hair, quite stunning. Her robes were white with blue accents. She stood behind a blue-robed elven woman whose calm, ageless face and relaxed demeanor suggested great cultivation. Cade’s life sense confirmed she was in the late Soul Avatar stage, matching Grandmaster Erendriel.

  “That young elf in white and blue robes is Syllia; she’s a true genius of the Water School. I don’t know her personally, but I’ve heard she’s kind and often helps other disciples,” Aria said.

  “Good. At least one person here won’t be trying to kill me,” Cade breathed a sigh of relief, and Aria laughed quietly.

  “The third prodigy you should watch out for is Lyra of the Lightning School,” the fey said, switching her gaze to a gorgeous elven woman with very long, vivid violet hair, dressed in white-purple robes. She was short for an elf and wore a look of disdain.

  “I’ve never seen violet hair on an elf before,” Cade remarked.

  “I’ve heard she’s refined a young lightning spirit, and her hair color is a side effect; her nails have also turned deep violet. I’ve never met her, but word is she’s powerful and has a nasty temper,” Aria explained softly. Lyra’s cultivation was early True Core; she likely planned to break into the middle stage with help from the Spirit Pool.

  After spending weeks inside the coffin, Cade had been reading extensively, taking advantage of his mind avatar’s slowed perception of time. He couldn’t recall where he read about dao spirits, but he knew they were very rare, at least on the Sun Continent.

  Wherever laws condense enough, there was a tiny chance for consciousness to emerge and take form. These spontaneously created existences were dangerous and unpredictable, but capturing one could drastically improve power in arts related to the embodied laws. The older the spirit, the stronger its mastery—and the greater the risk in claiming it.

  “She certainly doesn’t seem like someone looking for friends,” Cade said. Lyra’s uninterested gaze passed over them without so much as an acknowledgment. “Anyone else I should note?”

  Aria hesitated briefly before shaking her head. “I don’t think so, but you never know who’s hiding their true power,” she said, sending him a meaningful look.

  “Yes, well. We all have our secrets,” Cade coughed into his hand.

  “That we do,” Aria nodded with a knowing smile. When she saw the Mirror Tyrant, the old bastard was already dead, and his qi fluctuations were minimal; hence, the fey wasn’t able to get a measure of the old man’s cultivation at the time. She likely suspected he was close to the peak of Foundation Establishment after speaking to Naia, who was too weak to precisely tell the Tyrant’s rank.

  Someone killing a cultivator two full stages above them was borderline ridiculous, but at least possible in theory. Killing someone a full realm higher? Preposterous, likely why stronger cultivators dismissed him. To people like the Duke or Emperor, he was merely a low-ranked lackey.

  Cade’s silent deliberations were interrupted by a sudden, booming voice.

  “Welcome, disciples, to the opening of the Life and Death Divine Realm!” The orange-robed elder from the Tower of Arts stepped forward, dignified, with an ageless face framed by snow-white hair, radiating ancient wisdom.

  “In a moment, we will open the gateway. Our three sects have cooperated for over 40,000 years so our top talent can enter the Divine Realm and see if fate has blessed them with any of the thousands of precious objects inside.”

  The elder paused, slowly scanning the excited crowd.

  “Countless lucky opportunities await you inside—as long as you are bold enough to claim them. Let me remind you all that your respective organization has first buyout rights. Anything you bring from inside the Realm that you wish to sell must be taken to your quartermaster first. They will never pay less than Treasure Emporium!”

  His words carried steadily, reaching the furthest edges of the courtyard.

  “Our three organizations are but flies on the wall compared to the south of the Sun Continent. We rule a tiny territory, but that need not be the case. Even one ancient treasure can change a sect’s fate. Each of you will pick up a memory crystal listing items your sect seeks before entering the world gate. These will be purchased at a significant premium.”

  Cade noticed three large containers set around the circular gate, accompanied by the melodious chime of crystals—each marked with its organization’s emblem.

  “Lastly, remember every hour inside is precious. Don’t waste time on personal grudges; use this rare chance to grow stronger! Fellow Elders, please join me.” The orange-robed elder nodded toward the crowd and stepped before the world gate.

  Three other elven elders from the Tower of Arts joined him—the three School Headmasters among them. Four Saints from Sword Dao Monastery followed, and four Master Assassins stepped forward as well.

  When the elder mentioned personal grudges, Cade’s gaze drifted involuntarily to the blond assassin. She stared at him with a hateful glare, her pretty features twisted into a scowl. He saw her clenched fists, knuckles whitening, and sighed wearily.

  Meanwhile, the twelve elders began casting seals, each launching a thick, buzzing beam of condensed spiritual energy at a large black crystal set above the gate. When the twelve beams converged, the world gate began to rotate. Cade realized it was made of three distinct rings, each a complex formation on its own. Eventually, the rings stopped turning, and the air was sucked out of the cavern through a tiny dark hole that appeared in the gate’s center.

  The hole rapidly expanded until it filled the entire 30 feet of the gate, then flashed brightly. With a resounding boom, the darkness transformed into an image of a purple sky, streaked with thin, pale clouds, with ruined ground visible far below.

  “All Sword Dao disciples, proceed as agreed. Anyone caught pushing ahead will be sent to the very back. You’re all adults; act accordingly,” Grandmaster Erendriel said sternly. Representatives of the other organizations echoed the warning.

  The three sects formed neat queues, with personal and named disciples at the front, followed by core disciples, then the inner court.

  “Alright, let’s go. The adventure awaits!” Cade grinned at Aria, rubbing his hands excitedly.