The Pure Land of Mount Tai was lush and green. The howls of various animals could be heard, and occasionally unknown birds of prey would swoop across the skies. They were ferocious beasts that came from the line of ancient historical beasts and much stronger that any beast of the present age. They resided in the nine divine peaks, and the divine aura of the main peak was the strongest.

There was a huge parade square on the holy and elegant main peak. It was the location where every meet would be held, and a huge palace was above it. It looked as majestic as royal palaces, and not only was it entirely white, countless rays of white light shot out from within, giving it a holy aura.

The Headmasters, elders and important figures of various sects sat in front of various palaces. Their cultivation base was profound, and they used magic to separate the other practitioners at the parade square. They seemed to solemnly discuss something. Everyone seemed to be especially focused on this Gathering of Practitioners.

The tradition during ancient historical times was to hold the meet once every five centuries, but to live for more than six centuries in the era of the late arts could already be considered as very fortunate. Those that lived for more than a millennium were known as Saints and exceptional talents that could enter the Voiding Realm. As such, the meets were held once every century instead.

Each meet would serve as an opportunity for the young prodigies of their generation to meet and interact with each other. Those that were ranked the top three of each meet would almost definitely be geniuses that could reach the Joint Tao Realm.

There was even a Greater Power during ancient historical times that predicted the emergence of a Great Age two millennia later during the era of late arts. There would be huge turbulence then, and among the strongest batch of geniuses that would rise up, one of them had a chance of attaining immortality in the Age of Dharma Decline!

The elders knew that there were too many exceptional talents attending this year’s Gathering of Practitioners. Since the Age of Dharma Decline, there had never been such a huge gathering of prodigies, and unquestionably this was the Great Age prophesied during ancient historical times. Who would stand out among the prodigies? This was their major concern, as it concerned the attainment of immortality after all.

Disciples of various sects had gathered in the parade square below, and the Headmasters and elders in the palaces began to scrutinize them. An elder of the Unfettered Sect nodded and smiled as he said, “Haha, Xiao Fengyi’s cultivation base has improved again. This is surprising.”

“That’s Wu Kuang from my sect, he’s also a talent that emerges once every few centuries!” Said a Lingwu Sect elder as he laughed.

“Haha, I saw him compete secretly with Lin Yangan of my sect just now, and they were on par with each other,” said a Zhenyang Sect elder.

“Jin Zhan from our Crazy Saber Sect is also no weaker than your disciples,” said an elder from the Crazy Saber Sect.

…

The sects were already competing with each other even before the meet had started. No one was willing to give in, and all of them felt that the talents of their own sects were the strongest. Suddenly, an elder from the Zhenyang Sect who had been resting opened his eyes. He looked below and remarked, “This swordsman from Shushan already has a Sword Core! They managed to find such a remarkable talent, which I believe will only emerge once every millennium!”

The attention of everyone else turned to the young man carrying a holy sword, and they took good measure of him. An old practitioner, whose hair was completely white, was so shocked that he took two steps back. “Is that sword he’s carrying… Scarlet Heaven, the Emperor’s Sword?” He said.

“What did you say?!”

Everyone turned to look at the youth again, and they realized that the sword he was carrying contained an overpowering aura, and its hilt was red. They then turned to look at the Headmaster of Shushan, and he sighed as he explained, “That’s indeed Scarlet Heaven, the Emperor’s Sword. I’ve already passed this ultimate treasure of our sect to Feng Tianming.”

Everyone was shocked upon hearing his statement. Scarlet Heaven was ranked third out of the 10 great swords. As the Emperor’s Sword, it would only acknowledge the swordsmanship of exceptional geniuses, and it was recognized by Shushan as its ultimate treasure after the sect obtained it. Only the Headmaster of Shushan could use it, and everyone could easily guess his intentions and determination from his act of passing the sword to this particular disciple.

“Are those the three fairies of the Palace of Hundred Flowers? All of them possess rare physical attributes, and one of them even seems to possess an innate spirit!” Someone exclaimed before the commotion had died down.

They turned to look downward again. The Palace of Hundred Flowers was famous for producing disciples that were great beauties, and they had three exceptional talents in this generation. They were stunning, and countless practitioners were completely head over heels as they watched them walk alongside each other.

The elders observed their physical attributes closely and realized that all three of them possessed exceptional physiques well suited to cultivation. One of them even possessed an innate spirit, and this was an attribute that was rarely seen even during ancient historical times.

The elders kept nodding and felt their emotions stir. Just as they were about to turn away, there was another exclamation. “That’s the secular monk Ning Zhe of the Buddhists, the disciple of the great monk! Rumor has it that he’s suspected to be the reincarnation of Buddha himself, and he’s so smart that he can understand any Buddhist doctrine. He’s already at peak Void Returning Realm strength!”

The elders turned their heads once again and looked at a Buddhist with thick flowing black hair. His forehead was bulging, and a faint gold glow emanated from his body. It was the sign of mastery of the Golden Buddha Manifestation technique, and all of the elders were shocked. Some of them even dropped their tea cups onto the ground.

An elder from the Lingwu Sect spoke up. “Perhaps only Leng Yueyan, the most exceptional genius of the Sect of the Nine Heavens, can compete with him in terms of talent. She possesses a body of Tao from ancient historical times and has a natural link with Tao itself. Combined with her exceptional skills of comprehension, she’s so amazing that even Sect Leader Leng would admit that she’s no match for her!”

All of the other elders bit down hard on their own teeth as they heard him speak. They had heard rumors about the girl. She seemed to have a body of Tao personally passed on by Leng Shuangrong, the leader of the Sect of the Nine Heavens herself. It was a physical attribute that could be ranked top three among its kind even in ancient historical times, and one could imagine how terribly powerful it was. Their discussion soon turned to the two Lengs.

“Ah? This is…!”

At this moment, another exclamation rang out among them.

The other elders felt like giving the person who shouted a good beating; they had enough excitement for the day, and their hearts nearly leaped out of their bodies. It had taken a long while for the commotion to die down before he shouted. “Is he trying to kill us with fright?” They thought.

They searched for the source of the shout with dark looks. They realized that it was the Second Elder of the Sect of the Nine Heavens, and it perturbed them.

There were already two great talents in his sect, and they had even won the last competition. The Second Elder, Zhang Tianhan, was usually a very steady presence, but he had unexpectedly exclaimed. It aroused the interest of the other elders, and they kept asking him about why he felt the need to shout.

Zhang Tianhan held a message in his hand, and he was closely reading it. “Qianchen sent me a message that there’s a group of four, and all of them are prodigies of this current generation of practitioners. One of them is a disciple of Huo Heng, another is the inheritor of the Overpowering Halberd, while the other is from the line of Gui Guzi and the School of Diplomacy!”

Everyone’s expression changed the instant he made his statement, including that of the elders from Shushan and the Buddhists from Mount Fanjing. The Headmaster of Shushan frowned as he said, “What?! Four prodigies? The disciple of Sage Huo Heng, and the inheritor of the long lost Overpowering Halberd? Even Gui Guzi’s descendant has appeared, so what lineage is the last of their group from?”

Zhang Tianhan shook his head, his eyebrows still tightly furrowed. “Qianchen said that the last person refused to divulge his identity and claimed that he’s a liberal cultivator. However, he realized that the other three deferred to him, and his power is so great that even the Stone of Aura Detection I gave him could not determine how strong he was. Qianchen’s analysis is that only Leng Yueyan can defeat him.”

“This…”

Everyone present felt that this was impressive. Since when had another prodigy who could rival Leng Yueyan’s ancient body of Tao emerged in the world? Discussions broke out within the palace instantly.

Some of the elders were surprised, while the others were either happy or afraid. Those from the first group were surprised about the emergence of such a large number of exceptional talents in this era, while those of the second group were glad that there could be a Path to Immortality after all. Those of the last group, on the other hand, were afraid that the prodigies for their own sects could not match up to those from other sects.

“Amitabha, there’s no need for this, my friends. We’re lucky to be present in this Great Age, and to be able to witness the Path to Immortality. Furthermore, our disciples will have a chance to attain immortality. We should be happy; cultivation is about seeking for Truth and becoming an immortal. Why should we pay so much attention to all these worldly titles? Since the Great Age is coming, we should work together and step on the Path.”

The person who spoke was Reverend Qing Chan, the most revered great monk of the Buddhists. He placed his palms together and implored the other sects to not place too much importance to titles, causing the elders to turn peach red. They stopped discussing about such matters and realized that the monk was right. It was a miracle for a Path to Immortality appear during the era of the late arts, and they should work together so that all of them could embark on it, instead of worrying too much about the results of the Gathering of Practitioners.

“Reverend Qing Chan’s words are indeed powerful. All of you are so old, yet you are still so easily excitable,” came a cold and crisp voice. Shortly after, a beautiful woman dressed in grey Taoist robes appeared in the palace.

Her facial features were exquisite, and her grey eyes were alluring, but she was expressionless. Her discerning gaze quickly swept toward the principal seat.

“Sect Leader Leng!”

All of the elders exclaimed as they saw her, and they immediately settled down. She was Leng Shuangrong, the leader of the Sect of the Nine Heavens, and she reigned supreme over other practitioners with her Joint Tao Realm power. She was at the same level as Reverend Qing Chan, and there were rumors that she was even slightly more powerful. The only person who was on the par with her was the man she once loved.

“Since everyone is present, and the time is about right, let’s begin!” Leng Shuangrong said. She did not bother herself with the reactions of the elders and instructed the First Elder of her sect to kick off the meet.

Moments later, everyone in the palace sat pristinely on their own seat. They removed all magical barriers surrounding them, so that they would be visible to all the practitioners. First, the First Elder of the Sect of the Nine Heavens explained the history of the meet and greeted the various sects. After that, a beautiful woman dressed in the robes of the Sect of the Nine Heavens rose from the throne in the middle of the palace.

She walked unhurriedly to the main hall of the palace and turned to face the disciples gathered on the parade square. “The Gathering of Practitioners has officially begun!” She announced with a wave of her hand.