In the State of Jin, a vast expanse of mountains and rivers spanning hundreds of millions of square kilometers. Across this land, the fires of war had burned everywhere during the recent conflict between the Heaven-Defying Alliance and the Orthodox Immortal Sects. The Heaven-Defying Alliance had dared the audacious: they stormed Mount Wudang, attacked Mount Hua, broke Qingcheng, and left Kunlun teetering on the brink. Throughout the breadth of Jin, nowhere was considered safe—save for one profoundly mysterious central region.
At the very heart of Jin lay a territory known as Water Mirror Prefecture, one of the three thousand prefectures of the Great Jin Dynasty. This single province naturally held a population of two to three million. However, the recent turmoil had caused the populace of Water Mirror Prefecture to swell drastically, reaching tens of millions, as countless refugees fled the conflict to seek sanctuary here. Everyone understood, however, that no matter how audacious the Heaven-Defying Alliance became, they would never dare attack Water Mirror Prefecture.
Indeed, even after conquering the five High-Tier Immortal Sects and claiming dominion over Jin, the Heaven-Defying Alliance would not lay a finger on Water Mirror Prefecture. This place was a sanctuary.
Because Water Mirror Prefecture was, quite simply, a territory established by the Central Celestial Court. The provincial capital set up by the Central Celestial Court here was an area that not even the current Heaven-Defying Alliance—or the Alliance ten, a hundred, or even a thousand times stronger—would dare to touch. Such was the absolute deterrence exerted by the Central Celestial Court.
Legend held that a supremely powerful figure from the Central Celestial Court once visited this region and established a grand Water Mirror Art technique here. In the cultivation world of Jin, the most extensive "Water Mirror Art" rarely spanned more than a few li.
Yet, the Water Mirror Art established by this transcendent being of the Central Celestial Court actually covered an entire county’s worth of space. Water Mirror County, within Water Mirror Prefecture!
This very Water Mirror County was where that powerful entity from the Central Celestial Court had installed the Water Mirror Art. Within this county, the sky one looked up to was not the sky at all, but a vast screen of water—a curtain of liquid mirror. Normally, the air beneath it was refreshingly cool. But when matters of grave importance arose, one could view the moving pictures displayed upon this water screen.
Simultaneously, with a mere gesture from the hand of this Central Celestial Court master, Water Mirror Prefecture was declared a forbidden zone, where no cultivator, under penalty of death, was permitted to engage in combat. This was the origin of Water Mirror Prefecture.
To unleash a Water Mirror Art covering an entire county with a single move—such a feat commanded awe and admiration. It was terrifyingly absolute.
Of course, this supremely powerful figure from the Central Celestial Court did not establish this county-sized Water Mirror Art merely out of idleness. The true, profound reason was this: every two hundred years, the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment would take place, allowing the Central Celestial Court to observe the participants directly through the Water Mirror County capitals established across the various regions.
It was said that the purpose of this act was to publicize the prestige of the Central Celestial Court and attract even more prodigies.
Furthermore, the Central Celestial Court mandated that once the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment commenced, all nine hundred and ninety-nine nations across the world were forbidden from mobilizing troops or engaging in large-scale conflict. Settling minor personal grievances was permissible, but any large military engagement would invite the wrath of the Central Celestial Court.
The meaning was clear: once the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment began, cease all other endeavors and dutifully proceed to the designated Water Mirror County capitals to observe the proceedings.
This rule had persisted for an astonishing length of history—hundreds of thousands of years, perhaps even longer. There were nations and powers that had once dared to oppose this decree, but they were swiftly annihilated by the Central Celestial Court, ensuring that no faction dared challenge this matter in the present age.
The Hundred Kingdoms Assessment had begun.
In attendance to observe were representatives from Mount Hua, Wudang, the South Sea, Kunlun, Qingcheng, and numerous Mid-Tier Immortal Sects. The sect leaders of every faction had arrived, save for the leader of Mount Hua, Elder Lu, who was himself participating in the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment. Not only the sect masters were present, but also a host of pivotal figures from the Heaven-Defying Alliance.
One-Armed Ren Du, the killing-intent-laden Jing Huanzhen, the aged Tian Chou, Qiao Feidu, and others had already arrived. The Heaven-Defying Alliance was no longer at its peak strength; their masters had been reduced by at least half, most of these losses occurring at the hands of Mount Hua’s Elder Lu alone. Nevertheless, even in decline, as long as Ren Du remained, no one dared treat the Heaven-Defying Alliance lightly.
Ren Du’s strength was profound, his schemes venomous, and his ruthlessness absolute—far beyond the capability of other immortal sects to withstand. The only true counter to Ren Du was Mount Hua.
When the Righteous and Demonic paths met, cold snorts were exchanged as expected. However, within the precincts of Water Mirror Prefecture, fighting was prohibited; a few barbed retorts passed between them, and the matter ended there. At that moment, the scene above them flickered, and the first monumental character appeared: “Heaven.”
This character, “Heaven,” was pregnant with profound meaning, seeming to condense the infinite Great Dao and ultimate principles within its strokes.
Following it flashed “Immortal,” “Buddha,” “Demon,” “Devil,” “Dharma,” and so on. Each character flashed with blinding speed, every one imbued with the fundamental laws governing the cosmos. It felt as if one could learn untold secrets just by observing them.
Then, various spells, sword techniques, blade moves, Buddhist scriptures, and demonic/daemonic divine abilities manifested continuously in the void. Every technique displayed represented the zenith of cosmic transformation. Those from Jin, whether Grandmasters, Half-Step Grandmasters, or those of lower cultivation, watched in rapt fascination.
The Central Celestial Court truly was the sovereign among nations. Such a multitude of techniques existed under its purview.
After a brief silence, countless figures began to populate the surface of the Water Mirror Art, standing shoulder-to-shoulder. A disembodied voice then resonated from the mirror: “This time, the nations participating in the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment total only nine hundred and ninety-nine. The Southern Realm comprises two hundred and forty-nine nations, with ten thousand participants.”
“The Northern Realm, two hundred and fifty nations, ten thousand participants…”
“The Western Realm, two hundred and fifty nations, ten thousand participants…”
“The Eastern Realm, two hundred and fifty nations, ten thousand participants…”
At first glance, this seemed meager—a mere forty thousand participants. However, upon deeper reflection, the sheer terror of the number became apparent. These forty thousand individuals were all cultivators at the Great Dao Realm; the weakest among them possessed at least the Third Layer of the Great Dao Realm, with a significant contingent of actual Grandmasters present—perhaps no fewer than several hundred Grandmasters in total.
This… this was terrifying.
Mount Hua, even counting its underground demon populace and numerous cultivators at the First and Second Layers of the Great Dao Realm, fielded just over three hundred Great Dao Realm figures in total. Yet, this Hundred Kingdoms Assessment boasted directly forty thousand cultivators at the Third Layer of the Great Dao Realm or higher—a number one hundred times greater than Jin’s total capacity!
This was… overwhelmingly terrifying!
Though they always knew the world was vast, hearing the figure of over forty thousand cultivators at the Great Dao Third Layer caused the Righteous and Demonic factions in Water Mirror County to collectively suck in a sharp breath—this was too terrifying! The world was truly immense, impossibly large.
This time, the contingent sent from Jin to the Central Assessment numbered only fourteen people. The other six had been lost during the brutal conflict between the Righteous and Demonic factions. Normally, participants destined for the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment were protected with the utmost care; losses were virtually unheard of under typical circumstances.
But the war between the factions had been too savage, leaving only fourteen remaining.
Fourteen against forty thousand!
A voice sounded again in the void: “This Hundred Kingdoms Assessment aims to recruit four hundred individuals into the Central Celestial Court. The top fifty finishers may freely choose which civilization or power to join. The remaining three hundred and fifty participants will not have this choice; they will be selected by various established powers and will forfeit the right to choose their civilization, being limited only to selecting a sect to join…”
Civilizations were boundless and magnificent. Sects, by comparison, were minuscule.
To enter a Civilization was infinitely preferable to joining a mere sect. The competition for the top fifty spots was thus guaranteed to be intensely brutal. Naturally, the struggle for the overall top four hundred places was equally fierce—a ratio of one selected out of every hundred participants. For Jin’s fourteen representatives, securing even a single spot in the Central Celestial Court was going to be extraordinarily difficult.
The fourteen cultivators from Jin set out together.
Among them were many who were quite aged, some nearly a thousand years old, sporting long, flowing beards. Yet, the undisputed leader of this small group was Lu Yuan. Among the fourteen, Lu Yuan was the only one capable of slaying a Half-Step Grandmaster, and he also held the highest position as the Sect Master of Mount Hua.
Consequently, despite his youth, Lu Yuan possessed an aura sufficient to command absolute deference. The majesty of a supreme Immortal Sect leader emanated from him.
However, upon reaching the largest city in the Great Yong Nation—Great Yong City—even he was completely stunned!
What an enormous city this was! The city walls alone must have towered hundreds of zhang high. In contrast, the walls of major cities in Jin rarely exceeded six or seven zhang. Here, even walls reaching two or three hundred zhang seemed merely standard. This was Great Yong City, the premier metropolis of the Great Yong Nation, and Lu Yuan was awestruck.
The Great Yong Nation truly lived up to its reputation as the foremost power in the Southern Realm. Whereas Jin could only send twenty participants to the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment, the Great Yong Nation sent two hundred. There was clearly a reason for this disparity.
Lu Yuan led the thirteen Jin representatives to the main city gate and noted that the guard captains stationed there possessed cultivation levels reaching the late stages of the Longevity Realm, equivalent to Sword Immortals. To have Sword Immortals serving as mere gate captains was terrifying. After presenting their credentials, just as they were about to enter the city, Lu Yuan noticed numerous flying cloud carriages approaching.
Those cloud carriages seemed strangely familiar.
It was Murong Huangfu.
Murong Huangfu was a born aristocrat. But no matter how noble he was, he could not compare to the elites of the Great Yong Nation. Even in the Great Yong Nation, to maintain a certain status, he had to descend from his cloud carriage and present documentation. Lu Yuan glanced at Murong Huangfu and perceived that his current strength seemed to have advanced again, making him even stronger than when they were at Yue Lu Mountain. He faintly carried the aura of a Grandmaster. When he left Yue Lu Mountain, he was at the Sixth Layer of the Great Dao Realm; had he truly progressed further? He was indeed a peerless genius.
Murong Huangfu returned Lu Yuan’s gaze, thinking to himself: Lu Yuan, you have indeed improved, but you are destined never to surpass this young master.
Lu Yuan had already entered the Great Yong Nation and noticed that the spiritual energy here was significantly denser than in Jin. The magical power of the cultivators here was markedly stronger as well. The people passing to and fro in Great Yong Nation were all discussing the upcoming Hundred Kingdoms Assessment. It seemed the Great Yong populace was highly confident that the majority of the qualifiers would hail from their nation.
The people of Great Yong held immense faith in their own unparalleled geniuses and rising talents. Geniuses from other Southern nations, they believed, would only serve as mere background foil to the Great Yong’s brilliance.