This already amounted to five Ninth-Rank Spirit Gods, and in addition, there was one Ninth-Rank Spirit God each from the Hongmeng Tianhui Mansion, the Danxian Sect, and the Sea Clan, bringing the total to eight.
According to the information Nie Kong had gleaned from the memories of those Spirit God avatars, the Supreme Spirit Realm contained a total of ten Ninth-Rank Spirit Gods.
Of course, if Gu Quan and he himself were counted, that would make twelve.
However, Gu Quan was staying behind to guard the "Seven-Colored Divine Realm" and would not appear here. Now, the key was whether the other two Ninth-Rank Spirit Gods from the Hongmeng Tianhui Mansion would show themselves.
If they arrived, Nie Kong would have five opponents; if they did not, he would only have three.
“Crack!”
Suddenly, a colossal bolt of purple lightning split the sky, causing the entire heaven and earth to shake violently.
“Senior Brother Leilong, it has been a long time.”
The Seven-Colored Supreme suddenly turned his head, a smile spreading across his aged face.
Almost instantly, a slightly hoarse and deep laugh echoed from within the lightning: “Haha, Junior Brother Qicai, you arrived early as always!”
Before the voice faded, the lightning coalesced into the figure of a strapping man who strode forward.
This man was nearly two meters tall, his face obscured by faint wisps of purple light, making him vague; only his pair of bronze-bell-like eyes were clearly visible, within which arcs of lightning seemed to flicker.
“Greetings, Venerable Sirs!”
The Ziwei Divine Venerable and the others bowed almost simultaneously.
Leilong Supreme!
The second supreme powerhouse in the Supreme Spirit Realm to advance to the Venerable Realm.
Nie Kong’s pupils contracted. Unlike the Seven-Colored Supreme and the Anye Divine Venerable, the Leilong Supreme made no attempt to conceal his aura. His extraordinarily violent power seemed ready to erupt at any moment, as if hundreds of thousands of pounds of explosives were buried within him, capable of destroying heaven and earth if ignited.
After meeting the Seven-Colored Supreme, Nie Kong understood that his previous notion of advancing to the Venerable Realm by refining Ninth-Rank Spirit Gods was utterly naive. The Venerable Realm, being the peak of known existence, contained the very rules of the Heavenly Dao; such a state could never be achieved through mere refinement.
With that realization, Nie Kong took a step forward and bowed deeply: “Greetings, Martial Uncle Leilong.”
“So you are Nie Kong, the second disciple taken in by Junior Brother Qicai?”
The Leilong Supreme’s eyes flashed with electric light as he nodded and laughed several times, then turned to the Seven-Colored Supreme, “Junior Brother Qicai, you have taken a fine disciple. Less than two years since ascending to Spirit God, and he is already Ninth-Rank. Perhaps it won't be long before the Supreme Spirit Realm gains another ‘Chaos Supreme’!”
“Chaos Supreme?”
Hearing the Leilong Supreme’s words, the Ziwei Divine Venerable and the others could no longer maintain their composure. Their gazes all locked onto Nie Kong, their eyes subtly conveying a trace of hostility, especially the Anye Divine Venerable, whose layer of black mist flickered into and out of existence, revealing the intensity of his inner turmoil.
Nie Kong’s heart sank. This Leilong Supreme was also malicious; with just one sentence, he had successfully stirred up the “envy, jealousy, and hatred” of the other Ninth-Rank Spirit Gods.
“Martial Brother overpraises me,” the Seven-Colored Supreme said with a faint smile. “I wonder if the other two Ninth-Rank Spirit Gods from the Hongmeng Tianhui Mansion will still come? If they don’t, we can begin now. If those Star Gods arrive while our final spot remains undecided, it will surely invite ridicule.”
The Ziwei Divine Venerable suppressed the strange look in his eyes and replied with a radiant smile, “Reporting to the Venerable Sirs, the two of them were slightly delayed and will arrive momentarily. Please wait a little longer.”
“Very well!”
The Seven-Colored Supreme nodded lightly.
After only a moment, the void fluctuated again, and two figures sped toward them: an elder and a young man, the other two Ninth-Rank Spirit Gods of the Hongmeng Tianhui Mansion. “Greetings to the two Venerable Sirs.”
“Everyone is here!”
The Leilong Supreme surveyed them with his eyes. “Yiyang, Yanluo, Motianxing, Qianxian, Dusu, Nie Kong… There are six Ninth-Rank Spirit Gods contending for the final spot this time. The old rule stands: whoever emerges last from my ‘Great Thunder Sound Hall’ will earn the qualification to enter the ‘Taishi Grotto-Heaven’.”
“Yes!”
The voices responded in unison.
The Leilong Supreme waved his right hand, and a small, exquisite, purple hall spun out from his palm, floating lightly onto the ground. With a low hum, the hall began to expand, quickly reaching two to three meters in height. The four characters—"Great Thunder Sound Hall”—on the plaque shone with searing lightning, making them impossible to look at directly.
“This is the ‘Great Thunder Sound Hall’!”
Gazing at the hall, Nie Kong’s spirit stirred.
Before coming to the Central Domain, the Seven-Colored Supreme had briefly explained the “Great Thunder Sound Hall” to him. It was a spatial artifact crafted by the Leilong Supreme, containing an area hundreds of meters square, comparable to the “Seven-Colored Immortal Domain,” except the former could be carried, while the latter could not.
Nie Kong had encountered spatial artifacts in the Divine Void Realm, such as the thumb ring Kouxi used to store the Chaos Jade Codex, whose internal space was pitifully small.
Such spatial artifacts were in no way comparable to the Leilong Supreme’s “Great Thunder Sound Hall.”
According to the Seven-Colored Supreme, the Leilong Supreme had begun tempering this “Great Thunder Sound Hall” from the very day he achieved the Venerable Realm, only completing it a thousand years ago.
In total, the tempering process had taken a full seven thousand years.
The Seven-Colored Supreme’s “Seven-Colored Immortal Domain” had only been tempered for five thousand years. If it were tempered for a few more centuries, it could detach from the void of heaven and earth, no longer requiring a physical substrate to be borne upon. At that time, the “Seven-Colored Immortal Domain” could integrate into the body, just like the Leilong Supreme’s “Great Thunder Sound Hall.”
Sss! Sss! Sss…
Six purple rays scattered from the Leilong Supreme’s hand, shooting like electricity toward the six individuals.
Nie Kong reached out and caught one; it was a purple jade tablet shaped like a bolt of lightning, only half an inch wide and two inches long, emanating the dense aura of Thunder God Power.
The Leilong Supreme’s voice boomed like a great bell: “You may enter now. If anyone wishes to withdraw, simply crush this lightning bolt, and you will emerge.”
“Yes.”
After responding, Yiyang and the others immediately acted, their figures passing through the main door of the “Great Thunder Sound Hall.”
Nie Kong entered last.
As his body phased through the doorway, in the next instant, Nie Kong felt as though he had entered a world of lightning. Within the space spanning several hundred meters, colossal bolts of lightning materialized out of thin air from time to time, their kacha, kacha sounds deafening. Every inch of the surrounding void was saturated with violent electrical energy.
Yiyang, Yanluo, Motianxing, and the other five who had entered earlier hovered in the void, their forms flickering intermittently as they dodged the crashing purple lightning bolts.
Nie Kong had heard from the Seven-Colored Supreme about the power of this lightning; if struck, even a Ninth-Rank Spirit God would suffer considerable injury.
However, Yiyang and the others evaded the strikes with remarkable ease and grace. The “Taishi Grotto-Heaven” opened once every ten years, and almost every time, the contenders for the spot were these same few individuals. They were regulars in the “Great Thunder Sound Hall” and had long since memorized the pattern of the lightning’s appearance. For the “Great Thunder Sound Hall,” only Nie Kong was an unfamiliar guest.