Nearly one hundred thousand people landed simultaneously upon the roof of the airship’s cabin. Here was a vast Plaza, large enough to hold the immense crowd with plenty of room to spare.
Once the group descended, they naturally formed a precise, square formation, appearing extraordinarily orderly. At the front of the crowd stood more than a dozen figures, led by the great man in crimson robes. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his physique towering; roughly two zhang tall. In this ancient world, home to countless civilizations, such a size was considered merely average.
The figure that had previously attained a height of ten thousand zhang was clearly an amplification achieved through divine power, not his true size. Even for the Giants, as claimed by the Giant Civilization, their actual height was only around ten zhang, equivalent to the height of a seven or eight-story building in the Spiritual Civilization.
“Move out!” The crimson-robed man waved his hand, turned, and settled onto a long metal bench glowing fiery red. Following his command, the aircraft carrier-like ship slowly accelerated eastward, departing from the Thunder Plaza.
On the rooftops of many civilization buildings overlooking the Plaza, figures stood scattered, craning their necks to watch the airship depart, their eyes filled with yearning.
Alas…
The Crimson Meteor Sect only recruited disciples who had reached the Ghost-God Realm.
In the ancient world, cultivation was divided into: Ghost-God Realm, Demigod Realm, Pseudo-God Realm, and True God Realm (Divine Spirit Realm)!
The Ghost-God Realm was the very beginning of building a foundation! Cultivation was like constructing a building; the stronger the foundation, the further one could advance. Therefore, most factions only recruited powerhouses at the Ghost-God level. Those who reached the Demigod Realm had either encountered rare fortunes, joined other masters, or had reached the twilight of their years, having lived out their natural lifespan.
The Ghost-God Realm was equivalent to being a young person today.
Thus, most sects only recruited disciples in the Ghost-God Realm.
The airship traveled for only a short time before the vast azure sky gradually expanded ahead. Finally, the entire vessel slammed against it, piercing through as if breaking a bubble, bursting out of the protective shield!
Ye Chen looked up. This shield enveloping the entire Thunder Plaza resembled Earth’s atmosphere—inside, white clouds drifted ethereally, and the light barrier looked like a blue sky, as deep as water.
Once outside the shield, a layer of light energy instantly rose above the ship, a faint, translucent shell enveloping the hull. Ye Chen stood among the crowd, gazing around. Even though he had witnessed this once in his previous life, the sight remained profoundly shocking.
The entire world appeared desolate and bleak. Outside the Plaza, the ground was covered in withered trees and bare branches, utterly lifeless, devoid of any vitality. A thin layer of blood-red light coated the scorched earth, black stones, and deadwood, lending the scene a slightly eerie and mysterious quality.
In the sky, a bizarre, ghostly blood moon hung overhead like a mirror, inducing a deep sense of strangeness.
“Alliance Leader!” A low voice sounded from beside him. Vice-Chairman Yue Nan emerged from the crowd and approached Ye Chen, looking around with surprise. “This ancient world is truly wondrous. The moon in the sky is actually blood-red, and judging by its size, it must be tens of millions of times larger than the sun!”
Ye Chen nodded slightly. “Indeed.”
In the ancient world, the blood moon perpetually dominated the sky, never changing. The volume of this blood moon, it was said, was one hundred million times that of the sun!
“I wonder what the Crimson Mote Sect is; judging by appearances, it seems to be a massive power!” Vice-Chairman Yue Nan hoped, “If we could join, we could reach the Demigod Realm in three years. Based on the time dilation here, three years is only equivalent to three months on Earth!”
Ye Chen nodded. “When the assessment starts later, stay close to me. Don't drift too far.”
In this Spiritual Civilization contingent, including Ye Chen, there were six Ghost-God Realm experts. Of those six, two were selected and qualified to take the assessment!
One must consider: out of 1 billion people, only 100,000 were chosen—how high was that elimination rate?
With Vice-Chairman Yue Nan’s aptitude, reaching the fifth layer of the Ghost-God Realm so rapidly on Earth proved his talent was far from inferior. Especially considering that Earth made it impossible to absorb Ghost Qi! This meant this man, upon entering the Ghost-God Realm, had instantly arrived at the fifth layer, just like Ye Chen!
“Yes!” Vice-Chairman Yue Nan quickly affirmed, a trace of relief in his eyes. Among the 100,000 Ghost-God Realm experts present, Ye Chen was absolutely among the elites. His past achievements were sufficient proof of his strength; he was practically invincible when fighting one-on-one within the Ghost-God Realm!
The airship traversed this vast, barren world. About an hour later, in the dim sky ahead, a majestic, towering, and unique city slowly emerged before everyone. Shrouded by miasma and deadwood, it looked like a fortress erected in a world of death!
Above this city floated a faint, shimmering light. Only upon closer inspection could one discern that it was a light shield.
In his past life, Ye Chen had lived in this Azure Water City for a period, an accomplishment he owed to Yun Shaojing. Had he not entered the Crimson Mote Sect and become a direct disciple of an Elder, the Spiritual Civilization would have continued to be oppressed in the Thunder Plaza until resources ran out, and their entire race would have been conquered and consumed as food!
It was unfortunate, however, that this person, after reaching the Demigod Realm, was swarmed and killed by countless sea monsters at the entrance to a ruin at the bottom of the Bermuda Sea!
Although Yun Shaojing had done considerable service for humanity in the previous timeline, Ye Chen was determined to claim the Divine Blood for himself. He would inevitably clash with this man sooner or later—and killing him would bring no regret.
Furthermore, thanks to Yun Shaojing, the Spiritual Civilization had achieved remarkable victories on their very first day in the Thunder Plaza, making others hesitant to provoke them. After all, the presence of Kaba, a Pseudo-God Realm entity, could not be easily dismissed.
As Ye Chen’s thoughts raced, the airship quickly arrived at Azure Water City. This vessel was a high-grade Pseudo-God ship, capable of achieving astonishing speeds. If ordinary individuals traveled this distance on their own, it would take at least seven or eight months, perhaps even years, to reach Azure Water City from the Thunder Plaza!
That amount of time would be more than enough to be slaughtered along the way, even if they weren't hunted, they would certainly be surrounded by the "Soul-Lost Ones."
Swish!
The airship pierced through, rushing into Azure Water City. To the observers, the sky immediately changed color. It was still azure, with clouds drifting ethereally; the bizarre blood moon was hidden by the protective shield, completely invisible.
The crowd looked down. The streets of Azure Water City were bustling and prosperous. The avenues here were exceptionally wide, extending 100 meters across. In the Spiritual Civilization’s standard, streets were 8 to 10 meters wide, enough for five cars to drive abreast. Here, it was ten times that width!
The streets were ceaselessly crowded, a torrent of traffic, filled with all manner of beings, appearing incredibly lively.
Vice-Chairman Yue Nan watched this scene, exclaiming in awe, “How prosperous! I wonder how many races are represented on these streets, tsk tsk!”
Ye Chen’s expression remained calm; he remained silent.
The people below paid no heed to the airship soaring overhead. They seemed accustomed to seeing such sights too often, and no one foolishly stopped to look up, much like how in the late 20th century, few people would stand on a major road gazing up at an airplane.
Not long after, the airship reached a towering, majestic structure within the city and gradually halted. This area was an extremely broad Plaza, where over a dozen airships, large and small, were docked, presenting an awe-inspiring spectacle.
In this ancient world, most airships were equipped with offensive systems because there were predatory birds and beasts in the open sky. Thus, there was no distinction between fighter planes and civilian aircraft.
The high-grade Pseudo-God vessel carrying Ye Chen and the others possessed an attack system powerful enough to annihilate a Pseudo-God level monster!
Many monsters possessed some sentience; seeing such a fearsome ship, they did not rush forward to commit suicide, ensuring a safe passage.
“Go!” The crimson-robed man stood up, his figure shifting as he leaped out of the airship, stopping at the front of the Plaza. The nearly one hundred thousand examinees, including Ye Chen, obediently followed, flying down to land on the Plaza floor.
“Listen carefully!” The crimson-robed man looked at the assembled crowd and said coldly, “This assessment will be extremely difficult. I hope that out of your hundred thousand, only ten thousand will ultimately stand before me alive!”
Silence fell over the entire assembly.
Everyone’s eyes widened, faces filled with shock.
What kind of vision did this crimson-robed man possess? How accurate could his words be? Only one in ten might survive this cull?
Keep in mind, these were the highly talented individuals selected from 1 billion people. To be eliminated at such a rate in this round meant that out of the entire 1 billion, perhaps only 10,000 would ultimately be accepted into the Crimson Mote Sect? A one-in-ten-thousand overall elimination rate!
What was most terrifying was that with such a high rate of attrition, even with the vast resources provided by the Crimson Mote Sect for cultivation, they could only reach the Demigod Realm in three years! If they were ordinary individuals, would they never hope to reach the Demigod Realm in their lifetime?
As shock washed over them, the crowd secretly felt fortunate. As those selected, they at least had a one-in-ten chance, while those not chosen had far less—essentially meaning that many of them might never reach the Demigod Realm in their lives! Unless a miracle occurred!
The crimson-robed man’s expression was placid. He stated plainly, “This assessment is simple: you only need to survive for one month within the Star Fragment C-0986 to successfully join the Crimson Mote Sect! Failure means death!”
“Star Fragment?” “What! We’re going to a C-grade Star Fragment???” “What’s the situation?” Some of the more seasoned individuals couldn't help but look astonished upon hearing the man’s words, while the others looked bewildered or frowned in thought.
“C-grade Star Fragment!” Ye Chen’s eyes flickered; he felt a surge of shock. “They are sending us to such a dangerous place! Given the strength of those present, surviving a month inside—I doubt even two or three days would be easy!”
Surrounding the White Lotus Divine Province were many shattered star fragments, rumored to be the result of ancient wars. On these fragments, the toxic gases were incredibly severe, giving rise to many terrifying monsters. Furthermore, some monsters from the Dark Great World remained there!
In short, they were gathering points for monsters!
And there were many such fragments, categorized into four levels: C, A, B, and D!
On a C-grade Star Fragment, the weakest monsters were at the Ghost-God Realm, along with the Soul-Lost Ones! And the overlords among these monsters were usually Demigods!