A Record of a Mortal's Journey to Immortality: Immortal Realm

"Alright, in that case, tell me which of the combatants from the other cities you have to pay particular attention to," Zhu Ziyuan said.

"According to what you've told me, basically everyone outside of Green Goat City poses a threat, and I have to be on my guard against all of them," Zhu Ziqing sighed in an exasperated manner.

"That's incorrect. Gu Qianxun of Green Goat City is someone that you also have to be wary of. She may be a woman, but she still poses a very potent threat," Zhu Ziyuan said in a serious manner.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes, Green Goat City has Gu Qianxun. You worry way too much! How could I possibly have such terrible luck that I get matched up against all of the most powerful cultivators from the other cities?" Zhu Ziqing grumbled.

Zhu Ziyuan paid no heed to Zhu Ziqing's grips as he asked, "How do you think I was able to win the martial gathering on so many past consecutive occasions?"

"Of course it was because you're more powerful than everyone else," Zhu Ziqing replied without any thought.

"That was certainly a factor, but it's not the most important one. The most important thing is to take every opponent seriously. Aside from the opponents that we already know about, we have to make sure to be careful when battling the new faces as well," Zhu Ziyuan said with a serious expression.

A serious look finally appeared on Zhu Ziqing's face as well, and she nodded as she replied, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."

Zhu Ziyuan didn't nag her any further upon seeing this, and the two of them returned to looking up at the starry night sky in silence.

"That's enough from you!"

……

In a vast desert countless kilometers away from Profound City, the wind was howling incessantly throwing up enormous clouds of sand up into the sky.

Under the moonlight, it was as if the entire area had been transformed into a realm of flowing sand.

At this moment, a series of massive black shadows were slowly traversing through the desert, and thanks to the moonlight, it was possible to make out that these black shadows were a series of enormous scaled beasts, at the forefront of which was a Black Scaled Elephant that was over a thousand feet tall and a little different in appearance from the average Black Scaled Elephant.

This Black Scaled Elephant's entire body was covered in a suit of armor, and there were seven or eight fist-sized beast cores embedded into the flesh in front of its chest in a circular arrangement.

The Black Scaled Elephant's tusks had been removed and replaced with a pair of shape spears that gave off a cold gleam under the moonlight.

What was most peculiar of all was that there was nothing but pitch black in the Black Scaled Elephant's eye sockets, and if one were to look closely, they would discover that there were clear signs of atrophy and shriveling in the flesh around its eye sockets.

This Black Scaled Elephant was nothing more than a withered carcass, and the same applied to the dozen or so enormous scaled beast trailing along behind it.

Each of these scaled beasts was carrying a black stone palace on their backs, and there were seven or eight lit braziers in the stone palace on the Black Scaled Elephant's back, illuminating the space inside.

At the center of the palace was a black stone platform that was around three feet in size, atop which sat a woman in a black dress with her legs crossed. She had an exceptional figure, and even though there was a thin veil over her face, just her side profile alone was already extremely captivating.

Seated on a black stone chair not far away from the woman was another woman that also had a black veil over her face. She was reclined against the chair like a seductive, boneless snake, and she asked in a gentle and lazy voice, "How long left until we reach Profound City?"

"Right now, we're still in the territory of our Puppet City. Barring any mishaps, we should reach Profound City within a month," the woman on the stone platform replied.

"Good. After all these years of preparation, the time has finally come," the woman reclining on the chair murmured to herself as she sat up with a bright gleam in her eyes.

……

The next morning.

As the first ray of sunlight passed over the Myriad Profound Mountain Range and shone down upon the city, there was already quite a lively and festive sight to behold.

All of the streets in the city were packed with people, all of whom were converging toward a massive round building at the center of the city. That was the largest arena in Profound City, and it was called the Asura Arena.

The plaza in front of the Asura Arena was already completely packed, and the statue at the center of the plaza was a massive attraction, with people constantly converging from all directions to touch its robes and feet.

It was said that touching this statue could bring good fortune, allowing them to make successful bets on the upcoming battles of the Five City Martial Gathering, so there were many parts of the statue's body that had already been polished smooth by countless hands over the years, and those parts gleamed particularly bright under the morning sun.

On top of that, there were even more people gathered in front of the gates of the Asura Arena, waiting for them to open.

Right at this moment, the sound of a gong being struck rang out in the distance, and the gates slowly opened, allowing the crowd to pour into the Asura Arena before spreading out to make their way toward the eight giant platforms inside.

At the same time, there were dozens of people gathered in a round hall deep underground beneath the Asura Arena, and they were roughly split up into five groups.

These were none other than the sixty-four combatants participating in the Five City Martial Gathering, and Han Li and Gu Qianxun were naturally among them.

"How is your Blood Plasma Wine coming along, Fellow Daoist Li?" Gu Qianxun asked as she approached Han Li, who was seated on his own in a corner.

Yi Liya had already grown accustomed to this, and he only took a glance in their direction before returning to his conversation with several other Green Goat City gladiators.

Xuanyuan Xing and Toxic Dragon were keeping their distance from Yi Liya's group, and the former appeared to be quite composed, while the latter was clearly a little anxious.

"It's coming along nicely. Congratulations on having your Black Tribulation Centipede removed, Fellow Daoist Gu," Han Li said with a smile.

"Mistress Liu Hua is a rather strange man, and for some reason, he insists on having you bring a piece of Heavenly Qilin Crystal to him. My apologies, but I can't really help you here," Gu Qianxun said in an apologetic manner.

"There's no reason why Senior Liu Hua should lend me his assistance free of charge, so it's only right that he asks for something in return. I can only hope that the Heavenly Qilin Crystal isn't reserved for too high a placing," Han Li said with a smile.

"I can tell you now that the Heavenly Qilin Crystal is a reward reserved for the top three, so I think you have very good chances," Gu Qianxun said through voice transmission.

"You certainly think very highly of me, Fellow Daoist Gu," Han Li chuckled. "For the sake of my own survival, I have no choice but to give it my best."

As the two of them were chatting with each other, the entire surrounding space abruptly shuddered as a burst of rumbling rang out from directly up ahead.

Five openings then appeared on the thick and sturdy wall up ahead, revealing five stone staircases that led up to the surface.

"Please welcome the gladiators from the five cities!" a loud voice announced from up above, and the gladiators of Profound City were led up one of the five staircases by Zhu Ziyuan and Zhu Ziqing.

The other groups in the underground hall also followed suit, making their way up to the surface, where they were immediately overwhelmed by waves of thunderous cheers.

In particular, a few names were being chanted very loudly.

"Zhu Ziyuan, Zhu Ziyuan..."

"Feng Wuchen, Feng Wuchen..."

……

Even though Han Li had fought in many arena battles back in Green Goat City, this was the first time that he felt stunned by the cheering of the spectators, and he could feel his own blood beginning to boil in his veins.

There were a total of eight platforms in the arena, all of which were separated by a distance of over a thousand feet, and at the moment, five of them were occupied by the gladiators from the five cities.

There was an extra person on the platform where the Profound City gladiators were gathered, namely a tall and imposing man with a pair of ox horns on his head, and he was the host of the event.

At the center of the area between the eight platforms was an elevated platform that was over a thousand feet tall, upon which were placed six black stone chairs.

These chairs were clearly reserved for the lords of the five cities, but for some reason, there was an extra chair.

"Please be quiet while the city lords enter the arena," the horned man declared, and the entire arena instantly fell completely silent.

Immediately thereafter, six figures plummeted out of the sky before crashing down onto the elevated platform with a resounding boom.

The entire arena shuddered violently as the six figures were revealed.

Everyone looked up to discover City Lord E Kuai standing at the forefront of the group, while the other figures were arranged in a row slightly behind him.

Despite his unremarkable physical appearance, there was an air of regal majesty surrounding City Lord E Kuai that made him resemble an almighty lion, and many of the spectators in the stands involuntarily lowered their heads.

A hint of befuddlement flashed through Han Li's eyes at the sight of the six figures on the elevated platform.

In addition to the five city lords, there was one more person present, someone that was quite familiar to Han Li.

It was Mistress Liu Hua!