Chapter 449: Qingyun, You Go Preside Over the Examination

On the blue-brick platform, people buzzed with discussion; those eliminated from the town also looked around, chatting in their own groups.

Since they had been eliminated but not cast out of the immortal realm, there might still be a chance to stay. Even if they couldn't enter the Jixia Academy, remaining in the immortal realm wouldn't be bad—spiritual energy and primal essence here were dense, making cultivation twice as effective with half the effort.

Even if they couldn't stay, this was a good chance to learn about the Origin Realm and the Jixia Academy. Among those eliminated were also people from the Origin Realm, so gathering more information couldn't hurt.

Some others took the attitude of "since we're here, let's make the best of it"—if they're eliminated, so be it; coming here to see the sights was fine too. At least they'd have something to brag about back home, and posting about it on Weibo would be great.

……

On the highest immortal mountain.

A towering immortal palace.

Kamikawa Mitsu transformed into a figure in a white-grey robe, bathed in radiant light, his age and appearance unknowable. He gazed toward the blue-brick platform atop the distant azure peak; myriad scenes shifted in his eyes, and the countless postures of the thousands within were all contained within.

With a sweep of his great hand.

Script virtual characters materialized—several figures appeared ahead, each radiant and full of vigor, male and female alike, young in years yet with impressive cultivation.

Among them, the youth standing at the very front was tall and slender, his qi and blood like a dragon; standing there he was like an immovable divine mountain, his aura overwhelming. His star-bright eyes were dazzling, giving off a sharp edge yet keeping the blade's edge concealed within—truly extraordinary.

"Qingyun, you go preside over the examination."

The star-eyed youth promptly bowed in salute.

"Qingyun humbly obeys the supreme decree."

From beginning to end, none of these youths dared look directly at the white-grey-robed figure above the palace—he was not one they could gaze upon, even though they were honored students of the Jixia Academy.

Yet inevitably some couldn't resist their curiosity, wanting to know which mythic figure now presided over the Jixia Academy as its head.

Within the memories Kamikawa Mitsu had set, they only knew the Jixia Academy was founded jointly by the myths of Huaguo and the great myths of elsewhere, but who governed it, no one knew—only that it was a supreme one.

With just a sliver of a sidelong glance, they froze.

The white-grey-robed figure above the palace had his eyes half-open, half-closed; within them one could faintly see three thousand heavens turning.

His entire bearing was like a profound abyss-sea breathing in and out—sometimes surging like tides, and when he exhaled through his nose, streaks of mysterious light like the dawning of heaven and earth flew forth.

Within, a river of stars hung inverted, dazzling and vast, stretching mightily as if spanning several worlds.

When he inhaled, the dreamlike river of stars drew back in, the dim light drilling into the nine orifices, and the boundlessness of the chamber vanished without a trace.

One breath in, one breath out—worlds opened and returned to chaos, and the river of time itself seemed to manifest.

Truly the bearing of a supreme existence.

Qingyun led the others away.

"A supreme one, huh? Once this script drops, I'm probably almost there too."

Kamikawa Mitsu sighed with emotion, brushed his blue robe, and slowly rose.

His current identity was the head of the Jixia Academy—a mysterious supreme one, his true identity known to none.

Glancing at the platform, Kamikawa Mitsu's gaze settled on several figures, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"Didn't waste the effort I spent shaping you twenty-eight Stellar Lodges—every one of you passed the trial. Oh? Aitu and those six of them passed too—not bad, not bad."

Aitu and his six companions were precisely the six gods and demons who had brought the immortal corpse out of the nether soil within the mysterious fog that day.

……

Misty vapors wreathed the azure peak.

On the blue-brick platform, many gazed enraptured at the primordial-marsh-like world before them.

This was truly the bearing of an immortal realm.

Worth mentioning, a peculiar situation had arisen on the platform.

Those from other realms were all very low-key—especially when their gazes fell on those mortals who, in their ordinary view, were no different from ants, they recoiled and kept their distance.

From what they gathered, these mortals came from the Origin Realm—a supreme, dazzling world, the mainstream world of the river of time.

Don't be fooled that these mortals had no cultivation at all; their bone structure and natural talent were simply extraordinary—not a single weak one among them. Placed in their own world, they'd be the bearing of outstanding figures, monstrous talent.

But what truly made them keep their distance was not their bone structure or talent—after all, no matter how amazing those were, a gap in strength was a gap in strength; they could be pinched to death with a flick.

No one dared pinch these mortals to death, even knowing these mortals' talent was excellent and they would surely become strong contenders for this opportunity.

The reason was simple: these mortals came from the Origin Realm, and the gods and demons of the Origin Realm were fiercely protective. If one killed an Origin Realm person here, even if the Jixia Academy didn't intervene, the other gods and demons of the Origin Realm wouldn't let it go easily.

Additionally.

Listening to these Origin Realm people converse, the more they heard, the more their hearts trembled.

The Babylonian myths laying siege, a supreme one emerging, immortals falling, thousands of gods and demons battling—what the hell kind of terrifying world is this?

Are gods and demons that cheap?

The moment they fight, they disturb the river of time, battling within it at the slightest provocation—unbelievable.

In any case, most people now were in shock.

So it turned out there was such a powerful world in this world.

At this moment.

A golden giant bird suddenly appeared in the distance; with each flap of its wings it blotted out the sun, and it whooshed across the boundless void.

Countless people were terrified to the point of despair.

Someone blurted out: "Is that a Golden-Winged Great Peng bird????"

"An ancient fierce bird, the Golden-Winged Great Peng—and there's one here, and it seems to be wild."

The Golden-Winged Great Peng, placed in any world, was a top-tier fierce beast. Such beasts were born as gods and demons, their bloodline peerless and terrifying—an ancient fierce bird.

Even across the vast distance, it made people tremble all over.

Some, however, felt no fear at all, admiring the ancient fierce bird's majestic beauty.

And below.

The boundless wasteland in the distance stretched without end; from time to time ancient fierce species galloped past, each one a pure-blooded ancient bloodline.

They even occasionally caught sight of fierce beasts that had only appeared in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, such as the Zhu Yan.

"How long has this world actually existed? How could there be so many extinct primeval and ancient ferocious species?"

A divine-demon from one of the Three Thousand Great Worlds exclaimed.

"Perhaps this place is a fragment of a corner of a primordial world, being used as the heaven and earth of the Jixia Academy."

Another Earthling couldn't help but cut in with a line.

Those old and shrewd cultivators, and even the divine demons, exchanged a glance, then came over with smiles, flashing a bottle of pills.

"Little brother, would you mind explaining a thing or two for us?"

That divine-demon from the Three Thousand Great Worlds wore a smile, without a trace of his usual arrogance.

In the past he would never have done this for a mortal, but times were different now. Arriving at a place like this, the more knowledge one gained the better.

That Earth fellow said he was embarrassed, yet without a shred of embarrassment he directly pocketed the pills, coughed twice, and said:

"You probably don't know, but the Primordial Realm I come from is actually very small now, perhaps less than a thousandth of your world. Yet my realm is the oldest world in all the heavens, the very first world to be born. You're probably wondering, right?

How could such a small world give birth to so many divine demons, immortal demons, with Undying and Supreme beings by the handful, and Sovereigns not lacking either? That's because my Primordial Realm wasn't always like this back in the primordial times…"

Following this fellow's popular-science explanation, the divine demons present were struck dumb.

The world was shattered? And the very first Sacred Spirit born was already a Sovereign?! Oh my heavens, am I dreaming?

Just then on the green-brick platform, the gathered beings were either marveling at this heaven and earth, or marveling at the terror of the Primordial Realm, or some simply started a livestream. After all, they had nothing to do, their phones still had signal, so they might as well livestream and earn some extra cash.

Boom after boom, shaking through ten thousand ages.

Then, under the gaze of countless eyes across the globe, ancient peaks descended one after another from the heavens above the stretch leading from Green Peak to the highest Xianshan.

The mountains linked to one another, peak after peak, nine in total.

Each peak had a platform, as if this were a nine-tiered staircase, a stairway built with mountains as its foundation leading up to the highest Xianshan.

……