Chapter 452: Shangchuan Zun

On the Ninth Peak platform.

The platform was not paved with jade, but simply piled earth, yet it radiated intense vitality, its spiritual energy and primordial qi far surpassing the blue-brick platform—more than ten times as dense.

Know that the primordial energy and spiritual energy in the immortal mountains and fairy realms are already much denser than elsewhere, and on the Ninth Peak they are extraordinarily concentrated.

The Heavenly Evil Sword Immortal and others involuntarily glanced down at the earthen platform—the vitality emanated from the earth itself, unrelated to the Ninth Peak.

“This soil…”

The First Immortal Sovereign of Jiuzhou couldn’t help crouching down to touch the earthen platform.

It resembled the legendary Ten Thousand Things Soil.

Legend said Ten Thousand Things Soil could cultivate all things under heaven—even a withered immortal tree placed upon it could regain vitality.

Too extravagant—using Ten Thousand Things Soil to make a platform! Who the hell did this?

Many well-traveled immortals and demons recognized the material and longed to dig away a chunk on the spot.

Ten Thousand Things Soil not only revives plants; it’s said to resurrect the dead—if a corpse is buried within, there’s a chance it may return to life.

“Do you remember the deities of ancient Babylonian cosmology?”

Seeing Gao Xianghong puzzled by the effects of Ten Thousand Things Soil, the First Immortal Sovereign of Jiuzhou answered with a question instead.

“I know—the deities of ancient Babylonian myth are dead, but under the nourishment of deathly qi, their corpses regained sentience. My Master said the conditions for corpse-rebirth and sentience are extremely strict, requiring a special environment.”

“For a corpse to regain sentience, the environment must be special—and the foremost requirement is that the corpse must not decay, enduring eternally. Ten Thousand Things Soil possesses this quality. One could say it is the most potent divine substance for reviving corpses and awakening sentience, with countless functions.”

Gao Xianghong, Zhang Hao, and the other young beings present were astonished—Ten Thousand Things Soil was this precious?

“Wasting divine artifacts,” Zhang Hao muttered, staring at the earthen platform made of Ten Thousand Things Soil, his teeth aching from the sheer waste.

At this moment.

The first group to reach the Sixth Peak, along with the dozen or so who later struggled up from the Fifth Peak to the Sixth, all arrived at the Ninth Peak.

They did not climb the Ninth Peak themselves—most were carried up by Qingyun.

Over two hundred reached the Sixth Peak, but far fewer made it to the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Peaks—the higher the peak, the fewer the climbers.

In the end, only one person reached the Ninth Peak.

The Heavenly Evil Sword Immortal.

He was the only one to ascend the Ninth Peak.

“One hundred seventy-one on the Sixth Peak, thirty-six on the Seventh, eleven on the Eighth, one on the Ninth—looks like this year’s recruitment results are impressive. Not worse than ours.”

A male junior disciple beside Qingyun did not conceal his words.

“Incredible! Li Gui made it to the Eighth Peak!” Xiang Chuang Qianhui exclaimed.

No one expected Li Gui to reach the Eighth Peak—they’d feared she’d be eliminated from the start.

They didn’t know Li Gui reached the Eighth Peak solely because of Shangchuan Zun’s hidden aid—he had previously improved her physique.

In fact, anyone whose physique Shangchuan Zun had personally enhanced—like Qianhui, Songxiang Zhili, and others—would reach the Eighth Peak.

“No wonder he’s the Sword Master’s heir.”

Gao Xianghong, standing on the Eighth Peak, sighed.

“The people from the Initial Realm are truly monstrous—three made it to the Eighth Peak. But that one on the Ninth Peak doesn’t seem to be from the Initial Realm.”

“Eleven on the Eighth Peak, three from the Initial Realm—that ratio alone proves how terrifying the Initial Realm’s talent is.”

“Too bad the one on the Ninth Peak isn’t from the Initial Realm. Looks like the myriad worlds still produce plenty of talent.”

“Haha, true.”

After the earlier exchange on the blue-brick platform, the beings of the myriad worlds had divided all life into two categories: Initial Realm people, and everyone else.

Now that the Ninth Peak climber was from another world, they still felt a sense of pride.

Yet Qingyun spoke at this moment, his cold gaze fixed on the broken sword behind the Heavenly Evil Sword Immortal—his calm face showing emotion for the first time:

“I misjudged you. Is that sword on your back… the Sword Master’s ‘Sword’?”

The Heavenly Evil Sword Immortal did not hide it—he nodded.

“I once visited Hangu Pass and was fortunate enough to earn the Sword Master’s favor, inheriting his legacy.”

Immediately, as others pressed for details, Gao Xianghong explained to them who the Sword Master was.

His words stunned everyone into silence.

All turned pale, hearts pounding wildly.

“Hangu Pass” alone was enough to stir excitement—but this was even more explosive.

“So… the one who reached the Ninth Peak is the heir of an Initial Realm great figure.”

The otherworldly beings who had just felt proud now grimaced—this climber on the Ninth Peak wasn’t just an outsider; he was the chosen heir of an Initial Realm great figure, having undergone purification. Without it, his talent alone could never have reached the Ninth Peak.

“By the way, what’s that stele?”

Someone glanced across the Ninth Peak platform.

There were nine peaks total. Aside from differing elevations and platforms, they were nearly identical—but the Ninth Peak had one unique feature.

A black jade stele stood on the Ninth Peak, directly in front of the path leading to the peak’s highest immortal mountain.

After focusing on the Ten Thousand Things Soil, Zhang Hao and the others also noticed the black jade stele.

“There are inscriptions on it.”

“Damn, my phone’s zoom isn’t strong enough—can’t capture it clearly.”

“Haha, you losers—told you to buy a fruit phone. Lucky I bought a Huawei—fifty-times zoom. Let me see what’s written on this stele.”

In the town, someone proudly pointed to his phone; the others all wore expressions of “Damn! I should’ve bought a domestic phone.”

The next instant.

The characters on the black jade stele appeared.

Rows upon rows of names filled the surface.

From top to bottom, the names at the very top were largest and fewest in number; the lower down, the smaller the characters and the more names appeared.

“This looks like ancient Chinese script.”

In the town, an Initial Realm person who had studied ancient Chinese script had barely spoken when otherworldly beings immediately offered immortal pills and spiritual herbs, begging him to decipher the stele’s text.

Text carved on the Ninth Peak might hold great secrets.

On the other side.

On the Ninth Peak, Zhang Hao and the others stepped forward, beginning from the topmost, largest characters.

In an instant.

Zhang Hao, Gao Xianghong, the First Immortal Sovereign of Jiuzhou, and others who understood ancient Chinese script froze—then exclaimed in unison:

“Am I seeing things? What did I just see? That name is… Shangchuan Zun!!”

“Shangchuan Zun!! That name is Shangchuan Zun!!”

“Am I dreaming? That character… it looks like Shangchuan Zun…”

Not a single person remained unmoved.

No one had expected Shangchuan Zun’s name to appear on the black jade stele of Jixia Academy.

Even without knowing the meaning of names carved on the stele, everyone could be certain—any name etched here was no ordinary one.

Why? Because this stele stood on the Ninth Peak.

The Ninth Peak was the final trial of Jixia Academy, the very place where talent was judged. The fact that the stele stood here proved everything.

And Shangchuan Zun’s name wasn’t just on it—it was at the very top.

“Wait!”

The First Immortal Sovereign of Jiuzhou quickly noticed something—the topmost row on the black jade stele contained only two names.

Two names?

This reminded him of something the female disciple beside Qingyun had said earlier…

……