Chapter 736: The Divine Race, a Laughingstock

"Alright, brother!"

Wang Dun stood up, then patted He Pingsheng's shoulder and said, "When you get back, you must climb the Heavenly Ladder!"

"Remember my words—don't hide yourself!"

"The Heavenly Ladder is important to you, and important to me too. Go climb it, and when you return, there'll be something good for you… hehehe…"

With that, Wang Dun simply slapped his buttocks and walked away.

He Pingsheng looked puzzled: Master Wang's words were always so profound and cryptic.

Not long after, Wang Dun reached his seat and reached out to pull up the White Tiger Crown Prince Hu Tianci: "Little tiger… weren't you just saying you wanted to kill me?"

"But I, Wang Dun, keep my word—if we meet again, I'll still let you have three moves!"

At this point, the White Tiger Crown Prince Hu Tianci knew he was truly no match for the other, and dared not speak harshly; he could only slink away with his head lowered.

About half a stick of incense later, a disciple clad in black robes stepped onto the platform before the great hall and announced: "Now, please all rise and welcome the sole divine race of the Tianhuo Continent—the True Blood Phoenix Clan!"

"Clap, clap, clap…" With that, the woman even led the applause herself.

Seeing her clap, everyone else began clapping as well.

He Pingsheng clapped while turning his head to look.

In the Spirit Realm, there are five continents.

Upon these five continents dwell four divine races and nine heavenly clans.

On the Tianhuo Continent, the only divine race is the Phoenix Clan.

Besides the Phoenix Clan, the four divine races include the Qilin Clan, the Divine Dragon Clan, and the Divine Witch Clan.

The Witch Clan rules the Houtu Continent, its dominant power; the Qilin reign supreme on the Lei Huang Continent; and the Dragon Clan is unique—they dwell not on any single continent, but within the endless Evil Sea between the five continents.

They are a sea race!

…

The Phoenix Clan is the sole divine race on the Tianhuo Continent, and they control seven or eight of its ninety-plus imperial domains.

He Pingsheng saw a brilliant young cultivator enter, clad in crimson robes.

Like the Kongkong Beasts, there were only ten of them—none of these ten Phoenix prodigies had any attendants.

"Please welcome the divine race's prodigies to their seats!"

The ten Phoenixes ignored everyone else and walked straight to the first row of seats. Then more Phoenixes entered through the hall's entrance.

After all, the Phoenix Clan controls seven of the entire Tianhuo Continent's domains.

Each imperial domain may send ten prodigies.

Those seven domains mean seventy prodigies.

All of them are Phoenixes.

Whether it's because the Phoenix prodigies are too powerful for other races to match, or because other races' prodigies simply weren't chosen,

none of the Phoenix prodigies were from any other race—pure, utterly pure True Blood Phoenix Clan.

From a glance, the first seventy seats were all occupied by Phoenixes.

Crimson Phoenixes!

Extremely eye-catching.

With the arrival of the Phoenix prodigies, all other races' prodigies paled in comparison.

"Sigh… this time, won't the Phoenixes sweep the top thirty again?"

"Hard to say!"

"Last time, I heard twenty-eight of the top thirty were theirs!"

"Tsk tsk tsk—the Heavenly Ladder on the Tianhuo Continent has become the Phoenixes' private playground!"

"What can you do? They're a divine race!"

In the great hall, countless whispers circulated.

The Phoenix prodigies, meanwhile, wore faint expressions of disdain.

In their eyes, any other race's prodigies who came were merely there to serve as their backdrop.

The Phoenixes were the true protagonists of the Tianhuo Continent.

"The Bumie Imperial Domain, human prodigies—please enter and take your seats!"

After the Phoenixes entered, the black-robed disciple shouted again.

He Pingsheng was somewhat surprised.

He hadn't expected human prodigies to merit the phrase "please take your seats."

After all, those three words were reserved for the nine heavenly clans.

Humans weren't one of the nine heavenly clans!

But when He Pingsheng looked toward the entrance, he instantly understood.

The ten human prodigies entered.

The first wore crimson Dao robes—and was a True Blood Phoenix.

The second—True Blood Phoenix.

The third—True Blood Phoenix.

The fourth, fifth… up to the ninth—all were Phoenixes.

Only the tenth, a petite woman, was not.

He Pingsheng recognized her at once: she was his little sister-in-law, Qiao Xiaoqiao.

But aside from Qiao Xiaoqiao, the other nine were all Phoenixes.

Why?

This was what puzzled He Pingsheng most.

He used spiritual sense to ask Nan Qiqi.

Nan Qiqi sighed and said, "Of the ninety-odd imperial domains on the Tianhuo Continent, humans have only one—and its sole domain lord, the Buemie Divine Emperor, is a joke!"

"That's not my saying—it's universally accepted across the Tianhuo Continent. Do you know why?"

He Pingsheng shook his head.

Nan Qiqi abandoned spiritual transmission and spoke aloud in a low voice: "The Buemie Divine Emperor's body fuses one of the Tianhuo Continent's ten primordial true fires—the 【Bumie Holy Fire】. Do you know where he obtained it?"

He Pingsheng shook his head again.

Nan Qiqi said, "It was given to him by the Phoenix Clan!"

"What does 'indestructible' mean?"

"Indestructible means rebirth through nirvana!"

"That fire originally belonged to the Phoenix Clan. The human prodigy Zhao Xiangdu willingly became their slave, becoming their mouthpiece and earning the title of humanity's sole domain lord!"

"Otherwise, how could he ever rule a domain?"

Huh…

He Pingsheng took a deep breath.

Damn.

So humans live on this continent in this humiliating way?

Zhao Xiangdu?

How base…

This wasn't just Zhao Xiangdu's humiliation—it was the humiliation of all humanity.

One man made all humanity unable to hold their heads high.

One man broke the backbone of all humanity.

He Pingsheng suddenly felt a surge of rage, inexplicable and fierce.

He looked at Wang Dun and saw that Wang Dun, also human, had the same indescribable fury flickering in his eyes.

But!

The name Zhao Xiangdu… he'd heard it somewhere before.

He Pingsheng suddenly remembered and sharply turned to look at Zhou Qingmei.

Zhou Qingmei's face was pale; her entire body trembled uncontrollably.

He understood.

It was him.

Zhou Qingmei's former fiancé!

"Don't be like this," He Pingsheng reached out and gently placed his hand on Zhou Qingmei's shoulder: "Today is the Prodigies' Gathering—this place, he shouldn't be here."

"Mm," Zhou Qingmei nodded.

He Pingsheng recalled: years ago, Zhou Qingmei had said she once had a fiancé who betrayed his sect for his own advancement and became someone else's slave.

That wasn't just betraying his sect.

That was severing the future and destiny of all humanity.

Zhao Xiangdu alone shattered the Dao heart of every human cultivator.

Reduced humanity to a laughingstock.

Hateful. Deserving of death.