Chapter 1935 - Gathering of Powerhouses

Vandore's bewildering reaction left the Shen Clan member utterly at a loss. He could not decide whether the elf felt joy, rage, grief, or concern. Watching Vandore dissolve into tears one moment and burst out laughing the next only deepened everyone's confusion.

"Are you absolutely certain his name is Liu Wuxie?" Vandore pressed, determined to confirm what he had heard.

"Yes, that's his name. He's a monster! Everyone here is his accomplice, and you should kill every last one of them," the Shen Clan member urged, hatred blazing in his eyes.

He intended to use Vandore to kill Xiang Zicheng, Gongye Zhang, and the rest. With Vandore's terrifying strength, he believed wiping them out would require no effort whatsoever.

"If he's truly a monster, tell me what he has done to earn that name," Vandore said, his curiosity sharpening as he sought to learn more about Liu Wuxie.

Countless people across the world shared the same name, after all. Even Vandore could not yet determine whether this Liu Wuxie was the man he knew.

The Shen Clan member concealed nothing as he recounted Liu Wuxie's recent deeds, embellishing each event to make them sound even worse. By the time he described the competition between the two Dao Halls, he had twisted Liu Wuxie into a bloodthirsty monster.

"Senior, don't believe his lies! Liu Wuxie is an honorable man who has never murdered the innocent," Gongye Zhang hurriedly protested.

"It's him. It has to be him," Vandore exclaimed. The last traces of his uncertainty vanished after he heard the Shen Clan member recount everything.

No ordinary person could possibly command such an astonishing array of methods.

Confusion spread further through the crowd when Vandore suddenly began dancing with excitement. Some onlookers even wondered whether the old elf had lost his mind.

"Senior, do you know Liu Wuxie?" Gongye Zhang ventured cautiously.

"Take me to him. Now!" Vandore demanded once his dance ended. He seized Gongye Zhang and impatiently pressed him to lead the way.

"Wuxie left ten days ago. None of us knows where he went," Gongye Zhang answered helplessly. He longed to learn Liu Wuxie's whereabouts as well.

"He left?" Vandore faltered, going rigid at the revelation.

Everything he had concluded was mere speculation, and only after meeting Liu Wuxie face-to-face could he confirm the man's identity. Even so, the Liu Wuxie who had appeared here displayed the same mannerisms and methods as the man Vandore remembered.

According to Gongye Zhang and the others, however, Liu Wuxie was only in his twenties. His current appearance also differed completely from the man Vandore knew, making it seemingly impossible for them to be the same person.

The contradiction plunged Vandore into profound uncertainty. Perhaps this Liu Wuxie truly was someone else, and all the similarities amounted to nothing more than coincidence.

Yet the magic could not be falsified. Vandore knew with certainty that no one else throughout the celestial realm understood those two spells. If anyone did, that person could only be the Liu Wuxie he remembered. Doom Tempest offered the strongest proof, for it was Vandore's signature spell, one he had personally taught Liu Wuxie in the past.

"Senior, are you feeling all right?" Gongye Zhang asked carefully when he saw Vandore sink into contemplation.

"If all of you are Liu Wuxie's friends, then I have no reason to make things difficult for you," Vandore declared.

Their exchange had revealed that everyone present shared a connection with Liu Wuxie. Vandore immediately withdrew his magic, restoring every cultivator who had insulted him to their original appearance.

"Senior, the street isn't an appropriate place for this discussion. Why don't we speak somewhere else?" Xiang Zicheng respectfully suggested after regaining his freedom.

"Very well. Tell me everything you know about him, including what he looks like," Vandore agreed after considering the invitation for a moment.

And just like that, the farce reached such an unexpectedly comical conclusion that everyone stood stunned. They had all prepared themselves to witness a tremendous battle.

......

Inside the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron, Liu Wuxie activated the time laws and slowed the passage of time within by one-fold. Consequently, one day in the outside world became two days inside the cauldron.

With Blackie's assistance, Liu Wuxie had already finished preparing all the materials. Without that help, forging a divine steed in such a short time would have been impossible.

Other groups usually assembled teams of more than ten people to construct a single divine steed. They possessed not only profound cultivation but also ample manpower and abundant materials. Liu Wuxie had none of those advantages.

"Time to begin the fusion," Liu Wuxie murmured. What followed would largely resemble the process of merging materials to forge an artifact.

A divine steed's internal structure, however, was countless times more intricate than any ordinary artifact. Countless materials formed its body, and one minor error could destroy the entire creation.

During the past day, Liu Wuxie had divided his attention between organizing the materials and completely rebuilding the unfinished divine steed. A bizarre single-wheeled vehicle now stood before him.

The divine steed's compact frame could carry only Liu Wuxie, unlike the massive versions capable of transporting hundreds of people. Even the smallest divine steeds accommodated three to five passengers. Yet with so few materials at his disposal, Liu Wuxie had already accomplished something heaven-defying merely by constructing one, regardless of its size.

Its most conspicuous features were the strange wing-like structures extending from either side. Lacking suitable materials, Liu Wuxie had assembled them from dozens of swords, creating what resembled a pair of sword wings.

The lone wheel also differed radically from those used by other divine steeds. Liu Wuxie had mounted a spear at the front, designed to whirl violently whenever the wheel turned and send everything in its path hurtling away. For now, however, he had only completed the divine steed's framework. Its final form would naturally appear different.

Liu Wuxie began carving runes and infused them into the divine steed one after another. Given his insufficient supply of materials, he could only bridge the deficiencies with runes. Meanwhile, the materials suspended around him flew toward the construct and locked securely into their designated positions.

Within moments, the divine steed underwent a startling transformation. It no longer looked like any conventional divine steed, but rather resembled an eagle crouched upon the earth, with the spear at its front forming a razor-edged talon. Whenever its sword wings spread, the shifting blades scraped against one another, releasing crisp metallic rustles.

Every sword had naturally belonged to an expert Liu Wuxie had slain, and each possessed a quality comparable to artifacts at the Origin Immortal Realm. Once the blades joined together, even a divine immortal would find it difficult to penetrate them.

Only one day remained for the Divine Steed Tournament. Experts throughout the area had already begun making final adjustments to their divine steeds, determined to perfect every detail before the competition opened.

Sharp whistles continually sliced through the air as the different divine steeds demonstrated their defining strengths. Some pursued unmatched speed, others emphasized impregnable defense, and still others devoted everything to overwhelming offense. Divine steeds that excelled in every category were rare, though they did exist.

Astonished cries rang out as a colossal warship ripped through the clouds and plunged toward the ground. "Look up! That's the Divine Will Gate's Cloudbreaker Warship! Its speed is terrifying!"

Though the Divine Will Gate ranked as only a third-tier force, no one dared underestimate its foundation. A divine king presided over the sect, placing it one level above the Divine Steed Manor. Anyone at the Immortal King Realm already possessed the qualifications to establish an independent force.

An enormous crowd had gathered around the Divine Steed Manor, and the murmur of their discussions naturally reached Liu Wuxie inside the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron.

"The Divine Will Gate has clearly come well prepared for this. They stand an excellent chance of taking first place and claiming the Asura Blade's fragment."

"I also heard the Divine Will Gate even brought Golden Immortals. If they control the Cloudbreaker Warship, they'll have a strong chance of winning," someone else added.

Within third-tier sects, Golden Immortals already possessed enough standing to serve as elders.

While the crowd continued debating, another meteor suddenly blazed across the heavens.

"That's the Heartless Sect's Sky Soaring Steed! No one can afford to underestimate it, either. It also has an excellent chance of taking first place," someone exclaimed.

The Heartless Sect stood on roughly equal footing with the Divine Will Gate, since both were third-tier sects.

One piercing whistle after another continued to tear through the sky.

"Look over there! Those are the Heavenly Rift Pavilion's Guardian Wings!"

"The Hundred Blossom Manor came too! Their Hundred Blossom War Chariot is every bit as powerful as the Divine Will Gate's Cloudbreaker Warship!"

"When it comes to offensive power, I doubt many can rival the Feng Clan's Astral Light Ripper."

"Don't count the others out yet. The Nanmen Clan's Skybreaker Wasp is just as deadly on offense," someone countered as a yellow speck shot across the sky, its shape resembling an enormous wasp.

Multiple stingers protruded from the wasp, and poisonous spikes armored every inch of its body. Anyone unfortunate enough to suffer a direct strike would most likely die.

Naturally, the divine steeds created by smaller forces could not compete with the masterpieces fielded by the major factions. Most smaller forces had entered simply to participate in the tournament. Victory would undoubtedly be welcome, but even defeat would leave them with valuable experience.

The rogue cultivators held much the same outlook. A small number had purchased divine steeds from the market, but believing such constructs could win the tournament amounted to little more than fantasy.

With only half a day remaining before the tournament, a multicolored divine steed finally stood completed before Liu Wuxie. Its body was only slightly taller than a person, but its outstretched sword wings spanned more than three meters. Divine steeds of such compact size were extraordinarily rare.

Consider the Divine Will Gate's Cloudbreaker Warship, which could easily transport fifty people. It wasn't difficult to imagine the tremendous power so many cultivators could unleash together. Likewise, the Hundred Blossom Manor's Hundred Blossom War Chariot could carry dozens of people.

Multiple cultivators could also operate the other divine steeds, enabling them to coordinate offense and defense simultaneously.

A satisfied smile touched Liu Wuxie's lips as he studied the divine steed standing before him.

"Only two steps remain," Liu Wuxie muttered, drawing in a deep breath. He mobilized every strand of immortal energy and began inscribing with both hands, conjuring strange runes that floated before him. These celestial forge runes formed an indispensable part of the construction process.

Each rune was extraordinarily intricate, linking the divine steed's individual sections and binding them into one complete entity.

Beads of sweat gathered across Liu Wuxie's forehead and trickled down his face. Inscribing the celestial forge runes demanded an enormous expenditure of strength. Countless experts had assembled outside, and he knew that only by displaying his true capabilities could he stand out among them.

Ten celestial forge runes hung suspended in the air, manifesting as sharp swords, lightning, frost, and chilling wings. Each form arose from the power contained within those celestial forge runes.

"Now!"

One after another, the celestial forge runes sank into the divine steed. The entire construct immediately began to creak and groan, as though it might either fall apart or rebuild itself from the ground up.

A powerful surge of spirituality awakened from its deepest core, breathing new life into every component.

"Divine Tribulation Pupil, the rest depends on you," Liu Wuxie murmured.

Members of the Celestial Forge Clan controlled their creations through mental energy. Following the same principle, Liu Wuxie infused the divine steed with the power of the Divine Tribulation Pupil, ensuring that he could command it effortlessly once the tournament began.

He knew that victory would depend largely upon the Divine Tribulation Pupil. Since advancing to the ninth-level Spirit Immortal Realm, his mental energy had become several times more powerful than before.