In ten huge arenas set up at the center of the county city, countless people gathered around, looking like ants if seen from above.
Behind the arenas, a magnificent platform had been erected within a month, shining with special materials and exquisite craftsmanship.
Several chairs, like majestic thrones, were arranged on the platform, meant only for those with the highest authority in and out of the county city.
At this moment, a few distinguished figure stood on the platform, watching everything on the ground with a detached gaze.
All of them were influential figures holding power in Lingshan County, including the County Magistrate, Wu Mansion's Innate ancestor, and a few other known Innate Realm powerhouses from the Baiyun Prefecture.
Even Su Yuan, who was not an Innate Realm powerhouse but still had the massive Su Mansion behind him was present.
Ji Tianyu was given a special seat at the center of the platform, his calm gaze sweeping across the arenas below as his Divine Sense took in everything.
Even those arrogant experts from the Prefecture City acted with utmost respect when interacting with him.
There was no other reason; it was purely because Ji Tianyu was a Qi Refinement Realm powerhouse, a strong person, and the strong were respected anywhere they went in this world.
One had to know that all the major factions of Baiyun Prefecture were powerful because they had at least one Qi Refinement Realm expert. There were less than 10 Qi Refinement Realm cultivators in Baiyun Prefecture, and such figures commanded respect even in superpowers like the River Cloud Sect.
At this moment, Ji Tianyu's Divine Sense seemed to have collided into something, his eyes instantly sweeping towards that direction.
On the other hand, the old man from the Golden Sky Valley also had a slightly stunned expression on his face, his eyes shooting upwards at the platform.
One thought rang out in both of their mind.
Qi Refinement Realm!
Ji Tianyu could feel that the old man's cultivation base quite strong, definitely stronger than him, possibly at the Sixth or even Seventh Stage of Qi Refinement Realm.
There were probably no experts of this level even in the Baiyun Prefecture City.
Several thoughts flashed through his mind.
This old man is either from the three hegemonic forces or the Provincial Government!
Aside from the three hegemonic factions and one or two well known Rogue Cultivators, there was another powerful Foundation Establishment Realm Grand Cultivator in the Qingyun Province.
The Provincial Governer who had held his position for nearly a hundred years, backed by the Imperial Court, someone who attained the Foundation Establishment Realm over a hundred years ago and was transferred to Qingyun Province to become its Governor.
No one knew how powerful he had become in the past century, but he was, in the end, a powerful Foundation Establishment Realm being, keeping checks and balances on the three hegemonic powers. Even if he was at the bottom among Foundation Establishment Realm Grand Cultivators, no one would dare to underestimate him.
Foundation Establishment Realm, five hundred years of lifespan, truly possessing the ability to influence generations of Immortal Cultivators and witness the rise and fall of the ages.
With a Foundation Establishment Realm being as backing, there was basically nowhere throughout Baiyun Prefecture one couldn't go.
Both Ji Tianyu and the old man nodded in greetings, as if in tacit agreement.
It seems the other party was just here to observe, there was no need to make things difficult for him.
The old man was also quite surprised upon finding Ji Tianyu. He didn't expect a small place like the Lingshan County to have a genuine Qi Refinement Realm cultivator.
Is he a native, or...
At this thought, the old man took a deep breath.
Forget it, it's not this old man's business to pry into others for no reason.
Soon, the Talent Conference was about to begin, spectators watching from afar, participants ready to jump in.
The first round was a free for all, and the minimum requirements were being at the First Stage of Body Tempering Realm with a maximum bone age not exceeding twenty.
Meridian Cleansing Realm experts from the County Magistrate's Mansion personally tested the bone age of every person participating just with a slight touch, dozens of cultivators working together, they could test hundreds of people in a minute.
If someone was caught to be faking their age or not even having reached the First Stage of Body Tempering Realm, the consequences would be severe, thus, little to no mishaps occurred.
Even if the overall population of Lingshan County, counting the county city, surrounding towns and villages was approximately 2 million people and the youngsters under 20 among them counted for over 40%, true cultivators who had reached the First Stage of Body Tempering Realm or higher before the age of 20 were only one in ten.
This was why the actual number of participants was not too high, though there were still thousands of them present.
The first round was mainly to thin out the masses, and the last remaining cultivators on each of the ten arenas would be declared winners of this round before competing against eachother in one on one battles.
At the same time, many cultivators in this first round performed exceptionally well and were usually selected as disciples or taken under the care of powerful figures almost every year, and even if one didn't perform well, they could always try next year as long as their age did not surpass 20.
Thus, most promising geniuses were actually selected from the first round, everything after that was prize and formality based, as all geniuses in the top ten were at least at the Third Stage of Body Tempering Realm and would usually choose to go to the Prefecture City for a bright future, with little to no connections to the local experts.
Of course, this only applied to those common geniuses, not the scions and scionesses of powerful forces like the Ji Mansion and Wu Mansion.
Their sole purpose was to establish an irrefutable reputation for themselves, all silver related rewards and special cultivation techniques might not even compare to their monthly allowance or cultivation techniques their guards cultivated, with the opportunity to get acquainted with experts from the Prefecture City being an additional bonus instead of a life changing encounter.