Several days later, at Immortal Spirit City.
As the massive city at the heart of the Heavenly Alliance, it was already bustling with cultivators coming and going on ordinary days.
But on this day, as the deadline for the Heavenly Alliance's sect leader competition registration approached, the giant white jade square at the city center was packed with an overwhelming tide of people.
The registration point was set up before a temporarily constructed yet still magnificent hall.
Dozens of long lines wound from inside the hall all the way to the edge of the square.
The sounds of noise, discussion, and spirit beasts neighing mixed together, reaching straight into the clouds.
Cultivators from the four seas and eight wastelands of the lower realm gathered here.
There were old monsters who had made their names long ago, with unfathomable auras.
There were young talents full of spirit and vigor.
And there were many more scattered cultivators with ordinary cultivation but eyes full of longing.
Most people knew that the supreme position of Alliance Lord was beyond their reach.
But that dazzling competition stage was the best place to make a name and demonstrate one's value.
If one could perform exceptionally well here and catch the eye of some big shot from the Heavenly Alliance, or be directly recruited into the Alliance's core, that would be like a fish leaping over the dragon gate—instant success.
Perhaps even that lazy person in Immortal Spirit Valley hadn't fully realized that, unknowingly, the Immortal Spirit Holy Land he established, and the Heavenly Alliance that grew from it, had already become a towering mountain in the hearts of countless lower realm cultivators.
Seemingly unreachable yet yearned for—representing opportunity, power, and the direction of the future.
Chen Xingcai kept her promise and dragged the reluctant Xiyan to the registration point.
Xiyan's body had mostly recovered but she was a thousand times unwilling.
She didn't use any Saintess privileges or special channels.
Instead, she enthusiastically dragged Xiyan to the end of one of the long lines, claiming she wanted to "feel the atmosphere."
Xiyan looked at the crowd pressing shoulder to shoulder before her.
She sensed the various spiritual energy fluctuations in the air—some strong, some weak, some righteous, some evil—and felt her head swelling.
She just wanted to find a quiet place to think about "how to live according to her heart," not come to this crowded place to participate in some predetermined competition!
But she couldn't withstand Chen Xingcai's fiery enthusiasm.
Along the way, she chattered away introducing the competition rules, interesting stories, and several "favored" contestants she was optimistic about.
Xiyan could only勉强 maintain a surface smile while her heart was already weeping.
The queuing process was faster than expected.
After all, the cultivators responsible for registration were quite efficient.
When it was their turn, the cultivator recording information didn't even look up and asked routinely: "Name, sect or region of origin, cultivation level."
Chen Xingcai quickly spoke up and cheerfully reported the information Xiyan had prepared long ago.
She said Xiyan was a scattered cultivator from some remote little place, at the Origin Realm.
The cultivator wrote rapidly, and just as he was about to mark "Review" in the column requiring further verification, he subconsciously glanced up.
This one glance froze his movements instantly.
A flash of shock and fear crossed his face.
He nearly jumped up from his chair to bow: "Sain—"
Chen Xingcai immediately glared at him and almost imperceptibly shook her head.
That cultivator was quick-witted and instantly understood.
He forcibly suppressed his inner excitement, his expression returning to business-like.
But his hands moved incredibly fast, efficiently completing all procedures.
He respectfully handed over a jade tablet representing competition qualification.
His tone even carried a barely detectable fawning: "Done, Fairy. Your information has been registered. Wishing you good results in the competition!"
The entire process was impossibly smooth.
Even the most basic identity verification and cultivation testing procedures were skipped.
Xiyan took the warm jade tablet, but instead of feeling happy, a huge disappointment rose in her heart.
She wanted to complain: 'Just like that... I'm registered?'
'I'm just a mysterious cultivator with unknown origins!'
'Is this how carelessly the Heavenly Alliance selects participants?'
'Not even asking one more question?'
'This looks like such an amateurish operation!'
'And this is supposed to be the number one power in the lower realm?!'
'There's no rigor at all!'
She even darkly hoped the other party would make things difficult for her.
That way she could legitimately "fail to register."
Unfortunately, things didn't go as she wished.
Chen Xingcai didn't know her complicated thoughts.
Seeing her get the jade tablet, she happily linked arms with her.
"Done! Let's go, I'll take you to taste the famous Hundred Flower Spirit Dew Cakes of Immortal Spirit City!"
The two were just about to turn and leave the crowd.
Chen Xingcai's gaze accidentally swept across another line that had just moved.
She happened to lock eyes with a young cultivator couple who had just finished registering and were standing up from the table.
The man appeared to be about thirty years old.
His appearance was quite ordinary—the kind you'd lose in a crowd instantly.
But he was surrounded by an indescribable, warm and peaceful aura.
It made people feel refreshed at first sight, inexplicably generating a bit of goodwill.
The woman beside him appeared much younger, with a graceful figure.
She wore a pale purple dress.
A light veil covered her face, revealing only a pair of eyes as clear as autumn water.
They flowed with radiance between glances.
But based on these eyes alone and that faint outline, one could determine that beneath the veil must be a devastatingly beautiful face.
The couple also seemed to be looking their way.
Their gazes briefly met in the air.
The ordinary-looking man gave Chen Xingcai a friendly smile.
It was gentle and completely non-threatening.
Yet that very smile made Chen Xingcai's heart skip a beat for no reason.
An extremely strange, hard-to-describe sense of familiarity swept through her.
But looking carefully, she was absolutely certain she had never seen this face before.
'Maybe some peripheral deacon of the Holy Land?' she muttered internally.
'Or a cultivator I met once on some mission?'
She didn't dwell on it, just treating it as coincidence.
After all, with the Immortal Spirit Holy Land and Heavenly Alliance being so large now, running into one or two familiar-looking people was perfectly normal.
Out of politeness, she returned a faint smile, then didn't linger.
She pulled Xiyan quickly away from the noisy square.
Xiyan was clearly unwilling but forcing a "I'm so happy to participate" expression.
And back at the original spot, that extraordinary-looking young cultivator couple was naturally the bored Chen Chang'an and Ji Hongli.
They had condensed external avatars at the Origin Realm cultivation level to join in the fun and make bets.
Today, this husband and wife both had a rare childlike nature.
Their bet was simple: each would suppress their power to the Origin Realm.
They wouldn't use any origin power that exceeded the rules.
They would purely compete with techniques and combat awareness.
They wanted to see who could go further in this "fair" competition.
Partly for marital fun.
Partly to guard against other equally bored old fogeys who might shamelessly participate personally.
Chen Chang'an's intention was to register at the last moment for peace and quiet.
He hadn't expected to accidentally run into his own daughter.
Even more coincidentally, the girl beside his daughter with that "life is meaningless" yet forcing-a-smile expression—wasn't that the young girl Jiang Che had nervously carried back a few days ago?
She was the one who had needed his help to save.
Watching his daughter pulling that girl's retreating figure, Chen Chang'an stroked his chin.
On his ordinary face, those eyes hiding deep wisdom couldn't help but reveal a bit of playfulness.
"Interesting..." he chuckled softly.
Beside him, Ji Hongli's beautiful eyes shifted, glancing at him.
Beneath her veil, her lips curved slightly.
Her voice carried a trace of lazy amusement: "What? Saw your precious daughter bringing a friend?"
"Mm," Chen Chang'an responded vaguely.
But his gaze still followed those two figures disappearing into the crowd.
"I just feel that this Heavenly Alliance competition might be... more interesting than we expected."
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