Disciples participating in the Deepstar Battle could leave the Deepstar Battlefield once a day for four hours. Tianmig had already spent two hours in the Old Deepstar Path, and some time together with Ouyang Jianwang. Now, he was rushing back to the Deepstar Battlefield.

But just when he was about to leave, Tianming lowered his head and saw a bronze gaze suddenly opening in the belly of the mountain under the Heaven Cauldron. A young man walked out, staggering as he raised his head to look at the sky. He didn’t see Tianming on the Heaven Cauldron, but Tianming clearly saw his three bloodshot eyes. He was Xuanyuan Yuheng, who merely glanced around before leaving.

“He’s cultivating before the Archaionfiend Eye?” Tianming asked.

“That’s right. He’s been trying to make a breakthrough recently, and he’s been cultivating insanely without any rest,” said Ouyang Jianwang.

“Why? Is there something he’s going to do?” Tianming asked, looking at Xuanyuan Yuheng’s silhouette.

“The Number One Summit,” said Ouyang Jianwang.

“Number One Summit?” Tianming had just named his Earth Pavilion the Number One Pavilion.

“That’s right. It’s almost time for that, and it's our Archaion Sect’s turn to host it this time round. It’ll be lively at that time. The other eight divine realms’ powerhouses will bring their elite disciples to seize the ‘Number One’ title. As hosts, we naturally can’t embarrass ourselves and get trampled on, so the Heaven Branch disciples have been under great pressure recently—especially those over the age of twenty. They’ll be responsible for defending our dignity and honor,” Ouyang Jianwang lamented.

“So they’re going to compete for the title of Number One Genius?” Tianming asked.

“Not only that, but this is a gambling game between the divine realms. The gamble includes resources and territories, so we can only put our faith in the younger generations. The so-called ‘Number One’ is just a title. After all, which youngster doesn’t want honor and fame? It might not seem like much, but it can rouse the youngsters’ blood. 

“I also had a similar dream when I was young. But to seniors, they place more importance on the confrontation between the future forces of the divine realms and the ownership of resources and territories,” said Ouyang Jianwang.

“The younger generations are the future of the divine realms. If they can suppress their peers to obtain the title of ‘Number One,’ it’ll also lead their clan and divine realm to glory in the future, right?” Tianming asked.

“That’s roughly the case. But we can’t rule out that some might mature late,” said Ouyang Jianwang. But Tianming wasn’t concerned about it since it had nothing to do with the Archaionfiend Eye.

Ouyang Jianwang gulped down a cup of wine and sighed. “The eight divine realms will naturally come hard at us with Her Eminence’s return. I’ll flip my name around if they don’t try to do something during the Number One Summit. The sect masters can’t bring down their faces to cower, and there’s never been a time where the host didn’t dare to host the summit in history.”

“Oh.” Tianming’s gaze became deep. Who knew if the eight divine realms were here for Feiling.

“These people are insane if they even dare to covet Her Eminence. Haha.…” Ouyang Jianwang sneered. “Why am I telling you all that? This is something that we’re all having a headache over. You can return to the Deepstar Battlefield now.”

“Okay, then I’ll be leaving first.”

“Come again when you’re free. I’ll show you my stock of poems next time!” Ouyang Jianwang said while narcissistically fluffing his hair. “Haha!”

……

Half an hour later, Tianming returned to the Deepstar Battlefield. As the Deepstar Formation revolved, he was sucked into the battlefield. He had no idea where he was in the Myriadbeast Abyss.

He raised his head and looked at the towering black mountain in front of him. Water was rushing down the mountain, with demon beasts of all sizes concealed there. There were even small poisonous bugs that could pose a threat even with the Astral Formation. So everyone had to be careful in the Deepstar Battlefield.

“Let’s continue based on our previous tempo. The Deepstar Battle is time-consuming, and I should focus on cultivating in the early game. The ranking doesn’t matter until the last three days, and on the last day, we can reach the top even if we don’t have any points.” Tianming wasn’t in a hurry.

His focus was on two aspects: comprehending Heavenly Will and the Hexapath Samsara Sword. He would practice his sword whenever he saw someone. When there wasn't anyone, he would digest and absorb the Astral Will. At the same time, he would enrich his Imperial Will with the Grand-Orient Sword and Prime Tower.

With that, Tianming lived a simple lifestyle. But for everyone else, the Deepstar Battlefield was constantly filled with battles. In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.

“I’m now in the third level of the Empyrean Saint stage.” Tianming was finally repaid for his bitter cultivation. “It’s so much better in the Earth Branch’s Old Deepstar Path with an additional four hours to cultivate. My cultivation speed is actually still the same even after reaching the Empyrean Saint stage.”

It was common sense that cultivating would become harder the higher your cultivation. After all, your comprehension of Heavenly Will would slow down the further you go. There wasn't anyone like Tianming, who had maintained the same cultivation speed since the Beast Vein stage.

He could only say that while he cultivated, his talent and resources were simultaneously growing. He mainly depended on the Grand-Orient Sword when he was in the Earth and Sky Saint stages.

Now that he was in the Empyrean Saint stage, he had the Old Deepstar Path. He could absorb the ancestors’ Heavenly Wills every day for two hours, merging them into his Imperial Will.

“If it wasn’t for the Old Deepstar Path, I’d reach a bottleneck, and my cultivation would slow down by relying only on my own talent and the Grand-Orient Sword.” It wasn’t that he was abnormal, but he accumulated his talent to maintain his cultivating speed. For example, he had crossed the Sky Saint stage so quickly.

But it was terrifying that he could maintain the same cultivation speed in the Empyrean Saint stage. But it would be too late if they reacted after Tianming reached the Samsara stage. At that time, he would have a certain capital.

“Now that I’m in the third level of the Empyrean Saint stage, it’s time for me to earn some points.” There were only twenty days left in the Deepstar Battle. He still had to lay the foundation for the last three days, or he wouldn’t have enough time to do anything.

……

The ranking appeared once more at noon. Xuanyuan Muxue was first with a thousand and eight points, Fang Xingque was in second with six hundred and thirty-one points, while the hundredth place only had thirty-six points.

“Fang Xingque is rising so quickly?” Tianming frowned. He had been paying attention to the ranking over the past few days. Fang Xingque was ranked thirty-eighth on the first day, but his ranking was improving faster and faster. He was rising up in the ranking daily, and much faster than Xuanyuan Muxue.

“This fellow likes to be in the limelight, and he’s probably unhappy being in second place. He’s probably trying to get into first place,” Tianming sneered. He was together with Ying Huo, hunting and practicing their swords at the same time.

He now had thirty-one points and was approaching hundredth place. But his luck had been bad, since he had only encountered opponents that gave him one point.

Right at that moment, Tianming saw a large group up ahead with his third eye.

“There’s at least twenty people.” Tianming gave a rough look at them. They didn’t bother hiding, probably because they had more people, and they were probably looking for prey in the wilderness.

Tianming approached and took a look at them, which he instantly recognized. “Disciples of the Sterling House of Fang?” But there weren’t any Heaven Branch disciples among them, so he felt he would have a chance fighting them.

“Fang Xingque threatened me before the battle began, and now they’re traveling in groups. Who can defeat them? Did Fang Xingque rise so quickly in the rankings because he has the Sterling House of Fang with him to increase his efficiency?” Tianming speculated.

“Is that considered cheating? Everyone else is fighting on their own, while they’re fighting with hundreds,” Ying Huo said with disdain.

“There aren’t any rules against that,” said Tianming.

“How shameless. Or perhaps this is a form of rapport to take care of disciples from the three clans. After all, no one can gather such a large number of people aside from them, turning the Deepstar Battle into a faction battle.” Tianming smiled.

Then again, they were only guessing. He wasn’t sure, but Tianming felt that he had guessed correctly.

“What’re we going to do now? Are we going to beat them up?” Ying Huo asked.

“Why not? They’re a bunch of walking points.” Tianming smiled.

“Are we going to chase them?”

“No, we’ll make a detour, pretend to bump into them accidentally, and run for our lives,” Tianming snickered.

“So complicated? What for?”

“Are you stupid? That’s so they feel superior and won’t run away. I don’t want any of them to escape,” said Tianming.

“You’re cunning!” Ying Huo said with disdain. The other party wasn’t moving quickly, and they had been looking around for people. Tianming made a detour and stopped in the path that they would walk past.

……

“Fang Xingying, are you dead? Why are you walking so slow?” a blue-robed youth by the name of Fang Chenhuan turned around and yelled at a young man behind.

“Fang Xingying, why don’t you get lost? You’re annoying!” a young lady said. Her name was Fang Shuyu. She wasn’t old, and she had an adorable appearance with all of her pink pieces of jewelry and clothing. Even her stockings were pink.