923 Protecting the Future of the Celestial Realm

So, the story began in the Middle Age when strong practitioners from different worlds fought for the World's Source.

During the Middle Age, the main space had originally been vast and stable, but it was constantly ruined and split due to a devastating war. Inner worlds where people still existed were spaces that had been split due to the war in the Middle Age. Needless to say, the inner worlds which still existed were rare because most of the spaces had been destroyed in the war. Even if they were not destroyed, they would have gradually collapsed as time passed.

Inner worlds that still existed were as rare as hen's teeth when compared to the number of them that there had been during the Middle Age.

The Peng Lai Immortal Realm was not a space split due to the war but was still a part of the main space. It had never left the main space.

However, the origin of the Peng Lai Immortal Realm was related to the last war that had taken place in the main space during the Middle Age. In that devastating war, many strong practitioners emerged as all powers fought relentlessly, almost destroying the entire main space. Although later they sensed that something was off, it was already too late. The main space had become too fragile because of the war. A huge amount of Vital Qi in the heaven and earth had already leaked out. The source's space which used to be full of resources with an abundance of Vital Qi in the heaven and earth became a barren land, and it was almost no longer suitable for immortal cultivators' practice.

In the face of such adversity, immortal cultivators from various worlds had to stop the war and retreat to their worlds. The Peng Lai Immortal Realm was the only abundant land left in the main space. It was the least affected by the war and was rich in both Vital Qi in heaven and earth, as well as resources. The Source World's space already had issues and the entire space was like a funnel, draining water till it dried. If no measures were taken, the consequences were foreseeable – the Peng Lai Immortal Realm would also become a barren land.

In order to save the only land left in the Source World that was suitable for practicing, the mighty ones of various worlds finally reached a consensus. They combined their powers and performed the Nature Reverse Secret Technique to isolate the Peng Lai Immortal Realm from the main space so that it would not be affected by the decline.

As such, the Peng Lai Immortal Realm was not a separate inner world but was part of the main space. On the contrary, other inner worlds, which had been separated during the Middle Age, were very fragile and regarded as useless, barren land. No one bothered about them, and they had even been abandoned by immortal cultivators.

This explained why the Martial Arts Circle Convention organized by the Huatian Palace allowed martial art practitioners from the main space but not people from the inner worlds. This rule was established to simplify the procedures of the Martial Arts Circle Convention and remove confusion as there were too many inner worlds at that time. From this, one could tell that the inner world was totally disregarded and was also not expected to have any martial art practitioners who could take on those from the main space.

Who would have expected that times would have changed so much and things would develop to the present stage where martial art practitioners from the Peng Lai Immortal Realm increasingly disregarded the Martial Arts Circle Convention? Martial art practitioners living in impoverished areas fought intensely, getting more and more martial art practitioners from the inner worlds involved.

Actually, towards the end of the Middle Age, the Hidden Martial Arts Strain referred to those martial art practitioners who had moved into the Peng Lai Immortal Realm and led a life totally isolated from other impoverished worlds. That was why they were referred to as hidden martial art practitioners. On the other hand, the inner worlds were just wildlands with only a few living people. Only after thousands of years of development did they start to prosper.

Until now, martial art practitioners from the main space had always thought that inner world martial art practitioners were from the Hidden Martial Arts Strain. Even those from the inner worlds thought that they belonged to the Hidden Martial Arts Strain, but the truth was that only those from the Peng Lai Immortal Realm were the real hidden martial art practitioners.

"I see."

Mo Wen let out a deep sigh. He was puzzled by the appearance of the Hidden Martial Arts Strain this time. He could not understand how they had been able to become so influential within the martial art community and had played such a role in the Martial Arts Circle Convention. Time changed everything.

"If that's the case, the most prosperous region for Hua Xia martial art practitioners is not the inner world, but Peng Lai Immortal Realm in the main space?"

"That's right, but the situation in the Peng Lai Immortal Realm is slightly unique. Even the Huatian Palace is unable to exercise full control over the place. The Peng Lai Immortal Realm was originally built by the mighty ones from various worlds, and all kinds of characters with varying backgrounds lived in it. The strong practitioners there are also pretty powerful. Although the Huatian Palace still rules the region, its influence over there is less prestigious when compared to its control outside of the region."

"I heard that the headquarters of the top three special organizations are in the Peng Lai Immortal Realm," Gu Jingman said slowly.

The so-called top three special organizations she referred to was Demonic Sky, Ghost Lair, and Demon Native.

These top three special organizations had always been known as the Heretic forces, a definition given by the Huatian Palace. Winner takes all, so as a loser, they were naturally suppressed by the Huatian Palace.

"I'd no idea that the origin of the Hidden Martial Arts Strain is in the famous Peng Lai Immortal Realm. If so, I'd really need to go take a look."

Mo Wen stood up and walked towards the door. "Sis, I heard that the top eight sects will emerge from the Martial Arts Circle Convention this afternoon. Let's go take a look at the situation. After all, once the top eight are out, we'll have a chance to challenge them. I didn't care much about it at first, but now I'm a little interested."

Gu Jingman walked alongside Mo Wen, feeling a tinge of joy. "I was waiting for your call. How boring is that to spend the whole day practicing."

Wrapping her arms around Mo Wen, Gu Jingman stood by his side, and they walked out of the inn together.

The battle among the sects was held in the Divine Dragon Nest of the inner city. It had already been around ten days since the start of the preliminaries. The top eight sects would be selected later that day.

The Divine Dragon Nest was bustling with hundreds of thousands of spectators. Martial art practitioners who were able to come to Dragon City were the cream of the crop. If the Peng Lai Immortal Realm was excluded, not many people from the main space would be eligible to come here. Instead, many martial art practitioners came from the inner worlds. To date, no one knew how many inner worlds surrounded the main space. The Huatian Palace probably knew, but common people would have no idea about the figures.

Throughout Dragon City, almost 90 percent of the martial art practitioners came from the inner world, with the remaining number consisting of practitioners from the main space and executors from the Huatian Palace. Barely anyone from the Peng Lai Immortal Realm came to watch, other than those sects which came to take part in the Martial Arts Circle Convention.

This was understandable. Martial art practitioners from the Peng Lai Immortal Realm thought nothing of the Martial Arts Circle Convention, so most of them would not bother coming. If not for the temptation of entering the Goddess's World, there might not even be a single person from the Peng Lai Immortal Realm present, so it would be no different from the previous years' Martial Arts Circle Convention.

"Sect Leader."

Wang Yinru walked up to Mo Wen as he stepped into the Dragon Divine Nest. She had reserved a whole area in advance because spectators in the Dragon Divine Nest had to pay for their seats. Mo Wen headed towards the seats once he entered Dragon Divine Nest.

Wang Yinru was guilt-ridden. She was the one who led the Dafang Sect, but they were eliminated even before the quarter-finals. She felt bad for Mo Wen.

"Sister Yinru, it's been tough on you while I was away." Mo Wen smiled. He was aware of Dafang Sect's situation. Even if he and Gu Jingman had been around, they might not have been able to achieve much in the Martial Arts Circle Convention since their opponents were martial art practitioners from the Peng Lai Immortal Realm. Competition among the sects was slightly different – the focus was on the sect's overall power. If it was a one-on-one battle, Mo Wen would have no fear as a Primordial Soul Realm martial art practitioner.

"I'm incapable. I'm unable to lead the sect well and shine at the Martial Arts Circle Convention like Sect Leader would be able to." Wang Yinru sighed. Mo Wen did not blame her. Instead, he consoled her, making her feel emotional. However, this time Dafang Sect had come to Dragon City with high expectations, so there was no desire for it to end it like this.

At this point, Wang Yinru still had no idea that Mo Wen had the chance to challenge the top eight again as the person who had placed first in the Heaven List.

"Sorry to say I was not of any help this time." Ling Feng, who was standing beside Wang Yinru, also took a deep sigh. When Mo Wen and Gu Jingman were not around, he was the most powerful one in Dafang Sect, even stronger than practitioners of the common Martial Arts Grandmaster Third Realm. However, he had just recovered from his injuries, so the cultivation which he could recover was not much and was much lower than when he was at his peak. Otherwise, he might not have feared the martial art practitioners from the Hidden Martial Arts Strain.

Regardless of how strong Ling Feng was, he was on his own. A battle among the sects placed more emphasis on the overall ability of the sect. Even if Ling Feng had recovered his power to his peak, his power alone would not be enough.

Undeniably, throughout Dafang sect, other than Ling Feng, no one else had the ability to par with the martial art practitioners from Hidden martial arts strain. Even Tan Qiyue would also not be able to fight against the strong practitioners from Hidden martial arts strain.

"Custodian Ling won't be able to take on everything on your own, I know that. Don't worry, now that I'm back in the sect, we have a chance to make a comeback," Mo Wen said with a smile.

As the custodian of Dafang Sect, Ling Feng held a special position. This status in the sect was very high, just below the Sect Leader. However, he had no real power. Ling Feng had just joined the Dafang Sect. Moreover, his relationship with Mo Wen was mainly transactional, so naturally, the level of trust was not deep. Authority over a sect could only be entrusted to someone reliable. Otherwise, internal conflict would definitely arise within the sect because Mo Wen was away quite frequently.

"Make a comeback?" Ling Feng was slightly stunned and did not understand what Mo Wen had said.

"As the first in the Heaven List, there is a special privilege of leading the sect to challenge the top eight sects directly. If we win the battle, we can replace them," Mo Wen explained composedly.

"What? There's such a special privilege?" Wang Yinru was overjoyed. Dafang Sect had been eliminated by other sects because of the sudden absence of Mo Wen and Gu Jingman. Now that Mo Wen was back, she believed that Dafang Sect had a chance to shine if it was given the chance to make a comeback. At the very least, she had full confidence in Mo Wen.

"There's still such a special privilege."

Ling Feng was also flabbergasted but did not feel much excitement. Others might not understand, but he knew how fearsome the martial art practitioners from the Peng Lai Immortal Realm were. He also knew that the Hidden Martial Arts Strain who came to take part in the Martial Arts Circle Convention were not the strongest sects in the Peng Lai Immortal Realm. The strongest ones would not even bother taking part.

"Since we have this special privilege, we should not waste it. I wish to know how formidable those sects from the Hidden Martial Arts Strain are." Mo Wen smiled briefly, eyeing the competition ground below. The sects that could break through to the top eight must be something in the Hidden Martial Arts Strain, he thought.

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