Chapter 7：Bold and Unwavering

Leaving his squealing cultivation slave behind, Harun returned to the page residence. According to Gerden, there was only one thing in common between the handpicked mortal-born. They all ascended on Golden Clouds. However, the words solved no mystery.

Ascension had three levels: Blue Cloud Ascension, Purple Cloud Ascension and Golden Cloud Ascension. Blue Cloud Ascension would lead the new celestial to one of the Outer Ring's 14 Heavens. Purple Clouds led to the Middle Ring's 12 Heavens. And Golden Clouds to the Inner Ring's six Heavens.

Any mortal-born of the Fourth Heaven ascended on Golden Clouds, meaning that the only thing they truly had in common was their mortal origin. Harun couldn't believe that not even a day after Agiri's death, those ancient deities' attitude toward the mortal-born would experience such a 180 change. There had to be a pitfall hidden somewhere. And since he didn't have a full grasp of the situation, he could only find a way to sit this one out.

As he pictured all the delicacies he'd probably miss, Harun's mood soured. But ultimately, his poor life was the most important thing. Only by keeping it could he create more beautiful poisons, eat and drink across eons.

But again, the story refused to take that turn. Harun had barely reached the residence's gate when a voice thundered across Blood-Feather City, startling its eight million residents.

"All pages are summoned to the magistrate's office. Immediately drop all you're doing and head there at once. Failure to arrive within a minute means death!" To dare send an announcement across the whole city, the voice's owner could only be the magistrate. That, or one of the hidden experts that ruled Blood-Feather City from the shadows.

"The script is a bit too hard-coded right? After learning the truth, I don't even have the time to get home that I'm summoned to the magistrate's office? Who wrote this shit?" Aggrieved, Harun slapped his thigh, and turned into a blur as he raced toward the magistrate's office.

In the Noxious Flame World, crossing 3,000 kilometers in one breath was child's play. But in the 33 Heavens, the situation was entirely different. Not only could Celestial Kins not fly, their movement speed and destructive power became 100th of what they held in their mortal world. Overturning mountains and seas were all things of the past.

Still, for Harun, one minute was more than enough to reach the magistrate's office. The figures of tens of thousands of pages crowded the streets, all rushing toward the same point.

To avoid standing out, Harun adjusted his speed to match his cultivation level, arriving among the first pages. Trying to hide his cultivation level from the magistrate made no sense. What he could do, however, was to hide the full extent of his abilities.

The weakest pages were at the first level of the Celestial Kin Realm, the strongest were at the fifth. As soon as they arrived at the office's gates, all stood in a perfect military order. The magistrate's office was one of the few buildings across the city made of Divine Jade, a marble-white cultivation paradise stretching across four hectares, with two pagodas sandwiching a massive mansion. In that mansion, the magistrate held office.

Just standing before the office made many pages' cultivation base stir. If they could cultivate inside for a century, their strength would rise by leaps and bounds. The magistrate and custodian aside, only the members of local powers held quotas. The gate's door opened, enabling the pages to rush in.

Crowding the courtyard, the pages stopped before the mansion-shaped office, awaiting further instructions. The door opened, a blood-red flame ray shot out, landing before the restless pages. From the flames emerged a middle-aged man with the same white Taoist robe as all the pages. Unlike them though, he also wore a black hat with wing-like flaps of thin, oval shaped boards on each side. Starting with the seventh rank, officials all had to wear such hats.

"As all of you must know, His Divine Majesty, the Most Venerated Celestial of the 33 Heavens, just died. Following his final decree, Her Divine Majesty the God Empress canceled the mourning period and will hold the Peach Banquet early," Servan Diljen, the magistrate, started, sweeping over the 30,000 pages of Blood-Feather City with his flaming-red eyes.

Though they all held the same position and came at the same time, the heaven-born somehow managed to isolate the mortal-born from their ranks. Used to it, they paid them no heed. Across the 33 Heavens' trillions of lives, not everyone could become an official. They first had to pass an examination.

For better resources, some would rather become merchants or servants of powerful clans. Others preferred to just cultivate in their families. The mortal-born were the only one without a choice, all forced to become pages upon arrival. Thus, the heaven-born pages—who had to pass an examination to get this bottom-tier position—had a sense of superiority.

"To feel superior because you studied for the right to sweep the floor. This is a form of talent. True, unrivaled talent. The 33 Heavens are indeed a place of innumerable geniuses," Harun inwardly thought.

"We've received orders to dispatch some of you to serve at the banquet. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity even I would kill for. The selected are destined to soar, reaching levels I can only dream of. In the future, please don't forget who recommended you," Servan said. As a member of the Blood Crow branch of the Golden Crow clan, he could lord over Blood-Feather city. But beyond, he wasn't worth pig fart. Even in Blood-Feather City, he was far from the strongest expert—owing his unchallenged position to his clan's support.

However, with what he learned from Gerden, Harun guessed that this magistrate just wanted to let the pages take their guard down.

"We initially planned to hold the selection tomorrow, but received an urgent message to dispatch the chosen today. Therefore, we must rush things. To ensure fairness, you will all write down and place your names in an Infinity Urn. We will then have one of you pick six names. Any questions?"

The good old rigged lottery. Harun couldn't help but feel that the magistrate was taking the gathered folks for pigs. But with his position and cultivation deterring them, the pages didn't dare argue.

Or well, that's how it should have been. But there are always people who defy all odds, bold and unwavering, risking their lives for the sake of righteousness. So this happened:

"What?! Does this mean the mortal-born have equal chances to get chosen?"

"I have been doing this for over 1,500 years! With my experience and seniority, why should I be treated the same as those upstarts?"

"This isn't fair! Magistrate sir, these rules aren't fair!"

"Aren't you afraid of breeding future trouble?"

Several heaven-born pages exclaimed, waving their hands for attention as if this was some rock star's concert.

Harun was speechless; the magistrate wasn't, and raised his right hand.

Immediately, the protesters felt their blood seethe, their temperature skyrocket, and by the time they realized what was going on, bright-red flames burst from their internal organs, setting them all ablaze.

"Aaaaargh!" Shrill screams rang in the courtyard, reminding all that the Divine Laws had been repealed.

Murder was now back in the game.