"The intermediate ancient battlefield will open up in another 20 years. A victor must be decided with this gathering of the paragons of major factions and sects of the North Region."
Muron D'ohr and Mala Deisho exchanged grim glances as they heard the discussions.
The situation at the Great Forbidden Ruins was even more chaotic and frightening than they had imagined!
"What are the Ten Upper Sects?" Mala Deisho asked.
Muron D'ohr reminisced and replied, "I heard the Martial Grandmasters in the palace mention it unintentionally in the past. It's said that there are 108 Upper 'hidden' Clans that are ranked beneath the worldly, 'public' sects. Most of them are congregated within the Middle Continent and some of them are scattered in the North, South, East, and West Regions. There are ten of them in the North Region."
"What sort of sects can be regarded as Upper Sects?"
"I'm not sure."
Muron D'ohr shook his head. "It's said that the strength of an Upper Sect requires the support of a Lesser Divine Powerhouse!"
A Lesser Divine Powerhouse!
The mention of those words caused Mala Deisho's heart to skip a beat.
There were several major realms of martial – The Mortal who have just stepped on his or her journey, the Martial Practitioner, Martial Master, Martial Grandmaster, Quasi-Divine Being, Lesser Divine, Divine Being, and then and only then could someone be considered a bonafide Godly entity.
The reason why the Draconic Skinks could establish their rule over Ugburg and withstand close to a thousand years was that there was a Peak Martial Grandmaster realm High Priest backing them.
How terrifying would it be if Upper Sects had the backing of a Lesser Divine Powerhouse?
How many Quasi-Divine Being would they have under them?
What sort of strength would their paragons possess as well?
One would truly only understand that there's always someone better than them upon leaving the underworld and experience the true terror of the martial world.
At the Middle Continent, the origin of martial powers where the culture was the most glorious with the most super sects and factions gathered, how majestic would things be over there?
All of a sudden!
A shuddering aura surged from the edge of the horizon.
The weather had changed!
"Ow…"
A long horn sound rang through the world.
Many martial artists looked over and their expressions changed.
At the edge of the skies, gigantic spirit vessel warships a few thousand feet long with mysterious patterns etched on them hovered and shone brightly!
Tearing through the air, the spirit vessels had a domineering aura and a rampant might. One after another, figures with powerfully shuddering auras stood at their bows.
pàпdá-ňᴏνêι.сóМ The successors of the Upper Sects have arrived at the ruins!
"That's the spirit vessel of one of the Ten Upper Sects, Heaven Motion Sect."
"Their leader should be the paragon of Heaven Motion Sect, John Lohn."
The spirit vessels passed over the martial artists one after another, forming gigantic shadows that covered the skies!
Not long after Heaven Motion Sect passed, many more spirit vessels tore through the clouds. The vessels were pitch-black and eerie, resembling Hell Boats floating in the seas of Hell.
"One of the Ten Upper Sects, Dark Ghost Sect!"
"Be careful not to be targeted by anyone from Dark Ghost Sect or you'll definitely live an existence worse than death!"
"There are countless malevolent ghosts and otherworldly soldiers in the Great Forbidden Ruins. That's a complete terrain advantage for Dark Ghost Sect."
The spirit vessels of Dark Ghost Sect steered into the Great Forbidden Ruins.
Not long after, more battleships arrived.
The first ancestors of the gentry clans were martial warriors that conquered deserts. Therefore, their clansmen would travel with ancient chariots.
The Upper Clans were different from the North Region gentry clans.
Most of them traveled using spirit vessels.
"That's the warship of one of the Ten Upper Sects, Blaze Depth Valley!"
Raring flames blazed on the newly arrived warships and the clouds in the air were burned scarlet, displaying a dismal beauty.
"I heard that the paragon of Blaze Depth Valley, G'ang Nan, came here previously and was nearly killed!"
"Who could be so strong?"
"I'm not sure. It's probably the legacy disciple of another Upper Sect. I heard that the paragon of Stellar Moon Sect died. There's no way Stellar Moon Sect is going to let this go."
"There's already three of the Ten Upper Sects here now and I garner the other seven should be arriving soon. Seems like the rumors are for real."
Needless to think, a great battle would definitely break out in the Great Forbidden Ruins once the Vermilion Fruit was ripe 15 days later!
At that time, paragons would be drenched in blood and no one knew who would survive the massive storm.
This could be considered a test.
Only paragons that survive bloodbaths could truly be considered peerless paragons and leave an unshakable name in the intermediate ancient battlefield 20 years later!
With a stern expression, Muron D'ohr contemplated for a long time before saying slowly, "The situation is getting way too complicated in the Great Forbidden Ruins."
"Why do you say that?" Mala Deisho could tell that he had more to his mind.
Muron D'ohr frowned. "Have you noticed that despite the grand commotion at the Great Forbidden Ruins, a single Martial Grandmaster has yet to appear?"
Mala Deisho nodded – she had noticed this long ago too.
"The Vermilion Fruit doesn't have much effect on Martial Grandmasters and they're probably not attracted by it," Mala Deisho deduced.
"While that is true, it's impossible that none of them appeared at all! That doesn't make sense!"
"What do you have in mind?"
Muron D'ohr mulled deeply. "I'm guessing that some of the Martial Grandmasters have already arrived!"
"What do you mean by that?" Mala Deisho's eyes widened.
Muron D'ohr replied, "There are too many factions involved in this fight for the Vermilion Fruit. If Martial Grandmasters interfered, they would definitely destroy the balance. As you've mentioned, it's truly not worth it for Martial Grandmasters to fight for a single Vermilion Fruit."
"Therefore, I garner that there's most probably a silent agreement between the Martial Grandmasters of the various major factions to not interfere so that the younger generation can take a truly decisive battle to see who could reign supreme among the Martial Master realm!"
"It's very likely that all the Martial Grandmasters are hidden and watching to see the outcome of this battle."
Mala Deisho frowned and fell into deep thought upon hearing his guess.
…
In the underground cave.
A resplendent light shone above the scarlet lava and a faint yellow inner armor hovered in midair beautifully.
On the shore, a demure gray-robed martial artist wiped away the sweat on his forehead and heaved a sigh of relief, finally letting off a faint smile.
The gray-robed martial artist was none other than Aiden.
After entering the underground cave, he merely spent five days repairing the five Black Gold Daggers.
However, it took him 10 days to repair the Mystic Gold Silk Armor!
For the past 15 days, Aiden did not rest for a single moment and was tense – he was already at his limits physically and mentally by doing spirit gathering continuously.
However, it was all worth it.
The five Black Gold Arrows and the Mystic Gold Silk Armor were all top-grade artifact weapons – Aiden's combat strength had just climbed yet another level!
Aiden stretched and removed his gray robes, preparing to don the Mystic Gold Silk Armor.
However, his actions caused the furry, red ball beside his feet to wake up.
The little fox yawned and pushed against Aiden's thigh with its head and groggy eyes, expressing its displeasure.
Aiden smiled.
Over the past 15 days, the little fox had let down its guard towards him entirely.
Initially, this little thing hid and watched him from afar.
When it was tired, it slept and continued watching after it woke up.
After a few days, when the little fox saw that Aiden ignored her, she advanced and closed in.
When she realized that she was still not in danger after another day, she closed the distance again.
…
A few days later, the little fox laid down beside Aiden's feet directly.
She used his thighs as her pillow and felt extremely comfortable – she had never had a sleep as good as this for dozens of years.
After waking up, the little fox rubbed her eyes and the first thing she saw was Aiden changing his clothes. Instantly, she blushed and grumbled internally, "Everything about this man is good except the fact that he loves to be nude…"
Aiden was indifferent and wore the Mystic Gold Silk Armor; it felt cooling on his skin and extremely comfortable.
The Mystic Gold Silk Armor was thin as the wings of cicadas but it was unyielding and could adjust to the figure of any martial artist – it was truly a rare Utmost treasure!
After successfully repairing the top-grade artifact weapon, Aiden was in great spirits and wore his gray robes once more. Looking at the little fox beside him, he could not help but reach out and touch her furry body.