Chapter 516 - Jiang Wushang

The fourth layer of the Demon World was very noisy today.

Only seven people had their own seats here, and they were the Seven Demon Kings. Currently, they were seated in a circle around the arena and were roughly thirty meters away from each other.

Each pavilion had its own elders and disciples. Most of them had close to three hundred people. The Clear Shallows King had fewer people at around two hundred, but some of the pavilions had five hundred!

Everyone had arrived and congregated around the arena. At this time, several people walked onto it. Long Chen could feel how strong they were. There were fifty of them, and all of them were grand elders at the Ninth Passage Stage. They were as strong as the Demon Generals and were close to the peak of the hierarchy in the Ancient Demon Domain.

But their positions were slightly higher than the Demon Generals because they served the Demon Emperor. That was why all of them had their own seats. Still, their seats were smaller than those of the Seven Demon King to signify the difference in their positions.

But some of them had seats larger than those of the Demon Kings. One of the men walked to the seat and sat down, attracting everyone’s attention.

Long Chen looked at the man and saw that he had a soft face, was around twenty years old, and was very handsome. He had a similar vibe to Xiaolang, but underneath that soft demeanor was a strong and passionate heart. Long Chen could see it in his eyes.

Long Chen had a strange feeling. He thought the man looked familiar.

That should be impossible. I’ve come straight to the Ancient Demon Domain after reaching the Divine Martial Empire. I never went anywhere else. How could I have seen him?

He had a feeling that the man was as strong as the Clear Shallows King. Even though the man was quiet, his actions exuded strength. Long Chen had a feeling that he was at the Earthly Martial Realm, which meant that he was none other than the genius, Jiang Wushang!

That was Demon Emperor Jiang Wuxie’s son and successor.

Long Chen was impressed by how the young man had reached the Earthly Martial Realm at such a young age. Even though he himself had sped through the Heavenly Passage Stage, he still didn’t know how to cultivate at the Three Martial Realms. Even Zhao Qingyun didn’t know.

The moment Jiang Wushang made his appearance, everyone became quiet. They stopped talking and stared at him in awe. Not only was he a son of the Demon Emperor, he was the strongest son. The other children of the Demon Emperor were at the Ninth Passage Stage at most. It was clear Jiang Wushang’s talent was superior.

The Demon Emperor was showing how much he cared about him by allowing him to preside over the assessment.

Jiang Wushang had been the object of worship for the disciples over the past few years.

Cultivating the Three Martial Realm was different from the Four Basic Realm. People had always commented that it was easy to reach the Ninth Passage Stage, but difficult to reach the Earthly Martial Realm. It was an incredible feat to reach the Earthly Martial Realm at an age close to Long Chen’s!

“Jiang Wushang managed to leave a handprint on a Heavenly Passage Pillar when he was at the Ninth Passage Stage. He could probably destroy them now!”

The disciples started discussing again.

“That’s nothing! I’ve heard that he once faced off against eight cultivators at the Ninth Passage Stage even though he himself was at the same stage. He killed all of them! The eight cultivators were none other than the Fearsome Eight of the North Seas! Each of them was famous on the bounty board, but all of them were killed by Jiang Wushang!”

“That’s just a regular training session for Prince Wushang. I’ve heard that he killed a King-tier beast at the Immortal Sea!”

“A King-tier beast at the Immortal Sea? I heard that that was the nest of the exceedingly strong Divine Phoenix. To think that he would venture there!”

Long Chen realized that disciples like Ying Shaotian and Chen Feng were nothing compared to Jiang Wushang. They were like specks of dust, while Jiang Wushang was like a star.

It was a legendary feat to reach the Earthly Martial Realm at that age even in the Divine Martial Empire.

Also, leaving a handprint on the Heavenly Passage Pillars, killing eight cultivators at the Ninth Passage Stage at the same time, and even defeating a King-tier beast all at the Ninth Passage Stage were monstrous feats that regular people would never achieve, excluding Long Chen.

Long Chen had to reevaluate his understanding of Jiang Wushang. It was the first time he had met such a genius.

Everyone was focused on Jiang Wushang. He suddenly stood up and bowed to the Seven Demon Kings. “Seven Demon Kings, my father has matters to attend to, so I apologize for having to take his place here today.”

“Prince Wushang, there is no need to be so courteous. Your strength and position make you more than qualified. We only need to watch.” The Red Ghost King chuckled.

The other Demon Kings agreed.

Jiang Wushang nodded. “Since everyone is here, then let the assessment start. I am only here to oversee. Demon General Typhoon, please start the assessment.”

He returned to his seat after that.

Everyone then focused on the black arena instead of Jiang Wushang. Typhoon was clad in black armor in the middle of the arena. Long Chen almost laughed when he saw Demon General Typhoon.

I suppose he’s the expert when it comes to being the emcee. He’s been doing it every time.

Demon General Typhoon didn’t fly this time because there were several people above him, one being the Prince. He looked around and said in a cheerful voice, “I am Typhoon! Greetings, Seven Demon Kings and Prince Wushang! Now let me explain the rules! There are two rounds to the assessment! This way, we can not only determine the winner to obtain the Emperor Flame Pearl, but also let the grand elders evaluate the disciples of each pavilion. The rankings of the pavilions will depend on their scoring! The grand elders work for the Demon Emperor, so they will be absolutely fair! They will record their evaluations with their true names, so don’t worry about any shady things going on during the assessment! As experts at the Ninth Passage Stage, they will naturally be able to spot all extraordinary feats from the disciples!”

It was a good rule. The assessment was for both the disciples and their respective pavilions. Since the grand elders worked directly for the Demon Emperor and would be using their real names to score the assessment, this was a very fair process.

“Now let me explain the first stage!”

Demon General Typhoon looked around before stomping, causing the entire arena to tremble.

What incredible strength!

Even Long Chen was surprised.

The entire arena started to rumble, and the disciples saw twelve black pillars rise up.

Rumble!

𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Several breaths later, the pillars stopped moving. All of them looked like the Heavenly Passage Pillars, but they were replicas. They were seven meters tall and surrounded the arena to form a circle.

Long Chen looked at the top of each pillar and saw a fiery, red orb. The orbs were exuding great power, so he first thought they were Emperor Flame Pearls. However, he quickly judged that that was not the case because there was only one of those. Still, even though the orbs were not Emperor Flame Pearls, he knew the pillars were extraordinary too.

“These are regular Flame Pearls, not Emperor Flame Pearl. I’m sure most of you are aware of their properties. You can obtain some strength when you use one during the Day of the Nine Suns. You might even advance to the next stage if you are lucky. The Flame Pearls are the rewards for the first stage. The rules are simple. All of you will stand on the same starting line and attempt to grab the pearls when I say ‘go.’ Those who have a pearl in their possession by the end of the time limit will advance into the next stage. That means that out of the sixty contestants, only twelve will move on! You need to move as fast possible to grab one the moment we start! Once you obtain a Flame Pearl, you cannot keep it in your Universe Pouch! You must hold it in your hand and protect it until time is up. Only then will you earn the right to enter the second stage. The round will last twenty breaths. It’s up to you to decide how to defend yourselves!”